DW Fleet Analysis

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This post will highlight and analyze the pros and cons of each faction of Dystopian Wars.  There's currently 7 core nations to the game so I'll go over them first.  Each faction has their own unique thing going for them, so I'll try to touch upon their aesthetics as well as their playstyle in this review.


Federated States of America

• If you love the look of Steam Boats, you're going to love the look of the FSA ships.  Almost all of their models makes you feel like you're in Industrial-age 'Murica.  They even have a John Henry robot!
• The Space Marine faction of the game.  Solid stats on most of their ships for a very cost-effective price.  Easy to play, solid and forgiving durability, combined with powerful ranged weapons.  A good faction to start with to learn the game.
• Arguably the most powerful Dreadnought in the game.  The Enterprise Dreadnought puts out obscene damage from all ranges and have the highest defenses in the game: DR/CR 8/13 with up to 2 Shield Generators!
• A lot of their ships sports Sharpshooters take can take out enemy AP while in close distance or can be outfitted with Kinetic Generators that can turbo-boost their ships across the ocean.
• Great Carriers, taking advantage of the unique Double Decker MAR and many of their ships are Maneuverable, which allows the FSA to rotate freely when All Stopped so they can continue their long range bombardment.
• Overall, just a really strong faction with many strong naval and air elements with not much downsides. I guess their ground forces could need some work.

Kingdom of Britannia

• KoB ships are literally floating castles with a ton of weapon turrets.  All of their heavier ships favor having multiple turrets that can fire in multiple directions.
• A strong faction when it comes to playing the ranged game, but also pack a decent amount of Shield Generators.  One of the more unique things that the KoB have is their Guardian Generator and Experienced Engineers.  This unique Shield Generator allows the KoB to spread their shields to vessels within 8" of them, and Experienced Engineers can fix the effects of Critical damage better.
• The plus side of having multiple turrets is that you can focus targets a lot better without sacrificing too much movement.  That way, most of your ships are able to generate a steady increase of firepower as you close Range Bands.  The bad thing about having so many turrets is that once your ship starts taking damage, all of your turrets will decrease in strength.
• KoB also specializes in having a lot of torpedoes.  If you like being able to throw a ton of torpedoes into the water, then KoB might be the faction for you.  The fact that torps don't get nicked by sustained damage means you'll always have enough to go around.
• A lot of interesting and awesome looking air models as well as one of the game's only true submarines.  Not just that, but it comes with Hull Ripper/Breaker that allows it to maul ships by moving through them.

Prussian Empire

• These are your standard WWI and WWII looking ships.  This includes giant blimps that might remind you of Red Alert 2!  Maybe that's why the Prussians are among the more popular factions to pick up!
• Don't worry though.  Despite having a large following on how the faction's models look, the Prussians are considered one of the more difficult factions to play.  This is largely due to the playstyle of the faction:  They are fast and brutal, but they can either win big, or lose big.
• The main gimmick of the Prussians is that they're highly elite, have a lot of AP (assault marines), and are generally considered a boarding faction.  The Prussians enjoy rushing forward towards their enemies so they can do damage with their Teslas and powerful gunnery before boarding the enemy with superior AP numbers.
• Another thing the Prussians have is that they utilize Tesla technology.  Teslas are one of the most common weapons found in the Prussian arsenal and most of these sport the Lethal Strike special rule.  Once a Tesla weapon does damage to an enemy ship, that ship automatically loses 1 AP.  This type of damage in turn, make the enemy easier to board once the PE marines come flying in.  Tesla Generators, on the other hand, can cause random Crit effects on enemy ships or give a model extra movement.
• The entire fleet is fast.  Very fast.  Their Arminius Class Frigate moves 13", their Cruisers and Gunships move 10", and even their Emperor Class Battleship moves 7".  Obviously, the speed is there to secure successful boarding attempts.

Empire of the Blazing Sun

• Most of the Japanese ships look like sea trains.  I don't know how else to put it, but if you can imagine a train that's floating in the water, that's what their ships look like.  If that doesn't do it for you, they have a giant mechanical squid.
• The EotBS have a good amount of AP on their ships as well, but they're not considered a true boarding faction when compared to the Prussians.  This is largely due to the fact that many of their ships are armed with long-range Incendiary Rockets that can set enemy ships ablaze!
• A lot of the EotBS ships have Fixed Channels on their weapon profiles.  This forces the Japanese fleet to engaged in narrow and focused channels of fire, but thanks for the fleet-wide Sharp Turn MAR, the EotBS can pull off maneuvers that are unheard of to other factions.
• Although Japan has a weak Dreadnought, they more than make up for it with the ability to take the Mechanical Ika (Giant Squid).  It is DR/CR 5/10 7 HP with Ferocious, Sharp Turn, Rugged Construction and a whopping 9 AP each.  Once these guys get a hold of an enemy ship, it is almost sure to derelict it.  Two of these can comfortably kill everyone on an enemy Dreadnought without much problem.
• Despite the Sharp Turn MAR and the universal +1 CR on all their ships, the EotBS is considered one of the more difficult fleets to play due to the bi-polar nature of their weapons and precision-based damage through Sharp Turn maneuvers.

Covenant of Antarctica

• The CoA have the most technological looking ships; futuristic, pure science fiction and almost alien in design.  This is to reflect their almost post-human aesthetics taste.
• As for the fleet, the CoA is made out of almost pure science.  They sport the most special rules of any faction and this can be a blessing and a curse.  This is a blessing when Target Painter and multiple Shield Generators increase the damage output and defensive capabilities of your fleet, but it's a curse when your ships rely on these technologies instead of their hull durability.  Good thing that they have Inventive Scientists to help with re-rolls.
• The CoA is weak in terms of AP and defensive values because they rely on their technology to carry them through the day.  Energy Turrets can shoot with equal effectiveness at all ranges, Particle Accelerators that can travel through targets, Wave Lurker that can move an entire Battleship semi-submerged, and Sturginium Rounds that can punch through Shields.  Like I said, straight out of science fiction.
• In terms of powerful selections, the CoA is definitely no slouch.  The Aristotle BB is considered one of the best, if not the best Battleship in the game, and the Plutarch Class Destroyers can put out an insane amount of damage while moving great distances.  The Callimachus Time Dilation Orb can literally teleport units across the board, or it can end up visiting the Bermuda Triangle for a turn.
• The CoA doesn't use normal pilots for their Tiny Flyers, they use Drones instead!  This means that they don't have fuel, don't have to return to base after AD attacks, but they get destroyed a little bit easier than normal pilots.

Republique of France

• Your ships can fly.  Not only do some of your ships have the ability to skim across the surface of the ocean, but some of your ships can literally take to the skies.  You have to see it to believe it.
• The French has a paranoid amount of AA (Ack Ack) compared to other factions.  Since they have below average AP ratings on most of their ships, their supremely high AA is designed to stop boarders dead in their tracks.
• A lot of interesting toys:  Field Generators can cancel other generator effects, Cloud Generators make French ships harder to hit, Heat Lances bore through the heaviest armor with ease, and Retardent Armor reduces the first exploding 6 to a normal hit.  All of these things keep French players happy and make their opponents frustrated and confused.
• Definitely not the fastest fleet.  When you compare the RoF's speed against the other factions in the game, it's pretty clear that the French are in no hurry.  The majority of their fleet likes to take a slow and steady approach to battle, but this can be a major problem when facing superior ranged gunnery.  This is amplified some more when you consider the typically lower durability ratings and a heavier reliance on activating Cloud Generators.
• It's pretty clear that the French currently own the skies.  Most of their air units are absolutely fantastic and they're the only faction in the game that have access to a flying Dreadnought-like Sky Fortress.  That thing tears apart most things land, air and sea.

Russian Coalition

• If you like big ornate structures radiating with industry, manliness and big guns, the Russian Federation might be for you.  Keep in mind that the Russians are the newest core nation, so they don't have as many models just yet.
• Ablative Armour on most of their ships makes them nigh immune to damage until they receive a Crit.  This keeps the Russians in the game as most of their guns are limited to RB2, with very limited options at RB3+.
• This, however, is not a problem according to the Russians.  They remedy this with enough firepower that can level entire fleets and most of their turrets is focused directly in the facing that they're going in:  Forward.
• Even though most of the Russian ships contain Conscripted Crew (meaning they suck in combat), low AA and CC values, many unique MARs allows the RF fleet to rush into combat without much issue.  Mimic Generators can copy enemy Shield Generators for free, Torpedo/Rocket Breakers allows the Russians to redirect enemy fire, and Glacier Generators can literally form blocks of ice onto the battlefield.
• Unique to the Russians are Tiny Flyers who can use their last fuel to attack and counter-attack, and a flying mushroom-shaped medium class bomber who can literally charge into something and blow up.  If this doesn't make you believe in the great leader, I don't know what will.

BR: 1000pts EotBS vs. RoF

Om nom nom..

I'm not really sure how to do DW battle reports just yet, but I figure I'll do it in my classic bullet point format.  However, I'm changing one little thing.  Since I want to add my fleet/ship analysis to the game as well, I'm going to use my navy list and comment on the particular ships and how they contributed to the battle.  Alright, let's go!

My list:
Hachiman DN

Kiyohime BCV

3x Tanuki CA

2x 4x Uwatsu FF

2x Ika Squidies

2x 5x Torpedoes

His list:

Magenta MKII BB

2x Magenta Prototype BB

Couronne BCV

3x Marseille CA

2x 4x Chevalier DD

2x 5x Torpedoes

I'll start by going over my units:

• The Hachiman is an interesting ship.  It wants to stay far away and shoot with its boss 9 rockets at RB4, but at the same time it wants to get close because the guns on it is pitiful from far away.  I used it in a manner which was most aggressive; shooting out rockets from RB4 all the way to RB2 where I could use my guns.  He drew an asston of fire from the opposing fleet, and eventually limped around with 6 damage on it and having its primary/secondary weapons rolling half dice from a crit (I failed to repair twice).  His main contribution to the battle was launching a few dudes over after the Ikas ate all the marines on his Magenta MKII BB.
• The Kiyohime BCV was not very impressive.  I kept him moving fast in hopes of bringing some powerful weapons into the fray, but I couldn't damage anything with this ship.  His stats are overall pretty low, with the main saving grace being his main turret and his P/S guns.  Unfortunately, he took a lot of damage over the course of the game, with him limping towards the front lines with 6/7 points worth of damage.  His main contribution was sending over his marines and capturing the Couronne BCV after bloody melee.  My Kiyohime made it out of the game though, just barely limping forward with its guns neutered and hull teared to shreds.
• My Tanuki Gunships were amazing in this game.  They poured out constant and immediate damage with their rockets, hitting all targets at RB4 on all sides with their 6 rockets a piece.  Over the course of the game, they downed several enemy destroyers, damaged several enemy BBs, put damage on his Cruisers, as well as prizing 2/3 Marseille CAs.  I believe I used this unit the best, as I kept them limping towards the enemy fleet in RB2 so I can get their Main Turrets, Fore Torpedoes and Rocket Batteries (shooting at RB3/4 targets) in constant action.  When the fight called for it, I was able to Sharp Turn towards promising targets and apply Secondary Main Turrets in RB1 while simultaneously launching 6 AP each for boarding actions.  The 4/8 statline with 6 HP also helped the ships far longer than they should.
• I was relatively impressed with my Uwatsu FFs even though they took a severe beating from the enemy fleet.  Most the Chevaliers were tasked to destroying my Frigates, and once the CAs and BBs joined in, all my ships were either broken limping forward towards the enemy at half strength.  My opponent suggested that the damage (or dice rather) he was putting out from his dual flying Magentas were poor, but I looked at the damage inflicted on my FFs from everything else and I consider it a fair trade!  A single Uwatsu in close proximity to an enemy ship can pour out 7 dice linking fire with himself.  If I had more of these suckers in combat, I would be rolling a ton more dice.  Unfortunately, it seems like the Uwatsus are the Chevalier's favorite snack.
• Last, I'll talk about my Ika Squids.  I think it goes without saying that EotBS players everywhere recommend taking 2x of these even more so than the DN.  Despite my rather shoddy deployment with these guys (deployed a bit too far), they were able to reach combat by Turn 4 and just take things over.  Two of them were able to derelict his slightly damaged Magneta MKII with losing only one tentacle, one of them single-handily stripped his Magenta Prototype, and both were able to sustain an enormous amount of firepower with their 5/10 Rugged Construction and 6 HP each.  I think from now on, I'm just going to put these guys in the middle and make a B-line for the closest fatty ship.  They're also horrifying to face once they emerge from the water because everything from his fleet went into them.

EotBS Summary:

• I feel that both the Hachiman and the Kiyohime were not worth the points I spent on them.  This, however, does not mean I don't know what they should be used for.  The Hachiman absorbed an enormous amount of damage being thrown at him, and the threat he generated on the table was immense.  If you think about all the damage that he had, it was due to the fact that he was closing in quick with 12 AP with Dash and Elan, a Ram Rating of 9 and 3 AD13 guns that can be brought into bear in a very graceful manner.  The mines that the DN has is just utterly worthless, so I'm basically treating the DN as a hulking threat with a lot of potential dice at close range.  I guess my problem with the ship is:  It's not a Dreadnought for its points.  It's more like an upgunned BB, but if that's the case, why not just take another BB?
• As for the Kiyohime, I'm just a little disappointed with its performance.  The best thing about the BCV is that you get the Torpedo Bombers (which can seriously mess things up) and the Recon plane for the extra activation.  Its main turret is also really powerful, and the B/S Guns are not bad at all.  Maybe the carrier just had a bad game, I'll try him again in the next one I play.  Or maybe I should drop the DN and the BCV for 2x BBs.  That does sound very appealing.
• Sharp Turn and Fast Torpedoes are amazing MARs.  For everyone who discounts the potential of Sharp Turn, they seriously need to rethink how they're using their ships.  I was able to turn my DN nearly on a dime compared to other ships of its class, my Tanukis literally U-turned into targets on my far flank, and I was able to pull off maneuvers that other ships can only dream of.  It's just a fantastic MAR.  Fast Torpedoes are just insane man.  Torps hitting on 3s and forcing your opponent to re-roll success CC saves is just brutal.  The damage potential from Torpedo Bombers with the Fast Torpedo MAR is one of the only saving graces to the otherwise lackluster BCV.

RoF Summary:

• I have the French as my second fleet, so I'm quite familiar with all the awesome things that they can do.  Retardent Armor and Cloud Generators can be incredibly frustrating to play against at times.  There's been so many times where I thought I did damage, but the loss of the Double Hits + roll again due to Retardant Armor really nullifies that.  Cloud Generators are just really funny:  Being hit on 5s all the time makes them incredibly good vs. all types of attacks.  Due to the fact that my friend was rolling with CAP'd Torpedo Bombers and not Fighters, I knew that boarding him was an option to get into the Retarded Cloudy French ships.  At the end of the game, I managed to win by prizing the Magenta MKII, his Carrier, one of his Magenta Prototypes, and 2/3 of his Marseilles.
• The Heat Lance is just death incarnate to enemy DNs.  His Carrier has one, his Magenta MKII has one, and if he brought his Charlemagne, I don't even know what I should do.  What basically happened is that:  He got into RB2 with his Cloud Generator and began throwing dice.  Everytime that he threw dice, my DN took a load of damage.  That's to be expected, so my battleplan had to be disabling his Heat Lance ships ASAP.  Since his BCV and BB were the biggest targets, it wasn't too hard to focus all my attention onto them while his Magneta Prototypes pounded me from the air.
• Speaking of which, the flying BBs were really interesting.  They flew around most of the game and shot me at RB2 with a bunch of dice.  I wounded one of them early with rockets from my Tanuki, and the other one that shot me just didn't do damage over the course of the game so he turned into a paper weight.  The fact that I had torpedo bombers and my targets were either Clouded ships in front, flying ships in the back (can't even hit them), or flying far far away to get to his DDs, my options were severely limited.  Therefore, my target priority changed to the things in front of me and to ignore his flying battleships that was raining on top of me.
• I like the Chevalier DD, but I'm not convinced about the Marseille CA in his fleet.  The DDs are just able to put down an enormous amount of damage from RB3 onwards and they linked for huge dice against everything.  Many of my FFs were sunk by them although he didn't do as much damage as he wanted on my capital ships.  At the end of the day though, they're only 120 points for 4 of them and the damage they put out is well worth it. As for the Marseilles, I think I would spend the +10 points each on them for Retardant Armor.  They have good shooting from RB3 on with their 270 degree Primaries, but I think they need a little boost in the defensive side to make them truly different than the Escuyer.  The Marseille is also incredibly fast and being surface skimming makes them really interesting in how they're used.  I think they're good and have their uses, but once they get damaged a fair amount (I put 2 damage on each throughout the game), they become significantly less effective.

Why you should play Dystopian Wars

Is that a Giant Squid or are you happy to see me?

A quick blurp about why Dystopian Wars is awesome and why you should play it.

Movement is King

Dystopian Wars, in a nutshell, is a naval steampunk version of Chess.  Movement is absoutely crucial in this game and correct usage of your fleet's movement, postioning and deployment will win you the game.  At first, you might think that this is a game that will force you to roll up to your opponent and roll dice.  God knows the combat system is really smiple and the opportunity to roll huge amounts of dice (which can explode into more dice) is always the way to do it.  While for many people this seems to be the case, this is not.

Movement is different for almost every single ship in the game.  Their sizes dictate how much they can turn, they might have a special rule (MAR) that allows them to turn on the dime, or they might have greater movement values in general.  Knowing how each of your ships move around the seascape is what really matters.  The reason for this is because collision, ramming, blocked LoS, and blocking enemy LoS all matters in this game.  If you fail in how you deploy, your movement will not be fluid and thus, your combat potential and strategy will not be fluid.  If you get too itchy and make shoddy maneuvers with your fleet in hopes of bringing all your guns to bear, you might block the firing lanes for your other ships.  The list goes on and on, and it's one of the most realistic and unforgiving elements that makes this naval wargame great.

Activation is Important

Once you determine who is going first every round, the order at which you activate will be most important.  If you have more units than your opponent, you will have the opportunity to move the "less important" units first.  This can be used so you can move your "more crucial" pieces after all his activations are over.  You can also assume that some of these activations are bluffs, and clever admirals will not take the bait in moving the pieces you want him to.  Some players might move units just so your opponents will see a juicy target.  If he takes the bait, it can potentially set off a chain of events that'll lead to the destruction of his entire fleet.  In a system where it's you-go-I-go, the damage that can be inflicted either works like a ramp or a downward spiral.  This is why tempo and momentum is very important in any given battle.

The order of activations will determine how damage is being dealt most of the time.  If you wish to get the jump on his ships in terms of damage, you will probably activate your bigger ships first.  However, in doing so, might leave you exposed to counter-attacks from smaller ships who can close the distance quickly.  With this in mind, it becomes clear that all activations are equally important in the long run.  Your bigger pieces are capable of doing more damage from different directions, while the medium and smaller elements of your fleet can act more like a scalpel compared to your hammers.

Firing Arcs and Directional Combat

Last, but certainly not least, I'll cover firing arcs and directional combat briefly.  Here is where the game really gets interesting.  Once you factor in movement with the order of activations, the game gets pretty exciting.  Throw in different firing arcs, sweet spots and damage mitigation, and the game becomes excellent.  Just like movement, different ships have different weapons.  Some might have fixed arcs, some have turrets and others have broadsides.  To make things even more interesting, some ships have all three.  In order to maximize the amount of damage you can inflict on your opponent's ships, players must utilize every weapon in their disposal.  They do this by activating them in the correct order, moving them into the exact location where they'll do the most damage, and bring all their weapons to bear to inflict maximum damage.  This in turn, can mean their ships can be exposed to flanking manuevers, boarding, and most famous of all, getting their T-crossed by the enemy's heavy hitters.

Firing arcs is important also because of Line of Sight.  Firing lanes have to be opened to generate the most effecient attack and your opponent who's trying to reverse the momentum of the game knows this.  You can move your ships in front of other ships to block the amount of damage coming in, or to act as shields for enemy torpedos, or to deter enemies from boarding you.  Add in the fact that your Large and Massive ships can shoot over your smaller ships and all kinds of defensive damage scenarios can arise.  Ultimately, its up to the admiral in charge of his fleet to deal the maximum amount of damage, and maneuver in a way that he'll receive little to no damage in return.

Shallow yet Deep

If you look at the individual systems themselves, Dystopian Wars is a very easy to learn system.  You roll up,  you aim your guns, you roll dice, and hopefully something bad happens to the enemy ships.  However, once you combine the elements of movement, activation order, and firing arcs, the game gets incredibly complex.  Don't panic when I say complex, I mean it in the best of ways.  I really enjoy games that are easy to learn, but hard to master.  I've only played a few games of Dystopian Wars so far, and every single time I can look back in confidence knowing I could of played better.  The best thing about DW is that all of the above game mechanics are entwined.  Smart activation gives you more opportunities to maneuver, and this in turn leads to better damage from clear firing arcs.  It's been a long time since I've played a naval game this deep.

40K: Dark Vengeance Pre-orders!

Go get it!

Yup, check it out.  GW main website.
That is all.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/armySubUnitCatsLarge.jsp?catId=cat440160a&rootCatGameStyle=wh40k

DW: Empire of the Blazing Sun

The Empire's fate depends on the result of this battle,
let every man do his utmost duty.
-Admiral Tōgō

This might look like a random post for a lot of people, but believe it or not, I'm a big fan of Dystopian Wars. At first, the whole steampunk element of the game didn't call to me, but it's not the genre of the game that matters, it's how the game plays.  I had the same problem with Warmachine, but I didn't care because the gameplay was solid and the rules were great.

Dystopian Wars is the best naval warfare game that I've ever played, yes, even more so than Uncharted Seas, Firestorm Armada or even the vaulted Battle Fleet Gothic.  A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I owned a Corsair Eldar fleet and played BFG.  Then I stumbled along Firestorm Armada few years ago and played that.  I found the game to be a little shallow compared to what I had played in BFG, so I wondered into Uncharted Seas.  Uncharted Seas was great, but the lack of players in my area really turned me off.  DW takes what was good in the first two games (Uncharted and Firestorm) and mixes it into one.  In some ways, it feels like it's an upgunned version of Uncharted Seas.

Here's what I like most about Dystopian Wars:

• Maneuvering matters a lot; just like how real naval warfare should be.  Getting into good positions for your firing arcs while denying the enemy is king.
• Line of Sight matters:  Having your units screen for other units, or activating your units in a way that your enemies return fire is weakened by intervening units is awesome.
• Collision and spacial awareness matters:  Being able to maneuver well on the battlefield and planning several moves in advance is what's going to be the driving factors in winning later engagements.

The faction that I chose to play is the Empire of the Blazing Sun.

From what I hear on the forums, the faction has a pretty steep learning curve, is considered a little on the weak side, and some units are questionably bad.  You know what?  I heard the same thing about Dark Eldar when I first started and I'm not one to back down from a challenge.

Besides, they're Japanese and I always wanted to play the Japanese in some kind of wargame.

With that said, I wanted to show off my 1K point navy for the EotBS.  I already have most of these pieces and my reinforcements should be in by Friday.

1x Hachiman DN = 235
1x Kiyohime BCV (Torps) = 130
2x Ika Squids = 200
3x Tanuki CL = 225
4x Uwatsu FF = 100
4x Uwatsu FF = 100
2x 5x Torpedo Bombers = Free!

Let's just say that the first things to stand out is the choice of the Dreadnought and the Kiyohime Assault Carrier over the Tenkei Sky Fortress.  As crazy as it sounds, I don't like the look of the Tenkei Sky Fortress model.  Not only do people think I'm crazy for that, but they also think I'm crazy for not taking a model that's incredibly good for its cost.  I think the biggest factor that draws me into the Kiyohime is the fact that it's well-armed, can be screened by my Gunships, and has Sharp Turn.  After playing a game last night of the newest version of Dystopian Wars (played as the British vs. my friend's French), I forgot how incredibly awesome having Sharp Turn is on all your ships.

The Hachiman DN is in there for also aesthetic purposes.  I really like the look of the ship, even though I acknowledge that it's nowhere as good as the other Dreadnoughts.  However, one cannot simply look at the ship in a vacuum.  I acknowledge the fact that the Hachiman will probably lose in a DN vs. DN duel, but I can't look past the fact that it's basically an upgunned BB with better stats in almost every way.  The rockets from the ship also tears people a new one, shooting with 9 dice from RB4 and packs a ton of damage from 3x AD13 turrets at RB1.  Not just that, it comes in at 235 and comes stock with either a Shield or Disruption Generator.  For the price, I think the DN is decently-costed (it's the other ships I find outrageous for their price).  The only downside is that I think the designers over at SG missed the chance to make the ship truly unique:  The ship doesn't have the +1 CR racial that EotBS has on all its other ships, and the MN rating of 5 on the back of the ship draws one giant WTF.  I'll probably mess around with 14 CR and/or higher MN variants of the ship via opponent's permission to judge its potential.

The rest of the list is pretty self-explanatory.  You have your anti-BB/DN squids who goes Submerged, 2x 4x Uwatsu FFs to link 16 AD at RB1, 3x Tanuki Gunships because they're almost mandatory in terms of price/effectiveness (and look awesome), and as many Torpedo Bombers as possible because that's what Empire excels at.  Faster Torpedos forcing your opponents to re-roll all successful CC saves from 20" threat is no joke.

I'll have the entire fleet assembled and on the table for next Tuesday.  Stay tuned for the BR!

Leaked Dark Vengeance pics!

Check it out yo.
From the 6th Ed. 40K starter set called Dark Vengeance.
For more:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/468490.page

More CSM rumors from BoK!

From Blood of Kittens!

Rumor Has It: CSM Codex Rumor Drop Part 2

Posted by TastyTaste on Aug 11, 2012

Thanks for waiting everyone.

If you missed my first drop here is a link to take you back a few weeks.

http://bloodofkittens.com/blog/2012/07/23/rumor-has-it-csm-codex-rumor-drop/

First off, I want to say that it just doesn’t make any sense for GW to release the new Starter Set with models that doesn’t have a codex, so we have to assume that CSM codex will be out before the starter set. The only way they don’t  (would be a big slap in the face) would be they add a mini update like Daemons and still put off the CSM codex release.

Anyway on to more rumors/leaks.

Remember I might just repeat other rumors floating around and debunk others.

 –Special Characters–

Ahriman: Mastery Level 4, Same Stats as before, Access to Biomancy, Pryomancy, Telepathy, and Tzeentch. He is the master of witch ire spells, he can cast three spells that are witchfire in the same phase. He can also give up to three units infiltrate ability.

Huron: Same Stats as before, Mastery Level 1, Spells are randomly determined at the start of each turn.

Typhus: Same Stats as before, Mastery Level 2 can only take Nurgle powers, Destroyer Hive has been changed to be a Nurgle Holocaust Str4 AP2 ignores cover. Has Fear

Kharn: Same Stats as before, Him and his Unit get 2+ to deny witch and is completely immune to force weapons. Still attacks random people, but now a sneaky way around it. Always hits on 2+ in Assualt. Best part is he has Hatred that he can give to the rest of his unit.

Fabius Bile: Same Stats as before. Enhanced Warriors can only ever kill one model gives them Str and Fearless.

Lucius: Same Stats as before. His attacks are the same number as your opponent WS (Avatar vs Lucius fun times). Re-rolls all Wounds, Armor saves made by Lucius inflict str 4 ap2 hits back.

–Vehicles–

Dragon: 170pts AV 12/12/10 Can Vector Strike as a MC, Has Str 8 Heavy 4 guns

Shooty Demon Engine: 120pts AV 12/12/10 Two Str 8 Heavy 4 guns

Assault Demon Engine: 135pts AV 12/12/10, Immune to Cover, 12″ Move, Two Str 8 AP1 Melta Weapons, plus PowerFists

Hellbrute New CSM Dreadnaught: 105pts Crazed, BIG CHANGE no more DCW now just power fist will strike at I1

Chaos Land Raider: 220pts Only Godhammer variant, only holds 10 guys, still can get dozerblades

Upgrades: Mini Deff Roller Str 5 Ap – hits and double for failed death and glory, Chaos Lash whips but reduce attacks to 1

–Unique Items–

Demon Weapons: All Demon Weapons on a roll of 1 will attack user, but no longer will you lose the rest of your attacks.

Unique Chaos Power Axe: +2 str Ap2, Blinds Opponents, Gives Rage, Demon Weapon.

Unique Chaos Power Maul: AP4, Fleshbane, Demon Weapon, Any unsaved wounds causes instant death after toughness test is failed, in addition at the end of the assault phase any model with in 3″ must make another toughness test or take an AP1 wound.

Unique Chaos Power Sword: Ap3 Marked for Death, select any character get str x2 AP1 instant death when engaged with that character

Unique Chaos Flamer: Str 5 Ap3 Torrent, Soulblaze

Unique Icon: Once you kill a model the Icon unlocks and any model enemy model within 12″ must take Difficult and Dangerous Terrain tests and all friendly deep strikers don’t scatter.

Unique Spell Book: Gain Random powers every turn can possible hurt you as well

–Wargear–

Attack Familiar: Two additional familiar attacks

Magic Familiar: Grants Random Spells

Chaos Iron Halo: 4+ invul can stack with MoT so that means 3+ invul

Flails: AP 2 Str 8 reduce WS of targets

–Units–

Chosen: 19pts each, Infiltrate gone

Terminators: 31pts each, Upgrades got very cheap FULLY kitted 10 man unit is about 400 pts with more versatility than another other Terminator unit in the game.  Still has Combi-Spam.

Zerkers: 19pts each, Chainaxe Str 4 Ap 4

1k Sons: 23pts each, Champion Mastery Level 1

Plague Marines: 24pts each, Same as before now have Poison Assault Weapon

Noise Marines: 16pts each, Must still buy Sonic Weapons. Sonic Blaster 24″ inch Str 4 Ap5 Salvo, Ignores Cover, Blastmaster 25 pts assault 2 or heavy 1 blast same as before now with ignores cover, Doom Siren Same as before.

Assault Oblits: Elite Slot Weapons act like Ymgarl Genestealers powers

Possessed: Random Chart is now D3 acts like Ymgarl Genestealers powers, but determine at the beginning of the turn.

Havocs: 13pts each, 5-15pt drop for all special weapons from past edition, can buy Flak missiles

–Psychic Powers–

Tzeentch: 4 powers only. Prime Power Random Str blast that keeps on exploding random hits for every dead model, 1-2 Roll on Big Chart re-roll spawn result, 3-4 Bolt of Tzeentch but how is a Beam, 5-6 Breath of Chaos

Ok that is all I got guys every last drop of rumor juice is gone! Enjoy, oh wait what is this at the bottom of my cup…

Prepare to be Despoiled

Abaddon is still one bad ass. His stats and cost remain the same. He will always be your Warlord. Drach’nyen: Demon Weapon, Specialist Weapon, +1 str ap2. Talon of Horus: x2 str, re-roll wounds, BA get hatred to Abaddon, Any friendly unit within 12″ of Abaddon gets Preferred Enemy. The biggest thing about Abaddon though is he makes CHOSEN TROOPS!

Some thoughts on 6th Ed. gameplay

Takin' some slaves.

After a month or so of gaming with 12 or so games under my belt, I think I'm feeling 1500-1750 being the most optimal level of balance.  I built a few MEQ lists at 1500, but I found that they suffer a little bit in terms of choices, allies and overall list construction.  At 1750, I think MEQ can step up to the plate and feel pretty comfortable.  I always feel comfortable with my DE at 1500, and I feel no different when I step up to the plate at 1750.  In fact, I feel that 1750 allows me to make some serious list alterations for the better.  Options open up and I'm able to expand and max out all my squads if I want to.

I've also noticed that some armies tend to scale near infinitely.  I played a funny game the other day with a list my friend made (the list was pretty bad).  The guy I played against had a pretty good idea how to build a IG list with GK allies, and I found myself wondering what the hell I was up against.

Here's what I had:

10x ASM w/ JP Priest

5x Sanguinary Guard w/ JP Chaplain

Stormraven w/ 10x ASM on foot w/ some Lamenters FW dude (not my list)

and a Baal Pred w/ TLAC and HB sponsons in reserve

I tried to play well, I really did.. but the list was so disgracefully bad I don't think I had a chance.  I asked him if he was deliberately trying to fuck me and he said no.  After I got tabled by turn 4 by..

CSS squad manning ADL Quad-Gun

Platoon squad

2x Heavy teams w/ ACs

2x Leman Russ

2x 10x GKSS Rhinos w/ Psybolts and 2x Psycannons

and a Vendetta

I asked him why the list is so bad.  His reply is:  I just took random ass shit.  Gee man, thanks.  Last time you build my list.  In fact, the only reason why I didn't take something I made was because I wanted to try something different.  Never again.

Anyways, I looked across the table and wondered: How the fucking shit does he have all that while I barely have anything on the field.  Yes, it could be that my friend likes really overpriced options, believes that variety is the spice of life (or death to marines), and that nipple armor is cool.  It could also be that IG is just really competitively costed and GKs make up for every weakness they ever had.  Since everyone HAS to deploy 50% of your army now, DoA is completely dead and BA armies will have to deploy almost everything or fail utterly.  I seriously see no other alternative:  You must saturate the field with targets minus your flyer, or else you're just not threatening vs. an army that puts down everything on the table.

I went back to my desk the next day and wrote up a BA list.  Here's what I came up with:

Librarian JP

2x 10x ASM jumpers w/ PF/Infernus, 2x Meltas

2x 5x ASM in TLLC Razorbacks

1x JP Priest

2x AC/LC Predators

1x Stormraven w/ EA, TLMM, TLLC

Alright, the list is definitely much better and fits under the criteria that I have with all my MEQ armies:  No less than 30 scoring marine boots on the table.  There's a good amount of Lascannons in there, on Fast-moving hulls, but definitely a lot less than I wanted at 1500 points.  Since the SR has to go in reserve, my presence on the field is 4 vehicles as cover, Libby w/ jump ASM unit and the Priest w/ the other ASM unit.  Ideally, I probably want the RBs to sit back and hold scoring troops while my AC/LC plays the strafing Lascannon game.  The JP Libby, Priest and 2x 10x ASM squads will had to go in reserve, and hopefully everything comes on on Turn 2 for mass pressure on my opponents side of the board (while at the same time, relieving pressure from my tanks).

I know I went off on a tangent a little, but here are some things you can take from what I've said so far:

• Marines feel pretty limited at 1500.  They feel much better at higher point games.
• Dark Eldar feels really good at 1500, I think that's their strongest point range.  At 1750, they're still good, but other armies can put out a lot more fire.  On the plus side, DE also gets more options at this level.
• All reserve armies are dead - you must saturate the field with targets or else you're bound to fail.  I think the magic number is at least a 70-30 points spent showing on the field vs. what's in reserve (including fliers).  Anything smaller and it'll work against you vs. an army that deploys in full.  Of course, this depends on what you field and what the match-up is, but this is a good starting number I think.
• Unless you have IG allies, I'm not convinced that 1500 is a good place for taking allied troops.  I tried mixing a few lists together, but I always feel like I'm choked on points for bodies, or I just don't cover enough bases.  I see myself focusing a lot on singular armies at 1500 and only look towards allied options at 1750+.
• I feel IG plays very well at all levels, but get even stronger as the points go on due to Squadrons and competitive options in every FOC slot (basically the same as 5th).  This also applies to them being Allies options (this is new to 6th), and GK helping out their main weakness makes them even stronger than before.
• Lastly, something needs to be done with the Warlord traits.  There's times your opponent rolls something that's awesome: Stealth/MTC Ruins and I roll Outflank when I have no units to Outflank.  Or, he rolls +1 to reserve rolls when he has nothing to reserve, and I roll Night Fighting vs. his shooty army.  Although Warlord traits are kinda fun and add a nice random element to the game (yes, I said nice random), it's a pretty big game-changer.  Maybe we can do what NOVA Open plans to do and that's:  Roll 1 dice on 2 different trait charts, pick 1 trait from the 2.

40K: The latest info on Starter Sets!

Words can hurt.

Here's the latest on Starter Set info from Beasts of War!

So the word has been out for some time that the new Warhammer 40K starter box, replacing Assault on Black Reach, will (or is that should) contain Dark Angels and Chaos Marines… but is that really true… and if it is, what will you get?

Well, you might feel better to know there are still some insiders in the Stalinist like regime that is GW who want the fans to be excited and those plucky rebels have braved the wrath of the mighty Empire to bring you some solid information on the contents of the new box… information that bodes very well for those interested, not only in starting 40K, but those with existing collections too!

So here we go… and remember… many Bothan spies lost their lives bringing you this information!

Chaos Cultists are in!

That’s right all you Chaos players… I refused point blank to believe that GW would ever release Chaos Cultist, but they have. The Dark Vengeance boxed set (did I not mention the name previously?) will have 2 units of 10 Chaos Cultist models, one armed with auto-guns (with a shotgun & CC weapon for the leader and a Heavy Stubber support trooper) and one with auto-pistol & CC weapon (with 2 CC weapons for the leader and a Flamer support model).

The Chaos Cultist look like everything you’ve ever wanted for Chaos. They’re bound in rags, with metal half-masks and weapons that suit the cobbled-together, improvised look that you expect from the dregs of Chaos.

But that’s not all for those naughty Chaos worshippers; they’re getting a unit of 6 Chosen…elite Chaos Space Marines, armed with a variety of Power Weapons (a Maul on the Sergeant, a Power Fist, a Chain Axe and a set of Lightning Claws by the look of things). The remaining Chosen are armed with Boltguns, but this bodes well for the potential that these exemplars of Chaos might get some more customisable options in the upcoming new Chaos Marines codex.

To lead your forces, you have the obligatory Chaos Lord, armed with a Power Sword & Plasma Pistol. His pose is a bit static, but that is only in comparison to the much more animated Chosen.

Lastly… what would Chaos be without something big and menacing to bring to the table? Well… how about a brand new model… the Hellbrute!

The massive Hellbrute model comes equipped with a Multi-Melta & Power Fist. Suggesting that this isn’t a Dreadnought replacement, but is in fact a huge suit of specialist armour crewed by a Chaos Marine (or more likely a Champion). Actually, the model resembles a huge suit of Terminator Armour with lots of cool Chaos gribbly bits… I’m hoping for a Monstrous Creature that acts like the Dreadknight… what about all you Chaos fans? What would you like it to be?

But what about the Dark Angels?

They haven’t been left wanting and with a new codex (no doubt in their future) there is quite a bit to have a look at.

Firstly, they wouldn’t be Space Marines without the obligatory 10 man Tactical Squad. However, the Dark Angel Tactical-Squad has a twist… it’s got Plasma!

The ordinary Space Marine grunts come sporting a Boltgun, but the squad also has a Plasma Gunner and a Heavy Plasma Cannon model giving support… and just to round out the theme… a Plasma Pistol/Chainsword Sergeant.

Looks like that squad will be getting hot!

The Tactical Squad also has a mixture of poses, this time around. Some of the Bolter-totting Marines are holding their ubiquitous weapon at jaunty angles to make the squad look a bit more animated… and it works too… good job GW!

The Marine side wouldn’t be Space Marines without a smattering of Terminators… so you get a squad of 5 of them. It’s a pretty standard squad, with Stormbolter/Power Fist, with a Power Sword Sergeant. However, you do get an Assault Cannon and Chainfist option… and true to previous form… the models now come in a variety of more dynamic poses with the squad sergeant even sporting Wings but thankfully no nipple armour!

The last squad in the box is a unit of 3 Space Marine (or Ravenwing) Bikers, with Sergeant and one Biker sporting Bolt Pistol/Chainsword and the third Biker packing a Plasma Gun. The models look similar to previous Ravenwing Bikers (with that big wing banner on the back) and are probably the least inspiring out of the box.

But let’s not end on a low… let’s talk about the Dark Angel Triple Whammy… 3 Heroes!

The box will contain a Dark Angels Company Master (Balthasar)… resplendent with his erect Power Sword!

A Dark Angels Librarian… with a slightly less impressive looking Force Sword… and a limited edition Interrogator Chaplain, who’s Power Armour (including smoking exhaust details) and embellished robe might be the most ostentatious model in the box!

That’s all the models in the box… but what about the Rulebook?

I know many of you have been planning to buy the box (price TBC) in order to get your hands on the smaller rulebook. So rest easy… there will be one in the box.

There will also be templates and a new How to Play Dark Vengeance booklet, that allows you to jump right into the action.

Which Forgeworld models are OP?

Forgeworld: Yay or Nay?

I'm not a huge Forge World fan as most of you know already, but all this talk about FW becoming official has got me thinking.  By official, I mean that the stuff FW puts out will be allowed in tournaments and can be taken whenever just like a normal codex option.  Also, the lack of anti-air has a lot of people looking towards FW as possible options.

Before we continue down this path, I want to touch upon my biggest fear about FW models.  I'm all for player options, but I'm not for adding more imbalanced units.  From what I can see, FW does put out a lot of stuff that's fair, but they also put out stuff that's really powerful.  Even more questionable, the units available for the Imperial armies far outweigh the Xenos armies in both power and availability.

With that said, which FW units are considered overpowered?

Should there be a ban list?

If so, who gets to make these decisions, and when does it stop?

Should we start banning Codex units too?

Looks like we're back to permission only again.

Battle Brothers onto death!

Let's stare at the Allies Matrix.

I SAID STARE.

OK, now that we're done staring, let's think about all the crazy combinations.  Keep in mind that Battle Brothers come with the best benefits because all allied units are treated as "friendly units."  This means ICs can join them and confer their special rules and psychic blessings and what not can be shared.  Allies of Convenience cannot be joined by other ICs and you can't cast psychic powers are them.  I'm not too fond of this type of alliance because you can't really do any cool combos, but at least they won't just stand there like idiots on a roll of a 1.  That's what Desperate Allies has to offer.

I'll start by listing what I think to be the strongest elements from each codex.  You know what?  I'll do it in groups.  But before I do, I want you guys to see the Allied FOC chart:

1x HQ (Mandatory)
1-2x Troops (Mandatory)
1x Fast Attack (Optional)
1x Elite (Optional)
1x Heavy (Optional)

Get ready to do some reading.


For now, I'll look at SW, Eldar, IG, GK and BA as allies.

When looking at HQ choices, who are the superior choices?

• Rune Priests from Space Wolves because they can take 2+ AS and 4+ to nullify still.
• Farseers from Eldar because of Divination and Runes of Warding.
• CCS from IG because they can take board-wide effects with their officers.
• A cheap Inquisitor or more expensive Libby? They can only cast stuff on themselves really.
• Librarians from Blood Angels have access to Divination and Jetpacks.

What about Troops?

• Well, with Space Wolves you have access to the best "tacticals" in the form of the Grey Hunters.
• Eldar you are pretty much out of luck, but you do have access to Jetbikes and Pathfinders.
• IG can put up Veterans or AT troops without much issue.
• GKs can put out 2+ scoring Terminators.
• BA can take Death Company or even a full squad of 10x ASM w/ Meltas or Plasmas.

Fast Attack?

• Space Wolves have Thunderwolf Cavalry, which can be a serious CC unit.
• Eldar, I'm not really feeling it.
• IG have access to Vendettas in this slot, probably the strongest and most cost effective flyer.  What makes it even stronger is the fact that 390 points buys you THREE of them in a squadron.
• GKs have their teletubbies and access to the Stormraven in this area.
• BA can put out MM attack bikes and Baal Preds.

Elite?  Now this slot is fun.

• Space Wolves can take Wolf Guard Terminators, Dreadnoughts maybe but BA does 'em better, Lone Wolves are kind of waste for 1 slot.
• Eldar can take a Fire Dragon Exarch and make him man the Quad-gun.  As of right now, he can transfer his Exarch powers to it for no cover saves and Tank Hunter.
• IG have the Psyker Battle Squad in a Chimera that can make someone really cry.  We all know how good these bastards can be.  If you want something cheap, Marbo is right there for surprise buttrape.
• GKs have Paladins, Purifers and the Vindicare.  These are all bignames that everyone should be looking at for BIS (best in slot) units.
• BA elites will probably always go to the Sanguinary Priest if you're planning to take a Libby and a ASM squad, but if you take DC you won't need them.  BA Termies don't really work because you won't have any FNP bubble to support them, but a Furioso Dreadnought is always good.

Last but certainly not least, we have Heavy.

• SW has what? Long Fangs?  Buy a unit with MLs and give them a RB and call it a day.
• Eldar has pretty poor heavy options except for the Scout (Outflank) War Walkers.
• IG has some pretty good shit here man.  We got Leman Russ squadrons, the Manticore, Hydra Flak squadrons, or heavy ordnance batteries in once again, squadrons.
• GKs have the Dreadnight, which really stands out as something unique and frightening, especially when it ends up teleporting across the map.  Rifleman Dreads just don't do it for me when you can only take one.
• BA Heavies are very nice, the main ones here is the Stormraven and Fast Vindicator which can move 12" and lob its Demolisher shell at someone's face.

Let's tally some stuff up.  I'll give high marks to units I find effective (performance vs. cost) in each of the fields above:

Space Wolves - 3.5/5
4 Blood Brothers + 5 Allies of Convenience = 9 combat-effective allies

• Really strong HQ, one of the strongest here. +1
• Really strong troops as well. +1
• Strong Fast Attack choice in the form of Thunderwolves. +1
• Weak Elite choices, not very impressive here. +0
• Weak Heavy slots, the singular Long Fang just isn't impressive. +.5

Eldar - 2.5/5
2 Blood Brothers + 7 Allies of Convenience = 9 combat-effective allies

• Really strong HQ, has a Farseer which gives board wide psychic protection. +1
• Weak troop options, only the Jetbikes and the Rangers/Pathfinders are worth it. +.5
• Weak Fast Attack. +0
• A really strong ADL candidate in the form of the Fire Dragon Exarch, but that's it. +.5
• Only one real Heavy Attack choice in the form of WWs. +.5

Imperial Guard - 5/5
6 Blood Brothers + 6 Allies of Convenience = 12 combat-effective allies

• Very versatile HQ that provides board-wide mechanics (Astropath, OotFleet). +1
• BS4 Veterans with meltas or plasmas or just cheap heavy long-range firepower on demand. +1
• The Vendetta is overpowered. +1
• Elite slot has the undercosted Marbo and the PBS if needed. +1
• It's the Heavy slot that has everything you need:  D3 S10 Large blasts, AA or just AV14 Battlecannons. +1

Grey Knights - 4/5
10 Allies of Convenience = 10 combat-effective allies

• Pretty limited HQ choices who can only cast on themselves. +.5
• The strongest anti-MEQ troop choice with 2+ TDA, or just GKSS. +1
• Not a lot to choose from, but the SR is just really, really good.  Teletubbies too I guess. +1
• Elite slot has access to some of the most ridiculous units in the game, but at a price. +1
• Heavy slot is decent since it only really has the Dreadknight and Rifleman. +.5

Blood Angels - 3/5 or 3.5 with Priest
5 Blood Brothers + 4 Allies of Convenience = 9 combat-effective allies

• Decent HQ choice, but nothing to write home about. +.5
• Troop choices are decent, it really needs the FNP/FC bubble. +.5
• Fast Attack is not bad, I just wish you can take more. +.5
• The Elite slot is just weak, with only the Priest to give you what you really need. +.5
• Heavy slot is where it's at man.  Bloodstrike Missiles and Fast Vindies. +1

Additional comments about the above:

• The IG have the best units in all categories as well as the most flexibility out of ALL armies to who it can ally with.  IG can obtain Blood Brothers with 6 factions and Allies of Convenience with 6 more.  If you look at the IG army in terms of HQ, they don't need the help of psychic abilities to carry on their game.  They have pseudo buffs in the form of Orders to help their own troops.  This gives IG an unprecedented degree of usefulness as allies to 12 armies out there.  For the ragers on my last article about who the most powerful army is in 40K 6th Ed., it's time to look at the Allied chart and see where you're wrong.
• Grey Knights is the next runner up with some pretty good stuff, but most importantly, some really unique stuff that other races don't have.  They have access to the coveted Divination lore, but they can only cast it on their own units.  That's just fine because once a unit of 10x scoring Termies drop on the field, the name of the game changes completely.  The same could be said about Paladins and Purifers coming into the mix, as well as teleporting Interceptors and Dreadknights.
• I gave SW and BA both a ~3/5, but that's really due to their lack of options compared to other armies.  In fact, regular vanilla marines would of scored something similar.  If you think about it, only a few things separates the marine armies:  Access to the Divination lore, Grey Hunters and Thunderwolves vs. really pissed off angry, scoring FC/FNP ASM + Stormraven.  Regular marines give you what, the SR and TH/SS Termies?  That's still pretty good, but that's why I kept them there.
• Eldar, is definitely the weakest out of the bunch.  It has the best psychic defense in the entire game; it's board-wide and works regardless of your affiliation with Eldar, but otherwise everything else is trash or just really weak.  The only thing they got going for them imo is scoring Jetbikes, Outflanking WWs and a Jetbike Farseer who can offer Runes of Warding and Divination Prescience to friendly units.  The Fire Dragon Exarch on the Quad-cannon or whatever else is just icing on the cake.

More notes:

• The biggest missing ally from this is is... dun dun dun... Tau.  Tau have 2 Blood Brothers in the form of the Space Marines and Eldar, and 9 Allies of Convenience.  That's 11 armies right behind the IG and most of the units are self-efficient.  You can take suits for HQ and Elites, Pathfinders for FA (Markerlights only useful on Tau stuff), basic Fire Warriors as scoring troops, and a Broadside team in a lot of lists.  So why are they off the list?  Because I don't think any of their stuff is super unique and adds as much effect as the others above.
• OK.. then why are Necrons off the list?  Because only 4 armies have them under Allies of Convenience and none of them can take them as Blood Brothers.  Ah ha, so another reason why I didn't think Necrons were the strongest army.  No sir, and this is their biggest weakness.  As ripe and powerful as that codex is when it hits 6th Ed., it gets pretty lonely out there in techno-gizmo world when only CSM, GK, Orks and Tau can stand your presence.  Even so, CSM would rather see Demon allies, GK have better synergy with other races, though Orks and Tau can need some Necron love.  Too bad Necrons don't feel the same because Necron-tech is frankly, just that much better.
• There's a ton of combos out there for sure.  You can have more scoring termies that come with CMLs from Dark Angels, Shadowfield + Fortune Eldar/DEldar tricks, Epidemis + Plague Marines from CSM, or some other unforseen stuff that no one thought of yet.  All I know is, all these mixed Allies combos opens up the playing field to unimaginable levels.

When I said the most powerful armies were Necrons, GK and IG, I meant it.  However, many people lashed out that I thought I looked at the game in a vacuum.  Yes, and no.  In order to be knowledgeable about a subject, you have to break it down to the very core.  It starts with the army book; the units, the cost, the effects, the balance (both internally and externally)..etc.  After you see the power in any given book, you can then choose to expand upon allies.  You see what the strengths and weaknesses of your army are and then look on the Allies Matrix to fill in the holes.  It just happens to be that IG fills most of them and Tyranids get no one.  Welcome to the game where Imperials just dominates the Xenos.

Build-A-Hero Part I

Sup bro, wanna go?

Here's a little game that's both fluffy and fun.

I had a talk with one of my friends on who I would be from any codex in the 40K universe.  The only rules are that you must be able to build him from a 40K codex.  I think our next step is to physically build the model and paint them for use in our games.  That way, you can actually be on the battlefield!

Here's me..

Wolf Lord, Runic Armor, Belt of Russ, Frostblade, Wolf Tooth Talisman, Wolf Tail Talisman, Meltabombs, Saga of the Warrior Born

For now, don't write the points out on your dude.
Why?  Because there's a Part II coming to this exercise that you guys will love.

Hi, I'm a Wolf Lord from the Space Wolves Chapter.
Who are you?

The Unholy Union

Team Jacward.

Alright guys, I think I got something going here with 2 of my marine armies.  So as you guys know, I have Space Wolves and Blood Angels.  I took a look at the Allies chart today and noticed both to be Blood Brothers.  Why?  I have no fucking clue.  I guess the whole thing about Werewolves and Vampires hating on eachother isn't true in the 40K universe.  They are, after all, Battle Brothers until death!

Anyways, here's the list I'm thinking about trying for 1750:

1749
14 VP

HQ:
Rune Priest (RA, WTT) = 125
Librarian* (JP) = 125

TROOP:
9x Grey Hunters (Rhino, WG/PF/CbM, Plasma Gun, MotW, WS) = 243
9x Grey Hunters (Rhino, WG/PF/CbM, Plasma Gun, MotW, WS) = 243
8x Grey Hunters (Rhino, WG/PF/CbM, Plasma Gun, MotW, WS) = 228
10x ASM* (PF/Infernus, 2x Meltaguns) = 250

ELITE:
Wolf Guard
Sanguinary Priest* (JP, MB) = 80

HEAVY:
Vindicator (DB) = 120
Vindicator (DB) = 120
Stormraven* (EA, TLLC, TLMM) = 215

The idea behind this list is pretty simple.  You take your generic 3x Grey Hunter squads and you put them in the list along side your Rune Priest who always takes Divination.  The great thing about the Rune Priest is that his Runic Weapon remains unchanged in the new edition.  If a psychic power succeeds anywhere within 24" of you, you have the ability to nullify it on a 4+.  This gives you an insane amount of psychic protection in an addition where everyone and their mother loves psychic abilities.  On top of this, I'm giving my Rune Priest Runic Armor now every chance I get.  The 2+ armor save and the innate psychic defenses that it sports is just too good not to take for the points.

Let's go over some psychic powers really quick.  Divination, is in my opinion, the best psychic lore in 40K.  If you have armies that can take this lore, you pretty much want to take this lore.  The free spell that they have, Prescience, is basically a pumped-up version of Guide that extends out to 12", and lasts until your next phase.  I don't know what to say except for that's amazing.  Next, you have Misfortune and Forewarning, both extremely strong spells that can be used against the enemy.  Ideally, if you have two psykers who have Divination (which SW and BA can), you can cast Prescience on your unit and Misfortune on the target unit and basically ram it into the ground.  Re-rolling ALL saves is no joke, it's basically a better version of Doom due to the number of raw causalities you can inflict on the enemy.  The best part about this is that it lasts until your next turn as well, so stacking these two abilities is batshit crazy.

This brings up something really clever:  Since BA and SW can both take Divination, why not take both right?  While powerful, we shouldn't discount some of the other psychic powers that the two armies can mix up.  BA have access to Telepathy, something that SW does not.. so with that, you gain Psychic Shriek, Puppet Master, Invisibility and Hallulncination.  The unfortunate thing about Telepathy is that its most powerful powers require you to be a ML2 Psyker.  That's 50 extra points for Epistolary that I simply do not have.  That means you have to look at the cheaper lores; Divination already being a fantastic buy, Biomancy for the chance to get Enfeeble, but most importantly, the BA book lore.  The main things that stand out here is Unleash Rage for the squad the Libby is in, Sanguine Sword to make you S10, Blood Lance so you can throw it at fliers (yes, it auto-hits), and Shield of Sanguinius that gives your Libby and "any unit" within 6" a 5+ cover save.  With a good amount of vehicles in my list, and a Flyer, I can cast Shield to give the Sons of Russ and the Stormraven a happy go lucky 5+ cover.

Now let's think about something really quick.  We all know Divination is good, but I think a mix between Divination and Blood (just calling it this from now on) is the sweet spot.  I can only take 2 skills though, so I think for my first trial, it'll be Sanguine Sword and Blood Lance.  Unleash Rage is not needed with the Rune Priest to cast Prescience, but the S10 and auto-hitting S8 AP1 Lance is always good.  Shield of Sanguinius is incredibly strong if you're running your dudes behind or near the Grey Hunter wall, but I think I'll be placing my Libby, SP and 10x ASM squad in reserve along side the Stormraven.  I want my forces to hit the enemy lines around the same time and with the fury of an angry god.  This first list you see here, will be all about offense (the way I like to play).

Well, I don't think I have anything else here to cover.  The Vindicators are there because I like them, the Grey Hunters are the staple, and the Libby + ASM provides a nice little wild card.  The inclusion of the Stormraven gives me a solid AA platform, and if worst comes to worst, I can throw a Blood Lance at enemy fliers and skewer them out of the sky.