A New Year of Gaming?

Merry Christmas and have a happy New Year! I've been extremely lucky this year and have been able to provide for my family and put on a decent Christmas, and in return I got a few nice toys of my own! I've got a lot of projects ahead of me and I'm looking forward to building a ton of new models! Here's what I have planned for the next few weeks:

Two lists - Blood Angels and Tzeentch/Nurgle Heresy

So I've got two lists that I'm thinking of messing around with this weekend if I have the time. Check them out!

Rant time!

Over the last few years I have remained very loyal to Games Workshop and the two armies I play in Warhammer 40k, Blood Angels and Tyranids. From shared codexes to pamphlet-dexes and even PDF-dexes, through FAQ's and edition changes, I've played those two armies through thick and thin, and enjoyed every minute of it. However, over the last year or so, I think the odds have stacked significantly against them and it's starting to wear on me.

6th Ed Parking Lot, and why it's awesome!

So after play-testing the 1,500 pt list I put up the other day, I learned a few things including how durable vehicles can actually be in this new edition all things considered. I won my challenge game with that list against Dark Angels Deathwing, and the only vehicles I lost were my speeders. Here's a look at another list I'm planning on running:

Blood Angels lists for 6th Edition

So this week I came up with a few lists for 6th Edition 40k with my Blood Angels that I want to try out. I made a list for 1,500 points for our Pyramid League, and a 2,000 point list (or, "1,999 + 1"). Here's what's in them and how I plan on using them.

A Defender Planet Strike list for Son of Dorn

2,500 points - Planet Strike - Defender

Captain Darnath Lysander
5 Assault Terminators (TH/SS)
Ironclad Dreadnought (Heavy Flamer/Meltagun, 2x Hunter-Killer Missiles, Ironclad Assault Launcher)
Stormraven Gunship (Multi-Melta, Extra Armor)
10x Sternguard (2x Lascannons, 3x Combi-Plasmas, Sgt with Lightning Claw & Combi-Plasma)
10x Tactical Marines (Plasmagun, Lascannon)
10x Tactical Marines (Plasmagun, Lascannon)
10x Sniper Scouts (Missile Launcher, Sgt. Telion)
Thunderfire Cannon
Thunderfire Cannon
Vindicator
Vindicator
5x Devastators (4x Missile Launchers)
5x Devastators (4x Missile Launchers)

2,495 pts

Another day, another list

After finding and posting several very inspiring Space Marine army pictures a few posts ago, I decided to make a list! Also, I've been fooling around with iBodger and making Warmachine lists for my Cygnar and I think I've settled on a pStryker list that I'm happy with using the models I have.

Gun Line Foot Marines

Thanks to Son of Dorn, you guys are getting yet another post from me today! We were discussing the merits of a foot list in today's 40k meta and I think I've come up with a list that seems very interesting. It closely mimics the all-foot Space Marine list seen on a recent Bell of Lost Souls battle report, but I think I've made my list unique enough to stand out on its own.

Another Chance

So now that I've completed my first two days of work, I have a better idea of what things are going to be like.

The Stormraven Gunship - Tactics and Opinions

Ah, the Stormraven Gunship. A beautiful model that just screams "Space Marines" in my opinion. When pictures of the model leaked on the internet, many people had a knee-jerk "I hate it!" reaction, and even I admittedly wasn't thrilled with the only picture that was available at the time. Just like the Venomthrope and Blood Talon fiascoes, after waiting just a few weeks we had better shots of it from GW and size comparisons. I immediately fell in love with this Thunderhawk-esque skimmer and I'm the proud owner of two of them.

Aesthetics aside, this thing comes with a metric shit-ton of weapons and special rules that makes it a formidable transport-gunship.

Let's break it down and see what we've got:

Blood Angels Codex Review Part 1 - Special Rules

Yes, this is long overdue, but FINALLY after a year and a half of play-testing, I believe I can give a solid review of the units in the Blood Angels codex based on a decent amount of experience! I'll start with the special rules, and then go on down the line by Force Organization slots.

How do Blood Angels work?

So lately I've been discussing some Blood Angels theory on Reecius's blog, Frontline Gaming. It might be a bit late in the game for this article, but some people still seem to misunderstand where the strengths of the current Blood Angels codex lie, and that's okay because I'd like to share my thoughts.

NECRONS INCOMING!

So we all know Necrons get their new Codex and models tomorrow, but tonight I'm doing a special battle report with the old 'Crons (against my Blood Angels)! Stay tuned for the video link!

--edit--
There's been some technical difficulties with the videos, and I apologize for the delay. I'm working on the issue right now, so expect them soon!

--edit 2--
I've had the link up on my YouTube channel for a bit, but here it is for those of you that follow this blog:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uAwCZPnji4

2k Blood Angels List

A few weeks ago I played two games with a 2,000 point list I came up with for my Blood Angels. I went undefeated that night against Grey Knights and Orks. Here's the list (though I've added a priest and dropped three Assault Marines and one Death Company member since then):

It's October Already???

For some reason it still seems like it's only August-ish to me. I haven't really accomplished much in the last few months so time should be slowing down for me right? Well, it's definitely not! With Halloween in less than four weeks and Thanksgiving next month, it's time to start considering holiday plans.

'Nilla Marines, 2k

Back in February when I attended GenghisCon I stumbled across an awesome vanilla Space Marine army painted up in the Relictor colors. I had never seen the paint scheme in person before (let alone done this well) and I was simply blown away. I had an immediate new appreciation for vanilla Marines, and since then I have paid more attention to the core Codex: Space Marine army.

I've been watching people run all kinds lists from one-trick ponies to well thought-out and balanced ones, and it inspired me to come up with my own list.

Battlegroup Cruorem Sanctus

Commander Dante, Chapter Master of the holy Blood Angels, received word from Imperial forces on Volcanis VIII that they were under direct assault from Chaos legions who were devastating the planet in a swift and brutal attack. Dante had previous dealings on Volcanis VIII when he led a strike force to supreme victory against a Chaos Lord several hundred years ago who had tried the same thing. The planet is home to several Imperial artifacts and relics (as well as the Cadian 172nd armored regiment) but more importantly there is an experimental weapons research facility located deep within the planet's capitol city of Ardra that is monitored closely by Inquisitor Kallistos.

Dante, pulling from prior dealings with Chaos forces in Ardra, assembled a battlegroup that would quickly and decisively deal with the enemy.

It is called Cruorem Sanctus.

Labor Day BBQ/Tourney

So, yesterday I attended the Troll Country Games Labor Day BBQ/40k Tournament with several other War College members. It was a load of fun, and we got to cram our faces with some decent BBQ through most of the second round!

It was a 2,000 point tournament with BBQ-themed missions. Here's a quick battle report of the event:

More Updates

So again things have gotten to be quite hectic for me lately. I've been busy with transitioning the War College to our new Friendly Local Game Store, Troll Country Games, to figuring out what to do for transportation since my car died, to getting my son ready for his second year of school, to searching for a job, and trying to find a few minutes here and there for gaming. It hasn't been easy on all fronts, let me tell ya.

However, it hasn't been a complete wash. I have gotten to pre-order my copy of Star Wars: The Old Republic along with WWE '12, and I've been toying with Blood Angel and Tyranid list ideas as I stated in my last post. Here's what I have been up to with the Blood Angels:

2,000 points - Deathstar and friends

HQ
Librarian (Terminator Armor, Storm Shield, Sanguine Sword, Unleash Rage)
Reclusiarch (Terminator Armor)

ELITES
Sanguinary Priest (Terminator Armor)
Sanguinary Priest (Power Sword)
5x Assault Terminators (2x TH/SS, 3x LC, Land Raider Crusader with Multi-Melta)
Chaplain

TROOPS
6x Death Company (2x Power Weapons, Power Fist, Rhino with Extra Armor and Dozer Blade)
9x Assault Marines (Meltagun, Power Weapon, Rhino)
10x Assault Marines (2x Meltaguns, Power Weapon, Rhino)

HEAVY
Predator (TL-Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons)
Predator (TL-Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons)

1,992 points, 41 models, 2-4 scoring units, 15 Kill Points

So the 8-man Terminator unit has Furious Charge, Feel no Pain, Fearless, re-rolls to hit in every round of combat, and a 2+ armor save (with about half of the unit having a 3+ invul). They ride in the Land Raider Crusader and it's job is to ride up the center of the field as fast as possible and drop off it's cargo smack in the middle of everything (to draw as much attention to itself as possible). The Death Company can be aimed at anything the Termies need help with or a unit on an objective, and the Assault Squads will grab objectives. The AutoLas Preds are there for some much needed long-range firepower.

I'll add my Tyranid list soon, but that's what I'm thinking of messing around with for now. It's not perfect by any stretch but it should be entertaining.

New Beginnings

So my GW hobby club, the War College, has finally come together and decided on a place to game. We agreed that Troll Country Games (off of Hampden and Monaco) was ideal as they were a store looking for a 40k club, and we were a 40k club looking for a store. Thankfully, I ended up knowing one of the two owners and in fact I had actually GM'd some D&D sessions for him. What a small world. The cool thing is, they are sacrificing quite a bit to accommodate our club's needs. We are pretty much guaranteed every table in their store on a Saturday, all War College members get a 10% discount on all store merchandise, and they are providing 6'x4' boards for us to play on AND cabinets for us to store terrain in!

Anyways, as life goes on in my tiny little world, I have also picked up a new hobby. It's something I've always wanted to do (whether it was professionally or for fun), but I have joined a Pro-Wrestling organization called Mid-West Extreme Wrestling (or MXW for short). Sure, they may seem like a run-of-the-mill backyard wrestling "club", but I've seen some real talent in this group and I'm excited to see where things go. I've been getting my ass kicked in training and I doubt it's going to let-up. @_@

As for other hobbies, I have been toying around with list ideas for 2,000 point games for both my Blood Angels and Tyranids. I'll probably post the lists here after I get in some practice with them which will come over the next few weeks.

Stay tuned!