NEW High Elves pics!

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Resurrecting a dead army

This should be fun.

Yup, bringing back the dead.  I have no idea why the sudden interest in Vampire Counts, but I have a crap ton of them sitting the garage waiting to get updated.  Warhammer Fantasy has died down a lot in my area, but I think I'm going to get back into it in a big way.  It's a solid game system and 8th Ed. has really made it more fun contrary to what other people believe.  By the way the current books are rolling out, I'm sure we'll see a more balanced game once the 7th Ed. power armies get rotated out (DE, Lizzies, Skaven).

Here's what I'm currently building towards at 2500:

2496
12 deploys

LORDS:
Lv.4 Vampire Lord = 548
Lore of Vampires
Quickblood, Red Fury, Beguile
Heavy Armor, Shield, Barded Nightmare
Dragonhelm, ToPreservation, Ogre Blade

HEROES:
Lv.2 Vampire = 233
Lore of Death
Aura of Dark Majesty
Heavy Armor, Lance, Barded Nightmare
Enchanted Shield, Cursed Book

Lv.1 Necro = 90
Lore of Vampires
Scroll

CORE:
40x Zombies (Standard) = 125
20x Zombies (Standard) = 65
35x Ghouls (Ghast) = 360
5x Dire Wolves = 40
5x Dire Wolves = 40

SPECIAL:
10x Black Knights (FC, BoSwiftness) = 305
5x Hexwraiths = 150
Spirit Host = 45
Spirit Host = 45

RARE:
Terrorgheist = 225
Terrorgheist = 225

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

The main thing to note here is that I'm going for a pretty balanced approach.  There's a mini-cav bus, less screams than a scream list, and a good amount of magic as well.  The Vamp Lord and Lv.2 Vamp will ride in the Black Knights, 6x2 formation and they'll fly shotgun next to 2x Terrorgheists.  With 12 drops total in the list, I'm looking to match if not beat most deployment.  I won't have enough to out-deploy MSU armies, but this is a pretty good start.

Lv.1 Necro functions as a caddy and sits in the smaller zombie unit.  Ghouls will be a hitting force that'll benefit greatly from Van Hels, but it's the Lord and the Terrorgheists that'll do the heavy lifting.  Spirit Hosts are great units to have and Hexwraiths are severely underrated.  They're one of the best chaff removal units in the game and being able to scare off/kill Eagles/Sabretusks/Ratdarts are a huge bonus.

Anyways, this is what I got for now.  Construction of the army will probably take place now and into April, with enough time to get some games in before my primary army, High Elves enter the fray in May.  Tau comes out next and I'll probably get my hands on the book just to write an review.  Otherwise, I try to stay away from the blue goat fishmen as much as possible.

My Dark Eldar's scaling/power

Takin' dem slaves!

Here's an exercise everyone can do, regardless of what army you play.  Make 3 lists, no double force org, one at 1500, one at 1750 and one at 2000.  Analyze what you add/take form your lists and write down the major changes.  Check it out:

1495
16 KP

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

TROOP:
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
10x Warriors (Raider NS/SR, Blaster, SC) = 195
9x Wyches (Raider NS, Hekatrix/VB, Haywires) = 195
10x Wyches (Raider NS, Hekatrix/VB, Haywires) = 205

HEAVY:
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115
Voidraven (FF, 2x SF) = 175

++++++++++

1746
18 KP

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

TROOP:
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
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, Hekatrix/VB/BP, Haywires) = 210
10x Wyches (Raider NS, Hekatrix/VB/BP, Haywires) = 220

ELITE:
3x Trueborn (Venom NS/SC, 3x Blaster) = 156

HEAVY:
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115
Voidraven (FF, 2x SF) = 175

++++++++++

1997
21 KP

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

TROOP:
5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130
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, Hekatrix/VB/BP, Haywires) = 210
9x Wyches (Raider NS, Hekatrix/VB/BP, Haywires) = 210

ELITE:
3x Trueborn (Venom NS/SC, 3x Blaster) = 156
3x Trueborn (Venom NS/SC, 3x Blaster) = 156

HEAVY:
Ravager (NS) = 115
Ravager (NS) = 115
Voidraven (FF, 2x SF) = 175

++++++++++

From 1500 to 1750, you'll see the following things:

• The same amount of Raiders, Ravagers and Voidravens.  That means that the amount of opening Dark Lances stay the same.  No change there in power level.
• However, the second round of darklight weaponry increases noticeably with the addition of the Blasterborn.
• There's also 2x poison gunships over just one, and both squads of Wyches received Blast Pistols for their Hekatrix.
• The biggest addition there is definitely the added Venom; not only does it give me more second turn lances, but also gives me long-range poison shooting platform.

From 1750 to 2000, there'll even more changes:

• In the first round of shooting, the amount of darklight remains the same as the 1750 and even the 1500 list.  This is important to keep in mind:  The amount of anti-tank doesn't change as the list reaches its maximum potential in the opening volley.
• However, the second round of shooting has 6 more lances in the form of Blasterborn than the 1500 list.
• Compared to the 1500 list, there's also 2x Venoms to add to long-range poison firepower, which is +1 from the 1750 list.
• Upgrade wise, nothing changes except for the addition of one more Succubus.  Now I have 2x of them to join the Wyches that adds significantly to their CC potential, but doesn't change unit numbers at all.
• I am still playing with the same ~50 scoring bodies that I am at 1750, which is only 5 more than the 1500 list.
• What does this tell me?  My scoring potential at 1500 is substantial, while it decreases at larger games due to the increased firepower of my enemies, but I'm able to bring more destructive weapons of my own.  If I were to go from 1750 to 1850, I would probably just add another Succubus to a Wych squad.

So which one of these lists has the best balance of firepower, scoring units and first/second turn potential?  I would think it's my 1750 list.  This is when the true power of my Dark Eldar is unleashed because I'm able to kite out my squad with upgrades, take 5 more warriors to complete another gunboat, but also take a Blasterborn unit in a Venom.  This in turn, increases the number of second turn lances while providing me with additional long-range firepower.

It's a fun exercise, you should try it.  I do it every now and then when rebalancing/optimizing my army lists against changes in the meta.

Voidraven over Razorwing

Damn man.. going hard.

For a couple of games now, I've been including my Voidraven in almost every game over the Razorwing.  Don't get me wrong, the Razorwing is still a fantastic aircraft, but I think the way I've built my Voidraven has him beat.  The setup I'm talking about is a Voidraven with Flickerfields and 2x Shatterfield Missiles.  That's it.  Keep him as cheap as possible and the kit comes in at 175 points.

The primary objective of the bomber is to come in and do its damage.  It literally blows his load on the first turn and then runs away like a little girl.  If there's ground targets to be had, it gets to eat 2 Void Lances and both of the Shatterfield Missiles.  Next round, my VR zooms over another target (or the same) and delivers the mine.  Depending on what happens around me on the battlefield, the VR might go 36" just to get his ass off the board after delivering the mine, especially if there's other aircraft that plans to intercept.

Believe it or not, the AV11 really does help.  It makes the aircraft immune to bolters looking for lucky glances, and puts the plane in a sweet spot to eat glances over pens from a Quad-gun.  I like to take the Flickerfield over the Night Shields for my DE aircraft simply because I want to benefit from my 5+ invul save without having to Jink my aircraft.  Preserving those 2 BS4 S9 AP2 Lance shots are key at utilizing the VR's strengths.

It still kinda offends me how the void mine is only small blast, considering, you know, it's supposedly a triumph of Dark Eldar weapons technology.  If it was large blast, I would be all over this thing every time!  I guess when it comes down to it, most of the games I've had with fliers is all about the alpha strike anyway.  The plane comes in, does its damage and then dies, or flies away.  The ADL + Quad-gun is still especially hard on Dark Eldar aircraft, but that's just expected from something like that.  On the other hand, those S9 Void Lances really do a noticeable amount of damage over the normal lances.

Here's what the current list looks like with the Voidraven Bomber:

1746

18 VP

HQ:

Succubus (Agonizer/BP, Haywire) = 105

TROOP:

5x Warriors (Raider NS, Blaster) = 130

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, Hekatrix/VB/BP, Haywires) = 210

10x Wyches (Raider NS, Hekatrix/VB/BP, Haywires) = 220

ELITE:

3x Trueborn (Venom NS/SC, 3x Blaster) = 156

HEAVY:

Ravager (NS) = 115

Ravager (NS) = 115

Voidraven (FF, 2x SF) = 175

40K Allies and WHFB

Lookin' good man.

So what are the chances that WHFB will see Allies as a permanent thing 9th Edition?

It's been a while now since 6th Ed. 40K has been released.  What are your thoughts on having allies in general?  For me, it always feels like Imperials get a lot of their bases covered while Xenos gets kinda screwed.  Eldar being BB with Dark Eldar really does help, but what about Tyranids?

How do all of you feel about allies in 40K and maybe in WHFB?  Do you see any super imbalance in WHFB?

My WHFB Daemons list

"It granted me all that I desired; but took from me all that I valued.
I would give anything to look upon its beauty once again."
- Liber Malefic

What?  Just because you think I hate the army book means I'm going to stop playing the army?  No way!  It's true, I don't like the new book.  I think it forces you into fairly specific choices and it doesn't have the army diversity as the last book.  Gone are the days of mono-Tz and Khorne and welcome your new overlords Nurgle and Slaanesh!

Anyways, here's my list at 2500:

2494
10 deploys

LORDS:
Lv.4 Keeper of Secrets = 580
Lore of Slaanesh
Greater Gift, 2 Lessers

HEROES:
Lv.1 Herald of Slaanesh = 130
Lesser Locus of Grace
Lore of Slaanesh

Herald of Slaanesh = 120
Lesser Locus of Grace
BSB

CORE:
30x Daemonettes (FC, BoSwiftness) = 375
29x Daemonettes (FC) = 349

SPECIAL:
5x Seekers of Slaanesh = 100
5x Seekers of Slaanesh = 100
4x Fiends of Slaanesh = 260
5x Furies of Slaanesh = 60

RARE:
Skull Cannon of Khorne = 135
Skull Cannon of Khorne = 135
Burning Chariot of Tz = 150

Looks like GW is again making us multi-god.  The Skull Cannons of Khorne are just too good not to take and makes up for the fact that Flamers are weaker.  I like the 1-of Burning Chariot because even though it's random, it's a flying chariot that can potentially do a lot of damage.  It's probably a good thing that my opponents ignore it.

Lastly, two solid blocks of Daemonettes with Seekers to hunt warmachines, Fiends to hunt Vanguard units/flank charge + add combat res, and Furies purely for deployment fodder.  Both of my Heralds make the Daemonette units immune to Dwellers, and the Lv.4/1 will be carrying Lore of Slaanesh.  ASL is almost as good as ASF, not really, but it'll allow me to get in my shots before my girls get chopped up.

What do you guys think of the list?

WHFB Review: Daemons of Chaos

Oh how the mighty have fallen..

In this review, I'm going to dissect the army book down into three key sections.  We're going to talk about the Overall Design, Internal Balance and External Balance.  I'm not going to beat around the bush here, just get down to the nitty gritty.  This is going to be one serious review, prepare yourself.

Overall Design

The entire design philosophy of Daemons have changed since the last book.  Just like the 40K rendition, it looks like GW is going back to its roots to be more chaotic and random.  At first glance, the random elements looks quite manageable.  Unfortunately, once you go deeper into the practical game mechanics, you'll find a lot of inconsistencies and poor design choices.  The one thing that really stands out is the "3" and the "11" on the Reign of Chaos chart that's rolled in the magic phase.  You're looking at some really frustrating game mechanics right here.  No one wants to lose his Bloodthirster before he even gets to do anything, and likewise, no one wants to lose their Lv.4 Wizard due to Daemonic Possession.  Fortunately, Daemonic Possession is a lot easier to avoid than it is in 40K.  Punished by the Gods is a little harder to avoid simply because there's less spammable champions in Fantasy.

Throughout the Reign of Chaos table, you'll see a lot of inconsistencies in both damage and frequency.  The one thing that stood out to me was how harsh the Slaanesh and Khorne punishments were in comparison to Tzeentch and Nurgle.  These trigger if you roll a "6" on conflicting god units (Khorne hates Slaanesh units for exmaple), and on enemy units.  Khorne throws out a stonethrower shot S3(9) with D6 wounds while Tzeentch only scatters D6 but hits for S4 flaming under a small template.  Some say that the damage of these are equally as devastating, but the chances for a direct hit roll are exactly the same.  That's when Khorne takes a significant lead as a S9 D6 wounds hit can wreck anything from an enemy Ironblaster to your own Greater Daemon.  Since Khorne is on the "9" on the chart and Tzeentch is the "5", the chances of these occurring are the same.  Slaanesh, however, sits comfortably at the "8" and Nurgle on the "6".  Strictly talking average here, these happen the most outside the otherwise harmless "7".  What doesn't sit comfortably with me is that Slaanesh requires a 3D6 leadership or take that many wounds with no armor save.  Compare this to Nurgle which is a mere D6+3 S3 hits with no armor saves and you can clearly see which is better.  The pain is truly felt on lower leadership armies as entire units of heavy cav disappear and your own units poof.  This is significantly worse for the Daemon player due to their limitations on leadership.  I'll talk about that later.

Even though some have said the effects of these are relatively the same as their 40K equivalents, I strongly disagree.  Centering a template attack on a unit in fantasy as opposed to a single model in 40K is completely different.  A S4 round template or a Stonethrower hit is a serious thing to consider as the effects of such attacks can equate to half a unit lost.  These are player-paid points, models and work that's being thrown out the window from otherwise random effects.  To make matters even worse, this happens whenever you roll for the Winds of Magic.  Most of the seriously detrimental effects hover around the lower end of the 2D6 chart, so not are you plagued with a pitiful magic turn, you're also penalized with possible army-wide Instability tests, -1 to all your units' ward saves, or killing yourself because you're Punished by the Gods.  These effects all weigh in tremendously to the outcome of the battle much more than it is in 40K.

Moving on to the Daemonic Gifts, I can't say I'm too pleased.  Everyone knows that 40K and Fantasy are completely different animals, and I would certainly hope the designers know as well.  Unfortunately, the need for daemon players to take anything other than magic weapons is out of the question.  Why does every army book out there have access to the full range of BRB items and not Daemons?  You know how in every 8th Ed. book they provided each army with "special" magic items, maybe 8-10 of them and allowed them to fill in the holes with BRB items?  Well, not Daemons.  You don't have access to magical armors, talismans, enchanted items, nor arcane items.  That's right, Daemons of Chaos don't even have access to dispel scrolls.  Don't even get me started that this was done because of game balance:  That a Bloodthirster with Armor of Destiny (heavy armor with 4+ ward) or a 2+ armor would be too much to handle.  Really?  Because you know, magic, cannons and other godly characters don't exist in this game.  You're paying 500+ points for a Greater Daemon, who is also your general, and most of the time your primary spellcaster.  Why shouldn't you be able to protect them from your opponent?  Pray you roll that 2+ armor on the Greater Gift table because that's the last time you'll ever see it.

Lastly, you have the General and the BSB and how the different god affiliations have changed the Daemons book.  So you already know that Daemonic characters from one god can't join units of another god.  Now check this:  Daemons receive no benefit from the Inspiring Presence or Hold Your Ground! special rules unless they're of the same god allegiance.  Want a Lord of Change to lead your army?  That's fine, but you're rolling for average Ld.7 on your Plaguebearers with no BSB bonus.  In fact, just don't get into combat with anything you don't on decisively beating, because who knows?  Maybe you'll roll an 2 and everything is awesome, or you'll lose combat, roll an 12 and the entire unit is destroyed.  I can see the need to keep units of the same allegiance, but you're literally pushing for ineffective, mono-god play and most importantly, limiting player options.  No one wants to roll with Ld.7 average army-wide with Instability.

I can see where Mat Ward was going with this, but I think the execution was just poor and unrefined.  Maybe he ran out of time?  Or put on a choke leash by GW?  Or maybe he just didn't care since this would be round 2 for him anyway and he was over it.  Whatever the reason, it looks like a mistranslation of the 40K version that was hastily pushed by shareholders and adopted into the WHFB environment.  Would it be too much to ask for the ability to take Arcane and Magic Armors as gifts?  Or a decent leadership system?  At least a dispel scroll somewhere man.

Internal Balance

Oh man, where do I start?  Let's start with pricing.  For one, everything has gone up in price.  If it didn't, it got worse.  Most of the time, you'll see both more expensive and worse.

Whenever I do balance, I like to approach it with a scalpel, finely-tuning my fixes piece by piece before settling on a delicate compromise.  What happened here was a facelift done with a sledgehammer.  All the Heralds in the army are paper thin now because of the complete lack of armor options.  Nurgle is obviously the most superior choice stats-wise because he's WS5/S5/T5 and has -1 to hit in close combat.  Everyone else is pretty much naked.  To make matters worse, the Locus abilities are just not consistent with the pricing.  Now that you actually have to buy the bonuses to your squad, one could expect better prices right? Wrong.  On top of already expensive Heralds, the prices for most of the Locus are way too expensive.  The Hatred upgrade for the Herald of Khorne is almost as expensive as he is.  Essentially, you're looking at least double the cost for all Heralds just so they can behave as normal in the last book.  Why pay that when you can just buy 13 or so more Bloodletters?  Oh, and check the pricing for Slaanshi Heralds:  Locus of Grace gives your entire the ability to auto-pass characteristic tests for the price of a meltabomb, while the locus that gives ASF costs 10x that.  I haven't seen cost-benefit analysis this bad in a long time, especially when you factor in the Daemonettes primary kill targets.

Needless to say, the biggest disappointment was the Heralds.  Not only can you take none of what made them awesome last book, but they're now ruthlessly more expensive, with significantly less protection.  With Heralds being this bad, players like myself will see the core units as a "tax" more so than the mainstay force.  So that means the rest of the units must be good right?  No.  Bloodcrushers are mediocre, Flamers got more expensive and worse at shooting, Fiends are no longer 1+, and Slaaneshi chariots are still trash.  The semi-underused units from last book such as Seekers, Beasts of Nurgle and Screamers got better though.  Some got cheaper, some saw different stat changes, and some have been redesigned all together (Beasts).  I can't help but wonder if this is one big joke or not.  Cheaper heralds with beneficial abilities, forming the backbone of your army with loads and loads of core units would drastically increase sales.  But yet, these models are the least of their concern both balance wise and money wise.  Huh?

I'll tell you what I'm damn sure about though, and that's GW's really looking to push sales for the Skull Cannon.  Is there a reason such a thing exists for 135 points?  It really puts something like the Ironblaster to shame, and most of the WHFB community would agree with me in saying such a statement is outrageous.  I mean, the Ironblaster is already considered largely underpriced, and you're saying that GW released something cheaper AND better in the form of the Skull Cannon?  Yes, absolutely.  Folks, for a laughable 15 points more than an Empire Cannon, you can get a Daemon of Khorne chariot that has T5 with 3+/5++, moves 7", fires a flaming, magical cannon, has the combat stats that makes even combat units weep, and has S6 Impact hits that regains wounds.  You don't like the ugly model?  I guess you need to pick one up anyway because it's so damn good you'd be crazy not to take one.  Conveniently, the Soul Grinder and Burning Chariot are both pretty decent, so maybe you should pick up some of those as well.

Lastly, I'll briefly mention the magic phase.  As most of you know, the Daemons of Chaos have the same exact spells as Warriors of Chaos.  I guess they consider this consistent because now it's just "chaos magic". Sure, the Demons get different bonuses for getting their spells cast, but nothing bothers me more than the fact  that Tzeentch didn't any of his Lords of Change anything outside Metal and Tzeentch.  Nurgle is now matched with Death and Slaanesh with Shadow, but why is the god of magic himself as limiting?  It kills me a little inside, really.  Consistency is fine and dandy, but not at the expense of key lore.  In fact, just get rid of Warpflame because that rule is backwards stupid.  There's just no reason for it.

External Balance

Judging from the rest of the 8th Ed. books, I wouldn't say Daemons are unplayable.  They're definitely a "tame" book, probably worse than Tomb Kings.  The reason why this is so is because the new Daemons are so limited to begin with, both in overall design, magic items and units, but now they're forced to deal with random elements as well.

Due to their redesign, they are no longer the same army that you saw dominate in 7th in any stretch of the imagination.  This is good in the sense that they were way too powerful before, but bad (and much worse) in a sense that they retained nothing of their previous book.  Despite the over the top power level of 7th Ed. Daemons, it was one of the best designed and internally balanced books that I have ever seen.  Now, I've been in the hobby for 12 some years now, and I can outright say that that particular book is my favorite of all time.  The fluff was great, the writing was fantastic, the internal balance design was made from your heart's desire:  You could literally freestyle and take whatever you want and be happy.  It pleased Tzeentch players, Slaanesh, Khorne, Nurgle, and mixed god fans.  It even pleased players who saw a different build every time they were across the table from them, and internet forums everywhere talking about which build was the most powerful, or how they got their asses handed to them by a different list every time.  Player options were limitless and that is key in the longevity of any army book.

Now?  A book built upon the utter ruin of the previous rendition, with little to no compassion to the previous writer.  Oh wait a minute, Mat Ward wrote this one as well, and this is where I think there might be a conspiracy.  There is no way Mat can fail this hard at writing books given his track record.  His internal balance is normally superb, a little on the powerful side, but rock solid.  Could this be the first time the world sees what happens when upper management/sales takes a GW designer by the reigns and says do this or else?

There is nothing in this book that reminds me of the old book, and this includes all the player options.  I literally cannot justify taking any of the Heralds except maybe the Slaanesh one.  Nurgle is definitely a safer bet 99/100.  You know what?  This is exactly the problem.  There's so many no-brainer options and WTFWHYs that not only limits the player options, but also sabotages their involvement, planning and love of the hobby.  You will see mostly the same lists from a competitive point of view, and if you don't , you're probably just playing for fun anyways because you love the lore behind it (which personally, I liked the last book's more).

I see this as the most literal, collective failure in an army book that GW has put out in 12 years.  Something that makes Cruddace's 5th Ed. Tyranids look like a work of genius and earned Gav Thrope's CSM a spot in the Louvre.

1/5 Overall Design
2/5 Internal Balance
2/5 External Balance

No army, nevermind army, no player should ever have to suffer through this for the next X years.  Really.