Equinox Fantasy - Round 3 and Wrap-up

Game 3: Derick Williams (Lizardmen)

Mission: Dawn Attack

Oldblood on Carnosaur

Scar vet, BSB

Skink Priest

20 Saurus, FC

20 Saurus, FC, Spears

30 ish skinks w 2 Krox, FC

Steg

3 Terradons

Ancient Steg

2 Sallies

2 Razordons

I'd never played Derick before, and this looked like it could be tough. I know from playing Dark Elves that Saurus do bad things to elves, as do Salamanders. Stegs are hard to kill and dish out the pain when they charge, but at least there was no Life magic to heal them up. I think I rolled up Miasma, Enfeebling, Pendulum and Mindrazor as my spells.

Review - Army Builder – A Tool Every Gamer Should Have

Army Builder, the list building software from www.wolflair.com is probably the one gaming tool everybody should have. It is as critical as dice, tape measure and template in the greater scheme of things.

Essentially it is a software interface that lets you build your list and generate a roster without needing to go through a labourious spreadsheet process. Oh, I know there are going to be those that say “I can do all this on Excel and it doesn’t cost me a cent” and yes you are right, however look at the features you get with Army Builder:

• Multi-system software
• Monthly updates for new codexes/army books/bugs
• Multiple output options

Army Builder works on a license basis (USD 29.95 per year) but with the appropriate datafiles (free) you get access to all the armies in the system. The software allows you to build your list to a given points value and has an in-built validation system that checks that you satisfy all list criteria and importantly don’t break any of the list rules. There is no chance to generate a list with multiple Arcane Items or for your BSB to have a Magic Banner as well as Magic Items, to name two common list mistake.



As a TO I commonly use the system to validate participants’ lists and in the past five years and almost 1000 lists, Army Builder may have had a “bug” less than 10 times. Where else would you get 99.9% reliability?

Army Builder lets you build your own lists and easily change items and units at a keystroke. It is a great tool if you are thinking of a new army but want to play around with lists before you commit.

Seriously if there is one purchase you make this year then Army Builder should be it.

Optimal Magic

So what is the optimal Magic dice roll?

For mine, I think that the best roll is either 5-4 (giving 9PD to 5DD) or 4-4 (giving 8 PD to 4DD).

A lot of people might instinctively think that 6-6 would be the best as it gives the most PD and it gives the greatest range between PD and DD. However I don’t think it is the most effective.



Why? Well your opponent has a lot of dice in his hand and so can keep them to stop the spell that he has identified as your most critical. The more dice he has to throw the greater the chance that he can get a double “6” which automatically dispels. Obviously you have the opportunity as well to throw six dice to try and achieve “Irresistible Force” but your result comes with some downside (the roll on the “Loss of Control” table) whereas his doesn’t.

Generally I am most happy with the 5-4 or 4-4 roll as it really pressures the other player. He cannot afford to use dice on your lower level spells if you have a clear follow-up. It is the one set of rolls where I am generally pretty confident of getting two spells off – a 2-3 dice spell and a big one.

So if you are on the other side of it how do you protect against it? Well a lot depends on whether you have a scroll or not. If you do then the best option is to use all your dice against the lower level spell(s). You then hold your scroll against your opponent’s big spell – knowing your dice were useless if he rolled six dice and got Irresistible Force anyway. However because you are holding a scroll you are forcing him to roll six dice to get the IF he needs. Either way it is win-win – he doesn’t and you use your scroll if needed. He does and you watch him roll on the miscast table (always fun especially if you are a WoC with the ubiquitous Infernal Puppet).

If you don’t have a scroll then you need to determine whether he can get the “must have” spell off relatively risk-free. I generally view a score of <16 (including Caster Level) as easy to achieve without risk i.e. caster throws 4 dice. You need to make a judgement call….but then that’s part of the fun.

Equinox, Round 6 and wrap up

Hi hi!

Late in the afternoon on Sunday we went flying into the final round of the event, and I'm tired of writing this battle report so here we go, straight into it :P!

Round 6:

Mission: 4 Objectives, in the centre of each quarter*

Secondary Mission: Destroy their most expensive HQ.

Deployment: Pitched Battle**

Opponent: Doug Sainsbury (Ravenwing)

*Only the objectives in your opponents zone counted for anything. You could neither claim nor contest the objectives in your own quarter.

** Deployment was actually slightly randomised. You rolled for each unit as you deployed them one by one, on a roll of a 1 you had to deploy that unit on your extreme left flank, a 2 on your extreme right, 2-5 in your middle, and 6 anywhere you wanted.

Doug Had:

Sammael, master of the ravenwing - Landspeeder

6man bike squad - 2 meltas, powerfist, MM attackbike

3man bike squad - 2 meltas, MM attack bike

3man bike squad - 2 meltas, MM attack bike

3man bike squad - 2 meltas, MM attack bike

3man bike squad - 2 meltas, MM attack bike

2 Speeders - 1 Typhoon with MM, one assault cannon MM

2 Speeders - 1 Typhoon with MM, one assault cannon MM

2 Speeders - 1 Typhoon with MM, one assault cannon MM

So all up, 7 speeders (one av14), 5 attack bikes, 18 bikers, and if I remember correctly, ~21 melta guns.

Searching the Clouds......

Sometimes you have games where you make poor decisions. I had one of those on Saturday.

I was playing Tim Norling’s Warriors of Chaos (100% Characters and Core) and felt that I had the winning of the game early. Unfortunately, for me, I then made a series of decisions that in retrospect were all the wrong ones and my army self-destructed in conjunction with some error-free play by Tim.

These are important games. They are the ones you can learn from. I could say that I was rusty and that contributed to the errors but that would be disguising the fact that in the heat of battle I made poor decisions. The important thing here is to acknowledge these mistakes and see how you could have addressed things differently, with a potentially different outcome.

In this game I made two charges when I shouldn’t – one because it was the wrong thing to do and the other because I hadn’t checked the loadout of one of Tim’s characters – and fled one where I should have held. The results of these poor decisions compounded and allowed Tim to win the game and a little bit moreso, me to lose it.



As I said these are the important games because they remind you that you are not half as good as you think you are! After a loss I like to sit down and really dissect the game as to what I could do differently. Generally this comes down to recognising some bad decisions but it may also be that your tactical plan was wrong or a catalyst for a list change. I generally find that a lot of players blame their list rather than focusing on the first two reasons. In my experience once you’ve got a bit of experience, poor decisions account for 50% of losses, bad plan 30% and bad/sub-optimal list 20%.

I generally analyse all my games, win, lose or draw but a loss does tend to focus the mind more. Really think that they are an opportunity to be a catalyst for better play in the future. Or I guess in the end you can always blame the dice (or the scenario).

Equinox 40k - Rounds 4 & 5

Hi hi fatties!

I'm back with another couple of 40k reports from last weekends Equinox event, where I competed with my Orks.

So far I had gone 12-2, 15-0, 15-0 putting me first equal on battle points for the end of day 1. Still, the draw hadn't been easy, and I knew if I did well on day 2, the draw was only going to get harder and harder. We worked out that I would be playing Mark Buttle with his Tyranids in the morning. Mark on the other hand, had the ultimate draw in taking it easy. His first opponent had conceeded afte 2 and a half turns, he then played someone who had never played a tournament before and had to have dawn of war explained to him, before getting a bye for his third round.

Still, I felt I would be able to use this against him, he had effectively played 2 turns of 40k over the weekend so far, so if I could ramp the pressure up early, mistakes should happen at a fairly high rate.

Equinox Fantasy - Round 2

Game 2: Jeff (Ogres)

Mission: Battleline

Okay, so after my smashing in the first game, I was due for a game on the bottom tables, regardless of whether I was bye buster or not. I rocked on up and found Jeff with his Ogres, which scared me a bit. See, I'd already worked out that if High Elves didn't kill almost all of the enemies they were fighting in combat, they would die in droves when the other guy started hitting back. Couple this with Ogres being not too shabby in combat, and I thought this could be a tough one. We were supposed to play Watchtower I think, but the word from Phil was if you didn't have one on your table don't worry and just play Battleline instead.

Jeff's list was:

Tyrant, Cathayan Longsword, Glittering Scales, Greyback Pelt, Wyrdstone Necklace

Slaughtermaster, Scroll, 4+ Ward, Siegebreaker

Bruiser, BSB, some random bits and pieces

4 Bulls, Extra hand weapons

6 Bulls

6 Ironguts

5 Leadbelchers

2 Maneaters, GW, Cathayan longsword

2 Bull Rhinox

There were command models sprinkled here and there throughout his army too, but I've got no chance of remembering which unit had what ;) For the record I had the same spells as Game 1.

Watch for Tomb Kings Info Soon

The news about the upcoming Tomb Kings release has been spartan to say the least. All we have had so far are three close up shots of unidentifiable models in GW's Sneak Peeks. Even the White Dwarf gives us nothing.

This is representative of the new approach GW are taking to releases. A couple of years ago just about everything was leaked, sometimes 2-3 months in advance. The sieve has been plugged and now we get nothing.

I can understand ensuring nothing gets out on the rules but I think GW are missing a trick by keeping pictures of the new models under wraps as close as a month out from release. Surely they want to create a buzz around the release and the best way to do this is having people talking about the models.

The overlap between GW's current release this month (Grey Knights) and Tomb Kings is likely to be very small so I can't see earlier discussion cannibalising sales.

Still I expect starting this weekend we'll start to get more Sneak Peeks so keep your eyes peeled. Personally I'm keen to see if they do a "Vampire Counts" on the skeletons - remember the models were re-done to reflect a human skeleton i.e. smaller. I hope they don't as I like the current models - but then I don't know how much better they would be because no pics. I expect we'll see new Tomb Guard to take advantage of the new GW 10 Plastic Models philosophy but I'm unsure what else they will do (without redoing the whole range - Skeletons, chariots, horsemen). We know we are getting a new Sphinx model and I hope we get a new Giant. Rest is really up in the air.

Equinox Fantasy - Round 1

(I'm trying out this format for the battle report with a lot of maps to make it easier to follow what's going on. You can click on the maps to get a bigger version that's more readable. I'd love any feedback on this type of report, and whether a diagram for each turn makes it better or is over the top or whatever.)

Game 1: Daniel Butler (Daemons)

Mission: Battleline

From memory, Daniel had:

Keeper, Level 1, Allure, Siren Song

Khorne Herald, BSB, Firestorm Blade, Armour of Khorne

Tzeentch Herald, MoS (Life), Scroll, Disk

Tzeentch Herald, MoS (Shadow), Fly

28 Bloodletters, FC, +D6 Charge

28 Bloodletters, FC

6 Furies

3 Nurglings

6 Flamers

4 Fiends

April's White Dwarf

One of the benefits of having a UK White Dwarf subscription is that you generally get the magazine 1-2 weeks before it arrives at the local Games Workshop. April’s issue arrived on Monday, so what’s in it.

The headline act this month is the Grey Knights with Designer Notes from sculptors and rules writers, a battle report and sprue pics and construction advice for the new plastic kits. This is takes up two thirds of the magazine which is great if you are into the army. As a Skaven player I know I can’t complain given the love WD has showered on them over the past 15 months. My opinion of the figures hasn’t changed much with a White Dwarf viewing. The infantry figures are nice but not a great progression on the previous Goodwin/Diaz sculpts. The article by rules writer Mat ward is very disappointing with little or no insight into his thinking behind the new codex. It is more (than usual) a puff piece on the Nemesis Dread Knight.

There is an article showcasing some international winners of the Golden Daemon but again this is strangely uninspiring. The UK diorama looks very uninspiring but I’m not sure that this isn’t the angle of the photo shots.

Jervois Johnson’s Standard Bearer article is more of a ramble than normal. I thought last month’s one on dice was a bit weird but this one is truly bizarre. It is based around a saying he heard called “Kill your darlings”. Yep, I joke not.

The most interesting thing for Fantasy players is the inside back cover – “Tomb Kings – Coming in May”. Rattle your bones!

Unless you are into the new Grey knights i think it is perhaps a good one to miss

"Start the Panzer, Mr. Whiskers"

This weekend is going to see me give my proposed Runefang IV list a run for the first time. As previously blogged this is a departure from my regular Skaven list in that it has no shooting (bar the Enshrouding Fog) of the Plague Furnace. It has been dubbed the “Skavenblight Panzer Division” given its three large targets – Bell, Furnace and Hell Pit Abomination.



Mr. Whiskers fires up the Ratpanzer unfortunately failing to notice the lack of wheels

So what do I see as the challenges in the list?

Well first and foremost, it reinforces one of the inherent weaknesses in the Skaven list, the ability to finish units off to gain Victory Points. Without Gutter Runners and Engineers that finishing power is greatly diminished, requiring the enemy to be beaten and “harvested” in the Close Combat phase.

Secondly, it removes one of the big damage-dealers that Skaven have to weaken stronger enemy before combat ensues – template weapons. Part of the strength of the Skaven list is its access to templates be it the Doomrocket, Warp Lightning Cannon and Plagueclaw Cataput, and to a lesser extent Poisoned Wind Mortars and Warpfire Throwers. This leaves only the “Scorch” spell to deal out template death. Without the ability to weaken enemy units before combat I doubt that the core Skaven units have the necessary resolve for the task over a sustained period.

A lot of responsibility therefore falls on the heavy hitters. I’ve got more than the normal sense of trepidation about the likely success of this build. However it should be fun to try out. I’ll let you know how I get on next Monday.

Equinox Fantasy - Intro

Hey everyone,

Much like Charlie, I figured I’d start my contributing by giving you all a rundown of my experiences at Equinox last weekend. I went to the inaugural Equinox Tournament last year, playing Fantasy with my Dark Elves, and wound up placing 4^th overall on countback. I originally wasn’t going to go this year, but the TO Phil Wu offered me the chance to play as the bye buster in the fantasy event over the weekend.

The tourney was 2400pts and used a set of comp rules very similar to the current version or a previous draft of the ETC pack. Luckily I didn’t have to worry about any of that, since I was just going to show up and get given a High Elf army to use by Phil. I sort of figured that the army he gave me would be around the same power level as everyone else’s so that I could put up a bit of a fight despite never having played with High Elves. Sounds a fair and reasonable assumption, right? Well…

Me, when I arrived on Saturday morning!

It turned out Phil had given me a list that I would call ‘soft’. That’s not to say it can’t win (as we’ll see), but there were definitely some suboptimal elements to this list. If it were up to me, I’d definitely be making a few quick changes to bring it into line with my personal style of play (which I’ll go into later). I didn’t mind though, as I only there to have some great fun games of Fantasy and this list would just add an extra level of challenge to each game.

Here’s the list I was given:

Archmage, Level 4, Scroll, 4+ Ward

Noble, BSB, GW, Armour of Caledor, Dawnstone

Noble, GW, Reaver Bow, Dragon Armour

28 Spearmen, Muso, Std

18 Archers, Muso

12 Archers, Muso

Lion Chariot

Tiranoc Chariot

17 Phoenix Guard, Muso, Std

17 White Lions, Muso, Std, Gleaming Pennant

6 Dragon Princes, Muso, Std, Banner of Ellyrion

RBT

Eagle

Game 1 to follow soon…

Equinox 40k - Round 3

Hi All,

I'm back again with another report; the third round from Equinox 2011 and the last of the first day. I'll try to make this one slightly more brief, but would really appreciate any feedback you have on making reports that you find more interesting :)

After a fairly difficult first two games, I was well tired, and then found that I had drawn my good friend Damien Avery, who I was staying with and has regularly been a most splendorous host to me each time I travel to Auckland for an event. It's always disappointing in some ways to play a good friend when you have a low comp army, you want them to do as well as they can, and would love to see them on the podium, but with a low comp army you have to harvest as many points as you can, and can afford to cut them no breaks.

Round 3:

Mission: Thunderhawk Down*

Secondary Mission: Capture the Thunderhawk Pilot**

Deployment: Dawn of War

Opponent: Damien Avery (Tyranids)

* Thunderhawk Down involves a single template coming on via reserve, 12d6 along the centre line as per outflankers. It causes a bit of damage when it lands, but other than that, is an objective to be claimed by the person with the most scoring units within 6.

** The thunderhawk pilot was another objective 6d6 from the primary.

Damien had:

Hive Tyrant - 2 guard

10 Ymgarl Genestealers

3 Hive Guard

2 Hive Guard

10 Gaunts

10 Gaunts

Tervigon - Catalyst, Onslaught, Adrenal and Poison

Tervigon - Catalyst, Onslaught, Adrenal and Poison

3 Shrikes - 2 Boneswords

Trygon

Trygon

As you can see, Damien's Tyranids are quite pretty indeed!

I won the roll for first turn, and as our table had a giant road down the middle, wanted to make the most of the night fight protection and extra movement, so elected to go first. I set up my 30 man squads in buildings to limit where his Ymargles could go, and Damien left everything off the board.

Turn 1: Everything just went straight up the guts, I pulled my battle wagon back just enough to be safe from an onslaught hive guard flank attack, with everything in support.

His Turn 1: Damien brought everything on opposite with a fairly comprehensive gaunt screen protecting it all. The hive guard shot the trukk but failed to do anything meaningful.

Turn 2: The turn started with the objective coming down, and landing right infront of my army, meaning I could sit here and Damien would have to come to me. The secondary went even further my way, making things difficult for him.

Some repositioning on my end saw me able to reduce the shrikes to just 1 left, and wounded at that, but even on his own he could do some damage. A gaunt squad was removed and everything else just shuffled to get ready for some action next turn. Lootas took 2 wounds off his trygon on my left.

His Turn 2: Damien made some good moves here, and some crucial mistakes. The wounded shrike went and assaulted the deffkoptas, impressively killing 3 of them, but dying in the process. He positioned his hive guard well, onslaughting them (he added onslaught after I recommended it earlier, so I have no one to blame for this but myself!) which allowed them to get side shots on the battle wagon, blowing it sky high. His Ymargles showed up, and with a good fleet were able to hit my other boyz squad, who were in cover.

The Ymargles caused a handful of casulties, taking few in return due to increasing their toughness. The trygon on the other hand was not so lucky and died to the boyz squad and their nob, who then got a big consolidate to threaten a backfield that was previously safe, some of these boyz had just been given ~12 inches of free movement.

Turn 3: The trukk boyz went and killed the unit of 3 hive guard to my right. The remaining deffkopta went and dealt to the other 2 Hive guard, tying them up before finishing them eventually. My boyz squad that had killed off the trygon now went and killed a Tervigon with some help from the lootas, while some bad rolling on Damien's end and good rolling on mine saw the Ymgarls being wiped out before the killer kan bail out squad I sent in to help out even got to strike.

Damien and I talked out where the game could go from here, with one trygon too far from the action, no real ranged shooting left, and meganobs who could delete the hive tyrant any time they felt, the mistakes made were too heavy to recover from. Unfortunately for Damien, with the placement of where he landed, he couldn't even play for the secondary objective, which would have been harder to claim than the primary. We called the game and had a bit of a pow wow about different things he could do to improve in the future.

Damien's the kind of player who always takes these comments on board, so he really is only going to get better and better.

After the game we gathered a few people up and headed to a rather nice pub, where I got to combine 2 of my other favorite hobbies; drinking Mojito's and watching my local rugby team get smashed because they're a bunch of useless losers. Woohey go the hurricanes!

Horus Heresy Podcast

One area of Warhammer 40k where Games Workshop have been fantastic with is the creation of the “fluff” background. Over the past 20 years the background has been constantly developed even though the timeline hasn’t progressed. The development of the 40k universe is far stronger than that of the Warhammer “World”, but not to the extent that some commentators peg it.

The advances of the past few years are in no small part due to the output of The Black Library. Their books have allowed the backstory to blossom. In particular, the Horus Heresy and Time of Legends series have added immeasurably to the narrative.

If you are at all interested in the Horus Heresy and the story of a favoured son’s betrayal by a jealous and vengeful father, then I recommend checking out the latest podcast by World’s End Radio (www.worldsendradio.com). The two hosts give a potted history of the fifteen HH novels to date discussing some of the “new” revelations and new questions raised. It’s an excellent summary for those interested in this pivotal phase of the 40k history.

Hopefully you’ll gain a greater appreciation of what a small minded, neurotic spiv the Corpse-god actually is.

Equinox 40k Tourney Report - Rounds 1 & 2

Hi all,

I'm relatively new to blogging, so thought I would start with something I'm familiar with; a tourney report. I'll break this up into 3 articles of two games a piece, as i get time to write this over the next few days. Last weekend saw the second annual Equinox tournament. 6 rounds of 40k over 2 days, at 1850 points, and 40 participants battling it out. I was defending the title after winning last year, and due to a hectic RL year, was running pretty much the same list as last year. Rather than completely re-jig my my 1750 list that I have comfortably tuned, for the extra 100 points I just added a token 5 man loota unit, and some random vehicle upgrades I wouldn't usually opt for. As such, my list was as follows:

Fields of Blood is now a Team

To give you guys a bit of variety and to broaden the topics covered on the blog I have expanded “Fields of Blood” so we are now a team of three authors.

The two new contributors are:

Charlie St. Clair (Proximity) – Charlie has been NZ’s #1 Ranked 40k Player for the last three years, dominating the scene with first his Tyranids and then his Orks. In between time he built a Pre-Heresy Emperor’s Children army that was voted one of the 20 Best Armies by The Warhammer Forum’s Glass Cabinet section.

Jack Dunn (Little Horus) – Jack is NZ’s enfant terrible. Last year he was ranked #2 in Warhammer fantasy and in year’s past has had the same rank in Warhammer 40k. The youngest person to win a National Championship he picked up the 40k title at the age of 14. He now left the family nest and in his second year at the University of Auckland. Jack is also an excellent painter having completed award winning Eldar, World Eater and Dark Elf armies in the past three years. He is now working on Dark Eldar and his Night Goblins.

I’m sure both guys will be excellent contributors to Fields of Blood.

Skaven Vs. Death Star

Shane Irons sent me an email asking about Skaven tactics against the current flavour of the month, large Death Star units.

I am seeing a lot of Warriors of Chaos and Ogre Kingdoms running huge brick armies.

What is the best way for Skaven to deal with these armies? So far I have just been throwing Slaves into them and shooting them with 2 WLC and spells but it never seems to be enough. Ogre Kingdoms seems worse because I cannot use the 13th Spell on them and their regeneration spell is so cheap. Also they keep stacking multiple copies up to make dispelling them harder.

I have to be honest playing against armies that literally have 90% of their army in one block is not what I thought fantasy would be. Everyone was telling me that fantasy is a more tactical version of 40K, but I really do not see the skill or tactics in moving one unit down the table. I am not losing horribly in these games, but I am not able to kill off the death star units in 6 turns either (I usually get down to 4-6 models left which nets me 0 points).

The big Death Star units are very difficult for Skaven, particularly if they are Warriors of Chaos with their Stubborn 3++ Chosen or Ogre Kingdoms with their non- infantry models.

The first thing I would suggest is to play the scenarios if you aren’t because these do have some aspects which limit the effect of the Death Star – e.g. those that can effect deployment.

Let’s take the two armies separately, first Ogre Kingdoms. One of the best ways to deal with the big block is to use your Slaves as an anvil (as you point out that you are doing). If you can, include a 15 point Engineer in the block and run him out in front (more than 6” away) to act as a diverter. He’ll be killed and they’ll likely reform but it gives you an additional round of shooting for 15 points.

Let the block charge your Slaves, on the proviso it is 30+ and your General and BSB are in range. One of the best things about Slaves is that they let you use ranged attacks into combat. So tarpit the block with your ranks and then hit it with everything. You don’t randomise so only the ogres will take casualties. I find Gutter Runners great for this with their poisoned sling attacks, Engineers with Lightning, Ratling Guns etc. Lacking a decent army save you will soon deplete them.

Finally look at Plague Monks and especially Plague Censer Bearers to charge the unit once they are pinned. PCBs with Gas attack and then 3 re-rollable Str 5 attacks at Init 3 will do real damage to most Ogre units. Seven PCB, 35 Slaves and an Engineer costs around 200 points so they are pretty cost effective investments.

For WoC I find that the biggest impediment is the Infernal Puppet which limits my ability to trow magic dice. However you can give your Seer some protection by taking an Earthing Rod which means you’ll generally be able to get one 13th Spell off with limited damage. I tend to wait until Turn 4 or 5 so that a high Miscast Roll isn’t too limiting. You can usually remove a unit of Chosen with this before it gets into combat especially if you have some engineers.

The keys are to only ever fight these units on your terms. Therefore delay, divert or feed it crap while all the time chipping away at its numbers. For Ogres use the Slave tactic above backed up by PCBs into flank and for Chosen line them up for the Turn 4-5 13th. Alternatively if there are sufficient points in the rest of the army then focus your energies there while frustrating the Death Star.

Hope that helps.

Jokaero FTW

Well I've found the next lot of Lesser Daemons for my Chaos armies.

Who can say no to a unit of Ginger Howler Monkeys?



And just for variety with the GW ones I'm going to add in some of these:

Lizards & Orks Triumph at Equinox

Well the Orks wasn't a surprise - Charlie St. Clair going 6/6 and retaining his title from last year - the win by Mal Patel with Lizards might be to some. It shouldn't be!

Mal has been dominating the Christchurch gaming scene recently and also won Wellington's Call to Arms last year. He finished 4th at the NZ Masters in December and was selected for the 2011 New Zealand ETC team.

From all reports Mal was using a UK-inspired Lizard list with a cut-down Slaan (I'm guessing Ethereal and Beast Magic), an Oldblood on a Cold One and 3 Scar Vets on Coldones. This is backed up by one big Saurus block and numerous support units.

The Scar vets are all very formidible and able to take a lot of punishment.

"I Could've Been a Contender"

One thing that never ceases to amaze me about gamers is their inability to change their modus operandi when faced with a situation that continually has proved troublesome.

If you’ve played someone over a period of 12 months and you’re sitting 0-10 then it’s pretty clear what you are doing is not working. They say the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect different results.

We see this play out at a lot of tournaments and from a dispassionate observer it is fascinating to watch. Typically the “patsy” is big fish in their own little pond and they come together with other “ponds” at 5-6 events a year. Mr. Patsy thinks he’s a contender but his record against the real Big Fish is probably 0-10. He goes along with the same list and lo and behold his record is 0-11.

What I never see is that Mr. Patsy has sat down and had a little think. He should have realized that to actually be a contender he needs to beat Big Fish and therefore his list should be solely aimed at being 110% effective against Big Fish. It shouldn’t matter if it is only 80% effective against other players if Mr. Patsy really is a contender.

But you know what? It’s easier for Patsy to go along doing what does because in the end he doesn’t have to take the risk that he really tries (to play the meta) and loses. Then he would have to admit he wasn’t really a contender after all.

And Now in Financial News......

The NZD/GBP exchange rate has fallen 10% from its highs . Now it only needs to fall another 20-25% before GW’s local prices start to match those of the UK based internet retailers such as Wayland Games (currently offering free shipping).

This pricing disconnect has interesting hobby effects. Our local GW Manager is rumoured to have said “Every time I send a person up to the Warlords, I lose a customer”.

I must admit I have some sympathy with his position but by any measure a 30-40% local pricing premium is ridiculous.

Jezzails - From Hero to Zero!

Yesterday I received a question from Dan Ilot in Australia’s ACT who asked me for my thoughts on Jezzails. Dan noted that I used the Warplightning Cannon and was trying weapons teams but that I never mentioned Jezzails in my list.

Prior to the release of the new Skaven book I always used to include 1-2 units of five Jezzails in my army. Once the new book came out they went back on the shelf. Why? They lost their 360 degree arc of fire which for a unit that has “Move or Fire” was absolutely critical. The limited arc they now have means that the inbuilt protection they had against fast moving units has gone. In effect, they have a massive blind spot. Flyers and very fast units move done the flanks and take them out without potentially ever getting a shot against them from the Jezzails (depending on S&S distance).



The warmachines and the weapons teams teams (albeit with a shorter range) don’t have this limitation as they can pivot in shooting phase.

Against this, for cheaper than the same price as a team of 5 Jezzails you can take a team of 5 Gutter Runners with Poisoned Slings who do a similar job to the old Jezzail team, better.

There is one situation where you can maximize your Jezzails. Take a Lord choice, normally a Warlord, and buy the Folding Fortress. You then have the ability to put this in your deployment zone preferably on the baseline. If it has sufficient floors (2+) then you can put your Jezzails in and have 360 degree arc, shoot every turn and 36” range. By having your Warlord and BSB nearby you can bolster their morale if they have to take a Leadership test. Lots of points but also a lot of fun…..think of it as the Skavenblight Sniper School.

Hope that helps Dan. And thanks for the question.

More than happy to answer any questions people have on the Skaven and will always give you my opinion on all things wargaming. Any queries send them through to Fieldsofblood@paradise.net.nz

Remember, No Bottom Lip Trembling........

Last year I TO’d four Warhammer 40k events. All four were at 1850 points. Each of them had a Composition Score that effectively made up 20-30% of the Overall Score. For the four events, one had a panel, two were TO judged and one had peer judging (a Masters event with 12 players).

The intention of this score was purely to act as a handicap because I believe that GW can’t balance a dozen plus codexes over three editions and over a decade. This balancing is not a precise science but I firmly believe that it is a better alternative to believing that the 3rd Edition Daemonhunter Codex can go toe to toe with the 5th Edition Space Wolves and Imperial Guard armies.

At each of those events the best player won, in two cases the same player while in the fourth that dual winning player lost his first game and never made the ground up on the eventual winner.

After the recent Battlecry event in Auckland where composition scoring could most charitably be described as “problematic”, there has been a call to move to a No Comp environment. This is a very very tempting proposition for a TO because it removes one of the major causes of bitching after the event. Certainly for the gun-players (and those that think they are gun players) it is also very tempting. They can push efficiency to the extreme.

In NZ, the Nicon event is going to be No-Comp. I really want to encourage the New Zealand community to support this event. However……and this is pointed at those who think they are good but ultimately get exposed….remember, no tears. This is big boy pants time and there is no point whining after the event about other people’s armies if you get flogged seven Sundays sidewards.



Everybody starts with a level playing field. You have the choice of 12+ codexes and a Force Organisation chart the same as everyone else. You only have the figures for one army? Bad luck. There’s no could’ve, should’ve, would’ve…..if you take an army less than the most efficient build for your likely opponents and the given missions then you are handicapping yourself and it’s your choice. Not the TO, not the other players, not God…..just you :-)

Next time play better! Oh, and have fun!

Disclaimer: As an ex-tournament player I would have loved it if it was always No-Comp. It rewards people who put thought into army construction and takes one variable (Comp Scoring) out of the equation. However it does discriminate against those that don’t have access to a variety of “powerful” armies. There is also an argument around Market Efficiency that says over time you limit the breadth of armies you will face. That is not a bad thing from a competitiveness point of view but does assume you’re main reason for attending is to win.

Last Week's Painting - Forge World Great Unclean One

So last month I picked up a Forge World Great Unclean One to use as a Summoned Greater Daemon in my Death Guard army. Over the last week or so I've painted the model and I'm happy with the result.

The model is huge 4" high and over 4" wide. I've based it on a 90mm wide base

Here's some pictures of the finished model:











From the photos I've found some areas I need to touch up and some detail I missed.

Happy though with how it turned out.

Karak Eight Peaks Update

Well the interest is rolling in!

The initial 4 Orc & Goblin positions are taken, as are three of the four Dwarfs. I'm the lone Skaven player at the moment.

Orcs & Goblins

Neil Williamson
Darren Urquhart
Ben Wadsworth
Mark Stanton

Dwarfs

John Murie
Peter Williamson
Adam Richards

Skaven

Me


I do have a second Skaven army if anyone wants to run the Master Race and help me remove the flotsam and jetsom from the mountains.

As we fill the initial 12 places I'll be adding more participants in lots of 6!

The Players Pack should be available by the end of this weekend

Equinox This Weekend

This weekend sees the Equinox Warhammer tournament in Auckland. I played with my Skaven at the inaugural event last year and came 2nd out of forty players with a 5 win - 1 draw record. My demise was running into a Nurgle Daemon Wall o' Crap army in the last round and only managing an 11-9 win. This put me a couple of points behind the eventual winner (also Daemons) who I had beaten in Round 5.

This year I would suggest that the field is even better than last year when it drew most of the top ranked players. I am expecting a hard fought competition but my money is on the wily Tony Vodanovich to sweep all before him. After him I think the battle will be fought out for second and third by a mix of players running Warriors of Chaos or Vampire Counts. Could be interesting too when the Bye Buster is the country's No. 2 ranked player :-)

In the 40k event there is a very large field partici[pating. However it lacks quality and depth so I'll be very surprised if anybody emerges to topple last year's winner, Charlie St. Clair. Given that this event has a TO that has put in a robust scoring system and has a sound knowledge of army strength I'll be amazed if we have a repeat of the Battlecry outcome. Hopefully, the participants can exhibit a little more decorum at the presentation ceremony!

The organisers of Equinox have done a great job with this event, making it a cornerstone of the tournament year.

Good luck to all attending. I'll be watching the results with interest.

On the Painting Table This Week

Well I finished the Forgeworld Great Unclean One last week and I hope to get pictures taken tonight and up onto the blog. I’m still waiting for my light box to arrive.

There are a number of potentials for this week’s painting.

Firstly, my Nurgle Plague Hulk arrived yesterday and last night I cleaned up the resin parts and tonight I’ll look to put the kit together. I suspect that that won’t be a particularly onerous exercise so that is a candidate.

Secondly, I have one of the Merchant’s Town Houses 80% put together. I’ll look at finishing it tonight and that becomes an option as well.

Finally, there are a multitude of Skaven models sitting on the painting desk in a half finished state:
• Spinetail
• Ikit
• Craventail
• Nurglitch
• Ratling Gun
• Doomflayer
• Rate Ogre Bonebreaker

All of these need to be finished in the coming weeks.

I also have the Mighty Empire tiles to paint for Runefang IV. I don’t suspect that these will take too long to do but I’d like to have them finished by the first week in April so I don’t have to rush them near the date.

So good variety there – should be sufficiently varied to keep me motivated and hopefully of interest to the blogosphere.

More Musings On Orcs & Goblins

The more I read and think about the new Orc & Goblin book the more I think Jeremy Vetock has done a great job. Mr. Vetock copped a load of criticism after the Skaven book but most of this was in relation to the looseness and ambiguity present in the book. I felt he made a real characterful army with the Skaven and there is absolutely no doubt he has done that with the Greenskins.

One of the best tests of how good a book is, is when you go through the various units and determine whether or not you would run the unit in your army. There are 20+ units and 20+ character choices in the new book and there are only a limited number that I think I would run from an “efficiency” point of view:

• Goblin Shamen (the Night Goblin choice is far better – Mushrooms, anyone?)
• Night Goblin Warboss (if my General I’d go with a Goblin Warboss instead)
• Orc Boyz – if you only have room for one unit then use Big Uns instead
• Snotlings – single Trolls do the same job cheaper or you can get wolf Riders for 10 points more
• Giant - Five points cheaper and still a big load of poo!

I can see a place for virtually every other choice though personal preference will result in certain choices over others in a reflection of play style. One unit I am really keen to see how it works is the new Goblin Wolf Chariot unit….the possibility of 3D6+3 Str 5 impact hits plus 9 Goblin attacks (6 @ Str 4 Spears?) and 9 Wolf attacks is pretty mouth watering – all for less than 180 points. Yes, the unit has risks but it looks like it could really do damage to an anvil unit that other O&G units can then exploit.

Squig Hoppers look interesting now, especially with the addition of models that allow you to re-roll your random distance. Effectively they can become the ultimate hit and run unit.

The other thing I really like about the book is the limitation on O&G Magic Items. There has been much gnashing of teeth on this but I still hold the view expressed in the post “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” that restricting army-specific magic items leads to a tighter book. And to be honest if you can’t build some pretty tasty characters and units using the 81 Common Magic Items…..well, you’re not really trying.

I still hold the view that the most common army will be a “Pick’n’Mix” with lots of sub-100 point Rare units but I could be well off the mark. Personally I can’t wait to face them across the table.

Wanted to Buy/Trade - Figures/Bits I'm After

Here are some figures that I'm keen to get hold of. If you've got them and can help me out then please let me know on fieldsofblood@paradise.net.nz

Mordheim Figures

Sisters of Sigmar (need about 15 assorted....happy to take any)
Rat Ogre
Possessed Brethren (as many as I can get)

Skaven

Poisoned Wind Globadier Backpacks

Warhammer

Metal Dark Elf Corsairs
Gobbla (that comes with Skarsnik)

Warhammer 40k

4 Kroot
Combi-melta

As I said if you can help let me know.

Old Dogs Should Know Old Tricks - 40k Battle Report

On Sunday I had my second game of 40k in eighteen months…..and enjoyed it immensely. My opponent was another returning 40k player, John Tailby. A decade ago John was the King of the Hill, in terms of generalship in New Zealand 40k. I haven’t played 40k seriously since 2006 when I was running my Ulthewe around with the infamous “Seer Village”.

So it really was “Welcome to Jurassic Park” as two crusty old dinosaurs got out their models and pushed them around.

John was using an all foot Iron Hands army while I was using mechanized Death Guard. We played Annihilation with the Spearhead deployment.

The game was interesting because I quickly realized I couldn’t assault John’s position – I lost a Plague Marine squad trying and so I pulled back. John could have sat on his 1-0 lead but pushed forward and going into Turn 5 I was up 5-4 on Kill Points (helped in no small way by the explosion of an immobilized Rhino that wiped out most of a tactical squad).

It was in this last turn my rustiness showed. John had a unit of Assault Terminators bearing down on me the previous turn and rather than pull back I stood and shot. At the end of his Turn 4 he assaulted the unit. Having sacrificed that unit for no purpose, I moved my Daemon Prince into a position to assault even though he had failed his Warptime roll. Suffice to say I ended up losing him as well and the game 5-6.

I really enjoyed the game and in particular I liked the random game length. As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, it is a rule that I think Warhammer Fantasy would really benefit from (not just in Watch Tower games).

List Building 101 - Consideration of Unit Choices

In the first post in the List Building 101 I said I felt it was important to know what your play style is and then if you want to be immediately competitive build with that in mind.

So how do you do that? Firstly through army choice and then secondly through unit choice.

Army choice is pretty self-explanatory. If you’re preferred play style is reserved then Bretonnians are probably not your army. Likewise if you are looking for subtle it is going to be hard to find it with Warriors of Chaos.



Once you’ve settled on an army, I think that the best process is to sit down with the army book and go through the list entries unit by unit. Spend some time on this and look at the possible uses for each unit and how they might fit the needs of your style. Key to this is looking at the potential ways the inclusion of characters and magic items (usually banners) may modify their surface characteristics. For instance the inclusion of a magic banner and proximity to a Cauldron of Blood changes the nature of units in a Dark Elf army markedly. Similarly in this brave new world of magic augmentation the functionality of a unit may be changed by the possible selection of one magic lore over another.

Once I’ve gone through this process I’ll generally have three groups – units I’ll definitely include, those I definitely won’t include and a number of possibles. This then gives you a framework on which to build your list.



One thing that is important here are “synergies”. The word is often bandied about in discussions concerning list construction as something you want to achieve. For me synergy is where the outcome of two or more things working together is more than their individual contributions. Good examples are a block of Marauders and a chariot – the chariot joins combat in the second round to add impact hits after the initial onslaught (str bonus, charge bonus etc) has occurred. In my Skaven I see great synergies in using a block of slaves and a Gutter Runner unit in tandem versus elite low Toughness enemy such as Marauders, Swordmasters etc (the slaves engage them in combat and then the Gutter Runners abuse the no randomization rule by shooting into combat with their poisoned slings).

So when considering units always work through how they will operate and whether working in tandem with another unit makes them a better choice.

The next post in the series will focus on what elements you need to cover off in your list construction.



R.I.P. Thomas Henry Dunn 5/09/21-11/03/81 - Missed every day.

Motivating Yourself to Paint

One of the things that always waxes and wanes through the years is my motivation to paint. Sometimes I’m keen and sometimes I think I’d prefer a root canal. In the early days 10-12 years ago I would get up in the morning and do 30 minutes to an hour before I went to work and then 2-3 hours when I got home. Now I struggle to do an hour every couple of nights while at other times I’ll do a couple of hours in an evening. I’m guessing that the underlying reason is I’m getting older but other things must enter into it.

In those first few years everything was new and you saw marked improvement every time you learned a new technique. After awhile though the learning curve starts to flatten and you reach a plateau. Every advance in technique after that is very hard fought and the achievement less and less of an improvement. To move to the next stage you probably have to have talent rather than perseverance.

So what do you do to maintain motivation?

Well here are a few things I think works.

1. Something Different

Every now and then I try and paint something different. Over the past 12 months this has usually been a terrain piece which is sufficiently different from the figures in a Fantasy army to give me a break. Similarly over the last couple of weeks I finished off the figures in my historical Mongol Conquest army, again enough of a difference to be a holiday.



2. Revisit An Old Army

As above, sometimes a change is as good as a rest. Have a look at one of your existing armies and look at adding a new unit to it or replace an existing one. At the moment I am painting the Forgeworld Great Unclean One for my Death Guard army and I have the FW Nurgle Plague Hulk on order. Neither choice is particularly fantastic in a CSM army but they are a million miles away from painting clanrats.



3. Ignore the Meat and Potatoes, Focus on the Dessert

If you have been painting rank and file and the line still to be done stretches to the horizon, then switch to a “treat”. Skaven armies, for example, have warmachines, weapons teams (though perhaps not after yesterday’s bagging), a multitude of characters etc. If you have hit an impasse with lowly unit types then treat yourself by painting one of the “ornaments”.



4. Carrot No Good? Try the Stick!

If treats don’t work then try the stick. Enter a tournament. That gives you a ready made deadline by which you need to finish your painting. You can either put on your big boy pants and do it or suffer the inevitable sense of failure if you don’t. Stories abound of people hurriedly painting their army the night before a tournament to make sure they complete it.

5. Ear Candy

Listen to podcasts while you are painting. The podcasters should be enthusiastic about the hobby and hopefully inspire you to great deeds. I find it less of a chore when I am listening to a podcast when I’m painting.



If all else fails then take a break. Give yourself a few weeks off and vege on the couch watching “old media” or reading a book. Use the time either to take a break from the “hobby” side or do something different like converting models etc.

Happy Painting!

Jumping the Shark?

Sorry GW but the new Nemisis Dreadnaught model looks ridiculous.



Looks like someone spent the winter watching re-runs of Transformers and Iron Man.

I call "Jumping the Shark".

Skaven Weapons Teams

One of the most appealing units in the Skaven army book are the weapons teams that you can buy to accompany other choices. Apart from a Warpgrinder to go with gutter Runners all the other options supplement Core selections.

So how good are they?

Rather than write a Tactica for Weapons Teams I’m going to lay out my thoughts on the key underlying rationale for including or excluding them from your army.

Cost/Criteria/Characteristics

The teams range in cost from 55 points through to 75 points and can be bought to supplement another choice. For most teams the required unit is either Stormvermin or Clanrats, the exception being Warpgrinder which can come with Night Runners or Gutter Runners.

The cost may seem cheap but as I’ll highlight later this is a two edged sword. They do have Heavy armour for protection and a 4+ ward if in the vicinity of their parent. That said, they only have one wound. In all seriousness someone needs only to look at them threatening like and they are in trouble.

Offensive Ability

Again their offensive abilities look really good on paper….flamer template, strength 4 shots, impact hits and artillery dice attacks, template that wounds on 5+ etc ….however I have found that the reality does not reflect their promise.

Apart from the Poisoned Wind Mortar the other teams with shooting abilities are Move or Fire. This means they need to be positioned the turn before you use them. Generally this exposes them to a turn of magic and shooting and as I pointed out above their defensive qualities are very poor. On top of this they are very erratic. The Warpfire Thrower can vary by +/- 4” from average result while the Ratling Gun now needs to roll to hit removing its key function [removal of skirmishers] under 7th Edition (oh how it loved Wardancers and Shades).



The PWM offers more potential as it doesn’t need line of sight and it can move and fire. However the potential for self-damage from a misfire is quite damaging when you yourself are running blocks. Still, it probably represents your best offensive option.

The Doomflayer looks good on paper but is very susceptible to match-ups. The D3 impact hits are distributed as shooting which reduces the ability to snipe characters and the ability of characters to make way means that if they have a higher Initiative the Doomflayer will be dead before it gets its other attacks.

Finally, the Warpgrinder. No-one will ever put it with the Gutter Runners as it will only limit their contribution while who ever takes a block of Night Runners? No, really who?

Core Points

I suspect the key reason people take Weapons Tests is to pad out their Core requirement. Generally it takes time to paint a Skaven army and when a Weapons Team (1 model) costs the same points as a unit of Slaves (20+ models) I can understand why we see them on the table. However I suspect as you continue to build and paint your army well I know what I think offers the best value point for point.

Slaves

One function they do have is in the support of Slave units. Because you can shoot into a slave combat with impunity, if you can set up an enemy unit you can drill them with a Ratling Gun. However it is very situational and I think you can achieve the same thing far more reliably with Gutter Runners if the opportunity present.

Redirectors

The Weapons Team can be used as a redirector to set up an enemy unit. However it is an expensive option for the role when a 5-6 ranked units of Slaves costs the same points.

Yes, you may get a Stand and Shoot reaction but you are unlikely to stop a charge.

Points Donators

The biggest downside I see to Weapons Teams is that they present your opponent with a very easy opportunity to harvest points in a game where for most units yielding points has got much tougher. If I was playing Skaven I’d see the inclusion of Weapons Teams as a gift from the Horned Rat. The work to get those points is significantly easier than getting them from a potentially Steadfast ranked unit.

In the UK situation where 100 VPs is a win, I’d be very surprised if you ever saw them at all.

Wrap-Up

So my wrap-up is not going to be a surprise to any of you. Unless you don’t have the necessary core points I don’t think there is a compelling reason to take them versus say a unit of Slaves or even a Level 1 Engineer (similar points). They struggle to harvest points and they give them up easily. I have been using 2-3 teams throughout 2011 and I’m about to give them away. It takes a better player than me to get value out of them.

Composition and the new Orcs & Goblins

Switch off now if you come from a jurisdiction that doesn’t use Composition rules in tournaments or the whole concept is an anathema to you.

Since the introduction of 8th Edition most areas have played the game straight out of the book…..and rightly slow. It is important to play the rules and give the chance to learn the nuances of the rules before imposing “fixes”. This is never an overnight process despite what some people think.

After a period of time it is possible (with confidence) to isolate some of the aspects that might reduce the opportunity for a fair contest. Again here this has to be done with some context, Games Workshop have a 4-10 year release schedule stretching over three editions so it is a little demanding to expect the power levels of all armies to be comparable.

Post Xmas on this blog, I posted a very little approach to Composition which hopefully addressed a number of the abuses. This looked at the selections that caused the most angst, repetition of some Rare choices, spamming of an efficient Special choice through to the one thing I think is truly broken, the Power Scroll.

One criticism of this approach is that not all units are created equal and there is a big difference between three units of Gutter Runners and three units of Rat Ogres, in terms of efficiency. Under a comprehensive system there will always be units that look unduly penalized but it does stop abuses such as double Hydras, two units of Flamers, two HPAs, three units of Shades etc. However, it also stops things like multiple Eagles, multiple Fiends etc.

Now I have some sympathy regarding Eagles (not so much on the Fiends  ) and one amendment suggested (and adopted) was to allow duplicate Rares if they are below a certain points level. The question was where you set that points level. If you set it too low there is no point whereas if you set it two high abuses wriggle under the fence. In the end, for my system, I set it at 80 points).

The restrictions were:

General Restrictions

• Maximum Power Dice usage of 12 in Magic Phase (as distinct from maximum of 12 dice in pool at any time)

• Army to have no more than four (4) potential template weapons

• Army to have a maximum of four (4) warmachines

• No more than two (2) of any Special choice

• No double Rare choice worth more than 80 points (single 2:1 choices excepted)

• No Power Scroll

Army Specific Restrictions

• Daemons of Chaos: No duplication of Daemonic Gifts

• Empire: Steam Tank is classed as Warmachine in terms of General Restrictions

• Lizardmen: Slaan may have maximum two of Focus of Mystery, Becalming Cogitation, Cupped Hands or Focused Rumination

• Skaven: Maximum of three Engineers

• Tomb Kings: No Wizards Hat

• High Elves: Only one of the Book of Hoeth or Banner of Sorcery

• Vampire Counts: Only one Vampire may have the Loremaster ability

In light of the new Orc and Goblin book I think that there is still a case to allow multiple Rares because that section contains a lot of choices that will make the army more viable and these are pointed at sub-100 points. Much as people don’t like to face two Warp Lightning Cannons or two single Salamander units, I can see that facing two of the new improved Doom Divers won’t be fun.

My initial thoughts would be to continue to allow duplicate Rare items but to drop the points threshold to 70 points. This allows people to include multiple re-directors from the Rare section e.g. Trolls, Eagles, Fiends while keeping the system relatively straightforward.

The tournaments I run this year will be using this as the Composition framework

First Thoughts on the New Orcs & Goblins

Sat down last night and had my first serious read through the new Orc and Goblin book with a few to seeing what sort of lists it will generate.

My initial thoughts are that we are likely to see “Pick ‘N Mix” armies in the first instance. What I mean by that is I think people will be taking units from across the spectrum of the book rather than following any tight theme.

This means we’ll potentially see a variety of characters rather than just Orcs, just Goblins, just Night Goblins etc. Similarly armies will have a hodge-podge of units from the book to build a list that ticks the boxes on conventional 8th Edition list building.



So things we’ll see:

Single characters built to hold up units similar to the Scar Vets in Lizardmen armies. Boar-mounted, stubborn crown, defensive items.

Single Trolls as cheap redirectors.

Multiple pump wagons

Very few Orc boys….Savage Orcs look a better buy

Night Goblins over other Goblins – nets, fanatics trump skulkers

Giant Spiders only in fluff bunny lists….points better spent elsewhere

Night Goblin Shamans – who doesn’t like free “non” Power Dice

Doom Divers – can I get away with two?

Mangler Squigs

Clearly Rare points are going to be under pressure but you’re definitely going to see 4-5 units all sub-100 points coming from that section.

So there you are…..a Skaven’s thoughts on what the new “black” will be!

Skaven Gutter Runner Units

Just after New Year a package arrived from GWUK (via James Milner, due to GW's new repressive postage) which contained six of the metal assasins. I really dislike the Night Runner plastics and am not two fussed on the Gutter Runner metals so I decided all my Gutter Runners would be the more imposing Assassin figures. Unfortunately there is only two poses - with daggers or with weeping blades and they do no lend themselves to potential conversions. To introduce some variety I decided to include the old and new Deathmaster Snitch figures as "psuedo" leaders.



I really enjoyed painting the figures and though I wish there was greater potential for variety I'm happy with how they came up.



Being skirmishers I need to make special movement trays for them. Unfortunately most manufacturers do them in ranks of five and I wanted mine for the unit of six. In the end I bought a 15 (5x3) skirmish tray from Litko and cut it longitudinally into two 3x2 and one 3x1 (useful for a small units of Wraiths).




In keeping with the rest of my army I used some of the old Lord of the Rings building walls on the edges. This means I can pick up the tray easily and move it where I need it to rain poisoned death. This is especially important for these models as they are metal figures and constant handling is not good for the paintwork.