What is this? 6th Ed. Rumors?

My wife and I at Shaolin Temple.

Hi guys! I'm back from China and boy was it fun.  My wife and I visited my uncles and cousins for the first time since we got married and the itinerary they prepared for us was insane!

We spent 4 days in Beijing and saw the following places:
Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Bei Hai, Hou Hai, Ming Tombs, Great Wall, and other smaller places.

We spent 3 days in Shanghai and 1 day in Zhengzhou to see the Shaolin Temple.. which was amazing!

I came back a little under the weather and to a billion emails.  Thanks for all those who Emailed questions and had the patience to wait for me to answer them.  Anyways, so what the hell is this I hear about 40K 6th Ed. in 2012?  If you guys haven't seen the rumors already, check this stuff out:

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2011/06/40k-rumors-6th-edition-first-murmors-it.html
http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2011/06/40k-rumors-6th-edition-round-two.html

Looks like a good amount of changes to the following things:

• Ballistic skill and hitting different targets moving at different speeds
• Vehicles are easier to destroy from heavy weapons
• Cover being a lot less forgiving
• Independent Characters being a lot better
• Torrent of fire is back! no more wound allocation

I haven't looked into this as hard as I should since these are just rumors, but I'm curious to think what you fellas think.  From first glance, this looks like that everything I hated about 5th Ed. will be addressed.

Thoughts?

My ALEPH army lists

Let's go over 2 army lists really quick.  One of which is 200pts and the other one is 300pts.  I figured that's what the guys around here is playing since everyone's just starting out.  From looking around the forums, I'm seeing the 300pts is the standard for most lists.  That's cool, I'll probably start at 200pts for my first couple of games.  Hmm.. I wonder if I can take 2 Lieutenants in a single list if I have the option?  I can't seem to find anything in the main rulebook.  Getting pumped for this game.

Here's the short notation of my army lists:

200pts
8 orders
3.5 SWC

Asura LT w/ MULTI Rifle
Myrmidon w/ Spitfire
DEVA Hacker w/ Combi Rifle
2x Dakini w/ HMG
3x Netrod

300pts
10 orders
5.5 SWC

Achilles LT w/ Spitfire
Asura w/ MULTI Rifle
DEVA Hacker w/ Combi Rifle
2x Myridon w/ Spitfire
Dakini w/ HMG
Dakini w/ Combi Rifle
3x Netrod

Below, you'll see the full notation using the Devil Team army builder.

Have you guys tried this army builder?
http://www.infinitycreator.com/

It allows you to make lists like this:
http://www.infinitycreator.com/users/1226/army_lists/print?id=13607

Pretty neat.  Oh!  I'm going to China for 8 days.  I'll be reading this awesome version of the rulebook multiple times while on the plane.

 ALEPH
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 GROUP 1 (Regs: 8/Irrs: 0):

  ASURA Lieutenant MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, AP CCW (73)
    MOV:4-4  CC:16  BS:14  PH:14  WIP:15  ARM:5  BTS:-6  W:2
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube
    V: No Wound Incapacitation, Multispectral Visor L3, Lieutenant

  MYRMIDON Spitfire, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW (32 | 1)
    MOV:4-4  CC:17  BS:12  PH:13  WIP:13  ARM:2  BTS:0  W:1
    Regular, Frenzy, Cube
    Martial Arts L3, ODD: Optical Disruptor

  DEVA Hacker  Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife (35 | 0.5)
    MOV:4-4  CC:14  BS:12  PH:11  WIP:15  ARM:2  BTS:-3  W:1
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube
    V: No Wound Incapacitation, Hacking Device

  2x DAKINI Tacbot HMG / Electric Pulse (22 | 1)
    MOV:6-4  CC:8  BS:11  PH:8  WIP:13  ARM:0  BTS:-3  STR:1
    Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Remote Presence
    CH: Mimetism

  3x NETROD Electric Pulse (4)
    MOV:-  CC:-  BS:-  PH:12  WIP:-  ARM:0  BTS:-3  STR:1
    Regular, Not Impetuous
    AD: Combat Jump, AI Beacon


 196 Points | SWC: 3.5

ARMY CODE: eNozM1Q1UTNWM6yxUDMBksZqRkDSUM0QQZqpGaBTADjwC5o=
Army Infinity v.3.0. - http://www.devilteam.com



 ALEPH
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 GROUP 1 (Regs: 10/Irrs: 0):

  ACHILLES Lieutenant Spitfire, Nanopulser / Pistol, EXP CCW (81 | 2)
    MOV:6-4  CC:20  BS:15  PH:16  WIP:15  ARM:6  BTS:-6  W:3
    Regular, Frenzy, Cube
    Martial Arts L4, ODD: Optical Disruptor, Multiterrain, Lieutenant

  ASURA MULTI Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, AP CCW (73)
    MOV:4-4  CC:16  BS:14  PH:14  WIP:15  ARM:5  BTS:-6  W:2
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube
    V: No Wound Incapacitation, Multispectral Visor L3

  2x MYRMIDON Spitfire, Nanopulser, Smoke Grenades / Pistol, AP CCW (32 | 1)
    MOV:4-4  CC:17  BS:12  PH:13  WIP:13  ARM:2  BTS:0  W:1
    Regular, Frenzy, Cube
    Martial Arts L3, ODD: Optical Disruptor

  DEVA Hacker  Combi Rifle, Nanopulser / Pistol, Knife (35 | 0.5)
    MOV:4-4  CC:14  BS:12  PH:11  WIP:15  ARM:2  BTS:-3  W:1
    Regular, Not Impetuous, Cube
    V: No Wound Incapacitation, Hacking Device

  DAKINI Tacbot HMG / Electric Pulse (22 | 1)
    MOV:6-4  CC:8  BS:11  PH:8  WIP:13  ARM:0  BTS:-3  STR:1
    Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Remote Presence
    CH: Mimetism

  DAKINI Tacbot Combi Rifle / Electric Pulse (13)
    MOV:6-4  CC:8  BS:11  PH:8  WIP:13  ARM:0  BTS:-3  STR:1
    Regular, Not Impetuous, G: Remote Presence
    CH: Mimetism

  3x NETROD Electric Pulse (4)
    MOV:-  CC:-  BS:-  PH:12  WIP:-  ARM:0  BTS:-3  STR:1
    Regular, Not Impetuous
    AD: Combat Jump, AI Beacon


 300 Points | SWC: 5.5

ARMY CODE: eNozM1Q1MlQzVTOsMVEzAJIWaiZw0ljNCEgaqhmCSZCsoRkmBQDmRw6M
Army Infinity v.3.0. - http://www.devilteam.com

To Infinity and beyond!

I've been doing some serious research into Infinity lately and I have to say that I'm really digging it.  Good thing my brother is in town and he's just as much of a geek as I am. I got really excited to play this game and I went home with a full batch of rules and proxy'd minis.  We had a good night of learning and playing as we watched Dark City and Waking Life. Shit got really really real.

I built a 200pt ALEPH list and a Yu Jing list with as much simplistic stuff as possible and gave the game a run through.

We used a roughly rectangular 3.5x2.5' table and loaded the board up with terrain. By terrain, I mean cups, LoS blockers, some DVDs cases to represent buildings, my wife's nail polish, my GW paintset (never seen so much dust in my life), and some other stuff. There were elevations and buildings to take advantage of climb and normal moves, open terrain, LoS blockers in the form of barrels, and ~6 or so models on each side.

We rolled off, tested WIP and I made him go first so I can counter deploy and set up firing lanes.

The first thing I noticed in this game is that I had to think hard, and I mean really hard about the way deployment was to pan out. We both took advantage of our heavy weapon allowment and we both had the ability to shoot across the table at any targets that presented itself. With lethality being the way it is in this game (and I'll get to that later), it literally became a cat and mouse game of wits. Just to make things fun, my brother's Yu Jing (thanks to the Wych model) also fielded a Oniwaban, which is a specialized CC assassin type ninja with Thermal Optical camo. You know that ninja thing bro from Metal Gear? That's basically what the Oniwaban is.

Another thing I want to note is the hugggggeeeeeeeee amount of weapon profiles, stats, special rules, and things you can do with each model. Each model is equipped with a set batch of gear and depending on what you take, the costs vary. Fair enough. In addition to this, every thing, and I do mean every thing has a profile that does something. Combi Rifles are different than HMGs, Multi Rifles have different types of ammo that can be toggled and the list goes on and on. I thought 40K was rough when I first started, but this game has probably the steepest learning curve I've ever seen.

So the ninja gets to deploy in the middle of the map because he has superior infiltration and start the game in camo TO. I set up my dudes so that I had firing lanes into my brother's units if he moves across terrain and if he moved across certain. I also had to make sure I could draw LoS on places that the ninja could run through or climb over so I can attempt to detect him using my Willpower. Lastly, I put my Multivisor Lv.3 Spitfire-totting Asura in a location where I can neutralize the ninja (multivisor sees through the ninja's bullshit) if he is to assassinate one of my dudes, or if he climbs on top of a building, or cross into my firing lanes.

I want to emphasis the importance of deployment, as shitty deployment and poor planning could lose the game for you right here. It felt instantly like an RTS (my forte) over a miniatures game. Positioning was key and a forced conflict when you're out of position could/is mean instant death.

My brother advanced his troops carefully, weaving through the barrels and paint cans using double move short-short sprints, or advancing with a long skill 4" move but using Cautious Movement so I wouldn't get an ARO (my reactive). In turn, his dude moves slower since he's not allowed to do his secondary move. I did manage to draw LoF on one of his dudes and I shot with my 1 shot into cover and with the cover giving me -3 to my ballistic skill and +3 to his arm, I didn't make too much success.

Now that the battle has engaged, it was my turn to be the aggressor. I used terrain to my advantage and moved into firing locations at his units with multiple orders and used my weapons high burst fire to beat down his ARO of 1 shot back. This showed off how high lethality is: 3 shots go through, he fires 1 back and hits (they cancel), so technically 2 shots go through. With most armor in the game on common infantry being 1 or 2, even with the +3 armor you get from cover, you have to roll a 10+ to survive a POW14 gun. Without cover, you just get shot in the face.

What I find interesting in this is that you can use all your orders to send one guy running up the field and unleashing hell at an overextended model out of cover, or you can move several dudes up the field and taking pot shots. With the limited amount of orders per turn, I felt another RTS element come up: managing resources, even more so than Fury or Focus, more so like Fury because losing dudes drops the amount of orders you can make in the next turn. Unit preservation is very important, and maximizing damage and opportunity is key when exploiting weaknesses in your opponent's movement. Since all of this happens so fast, map awareness is key in every decision you make. I can see how for some people, this might take a long time to make a decision..

The highlight of the game is probably when my bro blew all his orders to make a daring attack on one of my Mymridons in a forward position.
Order 1: He moved past a firing lane using his 4" move + cautious movement to sneak past my guns.
Order 2: He snuck around the DVD case with 2 short sprints.
Order 3: He moved again and attacked my Mymidon from behind.

I was like, yo bro, I have Martial Arts 3. And he goes, yo bro, I have Martial Arts 4, which cancels 3 and denies me any reactions. Normally I can react to someone STABBING ME IN THE NECK, but he's so stealthy and pro that he cuts right through my armor with his Monomolecular blade and caused instant death as he cuts me in half down the middle.

The ninja's victory is short lived as my Asura was in range to pick him off as soon as he killed the Mymridon. Now, I couldn't find through the cluster fuck of rules what happens when a ninja with camo TO kills a dude when there's people looking at him (he had no orders left).
A. Does he stay invisible, gets seen my by Asura immediately and I can take a ARO?
B. Does he decloak and I get to shoot him in the face as a ARO?
C. I don't get a ARO and the Ninja has to die on my next turn.
D. The Ninja decloaks but since he has no orders left, has to wait until next turn to recloak, in which I can shoot him to death anyway.
E. None of this shit matters because I just remembered that when the Ninja rounded the corner without cautious movement, my Asura could of ARO'd and shot him in the face anyway.

Like I said: There's a lot of shit in this game to remember.

I also want to touch upon 2 really cool things that I wish we explored:

• Models can overwatch an area with Suppression Fire. If any model crosses this area, I get to react and shoot back with a full burst instead of just 1 shot. Very cool, very realistic and deadly. Needs a lot of pre-planning because it takes an entire order to activate overwatch.
• Models that are being shot at can attempt to dodge the shot using his PHysical skill. He can use this in melee too if he can react to the target, which you normally can unless you're a fucking ninja. Being able to dodge things can move your model that's not into cover into cover on a successful dodge, or it can make you break melee! A lot of cool things here.

Just wanted to share my thoughts on a new gaming system, and although it's a complicated game, I can see this game as the most challenging miniatures game I've ever played thus far. It shares many of the same mechanics as StarCraft and for that reason alone, I'm getting it. I will say this though: It's not a game faint of heart. Things can go really poorly for you if you don't think ahead and look at the battle plan as an absolute whole. It's essentially StarCraft micro wars on a table-top, which is very appealing for me.

Sisters Rumors, part 2

Straight from BoK!

It is that time again, thanks for reading and posting your questions. Let me start by letting everyone know I have no idea (or will never know for sure) about new model releases. I don’t know if the new sisters release will be resin or plastic or the numbers in the boxes, but like I said before my bet is on Finecast re-release. Now with that out-of-the-way on to new rules…

What is not in the Codex

Repressors

Arbites

The Units (some more information than others)

Canoness: Here is my special shout out to the Canoness: you are terrible. I mean grossly underpowered. Now this is going to sound like a cop-op, but I am not going into details because my hope is that she will be changed before release. It just sounds and looks like she is an unfinished product. She gets her own retinue that cannot do anything; she starts out cheap, but her upgrades are expensive and lame when you compare to everything else. So here is hoping to GW getting her fixed.

Repentia: Forgot to mention they have fleet

Celastians: Cheaper than a Marine, but not really anything going for them (that I know of)… extra attack. Re-roll hits for act of faith

Sister Battle Squad: Can still get a Heavy Flamer

Shraphim: They are pretty amazing. Cheaper than a Space Marine you get a Jump Packing, Hit and Running, and an act of faith that has them re-rolling wounds. You can also upgrade them to run with double hand flamers and melta pistols. They act both as an extra close combat weapon and become assault 2 instead of being twin-linked. So that means Assault 2 melta weapons.

Dominion Squads: Still get 4 special weapons. Act of Faith twin-linked.

Retributor Squads: Pretty fantastic. CHEAP! Talking under Long Fang cheap to fully kit out. Expect the return of the Heavy Bolter with these. Act of Faith is Rending.

Penitent Engines: Again fantastic. Same statline (Walker). No Scout or Infiltrate. Cheaper and can be a squadron aka 9 Engines. They still get the 1D6 attacks, but any wounds generate additional attacks (don’t know if they work like Blood Talons). 6+ Invul (don’t know if they generate faith)

That is all I got guys, if I get more will let you know. As always you can get a new developments by following Blood of Kittens.

Best way: Register with Blood of Kittens and receive email warnings about impending rumors or news.

Become a Facebook Fan of Blood of Kittens

Or join Blood of Kittens on Twitter

As always for those that don’t want to sign up for anything, don’t worry you will get all the same information as everyone else just no advance warning.

Grey Knights FAQ!

The FAQs:
http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1830600a_40k_Rulebook_version_1_3.pdf
http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1830601a_Grey_Knights_v1_0.pdf

Here are some things that stuck out:

Q: If a Grand Master gives a unit with personal
teleporters the Scouts special rule, can they use the
shunt move as a part of their Scouts move? (p22)
A: No.

No more first turn charges!

Q: Does a Dreadknight with a Nemesis doomfist strike
at Strength 6 or Strength 10 in close combat? (p34)
A: Strength 6, as it is not a walker.

Awkward wording on the NDF, but I guess that makes sense. Makes the Great Sword something to be desired now over what we thought was S10.

Q: For each Jokaero Weaponsmith in a henchman unit
after the first you add +1 to the Inconceivable
Customisation roll. Does this mean that if you have 6 or
more Jokaero in a unit that they will receive no
bonuses (as you cannot roll less than a 6 and duplicate
rolls are ignored)? (p50)
A: Yes.

So I guess take 5?

Q: Can models in Terminator armour embark onto an
Inquisitorial Chimera? (p51)
A: Yes.

And here's the final word.

Q: If a model with a Nemsesis force halberd has had his
Initiative reduced to a fixed number by an
ability/special rule, do they still get the +2 Initiative
from the Halberd? (p54)
A: No.

Lash Whips rejoice!

Q: How do you work out whether a psyker is affected
by the Psi-shock special rule on a mindstrike missile or
a psyk-out bomb? (57, 58)
A: Any psyker under the template will be effected by
Psi-shock.

Been playing it like this for a while, but I'm glad they made it clear.

Q: Do you take into account the strength increase from
the psybolt and psyflame ammunition vehicle upgrades
when working out if a weapon is a defensive weapon
or not? If a vehicle has either of these upgrades, must
you use them? (p62)
A: Yes to both questions.

S5 Hurricane Bolters do not count as defensive weapons! I hope everyone's been playing them right.

Q: Would an orbital strike relay targeted within 12" of
one or more servo-skulls have its scatter distance
reduced? (p62)
A: No, it always scatters the full 2D6".

Just icing on the cake.

Q: Are Wounds from Dangerous Terrain tests allocated
in the same way as shooting attacks? (p14)
A: No. Each model moving through dangerous terrain
must take a test. Each model that fails takes a Wound

A lot of people have been playing this as shooting for the purposes of allocation, but I'm glad that it's clear as day that each model has to take DTs.  This increases the chance your IC, Sanguinary Priest or Meltagun dudes fall on their face when jumping.

Q: Do the effects of the same psychic power cast
multiple times on the same unit stack? (p50)
A: Yes, unless specifically stated otherwise.

This is big, because this means that Hammerhand from a Librarian can stack with Hammerhand from a Paladin squad.  If you have a Grand Master in there, you can test for HH 3 times, so on and so forth.  Interesting...

Q: Can a psyker attempt to cast the same psychic
power more than once in a turn? (p50)
A: No, unless the psychic power itself specifically allows
it.

This means that you can't just bring a Libby and have him spam HH to buff your dudes.  In order for you to stack, you must cast from separate sources.

First batch of SoB rumors from BoK

Click this for SoB confirmation!

Updated: 1:19pm PST, 6-12-11

Thanks BoK for the awesome rumors:


Sorry for the delay real life got in the way for once. Before we get started just want to drop two cents to some comments made in my last post: the only reason I could come off as gloating or soap boxing about rumor vindication is because the instant I post a group of rumors across the Internet on forums elsewhere they are quickly discounted (which is fine), but many times it pretty venomous and my attitude is just a little way of defending myself; by pointing out who was right and who was wrong. So sorry to everyone that just wants rumors and no ego every time I post something, it is only directed at the certain naysayers and shouldn’t be taken as me trying to tell you how awesome I am. I am not always right, but for the most part I am pretty damn close so let us leave it at that.

Ok, with that said let us get on with why you are really here some SoB rumors.

As always let us start with the easy ones that pretty much everyone figured was going to happen.

Allies gone
Inquisition gone
Faith streamlined
USRs updated to 5th
Cheaper Unit costs
Inquisition elements gone

So let start with the big one and perhaps most controversial change to Sisters of Battle: Faith

I am amazed reading around the Net how quite few people had great guesses on how the new faith works. One caveat about the faith rules: I only have most of the story so let us hope someone else can pluck the rest from the aether. The only thing that really stays the same is only faith producing units can use faith. Gone is the over and under rules based on model count and gone is faith powers that everyone can use. It is replaced with every unit has its own unit specific act of faith to call upon.

So for instance Repentia Act of Faith allows them to always land an attack even if they are killed before they can swing. They are little bonuses like re-rolling to wound and hit, no USRs. Now this if fine and dandy if you just pop a faith point and bam! power goes off, but not so fast. Acts of Faith require that you roll 5+ to activate . This makes faith much more unreliable… maybe. In addition every unit that can get faith generates 1d6 faith points per turn. This also means that a new faith pool is generated each turn with no storing of past faith. As well faith can be activated in multiple phases of the game, so for instance you can re-roll to hit in your shooting phase or in your assault phase. What is not clear is a few things. Like how many dice can you throw at a single act of faith? How many times can you attempt to activated a power? If you get an act of faith to go off in one phase does it carry over to the next phase? If you fail an act of faith does that mean you cannot try again in another phase? I don’t have the answers, but what do you think?

Random tidbits

All Faith generating units get +6 invul save
All units that can get transports get Immolators or Rhinos
Assassins gone (Death Cult still in)
Wargear with the same names as GK wargear stay and get changed over. (e.g. Psybolt Ammo)
Karamazov gone
Priests in, pretty much same as before.
No change to the general Bolter, Melta, Flame concept of the Sisters

Specifics

Sisters have about 5 HQ choices including Special Characters

St. Celestine: Same price as a Grand Master you get 2+/+4 saves, WS/BS 7 Jump Pack, Fleet, Power Weapons always wounds on 4+ Has the power to come back like GK Thawn if killed.

Confessor: Takes the slot of the old Inquisitors. Cheap HQ (Warboss). Can create a henchman band using most of the henchman found in the GK codex. What makes the Confessor extra deadly is the ability for it to re-roll hits and wounds for her and the squad. This is the translation of the rumor matrix. So think for one second about her and the Death Cult together?

Repentia: Cheaper close to SM cost. FNP, Rage, Fearless, 6+ invul, no transports

Battle Sister Squad: Cheaper 10-20 unit size (no combat squads), but has access to Immolators which begs the question… Immolators either get increased transport capacity or Sisters break the rules concerning model count and buying transports. Multiple acts of faith.

Exocists: Pretty much same as before.

This is it for now gents and dames. If you have any questions let me know I can see if can get them answered sometime this week with another post.

Can you build competitive and fluffy?

Before we go too deep into the lines of soul-searching, let's lay down some definitions first.  For me, the word competitive means to play your best.  This means improving on your generalship, optimizing your army list and designing an well-tuned army. I tagged an assload of articles I wrote previously and labeled them as "recommended".  These articles speak of list synergy, threat application and cost effectiveness.  This is the type of knowledge that I apply when playing competitively.

Now what about fluffy?  Or better yet, my definition of fluff:  You build your army how the army was designed to be played.  Space Wolves should be seeking a glorious death in combat and Blood Angels should be charging into the fray.  This is the element of fluff that I'm talking about and this is what I design most of my army lists around.  My recent article on BoLS called "Remembering Who We Are" covers my thoughts on this much more vividly.

As you guys have noticed, my blog's pretty much a competitive blog with a thematic twist.  You'll never see any Razorfang or RB spam lists here; instead you'll see well-tuned army lists trying to make my creations work.  I see army list construction a game in itself, and I take great pride in kicking ass with an army spewed from my own creativity.

My current army lists:

Space Wolves
Wolf Lord w/ TH/SS, Saga of the Bear
Rune Priest w/ Chooser and WTN
3x 9x Grey Hunters w/ WG in Rhinos
7x Wolf Guard Terminators in a LRC
3x Predator w/ AC/LC

The Wolf Lord Lagnar and his companion Rune Priest is leading the Space Wolves into battle.  Three Grey Hunter squads in Rhinos will insure mid-field security while the Predators draw the enemies up close .  Once that happens, Lagnar and his entire retinue of Wolf Guard Terminators will charge into the fray and slay any opposition.  This tactic is known as the Wolf's Jaws.

Blood Angels
Mephiston
3x 10x ASM jumpers w/ Fist and Meltas
2x Sanguinary Priests w/ Jump Packs
3x Baal Preds w/ HB sponsons
3x Preds w/ AC/LC

Chief Librarian Mephiston is leading an expedition force of Blood Angels.  At the front of the assault is a spearhead of Baal Predators followed by long-range supporting fire from AC/LC Preds.  Despite having full access to the Chapter's Rhinos and Razorbacks, Mephiston and his battle-brothers choose to take the fight to their enemies in the way the Blood Angels know best:  Death from above.

Grey Knights
Librarian
3x 10x GKSS in Rhinos w/ Psycannons and Psybolts
6x Paladins w/ Apothecary and 2x MC Psycannons
3x Rifleman Dreads w/ Psybolts

The Grey Knights strike at the heart of the enemy with devastating medium-range firepower while the Chapter's Dreadnoughts offer long-range support.  Having recently retro-fitted their armored brothers with Twin-linked Autocannons, Librarian Larrus is confident that the enemy will founder.  Should the battle go ill, Larrus and his retinue of Paladins will teleport to the battle directly and make swift work of any assailant.

Dark Eldar
Vect
2x Raiders w/ 5x Warriors
3x Raiders w/ 10x Wyches
3x Venoms w/ 3x Trueborn w/ Blasters
3x Ravagers w/ NS and FF

Asdrubael Vect has always been a warrior without peer.  His arrogance is so great, the mere thought of haemonculi "helping" his army disgusts him.  As Vect invades his target destination, he does it with the speed and precision that the Dark Kin is known for.  With a flash of utter darkness, nothing is left save for the burning wreckage of his foes.  As the darklights fade, so does the opponent's chances of victory.

Let's be fair now.  Do any of these lists looks WAAC and min-maxed for the Ard Boyz win?  They're fine-tuned, definitely, but aside from repetition that can be viewed as spam by some, I don't see any any uber powerful lists here.  My Space Wolves uphold their virtues in seeking a glorious death and my Blood Angels will charge head first into battle.  You might think that's a lot of AV13 armor, but shit, I pretty much coined the phrase 3/3 and I've been using variants of that list since day 1.

What do you guys think about my lists?  They're certainly not the lists you tend to see on other sites but you come here for tactical advice none the less.  I must be doing something right.

My CSM predictions for the next book

I have an entire Forgeworld Death Guard army sitting at home doing nothing this edition.  Part of me wants to go out there and play them and the other part of me actually wants to win a game.  Keep in mind that I'm not saying it's impossible for CSM to win a game, but I don't think they can win in the manner that people want them to.  Why?  Because just like the Tyranid codex in 5th, the CSM codex was the worst codex to be released in 4th.

It's bad in a way that confuses players in terms of unit choices and leaves them with limited no-brainer options.  This severely limits a player's ability to make war with the units that he wants.  It's either because the units pale in comparison to others so much that it's stupid not to take them or they just plain out suck.  To me, there's nothing more frustrating than playing with an army book with a limited unit selection.  I want to be able to take whatever I want and make things work.  Just look at Space Wolves, you can take almost anything in the codex and make it work.  That's what I want for my Chaos Space Marines.

So what am I looking for next edition?

• Marks over Icons.  You gotta be kidding me with Chaos Icons.  I mean, shit, there's no way in hell that Chaos Marines who share an allegiance with their godly patron suddenly lose their blessing for losing a god damn standard.  Ridiculous.
• Overall stat boosts across all Chaos HQs.  This means WS7 Chaos Lords with at least 4 attacks.  He may either get some kind of 4++ equiv or be able to take Terminator armor.
• Chaos Markings will be pretty similar methinks.  This means Khorne gets +1A, Nurgle gets +1T, Tz gets +1 sv. to their Invul and Slaanesh with +1I.  I don't mind this at all, and I think it works quite nice with 40K.  Who knows, if we're lucky, we'll see a lot of minor upgrades unique to the gods in the same manner as the Space Wolf trinkets.
• Some form of psychic protection, definitely.  I'm confident we'll see the Sorcerer take some kind of protection that'll cause the enemy psyker to take perils.  It's fluffy and it makes sense in that respect.  Chaos needs some kind of psychic protection and it will be offensive in nature.
• This also means that Chaos Sorcerers will also gain access to a good amount of psychic powers.  SM had an good amount, SW too, BA had even more and GK lol.  I'm expecting to see all kinds of psychic powers in there for Tz, Nurgle and Slaanesh.  Keep in mind that I'm expecting 1 page dedicated to powers from all the gods.  I highly doubt they'll break them up like they did in Fantasy.
• Chaos Space Marines will probably be the most "cost effective" unit choice in the book.  If I was the next designer, I would bring back Veteran Skills.  Why?  The answer is simple and effective:  Because no one will take CSM over Plague Marines unless they do something unique.  Maybe they won't bring back Veteran Skills, but you bet your ass that the basic CSM trooper will be worth taking in their own rights.  Whether its by price, or the fact they can carry 2 specials or 2 heavies or 1 of each, or something else, they're going to be worth it.
• You will still be able to take iconic units like Plague Marines, Rubric Marines, Khorne Berserkers and Noise Marines.  Don't worry, I don't think these guys will get moved to elite or anything.  If they do, they'll risk removing a huge chunk of the army and suffer the same catastrophic FOC problem that Tyranids do.
• By the latest trend in book design, I don't think the next CSM book will see the return of Legions.  I think it will be focused on the four main god-legions:  World Eaters (Khorne), Thousand Sons (Tzeentch), Emperor's Children (Slaanesh) and Death Guard (Nurgle).
• This also means that Abaddon is going to be a complete beast, Typhus, Kharn and Lucius will be pretty good, and fill in the rest here.  There's always one badass SC in every new codex we see, so I'm definitely betting on Abaddon being that.
• Overall, I foresee a huge points drop for everything and many things getting boosted.  I can see Obliterators get their stats boosted (T5 maybe? or 3W?), CSM being able to take LRCs and possessed vehicle upgrades as plentiful/cheap as Extra Armor.  Havocs will probably see better days as well.  Depending on what happens to the Chaos Terminators, we might see the return of Chosen Terminators (or Chosen with the option to take TDA like Wolf Guard).
• Lastly, I predict that the book will be written by Mat Ward.  He seems to have an affinity to all Space Marines.  Him or Phil Kelly, but I think Kelly's doing SoB.

Space Marine Mixed Armor Tactica

This is the long awaited vehicle tactica that deals with different armor groups, notably the AV13 toys that Space Marines have to play with.  One of the biggest follies in the 40K gaming community is that Predators and Vindicators suck because of their static nature and fixed firing ports.  A lot of people see this as a weakness because these two tanks, as dominate as they are in the front arc with their AV13 hulls, have AV11 side armor.  This means that every time they pivot and shoot, they're as durable as Rhino.

That must suck right?  Wrong.  This guide will show you the folly in your ways with some tested battle formations.  I took all these pics using my iPhone since my attempts at MS Paint sucked harder than it should have.  Keep in mind that this tactica is designed for a mechanized army.  Some elements in this guide may or may not work depending on what you field.

Linebreaker formation, pushing up in force.

So over here, you see the typical Linebreaker formation.  Alternating armor values with everything moves up in a straight line. The entire army rotates and pivots with the Vindicators so their side armor of 11 is never exposed.  The only way your enemies can take advantage of the side armor is if one of your Rhinos or LR explodes.  You can even keep Vindicators next to wrecked Rhinos so they can take advantage of LoS and cover saves while limiting your opponents line of fire towards the AV13 front.  With this formation and smoke, you'll find that you'll be all the way in mid-field in relative safety.

Here, you will see R-V-R-V-LR-V-R.  Armor values are 11, 13, 11, 13, 14, 13, 11.  Your heaviest guns and your biggest threats, will be AV13 and 14 when they push up the board.  If you run into a building in the way, move your vehicles in a way that uses that building to deny a side shot.  Think of the building as one big Rhino.  You're essentially making a Vindicator sandwich with R-V-Building.

The Predator version of Linebreaker.

Over here, you see the same formation but with Predators.  My config of Predators is normally AC turret with LC sponsons.  It's cheap and it's an effective firebase.  Preds share the same AV13/11/10 stats as the Vindicator, so their methodology is similar in the fact they're still vulnerable in side shots.  The main difference is that they have longer range, can play refused flank better and have the luxury of rotating turrets and sponsons.  If the Predator ever needs to bring its full power into effect, it needs to rotate exactly like a Vindicator (to bring forth 2x Lascannons and the AC).  Keep that in mind at all times.

Another thing to note is that Predators attract a lot less attention compared to Vindicators.  No one wants a S10 AP2 Ordnance pie plate in their face and people will go to hell and back to see them destroyed.  The humble Predator, however, is looked down upon.  Nothing is better than to see your opponent's vehicles explode in white hot fury after they ignore that lone Predator in the corner of your army.  But more on this later.

Full weight of fire assembled on the left while the right side moves for a flank.

Lets say your opponent deployed all his armor and and heavy hitters on the left.  You refuse armor flank like this and bring all your heavy guns to bear on his active side.  The formation here is R-V-V-V-LR-R-R.  With nothing but AV13 and 14 to shoot at in the center of your army and possibly exposing his flank to the LR and 2x Rhinos on the right, your opponent has better get his shit together.  The yellow arrows shows a possible flank, but this entire army would probably move 12" and smoke first turn.  BA Vindicators don't give a shit and can move 12" and start firing because they're fast.  As awesome as it is to do so, always keep your AV13 facing the direction of the highest threat.  The main objective is to preserve these bad boys and have them wreak maximum damage on the enemy while taking minimal damage in return.  It's like Gun Kata, but with vehicles.

Spearhead formation pushing forward while a Vindicator and Rhino stays back as support.

Check out this formation.  It's the same Linebreaker formation we went over the first post, but this shows a tactical advance of the primary armored column while 2 vehicles remain to cover objectives (they smoked).  The idea of armored lists is to saturate the field with a lot of threats.  An LRC filled with angry Space Wolves, flanked by 2 Vindicators and 2 rabid Grey Hunter Rhinos is an enormous threat:  Especially if the front armor is AV11-13-14-13-11.  Do your opponents try to flank and risk getting shot by your Vindicator sitting in the back?  Or do they try to fight your primary spearhead head on.  Either way, your giving him a lot to think about in a short amount of time.

LoS blockers, cover saves, AV13 fronts, the works.

Before you look at this and give up, read what I have to say carefully.  Over here you'll see the armored column of vehicles rush into the fray while leaving Predators in the back as supporting fire.  If the enemy is dead ahead, the return fire will be funneled into 2 realistic scenarios:  Your opponent is forced to shoot at AV13 front, shooting through 50% of the vehicles so I get cover, or doing both of those.

The Red arrows show the Predators trajectory of fire.  They didn't move from their starting locations, but they can pivot just fine.  The Yellow arrows show what the rest of your dudes are doing; rushing forward to do battle with the enemy like real men.

As for your opponent, this is what's going to happen:

• The Green arrow shows what happens if your enemy is firing at the Pred A: 50% of the vehicle is covered by the LR and he's limited to front AV13 armor.  Denied.
• The Blue arrow can't even draw LoS to the middle Pred, so he's limited to AV13 front armor at the Pred A.  Denied.
• The Pink arrow has no shot at the Pred A at all and the rest of his Pred targets are AV13 in the front.  Denied.
• The only possible shot comes from orange, because the shot has to be so accurately spaced and he'll be able to see side armor on Pred C.  But then again, if you knew this was going to happen, you'll probably just space Preds B and C closer together, giving him AV13 while keeping everything else remains the same.

Refused flank formation using a building as an anchor.

Refused flank deployment using the table edge and a building.

Here are two examples of how to refuse flank deploy while keeping your tanks safe.  The tide box is a building, so work with me here.  Oh, and the random ass battery is the edge of the board.  By the way this army was deployed, your opponents are limited to shooting at AV13 while the Predators have a pretty large covering zone.  In the top pic, if the army wishes to advance towards the enemy, he can do so by moving his army parallel to the Predator's covering fire.  This insures that the Predators keep shooting true while the enemy cannot outflank towards the left or right to get side armor shots.  Keep in mind this leaves them vulnerable to deep strikers or outflankers.

In the bottom pic, the LR and the Rhinos are in a defensive formation with the LR blocking LoS on the floor level while preserving the Pred's AV13 front.  The LR and the Rhinos can pounce towards the enemy at any time if they get close enough.

Another formation of deploying, and this doesn't have a picture, is spreading the Predators out all over the place.  Since you shoot 48" with a pivot, you can sit back all day without relying on your tanks to baby sit them.  This forces your opponents to direct their fire at 3 separate targets and thus exposing their side armor to you if they have a fixed arc.  With a full spearhead of Space Marines coming towards them, 3 spread out Predators sitting in the back is the least of their worries.  This formation, called the "lone hunter" formation should only be used if you're confident your opponent don't have the means to deal with you at 48" and that you're the primary aggressor (which you should be!).

Main force pushes upwards and around while Predators focus on left flank.

LoS is blocked by the main force at ground level while Predators engage targets on the left.

Check out these two.  The first pic shows your iron column advancing on enemy positions while the Predators shift positions from their starting location to deal with .. say fast Skimmers.  They pivot and bring their full power to bear while your army pushes on their objectives.  If he closes towards your Preds, your tanks can change course, speed 12" and unleash hell with your troops inside.  You also run the possibility of closing around your opponent all together and crushing him off the board.

The bottom pic is what happens when your opponent sends a flanking force left while keeping some of his AT in the front.  You rush forward and pivot so your armor is forming a hard LoS blocker towards the enemy's incoming fire.  Depending on how high he's positioned, he'll either be screwed out of luck completely from shooting the back Preds or barely draw LoS at all so you'll get a healthy cover save.  Out of desperation, he shoots AT at the left most Pred which is going at his front arc of 13 and given a cover save because of the 50% block from the Rhino.  If you smoke all your Rhino and LR in front this turn, and then rush into his face next turn, your giving him a real difficult decision to make.  This formation is what you use to isolate and destroy flankers while preserving your own vehicles in battle.

Rhino moves back while Preds angle in a way to reduce incoming damage.

I know you guys are used to seeing things move up and push up, but now it's time to show a defensive position with a step back.  The Rhino marked with the Yellow arrow is stepping back to allow the Predators Pink and Red to engage different targets.  Notice the angle of the Predators and notice that AV13 is all over the place with no side armor available.  The upper most Rhino moves in to cover the side armor of the Red Pred while Blue is sandwiched nicely between the Rhino and LR.  Marines don't retreat, they regroup.  The same applies to their vehicles of war.

I'll probably be updating this and editing this this week so feel free to stop by and give me some comments.

Short BR, SW vs. GK

This will be a tactics overview because the game was pretty much a slaughter in my favor.

Mission was Kill Points and deployment was Dawn of War.  Darian got 1 KP from a Rhino at the end of the game to my 8 (leaving on the Dread alive).

The list I ran was the following:

1980

13 kp

HQ:

Wolf Lord (TH/SS, RA, WTN, WTT, Bear) = 230

Rune Priest (Chooser, WTN) = 120

TROOP:

9x Grey Hunters w/ WG (Rhino, PF/cbM, Meltagun, WS, MotW) = 243

9x Grey Hunters w/ WG (Rhino, PF/cbM, Meltagun, WS, MotW) = 243

8x Grey Hunters w/ WG (Rhino, PF/cbM, Meltagun, WS, MotW) = 228

ELITE:

7x WGT (6x PW/CbP, 1x CF/CbP) = 281

in LRC (EA, MM) = 275

HEAVY:

Predator (AC/LC) = 120

Predator (AC/LC) = 120

Predator (AC/LC) = 120

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Darian ran..

2x 7x Grey Knight Terminators

Librarian

2x Stormravens

Psyfleman Dread

10x Purifiers in a Rhino

Dreadknight w/ Heavy Psycannon and Incinerator

I have inserted 3 screenshots to help explain.

First, a screen of the board we played on.  For a board without any terrain from the closet, I actually REALLY liked it.  It looked like a wild Tyranid Hiveworld with all the fauna coming out everywhere.  A good amount of LoS blockers spread out evenly, a few patches of terrain (napkins) and a long lost Imperial missile silo in the middle.  I made the board and I'm pretty proud of that.

The deployment being Dawn of War saw me get 1st turn.

Since we were playing with the entire table and Dawn of War was killer for first turn shooting, I knew I was in a pretty safe distance.  My Preds sat in the back to take advantage of their 48" range and they spread out pretty evenly to maximize pivot, but remain safe to side armor shots by the way Darian came on the board.  Everything else smoked and took refuge and LoS blockers behind the huge alien plantlife.

Once his Stormraven TB'd up the board, my Predators shot at it with everything and gave it 6 penetrating hits.  It explodes shortly after.  Return fire was minimized to the fullest because of range vs. his 48" Dread and AV13 in the front kept me relatively safe.  This, as the Wolves like to call it, is setting the trap.  We normally do this with Long Fangs, but Predators can also work at a discounted price.

This is what us Wolves call, springing the trap.

A is the LRC with Lord + WGT, D is the Rhino w/ Squad pack 1, B is squad pack 2, and C is squad pack 3 with the RP.

The pink Xs are where the Terminators deepstruck in.

B and C moved in such a way that the Rhinos blocked LoS to his Terminator squad (top X, not there anymore), and if he had to move and shoot, I would get cover for the Psycannons.

With the top Terminator squad's ranged efficiency reduced dramatically, both squads B + C can pour all their fire in the bottom Terminator squad.  Combined with the Preds, meltas and bolters, I reduce the squad to 4 dudes, plus they are now in difficult and dangerous cause of Murderous Hurricane.  Btw, Darian made every single Terminator Invulnerable save.  It was the bolters that actually forced enough wounds lol.

So why isn't the top Terminator squad there and its replaced by my Wolf dudes?  Because the LRC moved up, pivoted in such a way that it faced his Stormraven while letting my dudes disembark from the side hatch.  I unload my WGT, and they combi-plasma the fuck out of his Terminators before charging them, annihilating the entire squad.  Despite my best efforts, I could not kill that damn Stormraven with the Rhino's 2 shots with guys that moved 6" and the Pred.

The guys on the table in the back are in transport D.

So basically after decisively crushing 2 squads while taking almost no damage in return, this game was already going into a bad direction.  Darian's attempts to cast sorcery was thwarted by my Rune Priest, his shooting was pitiful compared to my more experienced Grey Hunters, and his Storm Ravens came crashing down all over.  His Purifiers eventually pushed up the board towards my bros by the top X, but my LRC pivoted w/ the Wolf Lord's squad and shot the beejesus out of them before charging in.  They die like regular marines.

I take the head of Darian's Librarian back to the Great Wolf and we feast, drink and arm wrestle.

Just to let you guys know, I will be posting a mixed vehicles and positioning tactica tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Wolf Lords, their word is law

The only time I find myself taking Wolf Lords is in games of 2K points.  At 1750 points, I find that the humble Rune Priest is all I need in the HQ slot.  Sometimes, I even take 2 Rune Priests as their psychic powers and psychic protection is too good to pass up on.  So why Wolf Lords?  Well, for one, I think they're one of the most iconic pieces in an old-school Space Wolf army.  Space Wolves, by design and fluff, are Vikings in Space who rely on honor and courage to carry them through the day.  That's why most of my army lists for Space Wolves have little in terms of campy shooting.

Now that I've thrown down that my Space Wolves enjoys the nitty gritty, let's examine my favorite Wolf Lord builds.  He is my physical manifestation on the battlefield:

Wolf Lord
Runic Armor
Frost Blade (or Thunder Hammer), Storm Shield
Wolf Tooth Necklace
Wolf Tail Talisman
Saga of the Warrior Born (or Saga of the Bear)
225 points (or 230 with Thunder Hammer), Thunderwolf Mount for 45 more.

Let's take a look at this build and examine what I like about it.  He has 4 attacks, has 2+ armor and 3++ invul saves, always hits on 3+ vs. anything with a WS with a S5 power weapon and goes ape shit after killing things in melee.  He averages 2 MEQ kills in the first round of combat and that bumps his attacks up to 6 in the next round of combat since he gets +attacks for each model killed in the previous combat.  The Warrior Born Saga is more for fun really, since it allows him to chew through enemies so you can tally up the totals.  Wolf Tail Talisman is one of those neat little gizmos that lets you take a 5+ save against anything that's targeting you or your squad with a psychic power.  If you roll a 5+, you negate the psychic ability outright.  If I could be anyone in 40K, it would probably be this guy.

Why no Terminator Armor?  Because if you want a Storm Shield, you're going to have to pay 15 points more on top of the 40.  Runic Armor is 20, Storm Shield is 30, so for 5 less points, you have the same 2+/3++, can be put in a Rhino, takes up less room in a LR, has the benefits of Runic Armor (5+ invul vs. all wounds caused by psychic attacks) and you keep your frag and krak grenades.  It's a no brainer at this point.  Saga of the Bear makes your Lord immune to instant death because of Eternal Warrior and the Thunder Hammer allows him to deliver crushing force against anything in the game.

What it really comes down to is whether or not you want to put the Lord on a Thunderwolf mount or not.  Personally, Thunderwolves don't make sense to me because marines are riding them.  It's 40K years into the future and as if things couldn't be more ridiculous, marines are now riding ancient battle beasts.  Aside from how ludicrous this may seem, we can't overlook the benefits of a Lord on the Thunderwolf.  True T5 makes him immune to Fists (although not Force Weapons), the extra attack and strength makes him a beast in combat.  The higher strength makes all the weapon options good to have:  The Wolf Claw is cheap and S5 re-roll hits or wounds is fantastic at killing MEQ, S6 Frost Blades are more dangerous to vehicles and S10 Thunder Hammers just rock anything in the game.  With 6 attacks on the charge, the Lord is absolutely fantastic at putting down anything in combat.

Unless you're taking a Wolf Lord on a Thunderwolf, the WL can be put anywhere you want.  I personally like to put him a LRC with a WGT retinune, but I feel very comfortable putting him in a squad of Grey Hunters.  The great thing about Runic Armor is that it allows the Wolf Lord to travel freely.  If he wants to be in a Rhino, he can, if he doesn't feel like being bogged down by Terminators, he can leave and join something else.  Best of all, the Wolf Lord can run things down once he beats their ass in combat.  For that reason, I like to keep my Wolf Lord as violent as possible.  He is my personal avatar on the field and there's nothing better than seeing him rampage through mutants and aliens in the name of the Allfather.

If you like taking a Wolf Lord too, let me know what config you like traveling with.

How do you fight against I6 Halberds?

Email in: How do you fight against I6 Halberds?

If they're on Purifiers, the answer should be quite simple:  Shoot them to shit.  Forcing enough wounds is enough to kill Purifiers so I suggest focus firing on them as much as possible.  Everything that kills normal marines kills Purifiers just fine.  You do not want to get into combat with these guys with normal marines, no way.  Even BA elites lose when charging into Purifiers with Halberds because everyone's swinging before you and killing marines with each wound.  That's after you take your Cleansing Flame wounds.

So what do I shoot them with?  Marines hate plasma, in every sense of the word.  S7 AP2 wounds and kills every type of marine on 2s and the options to get them can be plentiful.  Walkers can take a Plasma Cannon, Dev Squads or Long Fangs can take Plasma Cannons, Honor Guard can take 4x Plasmsa Guns, Wolf Guard can take combi-plasmas up the ying-yang and Sternguard can take both.

What if he takes Terminators with Halberds?  GKT can have up to 3 attacks each with the BBanner and 2+ armor makes them pretty resilient against wound saturation from normal means.  However, 2+ armor is still prone on getting its ass beat by plasma shots.  Normal shots also work, but you have to shoot the living crap out of them (most likely with your entire army) in order to force enough failed armor saves.

But, but, Paladins don't die from anything!  This is true, to an extent.  If the Paladin squad has as Apothecary, they're not going to take damage from anything save for plasma shots and meltagun shots.  Forcing wounds with S8 can be a lot harder than you think considering the amount of anti-tank firepower coming from a balanced list.  The only way to reliably kill Paladins is by a huge number of meltagun or lascannon shots.  If they're in cover with Shrouding up, good luck with that.  At that point, it's better to take the fight to them in the most extreme of ways, the nitty gritty of close combat.

GK Paladins can be absolutely horrendous to deal with in close combat.  If the squad has a Grand Master, you're going to be in for one hell of a fight.  Rad Grenades makes you T3, Hammerhand makes him S5 and you do the math.  Psychotroke can be hit or miss, but its effects always happen so you know for sure you're in a world of suck.  Blind Grenades also reduce the number of attacks you're going to get so be prepared to suck it up and attack with EVERYTHING you've got.  The best way to deal with Paladins is by massive combined arms.  That means your entire army moves, shoots and assaults the same target (the Paladin unit). If you absolutely have to kill the unit, here's what you do:

Step #1 - Bait them out of cover.  Run away, flee, hide, tank shock, do something that forces them to leave the sanctuary of cover and you will have a better chance at killing him.  The reason for this is that you need to shoot them with as many high-power, low-ap weapons as you can without him taking any cover saves.

Step #2 - You need to shoot him with everything.  Every bit of anti-armor firepower and every bolter should be aimed at the Paladins that are out of cover.

Step #3 - You need to assault him with everything at the same time.  Get as many models into the fight as possible and deliver as many fists as possible.  The more Fists you can deliver into the fight, the higher your chances at winning.  Get as many models in base to base with Paladins as possible so you force him to swing at different squads.  If you throw in one unit at a time, you are simply wasting points as the Paladins will probably slaughter you to the man.

What kind of changes have I made to my lists?  My WGT now take a crap ton of combi-plasmas and I've replced my Long Fangs with AC/LC Predators.  My BA already shoots a crap ton more than my SW, so I've made no changes to my 3/3 Baal-AC/LC Pred config.  With 9 Meltashots and Mephiston, I should be able to tear some shit up without dying too horribly.  And my DE, well, they've always been as good as they're going to get when it comes to destroying smaller elite armies.

Long Fangs vs. Predators

Believe it or not, I play Space Wolves.  They're actually my first Space Marine army after Grey Knights and the first army I blogged about.  I think it's time to pump out a few articles on them this week.  To start things off, let's talk about a rarely discussed topic.

We all know Long Fangs rock and for good reason.  They are cheap, effective and put out diverse and powerful long-range firepower.  As you can see from this article I wrote a while back about Long Fang loadouts, I do like myself some missiles.  However, with the recent shift in the meta, I'm wondering if there are other options out there for Space Wolves.  Let's take a moment and look shall we?

First, let's look at the humble Predator.
Not just any Predator, but the AC/LC Predator that comes in at 120 points.

What's the difference between the Pred and the standard loadout of ML Long Fangs?  Well for one, it's cheaper, by 20 points.  It's AV13 and it's a vehicle and thus is immune to DE Venoms, S6 shots from Mechdar and better protection vs. S8 shots since it needs a 5 to glance.  With 2 BS4 Lascannon shots at S9 and 2 BS4 S7 Autocannon shots, it's an incredible fire platform vs. vehicles and MCs but lacks severely when it comes to hordes.  Just like Long Fangs, once deployed, there's very little opportunity to move these things around unless you want to sac a round of shooting.  The only difference is that if Long Fangs want to move, they'll take a Razorback (more points) whereas the Predator will move 12" and smoke.

Long Fangs can also Split Fire, but most ML loadouts opt to shoot all their missiles at one target to force results.  Flexibility is there, definitely, but for all intensive purposes, the Predator and the Long Fangs share similar target priority vs. vehicles.  The biggest drawback of the Predator is the dreaded VDC.  If you're glanced, you're spending 120 points to sit there for a turn.  If one of your Long Fangs die, you pull the Leader and continue shooting 5 missiles back at your opponent.  Of course, we can also say if the Pred got stunned or shaken, it doesn't lose any damage potential next round whereas you might lose out on missile fire if Long Fangs start dying.  There are pros and cons from both, but for the points mentioned, both are solid choices imo.

I think this is where the metagame comes in.  Looking around my area, I see a shit ton of different Space Marines, BA, SW, Grey Knights, Mech IG, Tyranids and Dark Eldar.  Orks are a rarity but I think I'll mention them anyway so players get a better picture.  I only have one friend who plays Eldar and he's got a good amount of diversity as well.  I think it's safe to say that against mech-focused armies, the AC/LC Predator serves a better role.  Unless, of course, you're siting cross table from Long Fangs who can outspam you in terms of raw shots.  When fighting Grey Knights, AC/LC Preds are better imo.  S9 AP2 gives you a solid answer to Paladins and Terminators and Lascannons are better for punching through Psyfledreads.  Lastly, it goes without saying that Predators are much better vs. Dark Eldar.  You ignore Splinter Cannon fire from his Venoms and destroy vehicles with each breath you take.  Against the likes of Tyranids and Orks however, when the ever-shifting need of anti-horde and anti-crappy armor arises, the Long Fangs are clearly superior.