The most powerful armies in 6th

Only the strong will survive.

Well, 6th Ed. has been out for around a month now and it's pretty clear me which armies are the most powerful.  I'm not going to beat around the bush here, I'm just going to flat out say it (not in any order):

Necrons

Grey Knights

Imperial Guard

For me, these armies are by far the most powerful compared to everyone else.  Other armies have gimmicks right now, and that's pretty much it.  You have flying circus Daemons, deathstar Eldar + DE allies, Nob Bikerz, and other stuff out there, but these armies stand out above the rest.  Some armies saw more boosts, some saw some nerfs, but in the end, everyone made it out of 6th Ed. alright.  On a whole, every army improved in some ways, and lost in some ways and it looks like everything is going to be balanced at the end.  Except..

...These three armies that I listed above.  I'll start with Necrons because they're the talk of the town right now. Being the last book before 5th Ed., it's a no-brainer that the army was designed with 6th Ed. in mind.  In fact, it's such a no-brainer that this was their design philosophy that when the FAQs came out, Necrons received virtually no nerfs of any kind.  They were already a pretty strong and well-balanced army at the end of 5th (even taking home some serious tournaments), but they were nowhere near as strong as they are now.  A lot of their units saw incredible buffs in the way of Flyers, their Deathmark sniping is just insane with the new rules, their HQs/Wraiths and Destroyers saw epic boosts to their effectiveness, they can turn on the lights vs. Night Fighting on their turn, and their Gauss drops vehicles much better than they did in 3rd Ed.  In short, Necrons lost nothing, but gained everything they need to be a dominant force in the meta.  The entire book is strong, with virtually no bad choices and plenty of competitive options.  In a way, they remind me of Space Wolves in terms of sheer points to competitive options, except they're not as cookie-cutter as Space Wolves.  Instead of seeing RBs and Long Fangs, you will see a lot more WTF options all packed in one cost-effective list.  This is what sets them apart on top of their other little goodies.

However, I don't think Necrons are the strongest.  I think they are the army that benefited the most from the new rules and lost nothing, so that in combination with an already good book is what makes them powerful.

Next, I'll talk about a book that didn't receive as many buffs as the 'crons, but made it out just fine in the new edition.  That book is none other than Grey Knights.  The entire army turned from Daemonhunters to MEQhunters when the re-write came and that pissed me off the no end.  Everyone had Force Weapons, the Rifleman w/ Psybolts is just out of control and there's so many powerful psychic powers and unstoppable [grenade] effects that made assaulting the army impossible.  They are costed better, shoot better, assault better and just preform better than regular MEQ (especially in MEQ matchups), making GKs the best marine book out there.  Now that the entire army has access to the coveted 2+ armor save and sport one of the strongest psychic lores out there i.e. Divination, the army is still remarkably strong.  Their access to Stormravens also helps the flyer coverage of the army and it seems like there's nothing GKs can't do better than their MEQ counterparts.

With GKs being the best marine army, it's safe to say there's only one spot left among the most powerful armies of 6th Ed.  Ever since the book came out, it's viewed as one of the most controversially underpriced, maladjusted and powerful army books ever written in 40K history.  That book is none other than Imperial Guard.  With the coming of Hull Points in 6th Ed., a lot of people claim that that would be the death of armored IG units.  Oh man were they wrong.  Mech IG is the damn same; gaining greater mobility, the ability to Overwatch and bonuses to Rapid Fire Plasmas.  It almost seems like IG are there to break the rules of the game entirely, making 3rd Ed. Eldar seem tame in comparison.  There's orders for accuracy, denying cover and making enemy units drop dead in their socks.  They have access to the most underpriced piece of shit excuse of a unit I have ever seen in the form of the Vendetta, and now IG can take allies to compensate for their various weaknesses.  All across the board, large blast templates now fall with full effectiveness, reserves are denied or provided via Officers and enemy fliers can eat shit from the Hydra flak, in addition to the now purchasable Aegis Defense Line.  They shoot as good as marines, score better with more bodies, pour out 3x-4x the amount of heavy fire and seemingly have answers to everything you put on the table.  I read this somewhere on the internet a long time ago about IG, and I still think even after these long years the same feeling applies:  "No other army in the game makes your army feel as inadequate."

On that note, I'll close off this post.  To me, it's pretty clear which armies are just outright better in this new world of 40K.  The NOVA Open is coming up and its our first 40K major where players all over the world can try their cheese.  I can't wait to see the results as I predict my analysis here will be well-justified in the final standings of that tournament.  Of course, there's always the concept of bad draws and gimmicky lists coming up on top.  Only the future can tell if that's the case.

Some new Daemon stuff

Slaaaaaaaaneshhh.

Now that I've seen the new updated Daemon rules, let's go over some of this stuff right here.

The first thing is the Seeker Chariots of Slaanesh.  Comes with Aura of Acquiescence and Rending Claws, you have an Exalted Alluress on top that's WS5 with S3 I6 and 4 attacks.  Alright, not that bad.  The Seeker Chariot itself is AV11/11/10, Open-Top, Fast and comes with 2 HP.  This doesn't sound too good at first, but I'd like to point out that it's immune to Poison and Bolters because of the AV11.  Open-top is bad news, but if you're going to pen it, you're most likely going to kill it anyway.

However, that's not what you should be looking at.  What you should be looking at is the Fleshshredder rule that comes with each one of these dudes.  They're basically impact hits, or Hammer of Wrath in 40K.  When you get smacked by one of these chariots, you're taking D6 S4 AP- Rending for each Hull Point it has remaining.  That means the normal chariot puts out 2d6 S4 Rending auto-hits at I10 when it smacks you in the face, and the Exalted Chariot puts out 4d6 S4 Rending auto-hits.  Statistically, you're looking at 14 hits on average from the Exalted Chariot and only 2.33 of those will be Rending 6s before the Alluress swings.  That's not that great, but then again, the Exalted Chariot only costs 90 points in the Heavy slot.

The other little contraption that Slaanesh gets is the Hellflayer.  It's basically the same thing as a chariot, but it gains Soulscent.  For each unsaved wound you deal with the impact hits, the Alluress on top gains that many additional attacks.  Not that bad, but not that great either.  The only plus side is that the normal chariots (Heavy) can be taken in 1-3 for 40ppm, the Hellflayer from the FA slot at 60 and the Exalted Chariot in the Heavy slot for 90.  Whenever I compare the cost of these dudes, I always look at the cost for 6x Fiends at 180 or 10x Seekers for 170.  The Fiends put out 36 WS4 S5 I5 Rending attacks on the charge with Beast movement, the Seekers put out 50 WS4 S3 I6 Rending attacks with Cavalry movement.  The only real difference is that with more attacks comes a greater variance of Rends, but S5 over S3 gives better reliability in terms of actual wounds dealt to MEQ.  Oh, and I guess the fact that Seekers get pseudo grenades also help.

Another thing I look at is the imprint the model has on the battlefield, both in sheer size and accessibility and perceived threat.  I would never take a normal chariot simply because you want to take 3 to get max mileage out of it.  However, the size of these bases makes it a nightmare to place via DS and even a bigger nightmare to get them in combat.  That's why I think the Exalted Chariot is the best one if you were to take one.  It's the smallest out of them and has the best cost to damage ratio.  If you look at the size of the model compared to the other two units I suggest (the Fiends and Seekers), you'll get the same size unit model wise, but it'll cost half the points and therefore, will put out half the damage.  However, and this is big, the chariot is AV11 and therefore doesn't die nearly as fast as the other two and is half the points.  The downside to this is that you're basically charging into melta range because you can never be stuck in combat as a chariot.

Lastly, we'll briefly cover the Screamers and Flamers because they got new rules.  They both got better:  Flamers are now 2W, 5++ instead of 1W, 4++.  They lose their Bolt but got a decrease in points, so I think that's much better considering their main purpose:  To light up MEQ like the 4th of July with Breath of Chaos.  Screamers are now pretty ridiculous.. their Lamprey bite is S5 AP2 with Armorbane and each of them puts out 4 attacks on the charge with WS3 I4.  Let's put it this way, 9 of them charging kills a 10-man MEQ squad on their own and do something like 17 pens to a Rhino.  It looks like if you want anti-armor, Tz is the god to do it.

Depending on what my CSM army needs in the new book, I'll probably get myself some Daemon allies.

Random Fact:
Did you guys know that I had a Khorne Daemons army for WHFB?  At the start of 7th Ed, I went 8-0 (yes, I stopped at 8 on purpose) with the army and sold it immediately.  I literally did nothing but push models forward on turn 1, charged on turn 2, and won on turn 3.  As much as the 7th Ed. Daemons of Chaos army book is my favorite book to read, it was the single-most overpowered book I have ever seen, played or will probably ever see from Games Workshop.  They're not nearly as bad in 8th Ed., but the horrors they inflicted in 7th Ed. will never be forgotten.  And yes, it is written by Mat Ward, the same guy who wrote GKs and Necrons.

New Daemons are here

Daemons are here!

Youtube video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK5VN90Ftxg

Check out the main website for more info!
Rules to come in the next White Dwarf I hear.

Expand to see more!

Exalted Chariot of Slaanesh - Plastic

Hellflayer of Slaanesh - Plastic

Plaguebearers of Nurgle - Plastic

Nurglings of Nurgle - Plastic

Flamers of Tzeentch - Plastic

Screamers of Tzeentch - Plastic

CSM Live Q&A being reported!

Do you hear the voices too?!

Well, not on my blog, but on Faeit 212's site he has a person there who has all the info it seems.

I don't know what else to say, but I've been spamming updates as we go.  I'll have all the compiled info here.  Refresh the page if you don't want to sort through all the unanswered questions since I'll only post what he answered here!

Update: 10:57pm PST - The guy went to sleep, so I have everything updated below.

+++++GIANT WALL OF TEXT INCOMING+++++

Q:Noisemarine info and vehicle upgrades for slaanesh.

A: Noise marines are overall a little bit cheaper. Sonic Blasters are 36" salvo now. Aspiring champions have access to a whip that prevents enemies from denying challenges. Other weapons are the same.

Q: What are the God's specific new Psychic powers tables?
Did the named characters get point cost reductions and/orcool new abilities?
Any new character, maybe from the Horus Heresy series?

A: Most named characters are the same, but overall a point reduction. Abbadon is the same points and does not make terminators troops.

Q: Is it true that there are NO new Special/Named Characters? Are there any old Special Characters coming back from previous Codices?
Are Noise Marines getting any new weapons/toys?
Do Thousand Sons still require a Sorcerer upgrade?
Can Predators, Land Raiders, or any other tanks take Sonic/Slaanesh upgrades?
Is there anything in the Codex that changes how the Allies Matrix behaves (ie; turning Imperial Guard into Brothers in Arms)?

A: There are no new named characters.
Thousand Sons come with an Aspiring Sorcerer in their basic 5 before adding more Rubric marines.
There is a sound-based vehicle upgrade but it's more of a Word Bearers item than Slaanesh.
I haven't read any special character adjusting the allies chart.

Q: How is GW representing specific gods in armies? Do you get point reductions on Slaanesh marks if your HQ has one?
Do Sorcerers have good buff/debuff powers? AKA the better type of psychic powers.

A: The only impact on Marks is that HQ models make corresponding cult units Troops.
There are 2 debuff spells in Nurgle and Slaanesh, 2 buff spells in Slaanesh.

Q: How did they fix posessed?
Any new weapons options on the oblits?
How does the rumored CC oblit work?
What weapon options and cost do the cultists get?
Any option for fast summoning the daemons from the chaos daemon codex (sacrifice rituals and stuff)?

A: The "eye of the Gods" table is actually several tables. First you roll to see what table you roll on, then you roll what you get after winning a challenge, killing a monstrous creature or walker, or annihilating a unit in close combat.
One of the tables is Daemonic Gifts.
Possessed get to buy (not roll) up to 3 boons from the table.
Cultists are 4 points each and come in squads of 10-30. They can have any combination of autoguns (str3 ap-) or auto pistol ccw (str 3 ap-)
They can take special weapons, but not heavy weapons.
they respond very well to dark apostles getting an extra benefit when one is in their unit.

Q: Daemons weapons are AP? or Drach'nyen is AP2?

A: Abadon is AP2, Daemon Weapons are AP3

Q: Will Terminators be able to be given both marks and icons to essentially be cult terminators?

A: Yes, but it's expensive. Taking both increases the cost of the second and Terminators pay more in the first place.

Q: Is Khorne getting anything to combat the very shooty/psychic oriented 6th edition? As they are against using magic do they get anything to bring them up to the level of competitiveness psychic gods have?

A: Skull Champions can take collars that give the squad and any vehicle it's embarked in a 5+ DtW

Q: Dear honored guest, I'm going to ask some questions I think all CSM players want to know. Thank you so much for doing this!
Is it true that you can mix and match Marks and Icons on various CSM units? For example, can you take +1T from Mark of Nurgle and the Icon that gives them FNP to essentially make Plague Marine Terminators?
Is it true that if you take a Chaos Lord and give a specific mark (such as Mark of Slaanesh), you will be able to unlock Noise Marines as Troops?
Lastly, and this one is more Legion specific because I'm a Death Guard player, but I hear Plague Marines are getting a points increase. Should I be worried? Are they going to be worth the points or will I find myself taking more basic CSM with Mark of Nurgle?

A: You can mix/match Marks and Icons.
+1T / FnP isn't as good as a Plague Marine, they're worth their points.
HQ unlocks corresponding cult troop.

Q: What initiative does kharn strike at and does he get anything new?

A: Kharne strikes at initiative 5, and he gained armour bane which I guess is new. He's AP3, but for every model he kills (not wound inflicted) he makes an additional attack at initiative 1.
Not quite the same as warrior born as it doesn't keep growing, but it's very devastating for someone with 8 attacks on the charge.

Q: What is Kharns pyschic defense?

A: 2+ Deny the witch

Q: Will Khorne Berzerkers chain axes have any special rules, similar to power axes?

A: khorne berserkers are AP5

Q: Is there any fortifications available IN the codex you can select?

A: There are no new fortifications but there is a unique upgrade to fortifications.

Q: Are there still Havocs and can they still be unique in that they can use auto cannons?

A: Havocs, CSM and chosen squads can take autocannons

Q: Defilers: bigger? Meaner? More weapons? Other options? They are my favorite.
How does demonic possession work now?

A: They're the same except they have the Daemon special rule, 4 hull points and a 5+ invulnerable save.

Q: I have a quick question? Will we be able to build a sonic landraider or a sonic tank? Will the Sonic weapong be finecast? and will we have mopre fluff on the Emperors childern?
Also, the two Primarchs, that were whip out before the Hersy started? Were they the first to join Chaos?

A: There is a sonic upgrade for tanks, but it's not a noise-marine thing.
I don't know about upgrades being finecast. I know that there is intent to upgrade the basic CSM box to support all the cult troops to be able to achieve any of the weapon combinations from the entries (including everyone having soundblasters).
No idea on the 2 primarchs.

Q: Adding to the feeding frenzy
What options are available to Raptors (jump troops) and the 'possessed raptors' that are mentioned. How do they differ?

A: Raptors still have access to special weapons, only the aspiring champion can take special melee weapons. They are reduced in points.
The Night Lord's raptors are a lot like vanguard (they cannot charge on deep strike though), but they have 2 attacks base + dual power weapons (ap3) with the shred special rule and are 35 points each.

Q: I'd like to know the points cost of the 5 TS with sorcerer to see what the cost of the sorcerer is (basically is it a crazy amount of points and is it worth it...the current incarnation is rip-off central for what you get IMO).

A: 150 points for 4 Rubric marines and 1 Aspiring Sorcerer.
Unit size 4-19. 20 points per Rubric. Still slow and purposeful, unless the sorcerer is alive then relentless.

Q: Great!! is a little cheaper, but the aspiring sorcerer still have to buy one power or he come with at least one?

A: He gets a roll included.

Q: Is it going to be as broke as Grey Knights?

A: Having not had an extensive amount of time with the rules, from what I have read so far, there seems to be a theme of if you want it, you can have it, but you have to pay.
Basic CSM squads actually end up cheaper than a tactical squad if they take only 2 special weapons and their aspiring champion has bp / ccw.
It's possible, however, to clear 400 points on a 10 man squad with a transport.
There does seem to be a ton of possible army lists that can be built out of it though, and that's really exciting, but at the end of the day they're just marines and nothing has jumped off the page as 'wtf...OP' (yet)

Q: What do the melee obliterators get weapon-wise?
Are they 2w with a 2+ / 5++?

A: str5 / t5, 2+ / 5++, Once per turn can combination of 2:
power weapon, power fist, lightning claw
Each mauler chooses individually.

Q: Have the marks changed in what they do to normal squads?
Undivided still reroll morale tests?
Khorne still +1 A?
Tzeentch still +1 invuln save?
Nurgle still +1 T?
Slaanesh still +1 I?
Does an undivided lord give any benefit to his army?
Can you give marks to vehicles and, if so, then what is an example effect?
Can you still buy specific psychic powers or are they all randomly selected from certain disciplines?
Did Thousand Sons go back to 2W and no invuln save like 3.5 or are they still 1W with a 4++?
Can chaos marine squads combat squad?

A: Marks are the same.
Undivided Lords get Inspiring Presence command trait, and improved reserve manipulation.
Dedicated transports get the mark of the unit they're bought for, for free. Only units with the same mark can ride in it, (so be careful).
Undivided vehicles can transport anyone.
Other vehicles may buy them. An example would be the mark of khorne on a predator, which gives it a dozer blade at no additional cost, and allows it to roll d6 wounds on a unit it tank shocks
Psychic powers are rolled.
Rubric marines are 1W, 4++

Q: Drop pods?

A: No drop pods

Q: How many Troop options are there? Is it just basic CSM and Cultists?

A: CSM and Cultists.
Cult units become troops with the right mark on your warlord.

Q: Also, is the dragon thing the only flier in the Codex?

A: Yes

Q: What are the rules for the new flyer? 
Specifically:
how does it take out other flyers? 
any ranged weaponry? 
armour values and hull points? 
base points cost? 
fast attack ur heavy support?

A: It has a ranged attack
12/11/10
170
Fast attack

Q: Do iron warriors get any characters? What specials rules do they get?

A: Nothing specifically, but there are war smiths who can restore hull points

Q: What units are getting nerfed to oblivion and/or What units are getting buffed into every list?

A: Daemonicly possessed vindicators I think will be in every list, with their ability to potentially regenerate destroyed weapons at start of the chaos player's turn.

Q: What can you tell us about the Oblits and the Maulers? Specifically, are they both Heavy Support slots?

A: Maulers are elites, Obliterators are heavy support. You can have both.

Q: Woot! That's what I was hoping to hear. Does the new Daemon engine go into the Heavy support slot as well?

A: the new siege unit is heavy support.

Q: Can dreds take marks and if so are they cool

A: Yes and yes. The mark of khorne for instance gives it Rage and a unique weapon option much-like blood talons except it's a giant rotary saw.

Q: What has changed with the Plague Marines? How much are they now? I also hear they get poisoned weapons? Is that all weapons shooting and melee?

A: They are 120 for 5, + 24 for more.
Poisoned only in melee. Can throw their blight grenades to reduce enemy movement speed to 2d6 pick the highest, or if already rolling d6 for whatever reason (i.e. cover, charging) pick the lowest.
Nothing for sacred number. Plague marines are now poison in CC. Can throw blight grenades

Q: Hello good sir. I'd like to know some general info about possessed. Is there a way to move them around? Also, what makes them unique. Also, how big is the EOTG chart?

A: The chart is 6 charts of 6 options.

Q: Does the mark of Tzeentch still grant a Psyker level?
What is the psyker level of a Rubric Squad's Sorcerer?
Does he have to pay for his powers or are they included?
What is the psyker level of an HQ Sorcerer?
Can you increase this and how?
Do all the sorcerors only get 1 power per psyker level?
Is there an option to get extra powers (for the HQ and Rubric)?

A: Thousand Son squads are rank 1
HQ sorcerer are rank 1, can be upgraded to 2.
Mark of Tzeench on an HQ is +1 (so you can upgrade all the way to rank 3)
There is a piece of wargear that lets you reroll up to your mastery in dice after you have rolled, but only each dice once.

Q: How many points is a Berzerker squad?
Are there any new Land Raider variants? Or options to change the armament of the current Land Raider?
What kind of stats does the Dragon have?
How large can an Obliterator/Mauler unit be? Are they still able to teleport?
Can CSM icons be used to prevent allied Daemons from scattering?
That's all for the moment. Thanks again!

A: Berzerkers are 105+21/berzerker
5-20 in size.
There is a new land raider, it's a lot like a crusader.
already posted the dragon
1-3. Maulers cannot deep strike, but are not slow and purposeful.
Yes icons prevent scatter

Q: What are the God's specific new Psychic powers tables?
Did the named characters get point cost reductions and/orcool new abilities?
Any new character, maybe from the Horus Heresy series?

A: Most named characters are the same, but overall a point reduction. Abbadon is the same points and does not make terminators troops.

Q: Is it true that there are NO new Special/Named Characters? Are there any old Special Characters coming back from previous Codices?
Are Noise Marines getting any new weapons/toys? 
Do Thousand Sons still require a Sorcerer upgrade?
Can Predators, Land Raiders, or any other tanks take Sonic/Slaanesh upgrades?
Is there anything in the Codex that changes how the Allies Matrix behaves (ie; turning Imperial Guard into Brothers in Arms)?

A: There are no new named characters.
Thousand Sons come with an Aspiring Sorcerer in their basic 5 before adding more Rubric marines.
There is a sound-based vehicle upgrade but it's more of a Word Bearers item than Slaanesh.
I haven't read any special character adjusting the allies chart.

Q: How is GW representing specific gods in armies? Do you get point reductions on Slaanesh marks if your HQ has one?
Do Sorcerers have good buff/debuff powers? AKA the better type of psychic powers.

A: The only impact on Marks is that HQ models make corresponding cult units Troops.
There are 2 debuff spells in Nurgle and Slaanesh, 2 buff spells in Slaanesh.

Q: Disappointed that Berzerkers are still so expensive. Have they gotten any better?

A: Yeah I don't get why they are the same price as grey knights but can still get owned by them!

Q: What is the points cost of the basic Chaos Marine? since other rumors point to a decrease in points.

A: 70 for 5, 14 for each additional marine.
Aspiring Champion is a 10 point upgrade.
Come with bolter/bp/ccw
For every 5 models in the squad you get a special weapon. If the squad is 10 or more, one model can exchange a flamer(5 pts) for a Heavy Bolter, meltagun(10 points) for an Autocannon or Missile Launcher or a plasmagun(15 points) for a Lascannon.
Marks range from 10-50 points, Icons range from 10-40 points.

Q: Does Kharn still hit his own people on a To-Hit roll of 1 (one of the more flavorful rules, imo)?
Is there any downside to Typhus turning cultists to zombies?
Was Ahriman shown some love and is he still 250 pts? Does he get any tricks other than psyker level 4?
What type of ranged attacks does the new demon engine have?
Can allied Chaos Daemons units be summoned to CSM icons?

A: Kharne still hits friendly models.
Zombie cultists aren't scoring and cannot be joined by Characters (even with the mark of nurgle)
Ahriman is mastery 4, can cast multiple powers per turn, gets access to almost all lores and has a default psychic attack much like smite but longer range that he can use in addition to his normal psychic powers per turn.
The siege engine has a melta blast template.
Yes daemons can be summoned to your CSM icons if you have a dark apostle.

Q: How many troops can our land raiders carry? Any variants or new special abilities/upgrades that are noteworthy?

A: 12 for the basic, 16 for the new one.
New one can ram fortifications and you can launch an assault on the occupants, except that you don't consolidate at the end, you remain locked in combat.
If the enemy unit flees they immediately exit the terrain. If the door is blocked (by your land raider for instance), they count as having been caught ala Sweeping Advance

Q: Do units come with a default icon (for deep-strike) or do you have to pay for one of the special ones? 
What are the effects/point costs of the icons for a normal unit of CSM and for Term's?

A: No one comes with icons by default, cult troops get marks by default.
Marks are the same, except Khorne which is Rage, not +1 attack and has a point decrease.
Terminators pay 50% more. Taking an icon if you already have a mark costs an extra 20 points.

Q: Does this mean Berzerkers are only one attack base?

A: berzerkers are 2 attacks, rage, furious charge, frag and krak grenades, bolt pistol / khornate weapon (ap5 in close combat).
They're 5 attacks at str5 ap5 each on the charge.
They can also upgrade to have chainfists in the form of 2 handed chain-axes.

Q: Are Traitor Guard in? Do they get Leman Russ squadrons? Do mind giving a breakdown of those units available?

A: No traitor guard. Just cultists.

Q: Any new main turret options for Predators?
Do Bikers get any new toys, or are they pretty much just CSM on bikes? 
Overall, does the Codex seem to promote a mixed army, or does it feel like you can make decent mono-god lists? Are there any side benefits to sticking with one Chaos God? 
What's the Leadership of the Cultists? Typhus turns them into Zombies, but do any other Special Characters change them?

A: No new turret options for predators.
Bikes get nothing new, just CSM on bikes with combi-bolters instead of bolters.
You can get away with a mono-god list, but at that point you should be using cult troops most likely.
If you're adding havocs to your berzerker army, there's no real point in giving the havocs the mark of khorne for instance. In that sense you're varied.
It's not like 3.5 where we'll see thousand son troops with nurgle vehicles to min-max.

Q: How much do the different marks cost for a CSM squad?
Is it a per model or per squad cost?
How do the costs differ for Havocs and Termies?
Per squad.

A: CSM/Havocs/Raptors/Chosen pay the same cost. Termies pay more.

Q: How are things looking for generic Undivided folks? Are they going to be just as competitive or is Cult still going to be where the money is?

A: Undivided is a lot cheaper than cult marines. A lot.
A. Lot.
Playing undivided gives you many more bodies.

Q: Does a Daemon Prince grant any bonuses to his army or is that a unique thing for lords (and sorc's)?

A: He kicks *** and takes names. But otherwise, no.

Q: Daemon Princes flying or jump if they have wings?
Any way to get biker troops?
What sort of anti-flyer is available?
Can cultists do the platoon thing like IG?

A: Daemon princes are jump if they have wings.
No way to get bikers as troops.
the flyer you get is retardedly good at blowing up things that are zooming.
cultists cannot platoon, but you can take up to 30 of them in the first place.

Q: If daemon weapons are simply ap 3 then why bother using them now. Do they have extraordinary abilities that are worth their expensive points cost now?

A: they're pretty different now, you still wrestle with them. I think it's a matter of preference

Q: The "Hatred: Space Marines" rule....is it ALL Space Marines (Chaos and Loyalist), just Loyalist, or just Vanilla?

A: Just imperial loyalist.

More Death Guard on the way!

My Death Guard on the table.

Well, the CSM codex is expected to drop in September and I'm happy to report that my Death Guard are ready to go.  In fact, they're so ready that I placed an order today from FW to get more DGs.  Right now, I have 35 built and ready:  4 of them are Champs w/ Fists, 2 of them have banners which might need replacing, 4 of them have Plasma Guns, 4 have Meltaguns and rest are Bolters.

I have to remake some of my Death Guard Terminators so they'll be ready for the new book.  From what I read from the rumors, there are no Cult Terminators in the game.  However, you are able to mix Marks and Icons on your units so they can potentially gain +1T and FNP.  I really hope this rumor is true because that'll mean all the DG units I have will be well-represented on the battlefield.

One of the things that excites me the most is the ability to take allies with CSM.  I'll be shifting heavy focus to the CSM codex once the book comes out so I can unlock the book's true potential.  As for what kind of lists I'll make, here's what I plan on doing:

• Typhus or Chaos Lord w/ MoN (this really depends on who's the most cost effective choice)
• Zombies if I take Typhus as a huge unit of fodder (supposed Fearless, FNP and cause Fear)
• Death Guard Plague Marines (if the lord unlocks these guys as troops)
• Some regular CSM troops w/ MoN
• A unit of 7x Terminators w/ assorted combi-weapons, MoN and hopefully FNP
• As for heavy support, I hear Havocs w/ MoN will be back so I'll probably do that
• That reminds me, I'll probably need to buy an Aegis Defense Line..
• I don't think Oblits fit the Nurgle theme, but I need to find some cost effective AT options.
• Last, but certainly not least, I'll take Plaguebearers and Epidemis because the combo is just too good not to.

There are 3 rumors that really scare me:

• Plague Marines going up in price, but gain Poisoned Weapons.  I'm not sure what this means, but if its 25ppm, I would be fine with that.  If it's more like 30, they better be freaking godlike or else I won't be able to justify the points.  And if the Poisoned Weapons mean Poisoned in shooting and in close combat, that's just utterly ridiculous.
• The second thing is the Chaos Lord with a specific mark being able to unlock "cult" units as troops (since they're going to be Elites).  If this is not true, well, that freaking sucks because it means I'll have to take Typhus every game.  What if I don't want to take Typhus and want to build my own Lord of Nurgle?
• The last thing is the Marks being meshed with Icons (if true); or rather if +1T and FNP on regular CSM will be most cost effective than Plague Marines.  I'm a little worried how this will turn out because it's really up in the air how good or bad this can be.  I hate the idea that units have to hold a stupid Icon, that once you kill that model you lose the FNP or whatever.  That's just ridiculous.

Alrighty, it's time for me to ask some questions:

• What is the most cost effective and fluffy option for heavy support choices for Death Guard?  Let's take some wild stabs in the air shall we?
• What kind of allies (outside of Epidemis) do you think will help Death Guard the most?
• What do you think about all the new CSM units? (check my last post for the actual rumors)

Random Fact:
Did you guys know that Seekers of Slaanesh are one of the most underrated units in the game?  10 of them costs 170 points, but on the charge they put out 50 WS4 I6 S3 Rending attacks!  Even though they are T3 and only sport a 5++, they have cavalry movement (12" move, ~7" charge), Fleet, have offensive and defensive grenades, and have Hammer of Wrath.  With a combined threat range of 19" charge that's not slowed by terrain, they can murder entire squads of MEQ at a time if left unchecked.  Talk about getting your money's worth.

Chaos Space Marine rumors!

My Death Guard will finally return to the table!

This is originally from Blood of Kittens, I'm just relaying the info!

-Release date: September 1st (my guess as well)
-Hard back (my guess as well)
-There is an Eye of the Gods-like table ~like the WFB  Warriors of Chaos table.
You get to roll on whenever a character kills another character in a challenge, or a Walker or Monstrous Creature. There is a multitude of gifts (and curses) that your Characters can acquire which range from +1 Save, +1 Toughness, or becoming either a Spawn or a Daemon Prince!!! (Sorta True — trying to lump all the funky stuff into one table  is not totally accurate. CSM codex is table land. Expect many random charts and upgrades it will be hard to keep track.)
-Chaos Cultists are in (true– said this and others before)
-The Dragon flyer is in  – think Necron Night Scythe with the main chassis replaced by a massive mechanical dragon head with segmented wings sweeping forward and around from it. (True – The thing looks like a dragon head attached to the Owl from Clash of the Titans)
-Dark Apostles – ~Word Bearers rejoice!!! (True– but more of cultist leader/moral buffer)
-Warp Smiths – Chaos Techmarines that can curse vehicles and degrade terrain. ~maybe they’ll have anti-psychotic grenades ( True -Think Doc Ock )
-New Daemon Engine – half way between a Dreadnought and a Defiler. (True -I would say halfway between Defiler and Trygon)
-Defilers are Daemons and have a 5+ Inv save. (Yes a Demon, and some extra lovin…)
-’Cult’ units are all Elites and are unlocked to Troops by appropriate HQ choices (True- Said this before, but have some good news on that front)
-No Cult Terminators ~boo hiss!!! (-True, boo hiss!!!)
-Obliterators are exclusively for shooting – so no powerfists. (-False they will shoot, but still have a powerfist)
HOWEVER there is a new unit which is basically a close combat Obliterator. (True)
-There are 2 types of Raptors now: regular CSMs with Jump Packs, and Possessed Daemonic Raptors with Lightning Claws. (True)
-Possessed take multiple benefits from the Eye of the Gods table. (not sure)
-NO Daemons in the Codex. (true, but allies FTW!)

–Important Designer Note–

The new CSM codex is not a return to the 3rd edition codex, this is the successor to Gav Thorpe’s creation– the current CSM codex. Unlike before Phil Kelly was put in charge of  building from the ground up; Space Wolves, Dark Eldar, and Orks codexes he instead has taken a much more subtle approach with the CSM Codex. This is not the reinvention of the wheel at its core this is a validation for Gav Thorpe and perhaps if you could ask Gav, Phil Kelly’s CSM codex would have been the codex he wished he could have written, but wasn’t allowed to.

–What will be Released–

We will know if GW has changed policy. This codex will reveal if GW has abandoned the wave method to model release with a new codex or if they have stopped caring and show you all the new models even if they don’t come out right away.

Finecast: Dark Apostle, Warsmith, New Lord, Oblits, All Old Special Characters not updated already

New Plastic: Dragon, Raptors, Dreadnaught, Demon Engine, Assault Oblits, Chosen

Upgrade Packs: Plague Marines, 1k Sons, Emperor’s Children

–General Changes–

Almost all of the old units are either the same point cost or have gotten cheaper. With the notable exceptions of Chosen, Terminators, Defilers getting more expensive. The notable cheaper ones being basic CSM, Oblits, Zerkers,  The CSM is really an upgrade codex, while things have gotten cheaper you will be hard pressed to keep your units inexpensive with all the wargear you can add. The cheaper units doesn’t come without a cost as well, almost all units saw a LD drop. Also you will start to see a lot of the new USRs in the CSM book.

 –What has stayed the Same–

The Cult units are the same in stats and basic wargear. No new Spacial Characters. Abbadon is still the only one with Eternal Warrior. Demon Weapons still can kill you. The Dreadnaught is still Crazy. The unit sizes have stayed the same as well as the wargear options found in the old codex; e.g. Chosen can still get a butt load special weapons.

–Psychic Powers–

As can you expect each Chaos God gives their chosen Sorcerer access to their own set of spells. That allows you to pick from Basic Spells and the new ones for each God. If anyone was wondering Lash of Submission is gone.

Ok now that we got the basics out-of-the-way let us get to the good stuff

–Daemons–

A good number of units in the CSM codex have this USR.

• Raptors
• Oblits
• CC Oblit
• Defilers
• Demon Engines
• Dragons
• Possessed
• Demon Prince

–It Will Not Die–

Wonder who was getting this new USR well you guessed it CSM is.

• Dragons
• Defilers
• Demon Engines

–Demon Possessed–

Demon possessed just got a whole bunch cuter really. Instead of not being able to embark in demon possessed vehicles they now will only eat one of your guys and repair itself. Otherwise works the same way as before lose BS and ignore shaken and stunned, In addition some things get wargear automatically.

• Dragons
• Defliers
• Demon Engines

–Challenges–

All CSM characters must always accept challenges

–Icons and Marks–

Marks and Icons are both purchasable by most units. That means you have five new Icons and the same four marks, in which units can have a combination of two. This is a list of the USRs and stat bonus possible.

• Fearless
• FnP
• +1 T
• +1 Invul Save
• Rage
• Soul Blaze
• Furious Charge
• Fear
• +1 I

–Space Marines Better Hide–

Almost all CSM units get Hatred Space Marines. Now I am not sure if this includes all Space Marine variants or just Smurfs and friends.

–?Eye of the Gods Table?–

Yeah this will be the chart to end all charts and competitive players will cry everywhere because it is random. All 60+random abilities! Yes you heard it right over 60! How it works I don’t know, but characters can get multiple rolls on the chart through various methods.

Time for some specific models right? Sure why not!

–Dragon–

Oh the Dragon yeah the model on everyone mind. This is a CSM answer to other flyers it is designed almost exclusively to hunt and destroy other flyers. Clocking in about the same points cost of Carnifex these little hell on wings Vector Strike and bring pain to a lot of things. Did I mention it gets to re-roll wounds and armor pens.

–Demon Engines–

The other mystery model that has been leaked. These guys sit on the large bases like Trygons. They have an assortment of special weapons that have never been seen before. They are designed for Building and Heavy armor destruction with Melta CC weapons and bonuses against buildings. They as well get to re-roll wounds and armor pens.  Side note: Defilers as well get to re-roll wounds and armor pen.

–Dragons, Demon Engines, Defilers oh my-

So let me put this in perspective. All these models ignore shaken and stunned, have 5+ invul saves, re-roll wounds and armor pens, and can recover wounds and hull points lost.

–Cult Units–

I know much of the Internet was crying about them only being in the Elite slot when I first mentioned it. How dare they force me to take Kharn to spam Berserkers! Well don’t worry is not as bad as you think. You can also get a generic Lord and buy the correct mark and unlock them as troops as well. As for the rules themselves just minor changes.

• Zerkers: Rage, Cheaper
• 1k Sons: Soul Fire, Same cost
• Emperor Children: Weapons Ignore cover and now have Salvo USR, Cheaper
• Plague Marines: Poison Weapons, More Expensive

–Typhus and Cultists–

Typhus is now a mastery level 2 sorcerer of Nurgle. In addition as reported earlier he can make any cultist a zombie. Zombies are going to be disgusting in 6th edition. FnP, Fearless, Fear, and all for no additional cost. As for Cultists they are cheap not conscript cheap, but close. You can get over 30 of them in a squad.

–Daemon Princes, Sorcerers , Chaos Lords–

Princes got more expensive wargear bringing them in line with the Demon Codex. Sorcerers are pretty much the same with the ability to buy up to Master level 3, but they only ever have 2 wounds. Chaos Lords are where it seems to be at, Phil Kelly wants you to design a Lord tailored to your army, their list of wargear options is easily the largest of any model in the book. Also remember they allow you to make Cult Units troops.

Ok that is all I got for now, depending on how the week goes and what GW does I might get more rumors for you, but until now that is all I got. Wait, no I just remembered something…

Warlords Cometh

If you are currently complaining about Warlord traits being too random well play that violin some more. GW really wants you to use them! The CSM codex has it’s own Warlord chart, but the big announcement is some characters have specific Warlord Traits! These are built into the cost of the model, so no taking them out!

Rumor: Eldar spotted in warhouses

Please be plastic.

Kirby just reported this from 3++ that Eldar has been found in some warehouses.

I have no idea whether or not this is true, but something is off from our current 40K release schedule.  From what I know, CSM is next, followed by 6th Ed. Starter sets, with Dark Angels after that.  Tau was rumored to get a new book before Eldar, but with GW's track history of book priority (more popular armies gets priority), I wouldn't be surprised.

Anyways, here's what's reported:

• plastic Warpspiders/Everguard
• plastic Skycharriots/Shining Spears
• plastic Phantomwaechter  - these might be the shadow spectres? Some sort of Dreadnought-like construct potentially larger than Wraithlord.
• plastic Jetbikes
• plastic Wraithguard/Cataphracts
• plastic flyer combi-kit - The flyer is pretty large and has a crossbow shape, two canopies, one fin. The main variant on the cover has some lances and a large dorsal distort cannon. The other variant has extra downward/sideway thrusters, but I don’t remember if it has a different weapon loadout. No idea what these could be as I'm not familiar with Imperial Armor - anyone want to chuck ideas out?
• plastic phoenix lord niadhau  - For Shining Spears, appears to be on a Vyper jetbike. 
• plastic webway gate
• resin box Avatar
• resin Black Warden - The Black Warden looks like an female Autarch. She has a shurikencatapult and a feathered guardian helm with an eye on it. 
• resin Dire Avenger Xentarch - Appears to be a new English name for Exarch?
• resin Howling Banshee Xentarch
• resin Fire Dragon Xentarch
• resin Striking Scorpion Xentarch
• resin box Dragon Riders
• resin box Eldritch Raiders - They look like guardians but have no helms and wear scarfs around the lower head and swashbuckle belts. They are very individually equipped, have all sorts blades, pistols and/or rifles. (potentially Storm Guardians?)
• resin box Halcones Cazadores - no idea sorry Potentially Swooping Hawks
• resin Warlock

A pitcher of salt is needed for this one..

To make things a little weirder, I had a dream last night that the Eldar book came out before the CSM codex.  And today I read this.  I might be a Farseer?

BR: 1500 DE vs. Orks

Get dat cover!

Mission: Purge the Alien
Deployment: Vanguard Strike
Warlord Trait: Strategic - Re-roll reserves
Drugs: 6 - Pain Token

My list:
1490
14 VP

HQ:
Succubus (Agonizer, BP, Haywire) = 105

TROOP:
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
10x Warriors (Raider, NS, SR, Blaster, SC) = 195
10x Warriors (Raider, NS, SR, Blaster, SC) = 195
9x Wyches (Raider NS/AS, Hekatrix/VB/PGL, Haywires) = 210
10x Wyches (Raider NS/AS, Hekatrix/VB/PGL, Haywires) = 220

HEAVY:
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115
Voidraven (NS/FF, 4x SF) = 205

His List:
10 VP
2x big ass squads of Shootas w/ Nob on foot
2x 12-man units of Shootas w/ Nob in Trukks
2x 15-man squads of Lootas, one with a Mekboy w/ Shokk
1x 11-man unit of Shootas
1x unit of 3 Kans


Summary:

• Well, the two squads of Lootas scared the shit out of me because I know how much damage they can do to my army. Thankfully, Night Fighting was rolled and he chose to go first.
• I had most of my army positioned in a way where his Lootas would shoot me but I would have Shrouded + Cover, so I did alright for the most part. The first round of his shooting saw him down a gunboat with his Mekboy's Shokk Attakk gun, so I exited my dudes and got as close as I can in rapid fire range of his 11-man Shoota squad. First blood goes to the Orks!
• On my turn, I rapid fired his Shoota boy squad down to 3 dudes and he broke (they ran off the board eventually). I disembarked my Succubus and Wych squad and charged a unit of Kans with Haywires. I killed 2 of them and his Kans did nothing to me so I was stuck in combat in front of a green tide.
• I moved my remaining gunboat on a flanking mission around some terrain and turbo-boosted it behind some ruins on a good angle. The gunboat was in good position to shoot up some Lootas next turn, and his return fire would be weak because of how many Lootas could see and the cover save that I would get (3+).
• The rest of my army backed up from the Lootas (Night Shields) and shot up Trukks, downing both of them. Everything else turbo-boosted into more advantageous positions to separate distance with his Orks. I needed my Voidraven on the field to thin out some numbers first.
• Next turn, he charges my Succubus and her Wych squad with 2 units: 1 giant squad of Shootas, and 1 from the dudes that got shot out of the Trukk. I seriously thought I was going to get rolled, but between his terrible dice, my good dodge saves and FNP kept my Wyches in the game with a positive combat resolution. Not all of his dudes made it into combat, which greatly helped that combat stay in there. I directed 2 of my Wyches on the Kan but only 1 did damage.
• His Lootas had nothing to shoot at so he shot at my Warrior squad who shot his small Shoota squad off he table. Let's just say he rolled 3 on D3 and had hot dice, so the entire unit vanished from the table. The rest of the Lootas did nothing because of Night Shields and good cover usage.
• My return fire saw me pick off the diminished squad of Trukk Shootas as they were fleeing, and my Lances had to relocate to draw better targets. Sadly, the Lances had no better targets since all the armor was dead or tied in combat, so the Ravagers just picked off some Shootas.
• The Voidraven came in this turn and dropped of a Void Mine in the middle of combat (on all his Orks of course), but it scatted and only killed 3. The Shatterfield Missiles hit a whole bunch of Lootas on the second story of a building and killed all of them and put a wound on the Mekboy. The Void Lance woulds were LoS!'d off onto the bottom floor. No worries though, my flanking gunboat made his move this game by coming in and declaring Focus Fire on all the Lootas on the bottom floor without cover. I killed every single one of them except for the Mekboy, but one Dark Lance later from the Raider saw him evaporate after a failed cover save. Combat in the middle is still going even though he has a crap ton of Orks. He kills some Wyches but my Succubus keeps the score even. The Kan is still alive because I rolled a 1 for Haywire.
• My other Wych squad gets out of their Raider and charges the remaining Trukk squad of Shootas still alive and Overwatch manages to catch 2. I slaughter the remaining Orks in combat after his Nob rips the head off my Hekatrix and I gain a Pain Token.
• His next turn saw the Lootas move through difficult terrain to get more shots in at my Voidraven. They need 6s anyways right, so who cares! He rolled a bunch of die but poor rolling kept the Voidraven in the game.
• The other giant blob of Shootas move in the direction of my Wyches and shoot the squad down to 5 girls. To make things even more insulting, he gets the 8" charge after by rolling exactly that. If my Overwatch would of killed at least 1 Ork, he wouldn't have got into combat, but that was not to be. Regardless, he gets in combat with my Wyches and kill them all. He consolidates into some cover.
• The combat in the middle with my Succubus goes poorly and I lose 6 Wyches. I kill the Kan, 3 Orks, lose combat but manages to stay in with decent rolling. We laugh like huge nerds because this one combat has lasted since my Turn 1.
• My next turn sees the Voidraven turn 90 and head towards the giant blob of Shootas. 18 cover saves later and a good amount of Orks are dead, but there's still a good amount remaining. Really poor shooting from my Dark Lances kept the Orks numbers pretty decent and I'm afraid I got a little too close with my 5-man Raider unit. Thankfully, they roll better and more Orks are killed from the front, but not enough to strip Fearless.
• The flanking gunboat now goes to work on the other Loota squad and I focus fire all the Lootas out of cover. Half of them die but they pass their morale check and stay on the field. Next turn, they fire into the back of my Voidraven and score 2 penetrating hits: one of which locks the velocity of the aircraft.
• Not much happens from this point forward: He manages to charge the 5-man Raider and down it with his Power Klaw before I erase the unit with Lances and rapid fire Splinters. His remaining Loota squad gets shot to shit and runs off the board, my Voidraven flies off the board and comes back on my next turn, and the giant fight in the middle ends when he rolls like ass and I roll hot. He loses Fearless, loses combat by 3, breaks and I chase him down with I8 on my Succubus. 11-6 victory to DE.

Some Eldar thought patterns

Some people just don't get it.

I don't know why I did, but I read through some Eldar wishlist threads the other day and my head nearly exploded.  I can't believe how delusional some people are.  It's almost as if they're incapable of logical thought, and they're unable to put together the pieces to better predict the future.  That's when I wonder if they're playing the right army in the first place!  It's just not very Eldar behavior.

The new Eldar book probably won't come until CSM, Dark Angles and Tau gets their books.  I'm predicting Eldar in the latter half of 2013, or maybe even 2014.  That means we've got a good amount of time to speculate what's going to happen with the army.

Here are my predictions for the Eldar book:

• A lot of things will be streamlined to fit with 6th Ed. USRs.  I'm talking about things like Holofields giving Shroud, Bladestorm giving Shred and War Shout giving Fear.  My prediction is that only a few Eldar abilities will retain any resemblance of what they currently are.  GW is huge on streamlining things according to their BRBs:  It happened to Fantasy, it's happening to 40K and it will happen to the Eldar codex.
• In terms of Exarchs and unit abilities, I think they'll still provide awesome benefits to the squad either in the form of superior weapon choices, abilities (possibly streamlined) and stat lines. If you look at the Dark Eldar Incubi, their "Exarch" still packs Exarch abilities and a buffed stat line.
• We'll probably see a points decrease across the board with mostly the same rules and functionality.  I do not think we'll see any stat increases aside from the universal BS4 on things that can shoot.  In the case of the Farseer, I can see them being bumped up in price for the ability to choose skills in the same way as SM Librarians.  Autarchs will probably not see a stats bump but will retain their Master Strategist rule.  The reasoning for this is that Dark Eldar is considered more martial prowess by fluff whereas Eldar kept their psychic disciplines.
• Another reason why I don't think Phoenix Lords will see a stats bump is because Drazhar did not.  He still shares the same 7s line that Eldar Phoenix Lords have and that's proof  to me that GW likes it there.
• Speaking of psychic disciplines, if you look on the BRB's chart for who can take what psychic abilities, it's pretty obvious that Eldar will have their own psychic abilities.  I think the Eldar will receive their own lore of psychic abilities, but even so it'll seem like that's on the small side considering Space Wolves can take 5 if you include their own book's lore.  That's a fairly tough one to analyze because the Divination tree from the current BRB looks like its written for the Eldar.  Who knows, maybe Farseers will be able to choose whatever they want as an extra bonus.  In fact, I'm pretty much banking on it.
• Eldrad will probably be some kind of epic psyker badass, and that might lead to the first Lv.4 Mastery Psyker in the game.  It would be fitting for sure.
• Some weapons might be tweaked:  Shuriken Catapults might see a range increase to 18" and Avenger Shuriken Catapults might see 24".  I think consistency plays a huge role on how certain things are designed, and this will only make sense for development.
• As for FOC changes, I don't think there's going to be a lot of moving from the units mentioned here.  Dedicated transports may allow the use of Falcons and War Walkers might move to Fast Attack slots.  Who knows?  The only one I think will happen is the Support Weapon Batteries being merged in with the Guardian squads somehow.
• Lastly, for new unit additions, I'm not sure if there's going to be room for a lot of expansion.  Eldar have a good amount of unit entries but there is room to grow.  They definitely need a Flyer (Nightwing and Phoenix are obvious answers), and they could incorporate more Corsair elements or even stuff from other Craftworlds.  I read through IA11 this weekend and they had some pretty juicy stuff going for them.

Well, that's all I have to say about that.  Just keep in mind that this is not a wishlist.  It's an educated guess to what could happen given GW's history, track record and design philosophies.