"leaked" Blood Angels codex - possible phony?

Howdy doody!

Well apparently a full BA codex has been leaked, aswell as a contents page.

I for one really can't wait to see when the 'dex is released if this is correct, however my opinon shall not be known as to thier legitimacies - here's a few interesting points for those of you trying to decide for yourselves.

Beware possible spoilers however! :)

Here's the inconsistencies I've noticed so far

-The dex and contents page do not match up.. the Dex says refer to the scouts entry on page 35, however the contents say scouts are on page 40. Same for Veteran Assault on page 37, but the contents say there is no Veteran Assault squad (only assault squad, Honor guard and Exalted) some of the pages do connect though, for example the commander being on page 38

- The dex's "master crafted power sword" entry. Given that Tycho has TWO weapons that are master crafted, and not power swords, this seems like an unusual entry. Alot of the things in the dex are written EXACTLY like the Space Marine dex. that's plausible, however why not 'Master-Crafted Weapons' entry? there are other weapons that are not power swords, that are master-crafted. the power sword entries only difference is that it says 'master crafted power swords swords count as power weapons' .. ya der!

- Wording. Some rules just seem to be worded in an unusual way. GW has a fairly specific way of writing thier rules. an example is "The Eviscerator: it counts as a chain fist" this is not how GW tend to write thier rules. also this entry is not in the wargear section, but under a character. Its a normal weapon - for how GW write the rules for eviscerator, see the Daemonhunters codex.

- Points. The dex's points cost seem quite off. The Red Thirst according to the Dex is quite awesome (at least I think so), to say the least, giving Furious charge in some cases, and adding Rage aswell in others. One special character even claims to give Furiois Charge, Fleet and Rage in place of Red Thirst. Some squads are equal to or cheaper than the Standard SM codex in points cost. This alone seems odd, but add to that some characters, such as the Chaplain, has more special rules which are really cool, and costs the same as a standard SM Chaplian.

- Dreadnaughts. The dex claims they have furious charge if you take the Death Company upgrade.... what good is this? +1 str? they have 10.. you only get the benefit of +1 Initiative. and then you also have Rage to deal with, with the cost why would anyone bother, ever?

huzzah, Assault squad! and Blood Angels rumours and predictions

Howdy ladies and gents!

So after last nights quick fire comment, I decided to get some painting done, and have FINALLY finished my first Assault Squad!!













I think I've gotten a little better with my photography too! thoughts?

I've decided as I'm dual-purposing some of my tanks (e.g. my Land Raider, seen a few months ago is Bleached Bone. I use it for my Grey Knights as well as Marines) that I should make the colouring some kind of theme. So with anything that would be more mechanium related than standard equipment, I'm keeping the bleached bone colour - hence the bone jump packs. I really like how it turned out! :)

I've been working on my minis poses and here is one of my favourites to date:













Front on looks a little better I think, It looks like he's almost about to rest his pistol on his axe as a guide for few precise shots.. that's what I like to think anyways :) I really liked the Assault Marines kit - lots of options and great posability. This is also the first time I have painted something other than a tank in sections before assembly - I found it to be considerably easier and quicker, less likelyhood of any mistakes - and with a good glue (Gale Force 9) there's no concerns of the glue messing up your nice work.













I've been reading the Horus Heresy books too and really liekd the idea of the marines that looked and acted like brothers. So as a lil homage I did something similar with my assault marines. Just made one left handed ;)

Opinions appreciated as always!

Now, onto the Blood Angels. As a old school BA player, I have decided to use my current marines as Blood Angels once they're ready (even if its before April!) and I'm really excited about the new 'dex release. Alot of us at the local store have been discussing the rumours going around - below is just a few of them, and my thoughts and predictions.

Overcharged Engines and Furious Charge - I think it's safe to say that the Death Company will get furious charge. Honestly I think OCE will not be returning, though it'd be nice if it did :)

Mephiston in Terminator armor: I highly, highly doubt it. he may have an invul save however - many named marines in Power/Artificer armor do.

Chapter Master Seth: Would be awesome, dunno about being armed with an Eviscerator though. The latest SM Codex has alot of named marines with weapons unique to them, perhaps an Eviscerator variant?

Land Raider - There's lots of talk of a 'baal' style Land Raider.. bit dubious on this one, but I would wager that if there is, it'd be twin linked assault cannons on the sides, with a twin linked lascannon on top.

New Minis - I would say we are likely to get a plastic Death Company Box, that just has bits to convert or add to an Assault squad box. possibly the Raider above, and a Plastic Baal kit (I would hope it's own kit, but may even come out as a conversion kit?) Some special characters, and a Plastic Furioiso.. as much as more would be awesome, I can't see GW doing it.

Dreadnaughts: it's pretty well confirmed that dreaddies will be awesome as ever with Blood Angels. I'd say Moriar the Chosen will be in, but I doubt the whole 'dreadnaught retinue' thing. we shall see


Will look forward to April with the rest of yas!

Cyas!

Albrek

Alive? why yes, yes I am - also, tyranids thoughts

Howdy all!

I should really set myself a schedule for updating my blog here. Currently the real world is pulling alot of my time away from the hobby, which is ok though I'm hoping things settle down by April :) I havent even had much time to paint lately (let alone post) though I do get a chance to game!

In the last 2 weeks Ive had two games against the new nids, a 400pt combat patrol an a 750 pt - against one of the store staff where I play (who is apparently quite well ranked in Aus tourneys). Of course I played Grey Knights, as my Marines are not yet finished. A loss and a draw respectively I've had. Here's a few quick thoughts on nids:

Swarm armies: It's been insinuated that the ability for this has been nerfed with the new dex.. I would have to say not so :) Tervigon's are the key to this. In the 750 pts game, I killed around 400 pts of nids by the end of turn 6, the final turn, and there were still about 800 pts of nids models on the tables. You see for each guant squad you take, you can take a Tervigon as a troop choice - and you can still take one as your HQ. My opponent ran out of models twice before I managed to get to a tervigon - it's easy to make a wall of gaunts to protect your tervigon, add to that even if you do get to him, it's Strength 6, Toughness 6, Wounds 6. It required my Grand Master's force weapon to take the damn things down and it took a while to wade through the waves and waves of gaunts that kept being spawned.

Rules: I think with 'nids the hardest thing against them is remembering any rules that are to your advantage. For example, when you kill a Tervigon, apparently all gaunt squads in 6" take 3d6 wounds. I did not know this and I think my opponent did not remember/was not aware. Someone clarify if this rule is correct?

That is all for now :)

Cyas!

Albrek

Scouts! scouting! as they do!

Well it's about time I got something painted!

Finished off a squad of scouts with sniper rifles and camo cloaks literally 30 minutes ago, and just couldn't wait to post something!













The kit wasn't too bad. It all fit together reasonably well. but to be honest the whole thing fit a little... blah with the fit. I did have to shave one of the eye visor things to get the gun to sit properly, and you really get almost no options for creating dynamic poses.. which is really what I normally love about most models.

It's clear that my painting skill has taken a bit of a hit during my slight hiatus, but overall I'm satisfied with the painting on these dudes.













I feel overall the kit is very low value. It's really hard, as the kit is only coming with one weapon option, sniper rifles. It would have been nice if the camo cloaks were a separate piece. The kit only comes with 4 cloaked snipers, the 5th dude is intended for a missile launcher.. if you want a sniper rifle, well the option is there, but no camo cloak.. seems kinda silly to me. For a kit with so few pieces, you'd think they could at least include one cloak for him somewhere.

Speaking of camo, before I tried it the idea of painting something that looked so complex was kinda daunting!













All in all though, I was really stoked with how the camo worked out. It actually turned out to be one of the easiest bits I've ever painted. I found the following suggested process to be an awesome key:

Pick 2 of the following: blots, squiggles, dashes, dots or arrow heads
Select a theme - e.g. urban, jungle, desert etc.
Choose 3 colours and shades that match that theme, one light, one dark, one neutral
the neutral colour is your primary colour - assign the light and dark to your first 2 choices, and away you go!!

I hope you all like the outcome, can't wait to field them :) Of course will give them special mention when I do, as I like to review their performance.

Over and out!

-Albrek

Alive? Why yes, yes I am

nobody panic!

I am indeed alive. Have not had much time to paint lately, but should do soon - am looking forward to it :D

I have also had a bit of a top secret project going on in the background. Of course, it will be revealed...eventually ;)

Army Building: My way, in 10 easy steps

Ahoy!

Sorry about the lack of painting and posts lately. I have a squad of SM scouts ready to be painted, but you may not see them for a bit.

A couple of the guys I play with have asked me how I make up my Army Lists, as I tend to have some unusual lists from time to time. They're not always the most efficient lists, but I enjoy playing with them and get a kick out of it too.

So here's the steps and rules I follow. Remember these are not going to be any good for most people, and the army lists I tend to make do not maximise the effectiveness, or versatility of the points of the match, in fact they're almost counter intuitive. But hey, I'm weird like that :D

1. Fluff: I love a good story. I have a habit of selecting special characters and kitting out HQ squads with whatever sounds or looks the best. For example I had a Tau Farsight 750 point list I loved playing, even though my non-Farsight list was way better.
2. Awesome-o-meter: If it sounds/looks awesome, I'll take it. This is why my SM Command Squad includes a Sarg with two power fists, henceforth known as 'Mr Punchy Punch'
3. Cover the bases: I always make sure I have a few high Str weapons available. As much as I love having a pure Daemonhunters force, Str 6 just doesn't cut it against dreadnoughts or multi wound high Toughness units, letalone Landraiders. Always ensure you have a couple of Str 8 or 9 weapons avialable, with some survivability.
4. Combat Patrol: Also known as 40k in 40 mins. When making a list for these kind of games, always reassess your options. e.g. A Grey Knights Purgation squad maybe pretty useless in a normal game, but 3 or more Incinerators in a squad can become deceptively formiddable in these games if used correctly.
5. Know your Enemy: but don't be a jerk. One of the most common foes I have is Aussie Prophet's Chaos list. It never, ever, ever changes (except when a new codex comes out). I could specifically tailor a list to exploit all of his weakness, and defend against his strengths, but I don't see how that would be fun. (see point 1 and 2 for background). Winning isn't that important, but it is Eleventy Billion times more sweeter when you win with an army designed to your tastes, rather than to specifically be a killing machine.
6. Waste not want not: Having something in your army that's awesome is always, well, awesome! But if it's awesomely useless, why bother? I'm sure there's another choice that may actually serve a better purpose, while retaining it's awesome factor :)
7. Visibility: Ensure your options and thier benefits are always clear to you. Codecies ensure your options are right there in front of your googly lil eyes, but unless you've memorised all the stats and special effects of every weapon, the benefits aren't clear. I always use Army Builder - a simple right-click shows me everything I need to know, and may give me a page number for special rules too!
8. Revise: The three Rs, Revise, Revise, Revise. After every match, think about where your list could be improved. Ask these questions: Which of the enemies units caused you the most grief? What are it's specs and stats? What can I do to defend against it better, tactics and list wise? What can I do to destroy it quicker, tactics and list wise? Which of my units caused the enemy the most grief? How can I capatilise on this, tactics and list wise?
9. Don't do the math: Like I said, I don't maximise the lists I write. Some people out there may tell you that having two thunderhammers on your Terminator Captain is 57.634% more capable in Close Combat only, whereas thier wargear setup increases the capabilities of thier captain as a whole by 86.37%. I say, shoosh and roll the dice so I can squish you.
10. Have fun!: See point 9. Writing an army list shouldn't by labourious, you should be having fun and thinking "How awesome can I make that look!" or "This is going to kick ass" etc. etc.

If anyone out there decides to make a list following my 10 easy steps to being underpowered (or already does) let me know how you go!

Enjoy!

-Albrek

Inquisitorial Stormtroopers

as per with the last post, see below for the latest here! :)