what to do with your tactics

So I finally I had the time to finish a full game with the space marine codex against a pretty stalwart guard list with mostly massed infantry. I tried out some of the nasty units in the codex such as honor guard and the chapter master. The biggest thing though that I took away was strategy revolving around chapter tactics.

In listening to some podcasts, one of them mentioned that the marine codex is for fluffy lists. And with that your list should be built to your chapter tactics - it rewards that.

For example the ultramarines tactics is only really optimized if you brought tacticals, assault marines, and devastators. Not bringing any of those basically means you gimp 1/3 of your 'powers'.

So, in saying that I have given a lot of thought to optimizing my Black templars lists.

First I will hit the second trait Crusaders: getting adamantium will and the crusaders rule.
First, adamantium will gives a nice bonus to deny the witch to every one. This is hard to maximize army wide but in combination with the shield eternal and an allied battle brother  of higher level psyker can boost that to a healthy 2+ (or 3+ if equal or lower level - even better a rune priest.) That is a unit to give demons trouble.
Second getting crusader means you pick the highest of 2 d6 for your run and add d3 to your sweeping advance. Great rule  for our crusader squads as they pack enough guys to make a drudge across the board. This, however ironic actually works amazing on fast units. What I mean is that jump troops take the greatest movement advantage of this. With the ability to jump 12 and then run 4 (on average) means you are getting to the much needed assault sooner. Thus to optimize this we need big fast squads so larger crusaders and jump guys would best if not necessary. And as for the d3 in sweeping you need a high initiative. Since it goes by highest your mostly i4 but the cm is i5 which can help. Putting a librarian in there with biomancy warp speed easily is higher and gives fleet potentially giving you an auto wipe on some units.

The second trait gives rerolls and rending in a challenge. This is pretty good but with atsknf you can't go wrong in the challenge.
To me this looks best if you maintain a waste in all squads. Usually you want him naked or pretty close to that. This seems counter to BT method with hidden axes in blob squads but it actually can pay dividends. Giving you rending means you potentially have the ability to wound any thing in the game regardless of toughness. So charging in may lose you a sarge but the time you do rend a terminator sarge in a challenge or that wraithknight it'll be worth the ten points especially because you won't run away.
Caution, however, as a challenge is not always beneficial. One such example is challenging an ic if your squad charged him alone. That basically nullifies the rest of the squads charge attacks if he is in a dual. In this instant it may be better to stand and double tap and then get another turn of shooting from overwatch to try and eliminate him as he comes in then challenging to try and rend while taking the extra attack from him.
If you wanted that sarge better though I would give him a powermaul (or maybe lance if you are feeling risky) as that has the highest damage. Second for me is the Lt claw as it gives shred and that can make rending more possible. These though shouldn't be on tacticals or really any objective holding troops as the likelyhood of them being able to use that is small.

So there you have it a bit of food for thought went reviewing chapter tactics

new codex and toys!

Well, I finally attended my first GT and had an awesome time! I took my BT for one last go before the new codex and although I got pretty stomped in a few games( fourth edition codexes don't stand up great against to current meta ;) )

 Here was my list

Emperor's Champion with abhor the witch vow

Master of sanctity in terminator armour with a few grenades and 1 cenobyte servitor

Command terminator squad of 4 with 2 as cyclone ML and tank hunters for the squad

Crusader squad with 6, 1 power sword and flamer

Crusader squad with 5, 1 power axe

Crusader squad with 5, 1 ML and dedicated Rhino

Assault squad with 5, all melta bombs

Assault squads with 5, all have melta bombs

Landraider

Landraider

Landraider

For 1850

Basically troops in landraiders for spear head. Emperors champ rode alone to shove down throats. The terminators slogged while assault squads deep strike or jump after monsterous creatures or tanks. I didn't bring elites to deny the extra point but it turned out that just gave an extra point. 

First two games I was aptly destroyed but made it to the last turn (6) but then in the losing bracket I tied my third and potentially my fourth then minor loss for my last by kill points

In the end I made friends with several guys I played exchanging numbers to play again and then won the players choice! Netted myself a Cron crossiant!

Now that the new codex is out that list needs updating and I need to post some reviews. As much as I miss my old codex we did need an update point wise so its an interesting trade. We'll see how it turns out.

Update and tournament hunting

Alright, so what's up?

Well let's just update you with a little about what I have been doing lately!

So the newest things I have added to my Templars is 2 attack bikes and a LRC. Both have got their first coats but working on finishing them. Great additions by the way!

Anyways the real point of the update is do a couple pieces of potential lists that I may use at the upcoming Midwest Massacre!

Before I post the lists I am debating between using attack bike squads with a hidden character in there or using an allied detachment of tau.

Pros of the bikes: gives me fast attack for scouring missions, another character can make them punch very hard, also that can provide 3 multi meltas or heavy golfers and 6 wounds on toughness 5 models.

Pros of tau allies: gives me 2 scoring units naturally raising me to 4 total, the hq on firewarriors gives a strong 24 shots and 1 markerlight, kroot snipers are outflanking or infiltrating and can potentially be an answer to mc's, taking a dedicated devilfish transport with smart missiles makes it valuable as well as versatile.

Overall the tau really fill that versatility needed for scoring but the bikes have potential synergy with their codex. Possibly having more bike squads make the field very saturated and maybe more survivable......

Hmm choices......

Youtube!?!

Hey ya'll! Just started a new Youtube channel to start posting all the battle reports i can as well as feature some of my list as we start preparing for the Midwest Massacre! Its under BlackTemplarBasement so hit us up and look for new Battle Reports as they hit the vox!

Black Templar Sunday: Special Issue

Oh my gosh two posts in a week?
unheard of!

So I have recently been thinking about my list as I continue to edit it and add to it for our escalation league.
Three things I am considering:

1. First, troop sizes; currently I run 2 squads of troops: A five man squad with an Ax and the EC and the techmarine in the LR, the other squad is 5 marines with missile and plasma along with 5 h2h Neophytes for objective sitting. I am considering whether this is enough or not. I know that most players would say it is not enough with so many games being Objective heavy and 2 troops won't cut it. Although this is true my problem with our troops is mobility. When playing I rarely expect my troops to survive that long or be close to the other side of the map, also the average of most games is 4 objectives two placed by me and 2 by the opponent. That means I really have strategic influence on about half of the objectives.
All this being said my troops either start on the objective or travel rather close to get to one to sit. Problem is BT don't sit, they get shot and move! So practically unless i play to hard for objectives I usually can take 2 most likely 1. Luckily lots of things can deny the capture. So I think 2 troops is a good amount and only at 2k would i take more (since I have too) and just keep them like a combat squad (1 regular gunned up squad and 1 five man squad in front with just a flamer)

2.Terminator squad sizes: The next thing I am considering for my escalation list is either another terminator squad or make my command squad larger. The upside of a large command squad is that it becomes alot more scary and will most likely take alot of fire and make it to h2h with whoever it wants. The upside to 2 squads is 2 more Cyclone missiles or assault cannons. Survivability versus Firepower. It is a hard trade and really depends on how I play. I think the Survivablity is probably best considering it is less Kill points with a high potential of scoring more Kill points. The shooty Squad is a KP and great versus vehicles but less likely to kill a vehicle(or squad) outright (even though Tank Hunters is a better chance than anyone else)

3.Finally Allies: I rarely run allies because I believe that although it intially helps cover some of your armies apparent weaknesses overall allies cause you to be good at 2 cmpletely different armies and try to get them not only to work together but retain their benefits while providing for the other army. I don't think this happens very easily or often. So as we get into the higher points I might have to start using my Dark Eldar. It is the worst kind of ally you can have but their movement is amazing and makes me not worried much. What I am worried about is will it be a waste compromising my BT or will it be worth it to have the extra speed and let the BT be the hammer. Play testing will tell

anyways let me know what you think!!!!

Not Black Tempars But still Black(or Dark if you will)

Ok i know I promised a list and sorry for not delivering that however i think we should all just be happy that I actually updated this before the month mark.......

also I have noticed a bit more activity lately, so keep it up and I definitely will keep it up!


Actually I just wanted to update with some ideas and projects I currently am working on.
For BT:
Currently I need to paint and post those pictures with about 90% base coated all I need to do is get more white and grey paint to finish certain areas.
Also for the BT's I have been thinking of a new marshal I already have modelled but yet to play:
Its a gun slinging marshal with dual Plasma Pistols that are Master Crafted. Sweet isn't it. Sure this makes him super unviable but I think its just awesome I can actually use the Gunslinger rules when like no one else can. Am I right? Also someone suggested that the EC go with a squad of Sword Brethern. which actually is a kinda neat idea. He could outflank with them or infiltrate and though he has no charge first turn people will either react hard to him the turn he pops up or leave him alone which is actually favorable in 2 ways. Option 1 is kind of nice because then it takes some heat off the other units especially if you place him close to tanks and small meaty units. Option 2 is even better because he can wait a turn with the brothers then jump out and munch up the small troop choice or perhaps long fangs that happen to be chilling so close. He could even sit out front and tank the wounds doing a +2 save per missile and then look our sir per other missile.

just a thought.......


The real update is that I recently got some Dark Eldar. Definitiely really cool- at least as far as vehicle design is concerned. The real think I love in their army though is Reavers. If I had the money I'd purchase a lot of those. so awesome!!!!!!!!!!
My biggest think with the Dark eldar is learning to play weaker then most updates. Although they have had a recent update not many of their things can go toe to toe with a marine, but then again theyaren't meant to. They are meant for Trickery just as their name suggests and just as I shout out my brother everytime he makes a regular eldar save (that elf trickery). I look forward to playing them in such a way that I rarely engage you but making passes as you weak spots always dodging the bullet. we'll see how that goes though.


Look for updates on both as I play BT as competitive as I can and still playing some with this new set of toys!

From Fixing to being a Tank

Ok, So i have been playing a bit of Templars in my local club and I have mapped out a pretty good list at 1500. Hopefully within this week I will be able to post it up here.

Let's see, what is new.......

Well I got myself a Rhino Chasis which was whirlwind. Lucky me since Templar's don't play Whirlwinds(not in our dex since its a sissy weapon). Ripped those off and converted them to my terminators as Cyclone Missile Launchers. Also got a couple more Termies and re mapped the squads. Took out the Assualt Termies altogether since the only effective ones were powerfist and shooting is so good in 6th might as well just keep PF and shooty Termies instead. That with tank hunters makes them scarey! (at least to anything under 14 armour)

Also I know that Templar's are my first true army and love in 40k and they will retain that however with a birthday recently past and not needing much else for Templars I am grabbing myself a Kabal. That's right: Dark Eldar for me as well. I will build them slowly I believe but I am excited to play another non psyker and super fast. Of all models in the game my favourite is the Reavers. Their ability to autohit by driving over accompanied by an amazing cover save when they are fast(+3) makes them Marine toughness and hard as nails to catch.(considering those nails are shot from a nail gun)

Ok Now for the meat and potatoes of this post: Techmarine Tanking.

It is common knowledge now in 6th that Tanking can be a great way to deliver that deathstar to the enemy. However instead of terminator lords or sarges recently I have started using my Techmarine for this. Templars don't get Sarges so the best way to do this is to use something that is preferably an IC and have that special save(2+).
The techmarine in full servo harness is our answer to this since we have no sarges and a 65 point castellan uses up a valuable force org spot and is stark naked until u add 25 to him for the term armour.
So we look to elites and though the techmarine is costly as 70 points+35 for the full servo harness he is the only(aside from the Champion) who has not only wargear immediately but gains a fair bit of wargear for 35 points. The Techie comes with a PF attack, PW(sword I recommend), Signum, Auspex and Bolter plus his healing ability on a 5+(to fix immobile, weapon destroyed or hull point). Then for a mere 35 points he gets another PF attack, Twinlinked Plasma Pistol, Flamer, a +2 armour save and +1 and a reroll to his heal ability.
He is literally a swiss army knife. Set him in your shooting squad to give them Auspex and Signum. Set him with a command squad or put him in Terminator armour too since he can take wargear and go with any squad he chooses.
So far I find he works best in a LR with a Crusade squad and the Champ. This allows me to soak wounds, give that squad some big punch or heal the LR if they decide not to assualt. Also that armour is not considered terminator so he can sweeping advance!

To give you an idea how to do this I recently play BA in a relic match 1500 points. He was in a LR with a 5man Crusade squad and the Champ. Now I did not want the champ to die to fire so when they got out and grabbed the relic I place the Champ in the back and the techmarine in the front most of the squad. The BA then hit that squad with snipers and 3 devastator squad(with Krak missiles). I used him to take all the wounds and when he failed them I used his 2+ look out sir to throw the missiles back onto the squad. Needless to say I survived the turn of shooting still holding the relic which should not have happened! thats 12 Krak missile shots!

anyways just some food for thought especially since in our dex we can give him wargear and we don't really need the elite slots. Instead of filling Termies there you can just take 2 Leaders(the Champ doesn't have to take up a slot according to his rules) and just bring two beefy term command squads with them.

MORE SOON!!!!!!

The Black Templars Prefer Nothing!

So,
After some serious time with sixth edition I think its update time.

First I want to get this off my chest. Losing PE was hard on the Templars-kills alot of synergy we had especially when assault is no longer the game and shooting is king. There we go. I said it. Not a complaint just fact.

Ok, so now considering what we know about 6th what are some awesome strategies with the Templars? Well I hope to be updating with a couple more things but so far:

• Techmarines as IC's are great sarges and can provide that much need CC 2+ bypass as well as giving a unit a good shot in Shooting phase.
• Grenades have changed now to help us. Although we have to purchase them per character (which is very sad) whatever you purchase you usually will use because you taking it. On several occasions Krak gernades have made a great difference and in overwatch they are able to be thrown since they aren't a template. This is a great deterant
• Transports aren't actually much worse than they were. Infact, I would argue opposite- especially for rhinos. It is tru they can be smacked easily but they are virtually movable blocking terrain. And if all your opponent can do is wreck them then you keep that cover. Best strategy so far is drop people first turn and let them shoot then use your flat out to cover your guys again.
• Vows may not be as good as PE but ATW is now a second psyker save and I can see plenty of use for Suffer. Also I plan on play testing the 6+ invulv for everyone. Sure this seems bad since you get no cover but honestly as marines cover isn't much of a difference and doesn't help in H2H. I think that in the long run the 10 points will actually pay out (one or two saves can change the game) and even if someone dies chances are we will charge forward. Just means we need to bring bigger squads.
• Finally if shooting is king who is best? Our Termies! who else can take 2 special weapons? no one! plus we can pack in 5 squads of the 5 man teams. that is 10 heavy weapons buried in +2 saves! Enough said.

This is just the beginning of some 6th ed articles I hope to put out on templars. I don't see enough references out there for them so that's what I hope will help the questioning player out. Now let's get out there and win some championships! For the emperor of course.

~Marshal Zappin'

6th here now

So not a full post yet but looking at the faq I can say that BT's will change somewhat. But i digress first the news:
so Let's see
Well before 6th dropped my brother finally beat me in 5th so he got a last win before he will see the new book and as for me I won wednesday at the club in a friendly game with some new dice. It was actually a doubles game with me and a marine player versus orks and chaos. They played valiantly but in the end really experience did them in as they were both relatively newer players. I tend to not like to beat them because I know how tough it is to start playing and then just get regularly rolled by some vet. Not that I win alot now anyways but I usually can see the decisive point in a battle that led to my down fall. That at least keeps me up to par and continue playing because I know those are things I can fix whereas a new player may not recognize the weakness in their list or be able to see the bad strategy they may have used in a game. Hopefully they had fun tho, great lists just need some more practices to know exactly where and if to move and see where exactly to place units in deployment.


Well now onto 6th:
First reading the FAQ i don't see too many upsetting changes- really only one potentially. The main changes were bringing Templars up to par with regular marines so no big surprises. The one big one that I am talking about is the removal of Preferred Enemy and replaced it with the new Rage rule. Now I have yet to get my book but from what i have heard (which i disclaimer again) is that either means they are either getting extra CC attacks or I heard re-rolling 1's. That changes a big deal about how I will run my BT's if this stands. If it is for re-roll 1's then I might get onboard with that granted it doesn't require me to move toward the enemy every turn like it used to (remember 5th edition), If not i have been  thinking seriously about the +1 st. upgrade. Sure i hit slower which does stink and no piggie back with furious charge but Furious charge obviously would give them int5 and st5 replacing the vow if I do FC and if not st5 hits xenos on 2's and hits marines on 3's. Thats pretty good. And a 10 from a PF means instant death on bikers (if that still stands).

Lots of potential. Can't wait to get the book tomorrow (granted it arrives at Games Cafe)

Another thing on my mind is ALLIES! it opens up lots of fun things for templars and i wonder which will be a good combo. Lots of things I would bring but I also want to keep close to fluff because i want the army to look realistic-why are they working together. Mainly I have been considering hydras from guard or a squad of scouts in their fast vehicle as a quick objective grabber or out flanker. Also thought a little about necrons and using tank hunters coupled with scarabs would be scary( take armour down then templars pop the bad boy) or better yet templars charging the field with night fight from cryptek.

well thats my thoughts for now.
~brother Marshal Zapping out

The Future and You, A guide to stayin' alive

Another Update?! let's try to make this a re-occurring thing.

Anyways. Below you should see some pics from the Monster Ball Event at Games Cafe yesterday! super blast to play! Sorry if the pics are kinda blurry but my phone isn't that detailed. Also sorry if i didn't catch your army- tried to get everyone but i was mostly taking pics on my board side. Enjoy them!

here is my force (go Black Templars!)

 Here is my dad's Tau

 The impressive Dreadnaught force of Marshal Severarse

 A Menacing Space marine force setup opposite of the tau

The lovable and extremely building smashing Tyranids

I'll spare you the details but basically there was 10 of us with 1000 point lists consisting of no force org only MC's, walkers, and Heavy Support. The mission was from Cities of death and basically buildings were either 14 armor or 12 giving either 4 or 2 kill points and characters were worth their points rounded down to the nearest hundred. 2 sides were made and although we lost and I totally learned a lesson ( that dreads should not take missiles but instead take awesome crushing arms vs buildings) We had a great time. MVP of our team was tyranids getting a whooping 18 points out of buildings and MVP of the opponents team was orks with an insane 22 points! holy crap right? Super fun to play and really fast turns....

Anyways, Aside from that i had an interesting though come when i read this rumor amongst others on BOLS. 

-Preferred Enemy is including shooting and you may reroll wound rolls of a 1 (either shooting or combat)

Now obviously this is not set in stone but a guy can dream right? Infact this might actually make Templars even more deadly. How nice is it to get to also reroll wounds or if i take a missile squad of crusaders to reroll the shooting? Not that they miss too much but thats nice. And on the dreads too as the vow states! We might become a competitive build again. Not that we weren't competitive but sometimes not getting a new codex and using awesome outdated rules works to your advantage (i'm looking at you Eldar). But frankly I really doubt this is the case and even so it doesn't change much because most of the things I bring are usually TL (Lascannon Dread, Lascannon LR). Also I kind of like being a Chapter that is odd to play that way you are so much more familiar with your rules and your opponents then they with yours. That is a tactical advantage and potentially a surprise factor which can work wonders. Hopefully not everyone with jump on the looted bandwagon in 6th.

6th is shaping up to be very interesting indeed...........

More on tactics later!

Updates! and 6th

ok, sorry about being away so long but I hope to get some new posts up here as well as some pictures as I play more with my new found local gaming community!

News:
Not much really aside from 6th comming out. Sounds like 6th will be using an overall psychic powers kind of like fantasy which really doesn't effect my army, you know abhor the witch. However this may make that vow more important which would be an interesting change to my game. I wonder if they will change preferred enemy forcing me to take abhor the witch....
Anyways, that should be cool, can't wait to see what comes of the book and according to BOLS there is word in the tube of a change in BT rules, maybe in a white dwarf magazine in the near future which would also be cool to implement.

As for my army I still have some painting to do and some conversions with the templars to get them up to points and finished. If i can get them done I might be able to play in the upcomming Midwest Massacre which would be sooooo sweet. Can't say what 6th will do to my game but just being in a GT or large tourney would be a really cool experience.

Recently also as I am starting conversion I am thinking about converting part of my normal intiates to carry jump packs just for extra play. I think that a squad of maybe 7-10 with a techie or a marshal might be a good screen/red herring as i get assualty termies into position for charges. Also I have noticed and started impletmenting the use of shooty termies into my list as well. They are best in a small group of 5 with 2 missiles. I find they have great saves and great output shot wise and when they get assualted they hold their own. Even with the possibility of H2H Ap values in 6th their powerfists with retain amazing value.

Finally I have been wondering what other army I want to pick up. I was thinking maybe to go with a Chaos List and make up a renegade marine chapter so i can use normal marines(since they look great better than chaos ones) and stil use the new book or maybe make a combat patroll space wolves list with all fen wolves! Fen wolf mob FTW!!!!

Back in the Ring

So as you can see, I'm back and posting again. Just wanted a short update to let you all know I have finally gone back to my first love. Black Templars. Guard was good but I just can't stand such a high model count and no melee- thus i went back to power armor. Hopefully on a good note I will be posting more(especially battle recaps) as I start getting involved with the club here in Independence, MO. They are rather large and vibrant so I hope that will pan out.

Also on a cool note my brother is apparently of the age that he suddenly is very interested in 40k. Thus an Eldar player is born. He just started his force and has a couple troops and some dark reapers..... So I am sure you will hear of our battles on here as well!

Peace out ya'll till I update,

Brother Marshal Zappin

Jeet Kune Do

So lately I have been looking at different workouts to start after me and some other friends get done with the insanity workout. I happened across Jet lee's fighting style. He created it after learning several styles of fighting.

I bring it up because i believe it might relate to how we should play, or at least how we could play.

here are some principles and I will write more later:

• best defense is a strong offense
• learning to intercept through reading your opponents body motion
• "absorb what is useful;Disregard that which is useless"
• Economy of motion- wasting no time on fancy moves
• never block-strike your opponent to stop kicks and hits
• simultaneous parry and punch
• limit the opponent to attack with the same arm by trapping the other
• Progressive Indirect attack
• Attack by Combination
• Attack by Drawing

the 3 parts

1. efficiency-attack without detour
2. directness-straight to the point
3. simplicity- think in uncomplicated manner to flow like water

Necrons

So for this tourney I decided to place with Necrons. So far its been both a challenge but also been rewarding. Necrons are so under privleged you really only get one thing you can do and do well. Luckily at this point level everything is strategy and Necron weapons happen to come pretty top of the line.

Last thursday was pretty enlightening despite loosing. I think everytime i lose at this level I see something that I could have changed and made better. For that specific game it should have been to leverage what i have a lot of for the win. What i have is mobile pretty tough shooting. 2 shots at 24 is longer range than most armies and playing with the scarabs as cover allows me at least 2 full turns of shooting on the target before an assualt. Versus the orcs I ahve even more- 30 boys is a bit daunting but just like we saw last week all it took was a good turn of shooting and i hat them running. The biggest thing on these new missions is NOT always to go for the objective. We have seen on several occasions that the objective doesn't always give the win. In fact according tto game theory that might give us an advantage because we know what our opponent is trying to accomplish. Knowing this and knowing that we are bound to try and win the objective means we are one step of planning ahead.

Now you just have to have a plan to take out their army without alerting them to early to your planning of taking more kill points in kills before they can. Keep 'em busy with the objective and win the day.......

And as for the Necrons, I am still experiementing with how to keep you after me without too much pressure on my shots.

200 point league?

ok quick post.....

So recently my local club has started to move down the point rung and currently we are trying out a 200 point league.
Now even for my tastes that is small however I think this is a good move. Basically this allow for new players to easily join and eventually get into the bigger picture.
with this new league its basically individual pieces as units like in kill zone minus the rules of kill zone.
I played tonight part of a game with the newer player to our ranks and although we didn't complete the game according to time it really allowed me not only to see what i want my army to start being but it is also a really cool way to get people interested and keep the game fresh. It was good to meet new faces and have more people to play against and I look forward to new strategies. Plus i must give a shout out to rooney- i like the new missions.
Anyways I am going to post more stuff in the next few days, specifically some things i have been thinking about, even small point games can improve your overall game regardless.

catachan 48th~transmission out

ARMY LIST-1

Lord Commissar =70

Power Fist +15

=85pts

Company Command Squad =50

Power Fist +15

4x Laspistol free

Medi-pack +30

Regimental Standard +15

Melta Gun +10

Bodyguard +15

=135pts

Ministorum Priest =45

Shotgun free

Eviscerator +15

=60pts

TROOPS

Infantry Platoon - 01

Platoon Command Squad =30

Commissar +35

2x Power Fist +30

4x Laspistol free

Medi-pack +30

Platoon Standard +15

=145pts

Infantry Squad =50

Autocannon +10

=60

Infantry Squad =50

Autocannon +10

=60

Heavy Weapons Squad =60

3x Lascannons +45

=105pts

Platoon Total =370pts

Infantry Platoon - 02

Platoon Command Squad =30

Commissar +35

2x Power Fist +30

4x Laspistol free

Medi-pack +30

Platoon Standard +15

=145pts

Infantry Squad =50

Flamer +5

=55

Infantry Squad =50

Flamer +5

=55

Heavy Weapons Squad =60

3x Lascannons +45

=105pts

Platoon Total =350pts

TOTAL =1000pts

+500pts

HQ

2x Ministorum Priest =90

2x Shotgun free

2x Evisccerator +30

=120pts

TROOPS

Infantry Platoon - 01

Special Weapons Squad =35

3x Melta Gun +30

=65

Heavy Weapons Squad =60

3x Autocannons +15

=75

=190pts

Infantry Platoon - 02

Infantry Squad =50

Infantry Squad =50

Special Weapons Squad =35

3x Melta Gun +30

=65

Heavy Weapons Squad =60

3x Autocannons +15

=75

=190pts

TOTAL =1500pts

+250

TROOPS

Veteran Squad =70

Power Fist +15

7x Shotguns free

2x Melta Gun +20

Lascannon +20

=125pts

Veteran Squad =70

Power Fist +15

7x Shotguns free

2x Melta Gun +20

Lascannon +20

=125pts

TOTAL =1750pts

I've written the army in a modular fashion so that I can just 'copy and paste' for whatever points value i'm playing.

The theory being that no matter how good your shooting is something always gets into assault. To counter this i've made the list extremly power fist heavy. So each platoon will 'blob' their infantry squads, then the command squads should be able to co-ordinate an effective counter charge.

I currently play mech Space Wolves (but with a bit of a twist so i'm not a dirty dirty dirty spammer) so I have not much of a clue about IG infantry. I'm hopeing you can tell me; a) Will this counter charge tactic work? b) Can I make it work better?

Now the Lord Commissar joins the CCS and the priests join each CS respectivally. The rest should be pretty straight foward.

I also have no problem with you posting this list on your blog. Infact I would appreciate the extra feedback this would recieve.

Thanks again for your time.

Brad M

Reply: This is a pretty cool list you have here Brad and I think you might have a good idea how you would run a list like this. Like I've said before I don't claim to be a vet at this game or IG but i feel like helping review this list I as well as you can become better players in the long run.
Looking over this list I can see where you were going with it and I think you are right in adding the fists. The problem with the fist however is that is just doubles the strength on a model and denies the 2 weapons extra attack. I can see that basically you are going to set up in gunline and then when the enemy gets close enough you will mob them like an ork boys squad and hopefully finish off your opponent. This being said i think you should look in 2 other options.

First Option: Power Weapons.
Although the fist hist with a higher strength it is not necessarily the weapon of choice. The reason is because IG function a bit differently than Space marine. The simple fact that the Marine hits at str 8 and you at a 6 means that Marines can auto kill about anything whereas your IG punch is not nearly as hard, about that of a heavy bolter. This can auto kill some squads but not a marine. That being said you might want to rely on what GM gave you- numbers. If you take the PW you always get an extra attack and the ignore armor just like the PF would. True the probability to wound is less with str 3 but granted most toughnesses are around 4 so 5+. Lets look at a Platoon commander for instance= 2 base, 1 for 2 weps=3 attacks, 4 in charge.
one with a powerfist is 2 base and thats all. 3 for charge. Lets assume u are assaulted too because u wanted one more turn of shooting with the hvy weps on that squad. that means you get 2 attacks hitting maybe 1 and wounding less than that. On the other hand the 3 hits 1.5 then wounds possibly 1 or less. Odds are around the same (i am no math hammer) although i feel more attacks is better giving you 5 points a squad to add to the man total (like more commissars or a melta gun?) In my opinion guard is a numbers and shooting game so play that way. PF's are for the powerful......... but then again thats just a suggestion try it out and let me know.

Option 2: Diversify
One thing I notice in your list is a change of units. Sure you have a priest here and there or a squad holding something different but I am a strong believer that all units in the codex are useful. This is one reason i love following Fritz so much, its art the way he uses so many types of units, and all according to his whim of whats cool. I would advise you to try something new for a change. Not all units are good at CC but even if you look below there are units made to deal with that countercharge thing out. Especially the rough riders. Personally i would mix it up. loose some squads and replace with the calvary or Ogryns.

But like i said try it out- its all based on how you play. Great list and thanks for letting me look at it! send more too!

~Zappin'

rough riders?

Here is a question, as we come closer to this years battle for missions is it a feasible choice to add in a unit of rough riders. They can really pack a punch and have a wide range to the assault but are the flexible enough to be used in my army. Do they have a place?

Now the thing i struggle with is the utility of the unit after they get off that first round of combat.

Pros:

• All power weapon attacks on the first round of combat- that is up to 10 power weapons that is some good punch as well as psychological combat
  
• Calvary special rule means that they get a 12'' assault and fleet so that means they have the range to get that punch in- 6 inch move, 6 inch run, 12 inch assault= 24 inches to get to you or the distance of a storm bolter
• They have some sweet models, planning on converting cold ones and putting catachans on them
• They can have the mongul special character to get rage and furious charge plus fearless
• Can take 2 meltas or plas-guns

Cons:

• Power weapon hits on WS 3 and S of 3- this means who really will be hitting?
• Calvary special rule doesn't effect movement- 6'' isn't that impressive which means at best they might do well to support a real CC beast but got no ability to just move there without going into CC
• No extra toughness- I don't know why they don't get a wound or at least some extra toughness like any biker squad but they don't so thats T-3
• Need the Mongul special character added to make the squad worth while- no special rules but Calvary and only 5 units
• Only 2 meltas or plasmas

So they seem pretty balanced depending on how you see them. They are just guardsmen on horses that are slow mules. The problem is they seem to be neither side. Usually a unit finds its utility in its specialty, an example is that an Ogryn is useful as a CC character. By no means is he the best at what he does but he does do it better and is equipped to do better than the regular guardsmen. On the other side you have someone like Vets which survive to shoot like space marines. Their utility is that the shots more than likely will hit the target. They aren't the best but compared to guardsmen they are good. Then you might ask, what is the utility of the guardsmen and that is the most important part of the game. Wounds. 40k in my opinion is based around the Wounds score on characters because that more than any other stat helps determine the outcome of a battle. If you put out more you most likely win. This is an interesting idea that i want to develop in full later so that will have to wait till next post. But like i was saying guardsmen are your defense- they hold the line, they hold the objectives, they take the punches. They are the meat shields and played like that they might not go far (unless a powerfist gives them a good uppercut) but they will do their job and last for the win.

So this specific model is so weird because its built like a guardsmen that is supposed to just be alive as a meat shield and possible million of shots but it also has the equipment and special rules of a CC dedicated character. What in the world are we to do?

Well this my friends is what i think they are for-They are the true epitome of road bump. In most IG lists there is a need for guardsmen to be used as road bumps to stop the crazy squad of CC monsters that is storming down the field at your big gun to stop you before you punch a hole in them. However regular guardsmen won't cut it if they truly are CC beasts because chances are even if you charge them they have the gear to tear that squad apart before they even hit. That being said the calvary does exactly what a calvary should do. Flank the model to the side in CC and then stalling them a turn before falling back. The long pointy sticks should take out a few models and hopefully by then your big guns will be ready to mow the rest down.
So for the points of 11 per model which pays for a twelve inch assualt and one turn of power weapons you get a squad of guard to take some punches.

Are they worth it though? depends on how you play them! lets get out there are try!

Pictures

So sorry there was no post this last week and so i will shoot for tomorrow but here are some pictures of what i've been up to. I need to get a more quality camera though.

Basically lately I have been making another squad of Catachan's and waiting for the battleforce to arrive so i can put together those in time for this semester's Battle for missions.


Ok so From top to bottom you got my new demo guy at least for Harker's gang and then the next picture is my convert of a Lascannon. I made it from bits in the devastator squad box and now have 2 for HWT then the last few pics are of Harker and his huge Heavy Bolter which is converted from bits in a devastator box and a bit of ingenuity. ENJOY!

no vehicles- and guard? i have pity on you

So just for all of you to know I am planning on making an all foot guard army. And so that means i have been racking my brain and basically reading and re-reading the codex over so I can possibly ring as much out of it as possible. The problem with the foot guard list is several things.

1. They are meant for vehicles- the guard codex in the edition is basically the reason why everyone is mech. they have super cheap vehicles and can make squadrons so why wouldn't you take an entire armoured division and just 2 squads of vets?

2. Guard are extremely weak- they are not like the other races in 40k they are 3 toughness and 3 strength so basically they are expected to die and run away. NO special rules either, all the other races can make up for their lack of space marine power but the guard have only confidence in their guns and possibly numbers.

3. Blobs- this is both a plus and a negative. Although numbers means a heck of a lot of wounds it also mean a heck of a lot of models. Basically this is playing orks but minus any hand to hand ability. Luckily they won't move much and sit in the back and shoot. Also getting alot of models is expensive and putting them together is time consuming.

4. Cheap- this is referring to the fact that since guard have mega good guns they tend to seem cheap to everyone else. I don't want to be that guy so I have to take the hardest way possible. I want to beat you with just a bunch of weak men and not do it with a huge missle that lands on your whole army.

so in the end I decided on catachan rambo theme and i plan on making this army based on their fluff but still be a formidable foe. And don't worry my black templars will probably hang around until this regiment is finished but I feel like this army is the real winner I have wanted to play. Space marines are cool and some what tactical but these guys are going to have to hug the rules and stick to cover hopefully enough to make this a really interesting tactical machine. I have high hopes for this army and I have already raised up one squad and working on another. Hopefully soon I will be able to purchase some more squads and if luck has my back i will win some ebay battles and pick up some sentinels. I will try to put pictures up as well as put a list out for 500 or 1000 points

New Army

Ok so i used to be a black templar playing and I might keep them around for a bit still but I think i finally will be getting into something I have always loved- Guard
Specifically Catachan.

So this blog is dedicated to tactics, army lists and what I am learning on my way