Templar and Night lords!

Black Templars were my first 40k army. I loved that they were Marine who just wanted the best things in life. A nice ship to fly around in, awesome bros to pal around, and to crush the enemies of the Emperor and saw off limbs with swords. Right after 5th edition dropped I went to codex Marines. I like to have lots of guns a trait the Black Templars didn't seem to share. But the Templars always were something I wanted to get back to. I think I can make a pretty effective and neat list using them as allies for codex Marines.

Keeping with my current love for Drop-pods I kind of am looking into a list that couples the awesome small arms of the Sternguard and the raw power of the Black Templar Terminator. Templar Terminators can take drop pods, the Current FAQ makes the Templar Drop Pod Assault the Turn 1 deep strike found in newer books. The Terminator/Sternguard attack opens up a lot of interesting options. On turn 1 I have 5 melta shots and 4 tank hunter missiles I can fire into armour or infantry. The missiles give me enough reach to counter fast vehicles.

Further I'm just about set to get in my first real game with my Chaos Marines. My list is going to be pretty simple. A good mix of Armour and dismounted infantry. It'll look something like this:

Lucius

Level 3 Slaanesh Sorcerer 

10 Noise marines 8 sonic blasters, 1 Blastmaster, doom siren, Power Weapon

10 CSM, CC Weapons, x2 Melta power sword MoS

10 CSM bolters, Auto cannon, plasma gun MoS

20 CCW cultists with 2 flamers

5 Havocs, 4 Auto Cannons

1 Defiler

1 Heldrake

1 Vindicator

1 bastion with quad gun

As a first step I feel pretty confident with this list. Most of the units can fill multiple rolls on the table top. I'm going to try for two games this weekend and will be sure to post up some thoughts on the list next week!

I hope your holidays were fantastic! 

Terrain

Terrain is a massive factor in any game. I don't think players realize just had much terrain can't screw them over. A lot of people play terrain as simple as they can make it. area terrain everywhere. lets slap a hill in the middle, some buildings in the quarters and maybe a fence or two to break up open areas.  4+ cover saves and 5+ cover saves, difficult terrain. simple right!

Well no. Terrain is good but you need to have lots of it and have different kinds of terrain. Impassible, dangerous and mysterious are all needed to keep the game playing properly. having all these variable terrain types really mess with math hammer players. O you took 120 ork Boyz so you can control the whole board, spread out to deny templates and have lootas in the rear to gun down light armour? that'd be hard to do with a bunch of giant rocks all over the board you can't walk on or see through, bet you wish you had brought stormboyz or kommandos to open up another avenue of attack now!\

Obviously this is an extreme example. 

 The problem of people ignoring terrain is even more evident in fantasy. With no way to block routes of march or to force units to reform massive hordes just walk right into combat. without things to block cannons or slow down unit the game devolves into a scrum in the middle.

Good thing we found this convent wide open field! I thought we might have maneuver or something! 

My point is Table tops should be different every game and should be made so sometimes you are at a disadvantage. counting on being able to shoot every turn, spread out to cover the board or always get a cover save is kind of ridiculous. I know it's a problem for tournaments to get enough terrain. But I really think you need to try. Lots of places put out nice pre-fab pieces and I will pay extra for more terrain.

Drop pod After action report

I've played 10 games with my Drop Pod marines now. I think I have enough experience to objectively look at the army. The army is simple to use. You drop pod as close as possible and kill what ever needs killing. Drop pod lists work a lot better in 6th edition. In 5th people would just Reserve everything and your drop pod assault would be wasted. Not a lot of armies can start entirely in reserve now so there is more than likely going to be a target.

Where I think the problem with Drop pod lists arises is in the survival of the pod after they hit the ground. In most cases you're exposed and are in range of the enemy guns and assault units. In 10 games I never achieved an uncontested drop. I always will take casualties and will always be on the back foot after turn 1. So how do I make my Drop pods more survivable?

I'm going to try to change the list to get more bodies podded in. I think with 5 pods I'd have a lot more punch on the first turn but the points cost is insane! I can't fit in any reliable AA or assault units in at that point at 1500 points. It may be a case that the army is simply to points heavy to run at 1500 points.

I'm going to run a game tomorrow night (hopefully) and see if how well I do with a heavy focus on short range fire fights.

Winter War Round up

Well The Winter War has come and gone and it was a bloody good time! I had three great games with awesome guys.

My list consisted of:

Pedro

Drop-pod Sternguard with 3 Combi-meltas and a Melta gun- 10 man

Drop-pod Sternguard with 3 Combi-meltas and a Melta gun- 10 man

Drop-pod Dev Squad with 3 meltas and a Missile Launcher

5 man scouts sniper rifles

5 man scout camo cloaks, missile launcher sniper rifles

5 man Thunder-hammer Storm shield Terminators.

Storm Talon with cyclon missile launcher

My first Game was against a Grey Knight Player. 2 purifier squads, a land raider, 2 storm ravens and Crowe. I had first turn and it was brutal. My Sternguard broke open his landraider and killed 16 purifiers. He assualted a combat squad in his turn and killed it, but the 4 purifiers got gunned down. during the top of turn one. His storm ravens came on and tried to salvage the game but at this point I was able to spread out and secure all the objectives. My storm talon shot one Raven down, Crowe was inside and survived the crash only to land right in front of my terminators who laid a smack down on him.
My first game was very successful, but this isn't a mark against my oppenant. His army was simply suseptable to drop pod assaults. Maybe if he had combat squaded and spread out, but it's hard to say. 

My second game brought me up against A Tzeentch Daemon list. I knew this would be a make or break game on turn 1 and fortune was on my side. He didn't get his preferred wave, his mishap'd one squad and I didn't loose a whole unit to flamers, I got good scatters on my pods and was in a position to win the entire game then an there. But my dice went south on me. I had to kill 4 flamers, 10 pink horrors and a Lord of Change. I had over 40 shots to do this with. I know the Math wasn't in my favour and it was a long shot but if a storm bolter brought the lord down to the ground rapid firing hellfire bolters could deal enough damage. 
My dice of course failed me at this point. I did no wounds and my terminators were over watched to death. c'est la vie. The rest of the game really doesn't matter. My opponent played a great game and had a hard as nails list. I maxed his sportsmanship because despite the ass kicking I received it was a fun game. 

My last game was against a Necorn foot list. I planned to deep strike on one flank and roll up his line But i deep struck too close my terminators were to far back to properly support the Sternguard. I was barely able to hold my objective( a morale victory at this point) and killed his warlord in a challenge. In all I ended up 13th overall. Not bad for my first tournament in a long time. 

 I really think Daemons need a fundamental change. A lot of people are talking about how you beat daemons: gems like deploy so they can't flame you, torrent them down and other really "useful' tips. The fact is Flamers and Screamers went from good to insane and it is annoying to play against. Out of all the units that could have been updated why pick two of the already useful ones? When you play against daemons they always have the "initiative" and you're forced to react to them. I know the list isn't unbeatable, but it sure as hell isn't fun to play against. Breathe of Chaos is disproportionately powerful to anything else in the game right now, I mean in the CSM book it's a 2 warp charge power or 50 points for the chance to cast it once. But I had a good tournament and am now thinking about my Nightlords and Out of the Basement in January. 

Deathwatch Mission #1

Well my first game of Deathwatch was rather successful. I fumbled the intro but my players got so into the action of second and third act I think they forgot why they were even playing a game!

 

Kill-team Omega-Maximus-2 (OM2) consisted of 6 marines;

An Imperial Fist Tactical Marine, Raven Guard Assault Marine, Salamander Devastator, Blood Angel Devastator, Iron Hands Tech Marine and an Ultramarine Apothecary,

The Kill-team had a good mix and man was their firepower something to be in awe of!

the Kill-teams mission was simple. Get aboard a rogue trader vessel and look for some illegal weapons. They intercepted the vessel and boarded under the guise of a retiune inspection. The Rogue Trader was pretty surprised when 6 armed space Marines wondered onto his flight deck. He escorted the Kill-team to the cargo hold and dismissed himself and left an aid to assist with the inspection.

As the aid stepped forward he ate a mouthful of fist as the Raven guard punched him out. This is when things got dicey. The Ambush that had be set for the Space Marines tipped off but before they could get their las-cannon into position! The Imperial Fist formed organised a Bolter Assault and kill team opened up! Crew serfs were cut down in droves. The kill team rolled up almost 9 head shots in a row! Noticing the las-cannon being dragged into the position the kill team targeted crew and weapon. The Raven Guard launched himself with his jump pack but fell painfully short of getting onto the gantry the heavy weapon was on. He fell 20 meters but managed to parkour his way to a safe landing. The Salamander and Blood Angel both turned their heavy bolters on the Las-cannon after it barely missed the Imperial Fist.

The ambush was broken and the serfs fled. The Iron Hand took this opportunity to find out what the hell was going on. He hacked into the ships logs and found no data on the cargo, despite the hundreds of containers in front of him. All he knew was there was a timer counting down with only a few hours to go! Deciding being that the smartest thing to do was to look in the container the kill team opened the closest to have a peek at the content; when they found 30+ armed Kroot awakening from Temperale retardation the team calmly closed the door with a couple primed grenades tossed in.

 

The Kill-team then came to its first party argument. The Imperial Fist wanted to storm the bridge, the RavenG wanted to take the shuttle back to their frigate and blast it. Most of the Kill-team wanted the Rouge Trader for questioning. So they came up with the plan to secure the bridge AND the Shuttle. Once the bridge was secure they would Ram the shuttle into the bridge deck and fly away. Ballsy as all hell; but, the Emperor likes Ballsy! 

The Imperial Fist, Iron Hand and Blood Angel went to attack the bridge, Hopping on an mini-tram for crew movement  they took off down the 4km long ship towards the bridge tower. The Rushing arms-men must have been drunk because No-one saw the Space Marines until the tram was just about at the bridge tower. This squad that did spot the kill team got showered with bolter fire for their trouble!

 

Meanwhile Raven Guard, Ultramarine and Salamander attacked the Shuttle bay. leading with grenades they scattered the guards. When Ka'dar stepped out to fire his heavy bolter he was rewarded with a jam! Ultramarine and Raven Guard charged in with swords and cut down the guards, Ka'dar followed with his bolt pistol and Combat blade! the shuttle bay was theirs in seconds. 

The Imperial Fist found his squad facing an elevator. Deciding they were clearly walking into a trap, the squad got on top of the elevator for the ride to the bridge deck. When the door opened they tossed grenades into the waiting guards, on grenade bounced harmlessly away, but Iron Hands scored a hit and killed most of the would-be-ambushers. Combat blades and bolters finished them off. The Armoured bridge door loomed. Unable to hack their way in, Iron Hands Grabbed the door with his servo harness and pulled! he managed to eek out enough of a hand hold for Imperial Fist to help pull the door open. When the door was wide enough for them to enter a las-bolt stuck the Imperial fist square in the head. His armour easily reflected the damage and now really pissed Imperial Fist Charged in with combat blade and started to slaughter the bridge crew. Blood Angel and Iron followed. Blood angel wrestled the Rogue Trader to the ground. The bridge crew fled. Looking around they found a void suit for the Trader. Iron Hands then shut down life support. Charges were placed on the Armour glass and with a thunderous explosion, thousands of cracks formed. Outside in the void las-fire and defence turrets could be seen firing.

 

Raven Guard piloted the Aqueilla  Lander through the defensive fire. a las cannon beam punched through the hull and voided the atmosphere but the Marines power armour made this nothing more than a minor annoyance. Gunning the engines the Lander slammed into the armour glass and rammed in the back of the bridge. Bodies were sucked out into the void Imperial Fists squad boarded the Lander and were barely able to get enough thrust to get out of the ship! The Lander took more damage as it limped out of the fire zone and safety from the dyeing ship!

The mission was based on Gav Thorpes “Mission: Purge.”  I made some changes to make it a single mission in a larger campaign. Thorpe really did a good job writing a story that would start off a Campaign. So now the Kill-team, fresh from an overwhelming successful mission has questions to ask. Why would a rogue trader transport Kroot? What was his destination? Maybe in the next session some of these questions will be answered.

Death Striking!

The Winter War is only a week away! I'm proud to say that I have selected my Drop Pod Sternguard list. I'm pretty pumped and am looking forward to it. I've played about 4 games with the DPS list and think I won't embarrass myself (to much).

This weekend I'm going to DM my first every Deathwatch game. I have 6 players and Kill Team Omega-Maximus-2  is going to have their hands full! I'm really pleased with the Deathwatch system so far. The Character creation is in depth but leaves a lot of room for imagination. I like the fact Space Marines are beyond awesome right out of the gate. They should be. I really hate RPG's that start characters off as bumbling idiots for the sake of "realism."  This doesn't mean I don't want them to be a challenge, but I just don't want my character(s) to be a little bitch ether.

This is where the challenge of being a DM comes into play. How do you make your players feel powerful and vulnerable at the same time? The answer isn't simple but hopefully I can help.



I make the entire world they are on one giant dangerous place. The settings is the most important area of a RPG and therefore should be something that can kill you dead. Whats more terrifying to a mighty space marine; A group of guardsmen with a las-cannon that can be ambushed, out fought and gunned down; or a tiny bridge over a river of liquid nitrogen. I can make the player roll a agility test for every 5 meters of bridge they cover, maybe if I am luckey one will fall and the entire kill team will have to work to rescue their Battle Brother! That's exciting for the players, a hurdle to over come they probably didn't expect. Something they can ether soldier through or find a work-around.  By making the entire setting dangerous you can make use of every stat and skill they have. You want your players to know that at no time they are safe. But you also want them succeed, you should be making the world dangerous but not at the expense of characters lives. So as a DM practice encounters and hazards! At least run the math. Make sure you aren't going to auto-kill then entire party on the first encounter!

Holy goodness!

I think that my game on Friday will go down as one of the best of the year. I played another marine player. He was fairly new but had a pretty awesome 4th company ultramarine army. Three tactical squads with two scout sniper squads made up his troops. Two vindicators as heavies, two storm talons and an attack bike squad rolled as fast attacks. Tigerious was the Warlord choice. I rolled up my drop pod list with an additional las/ plas devastator squad vindicator and terminator to bring my numbers up to 1850.

We played kill points on long table edge and man! This game was bloody! My initial drop pod strike managed to kill both vindicators and a put the hurt on Tigerious causing a wound and knocking his squad down to 3 Marines but my damned vengence rounds killed two of my own Sternguard! His attack bike squad duelled with my las/plas devs and snipers and his mounted tac squads disembarked and really put the hurt on my Sterguard. He wiped out one Combat Squad, killed a man or two in every other combat squad. Tigerious Iron armed himself and charged into my 3 man sternguard squad. St9 blows rained down on my squad but their armour held. barely. At this point I was Sweating bullets. I failed all my reserve rolls (with a re-roll) so I had less than 10 Marines to deal with 23 tactical marines, Rhinos and Tigerious himself! I have to admit I was going to call the game at this point; but the sportsman in me said
"Stick it out, this guy is pretty cool and deserves a hard fought game!"

So I pulled up my socks and committed to finishing. Pedro unleashed Dorns arrow and killed two marines, his Sternguard fired their bolt pistols and got another one. Then Pedro waded into combat and killed 4 more Marines! Tigerous continued to be thwarted by the blessed power armour of the sternguard in combat but my vindicator and one more combat squad were wiped out. My terminators refused to come on the board but my multimetla Devs drop poded in and a storm talon arrived! I had a fighting chance now!

Pedro finished off the tac squad and went after Tigerious. The Challenge was short and Tigerious put up a good fight but ultimately Kantors Power fist won out. With Tigerious down the and his remaining tactical sqauds pinned between Two Devs teams and a very angry Pedro Kantor I think my oppenant put over a valiant last stand. He shot down my storm talon and killed Pedro but I simply had to much fire power left for him to deal with.

It was a great game non-the-less. I think the big lesson i took away is that my Sternguard are going to take disgusting casualties. I really need to make sure they have cover, are spread out and have a proper fire support as soon as they land.