Its that time of the year...

With the tournaments going wild worldwide, we should not be surprised that Greece, has too been creeping up in the player base of wargaming. Where as several years ago you might of have never heard of Genocide Chronicles or the ICT, now its a decently common referance among fellow Greek wargamers.

Another Orcs & Goblins list

I send my newest O&G list to warhammeister-extraordinaire Mr. Νικηφόρος for a review. Please check it out and chime in with your own ideas. Cheers!

Necron Wraithstar

It's true, Necrons lack a close combat monster unit, a true Deathstar. You won't find any TH/SS, Nob Bikers or Paladins here. Sure, Lychguards can be very expensive but could they go toe to toe with any of the aforementioned units? You can do the maths for me, be my guest.

However, there is a unit in the codex that doesn't have all the crippling weaknesses the other Necron close combat units have. The Wraiths! They might not be as powerful as some units from other books but they can still be quite effective. Let's make them into a Deathstar, shall we?

Footcron Fun

Since I don't have any relevant pictures to post, here are some from my weekend 's expedition because...why not?

The list I posted recently was more of a mechanised affair. I was wondering how Necrons would look on the other side of the spectrum. A pure Infantry list AKA Footcrons. Let's take a look of what I figured out:

Necron List

This is the list I am thinking for 1750 points:


Overlord, Warscythe...100

Overlord, Warscythe...100

Cryptek, HoD, Solar Pulse...55

Catacomb Command Barge...80

Catacomb Command Barge...80

Triarch Stalker...150

Triarch Stalker...150

Triarch Stalker...150

5 Necron Warriors, Night Scythe...165

5 Necron Warriors, Night Scythe...165

5 Necron Warriors, Night Scythe...165

4 Scarab Swarms...60

4 Scarab Swarms...60

Annihilation Barge...90

Annihilation Barge...90

Annihilation Barge...90

This is generally the kind of lists I am comfortable playing with. A lot of redundancy, no deathstars (they make me nervous) and symmetry. The list includes:

And then, suddenly...OGRES!

What's going on in this picture? Why is the gnoblar so excited? Why is does the rhinox look so upset (and slightly constipated)? Is this even legal in the Old World? Anyway I hope all this exist only in my morbid imagination.

First of all let me say something. I really like my Orcs and Goblins army. But I also want to play more games (I have probably played less than 20 games under 8th edition). The O&Gs is a very personable army but it is also very unruly and especially large. I don't enjoy playing with large armies these days, my stamina seems to have diminished. An army with fewer models would be ideal for me. Enter the Ogres (not literally).

New tournament in town, need help with the lists

So apparently there is a new tournament 40K tournament in Athens. The press release states:

"Με μεγάλη μας χαρά σας ανακοινώνουμε την διοργάνωση του 1ου IC (Independent Club) Tournament. 

Ημερομηνία: Κυριακή, 25/9/11
Τόπος: Ξενοδοχείο Στράτος Βασιλικός
Ώρα: 10:00
Συμμετοχή: 10 ευρώ
Θέσεις: 32
Επικοινωνία: Τάσος Γρηγοριάδης, 6974877886 (anastasiosst@yahoo.com)

Κανόνες συμμετοχής:
1. Πρέπει να έχετε μαζί σας έναν πλήρως βαμμένο στρατό (ο στρατός πρέπει να έχει τουλάχιστον 3 χρώματα και «μοντελισμένη» βάση).
2. Ο στρατός σας πρέπει να είναι μέχρι 1750 πόντους από οποιοδήποτε «τρέχον» WARHAMMER 40k Codex (ή White Dwarf Codex) , και να τον έχετε καταγράψει σε μια λίστα με ακρίβεια για το τι περιέχει (εάν χρησιμοποιηθεί εκτύπωση από κάποιο πρόγραμμα που βοηθάει στην δημιουργία λιστών παρακαλούμε όπως βεβαιωθείτε για την ορθότητα αυτής. Σε περίπτωση σφάλματος τιμωρείται ο χρήστης και όχι το πρόγραμμα). Η λίστα αυτή πρέπει να ετοιμαστεί εις διπλούν. Το αντίγραφο θα δοθεί στους διοργανωτές.
3. Όλες σας οι μινιατούρες ΕΠΙΒΑΛΛΕΤΕ να είναι «μοντελισμένες» με τον εξοπλισμό που αναφέρεται στη λίστα σας. Οποιοδήποτε “Count as” μοντέλο, unit ή στρατός θα πρέπει να εγκριθεί πρώτα από τους διοργανωτές πριν χρησιμοποιηθεί στο τουρνουά. Παρακαλώ όπως έρθετε σε επικοινωνία μαζί μας νωρίτερα από τις 20/9/11 προκειμένου να δοθούν οι απαραίτητες διευκρινήσεις.
4. Επίσης, θα χρειαστεί να έχετε μαζί σας, μεζούρες, ζάρια, «templates», το Codex του στρατού σας μαζί με το τελευταίο FAQ του, το Rulebook της 5ης έκδοσης μαζί με το τελευταίο FAQ του και ένα στυλό.
5. Δήλωση συμμετοχής μέχρι 20/9/11.

Διοργανωτές:
• Συλλογίδης Άρης
• Κρομήδας Γιάννης
• Γρηγοριάδης Τάσος

Συνδιοργάνωση: ΕΣΠΑΙΡΟΣ & Battle Bunker Club Χορηγός: Τραχιώτης Μανώλης"

Dual Land Raider Salamanders List

I've been through a few list for my long suffering Space Marine project. I started with the list that you can find over here and then moved to something else:

Forgefather Vulkan He'stan

3x Dreadnought, MM, HF

3 x 10 Tactical Marines, MM, MG, Sergeant (Combi-Flamer, Meltabombs), Rhino

2 x 2 Landspeeders, MM, HF

2 Attack Bikes, MM

2 x Predators, AC, HB sponsors 


Now I think I am ready for something different.

Demolition Men (New IG list)

I was getting kinda sick and tired with my previous list so I think it's about time for a change. Pushing all these footsloggers around can be hard work and time consuming so I want to get back to fully mechanised list. I got the models for everything (I think) so it's not really such a big issue. So here it is (after the jump):

O & G draft list

You will have to excuse my inconsistency at posting (and game systems) of late. I really haven't done anything to do with 40K these last few weeks and I don't want to bore people with my theoryhammers in the meanwhile. I do believe that one should practise that he preaches so without any empirical evidence I don't usually like to throw tactics and army builds out there like that.

However I finally got the new Orcs and Goblins armybook yesterday and it got me really excited. What a fantastic tome of warhammer lore! I don't really want to give a full review of the unit choices within it in this article but rather to list what I want to use in the army. If you are looking for an in depth and excellent review like that, check out Mr. Νικηφόρος blog. He is one of the guys I really trust and I take his advices seriously into consideration. 

Blood Hammer

Bloody Hammer by skeats

The wonderful thing about my "current" (when I get the models...) Blood Angels list is that it can easily change to a whole different kind of beastie with just a few tweaks. The main roster is based almost entirely in close combat. Sure, I got a few meltaguns in there, but they function mainly as can openers so that the Marines can get their hands on the squishy stuff inside their transports. But what would happened if a swifted the balance a little bit and introduced some more ranged firepower elements to the list? Enter the Blood Hammer!

Basically, the Blood Hammer is your standard DoA jumpers list with a good measure of Devastators for fire support. As you may know, Red Devs are very cost effective. A hundred and thirty points for a Signum and four Missile Launchers? Yes, please! Okay, still not as good as Longfangs but still much better than their Vanilla counterparts and all around excellent for their given job. Add in the fact that you can make them a lot more survivable than any other MEQ race out there and their value proliferates. But more on that little bit later.

Chaos Space Marines: New codex, anyone?

I am happy to announce that we have a new author on the blog. He is a lean, mean drum machine (actually he is a real person) and he is known only as "Tzif". Children speak of him in hushed voices around campfires lest the Ruinous Powers steal their souls while they sleep. He is a major Chaos aficionado while his miniature collection pushes a five-digit figure in points. You can bet he is not very happy with the latest Chaos Space Marine codex and he has something to say about it (would you like some cheese with your whine Tzif?). The following article is not just a rant though. There is a lot of constructive criticism in there and a good read for everyone. Enjoy! - The Antipope

I succumbed to the Red Thirst!

First of all let me explain myself. I am not jumping on the Blood Angel bandwagon. If I wanted to do that it would have been six months ago, not now. Plus, I am not going to use a razorspam/predspam list at all. Nope! I am really tired of using mech heavy list so I want something that looks and plays totally different.

Don't get me wrong, I love my mech/hybrid Guard army. Fun to play and also really powerful. However I am fed up with having to carry 3 cases and having to set up 10+ vehicles and all the infantry. Also shooting with all these units is very time consuming. I want a new army that I can use for friendly, fast games and also that I could take to a tournament for a laugh. A Blood Angel jumper list seems ideal for this.

I looked around in the blogsphere (3++, C&F, ID etc) for some ideas and came up with the following three lists for 1750. Even though they are all based on the same principles (FC and FnP bubbles and jumpacks) they should play quite differently:

Help with a Dark Eldar list!

Gentlemen, I am trying to help my friend Leonidas to built a DE list using the new codex. I think the issue here is that the book is very balanced (like this is a bad thing...) and no unit really stands out to me for competitive play. This is obviously cool because you can use all your models using very different list but it's always good to have a "tournament built" that you can use for more serious competitive play. I checked a few blogs and forums for advice and after talking with my friend Neil I've come up with this list:

Need...more...lists!

It's been a while without any posts again (at least for my recent standards). To be honest, I didn't do much this last week. I've been recovering from my illness so I wasn't in the mood to do anything hobby related.  My painting has fallen way behind and I really need to pick up the pace and get some stuff done. I've been painting my Manticore since August! Only thing I've really done was to slightly tweak  my list to what I think works a bit better.

This is what I've been using in my recent games with some slight variations here and there. The army has performed very well this far. I've only lost one game out of fifteen which is pretty good considering I'm fairly new to playing with heavily mechanised Imperial Guard. However the sucsess, there are some units that aren't quite working for me yet. Following this, are a few changes I want to apply to the list and try to make it stronger.

Warbands League second list

It is final. I cannot use the Inquisitor in any of my Warbands League games since the Allies rule won't be valid in the GT format (they force you to use the PDF even if you have a normal copy). So no more Emperor's Tarrot or  Mystics. This is not a major drawback but it's annoying nonetheless.

Also I figured out that using the Officer of the Fleet isn't a good idea anymore. Furthermore, one more scoring unit could be handy. Veterans tend to die a lot and so does the Platoon Command squad, due to the short range nature of their weapons. This leaves me with 2 Infantry Squads in Chimeras which are not very reliable units. I wanted another scoring unit that could sit comfortably in the back and claim and objective but also be a little bit useful at shooting. I first thought of a Heavy Weapon Squad with Mortars but I couldn't squeeze the points out for them. My second best choice is a Special Weapon Squad with 3 Snipers. So, I could either have 6 Psykers (not including the Overseer) and the HWS or 7 and the SWS. Not sure which one I should take. The list looks like this:

Space Marines pet project

A few people raised their eyebrows when I told them that I want to start a Space Marine army. I have been avoiding them like the plague for so many years after all. So what happened and I changed my mind like that?

Well, I've been enjoying playing with my orks and lately with my Imperial Guard but there is a small problem with these two armies. They are both massive in size. Packing everything up, moving them around, deploying them on the table and playing can be daunting to a lazy guy like me. So I needed a more compact force, something I could just have ready all the time and just pick up for a quick game.

A change of heart

I've been having second thoughts about the ork list I am going to use on the Greek GT (Fantasy Shop Fair). I want to make some minor changes but I am still not sure if I should just stick with the original plan.

Orks...?

I received some very distressing news to day (for my hobby that is). The local GT is going to take place in the first weekend of October. I was expecting it to be on the last weekend on November though (like every year). This means that my Imperial Guard army is not going to be nowhere near being painted for tournament standards.

This means that I'll have to use one of my other 2 armies. Necrons are out of the question since they are not competitive and this is a tournament after all. I will have to use my Ork army from last years with a few tweaks. So the list is:

HQ

Ghazghkull Thraka

Big Mek with Kustom Force Field and Bosspole

Elites

10 Burna Boys 

3 Meganobz (Kombi-rokkit, Kombi-Scorcha) riding a Battlewagon (Boardin' Plank, Red Paint Job, Grabbin' Klaw, Armour Plates, Deff Rolla, Big Shoota)

Troops

3 Meganobz (Kombi-rokkit, Kombi-Scorcha) riding a Battlewagon (Boardin' Plank, Red Paint Job, Grabbin' Klaw, Armour Plates, Deff Rolla, Big Shoota)

20 Boys with Nob (Power Klaw, Boss Pole, 'Eavy Armour)

20 Boys with Nob (Power Klaw, Boss Pole, 'Eavy Armour)  

Heavy Support

Battlewagon (Boardin' Plank, Red Paint Job, Grabbin' Klaw, Armour Plates, Deff Rolla, Big Shoota)

Battlewagon (Boardin' Plank, Red Paint Job, Grabbin' Klaw, Armour Plates, Deff Rolla, Big Shoota)

Battlewagon (Red Paint Job, Grabbin' Klaw, Armour Plates, Deff Rolla, Big Shoota)

ORKS! Because iliteracy is KEWL!!!11!

Big G goes with one unit of Meganobz and the Mek rides with the Burna Boys. All Battlewagons stick together to benefit from Kustom Force Field for the first turn and then get some charges in on the second turn.

Everything can pretty much charge on the 2nd turn with a 28'' range. List is lacking long range anti tank weapons that's why I included the Boardin' Planks. 6 x S10 and 16 x S9 15'' range attacks can pretty much kill any vehicle in the game.

Not sure about the second unit of Meganobz but I needed another Battlewagon and since I got the models I thought that was the best idea. I could replace then for some regulars Nobz but I really don't know. I guess I'll stick with the plan.

There are many nasty armies out there that could destroy all my vehicles on the first turn but as long as it's not Space Marines, Eldar, Blood Angels, Dark Eldar, Tau, Space Wolves, Tyranids or Imperial Guard I will be fine. So bring it on Necrons!!!

1750 points Army List

HQ

Company Command Squad, Bolt Pistol (Company Commander), 4 Meltaguns, Officer of the Fleet, Chimera (Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Flamer) 177 Pts

Elites

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor, 2 Mystics, Emperor's Tarrot 47 Pts

9 Psyker Battle Squad, 1 Overseer, Chimera (Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Flamer) 165 Pts

Troops

Veteran Squad, 3 Meltaguns, Chimera (Multi-Laser,Hull Heavy Flamer) 155 Pts

Infantry Platoon 335 Pts

• Platoon Command Squad, 4 Flamer, Chimera (Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Flamer)
• Infantry Squad, Autocannon, Chimera (Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Flamer)
• Infantry Squad, Autocannon, Chimera (Multi-Laser, Hull Heavy Flamer)

Fast Attack

Vendetta Gunship 130 Pts

Bane Wolf, Hull Heavy Flamer 130 Pts

Heavy Support

2 Medusa, Enclosed Crew Compartment, Heavy Flamer 300 Pts

2 Hydra Flak Tank Battery, Heavy Flamer 150 Pts

Manticore Rocket Launcher, Heavy Flamer 160 Pts

This sort of list seems to be working for people, from all the posts I've read on the Internet. Since I am not too good making lists from scratch of my own I decided to go with something like that. I went for redundancy rather than spamming. So I opted to take several units that fulfill the same role rather than taking the same unit several times. This makes the painting much more interesting for me and offers more tactical maneuvering in the battlefield.
Since people have been playing heavily mechanised armies in 5th edition I new I needed to concentrate on anti-tank weapons. The company command squad and the veterans are loaded with meltaguns to take out AV 14 stuff like Land Raiders. Their BS 4 along with the "Bringing it Down!" order (making weapons vs vehicles twin linked) should do the trick I suppose. Then we have the 3 twin linked lascannons from the vendetta which will be able to kill AV 13 fairly easy. Then I got a ton of weapons to deal with lightly armoured vehicles (AV 10 and 11). All the multilasers from the chimeras, hydras and the autocannons from the infantry squads are more than enough.
Bane wolf, heavy flamers on chimers and the platoon command squad with the 4 flames will help clearing out any horde armies (if anyone is playing with one these days). Then all my heavy ordnance stuff (Medusas, Manticore, Battle Psyckers) can fulfill a dual role, being equally good at destroying enemy armour as well as clearing massive chunks of infantry.
I read about a nasty trick of how to protect your artillery units. Usually I will have them hanging of the back, away from harms way. My biggest concern is stuff deepstriking close to them and taking them out in a round of shooting (drop pods containing metlagun wielding space marines for example). People have been using the following trick in order to counter that. Using an Inquisitor hanging back with the artillery inside a Vendetta you are sure to prevent deepstriking near that area. By having 2 Mystics with him, the Inquisitor can make on of your units (within 12'') to shoot at anyone that deepstrikes 4D6'' from him. And since the Vendetta gives him a very big footprint, that area becomes quite massive. So if a drop pod deep strikes anywhere near your artillery it will be greeted with 2 Medusa Ordnance shots. Or if a multi melta equipped Land Speeder dares to deepstrike close enough if will get all the shots from the Hydras. Very nasty trick indeed. I also included officer of the fleet (-1 to enemy reserve rolls) so my opponent will think twice before holding stuff in reserves in order to deepstrike them later in the game.
One last thing. Getting the 1st turn with this list is quite important so I equipped the inquisitor with an Emperor's tarot. Everything sounds good in theory so far I just need to get some practise games now!