About My Blog

Ave Omnissiah!

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My blog is primarily my own personal fluff in the Warhammer 40,000 universe regarding the Draconis system such as the Knight House Yato in Ryusei, their Household Militia, the Draconian Defenders, and the Forge World of Draconis IV with its Adeptus Mechanicus priesthood, Cybernetica cohorts and Skitarii legions, and the Titan Legion, Legio Draconis, known as the Dark Dragons.

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Retrospective: Imperial Knights

Today, we're going to a Retrospective on...Imperial Knights! I mean, this is primarily an Imperial Knight blog, so obviously if I'm ...

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Knights of House Yato

Sorry for not doing much this week. To afford my hobby (especially since I want to buy a bunch of Imperial Knights), I took up a part-time job. I originally was going to make use of the money I earned from my part-time job to buy and build a Deathwatch army, but I don't think I'll be able to do that, so that plan has gone out of the window. Deathwatch is no longer on the agenda. I don't have the time and funds for it, at least not in the near future. Instead I will focus solely on my Imperial Knight army.

I came to a decision regarding House Yato. In the end, instead of bothering with all the crunch, gameplay, strategy, list-building, tactics and what-not, I decided to go back to my original inspiration for House Yato - House Taranis from Graham McNeill's Mechanicum. That is one of my favorite Horus Heresy books, right up there with A Thousand Sons. Actually, I'm not even sure which I prefer, but regardless, Mechanicum is up there on my list of favorites, and one of the reasons why I enjoyed it was because I followed the Imperial Knights of House Taranis, especially Raf Maven and Leopold Cronus - their journey to hunt that warp-cursed machine thing. That was one of the highlights of the book for me. Oh, and the last stand of the Knights of House Taranis and the Titans of Legio Tempestus. That was so heart-breaking to read and was what drew me to the awesome Knights in the first place. Furthermore, I remember writing a few years ago (was it 3 years? 4?) that House Yato and the Knight houses of Draconis III are closest to House Taranis because they do not need neural implants or sockets to connect with their Knights or something. So...yeah, I decided to model my Knight house after House Taranis in terms of gameplay too. So I'll be building a fluffy list rather than a competitive list (though the moment I chose Knights for my main faction, I doubt I can use that as an excuse). Just like the fluff I did for my original House Yato back in 7th edition, I decided to make them as close to House Taranis as possible.

In other words, just like House Taranis, House Yato is blessed with the Omnissiah's Grace. Yay.

So how do I build my Knight list? I already have a Knight army, so what do I add? I honestly do not think I'll get any new Questoris-class Knights since I practically have one of each except the Knight Gallant. The Knight Gallant is cool and all, but I'm not a big fan of pure melee units without much in the way of shooting. The Knight Crusader fits my style more, but obviously it would be impractical to take 3 of them in the same list, especially since they cost quite a bit in terms of both points and cash. So I'll work with what I have, and then add to my list a couple of the new Knights such as the Knight Castellan and Armigers Helverin. So how do I compile a list around these new units and still include my old units? Basically let's look at a 1,500-point list.

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Castellan with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 604 (Ion Bulwark Warlord Trait and Cawl's Wrath)

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and stormspear rocket pod 440 (Fury of Mars)

Knight Warden with meltagun and twin Icarus autocannon 454 (Mark of the Omnissiah or Endless Fury)

Total: 1,498 (9 Command Points -> 6 because of Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem)

Looking good. 3 Knights, perfect for a Super-heavy Detachment. Not only that, it gives me a whooping 6 bonus Command Points! Nice! And it's kind of fluffy, and I'm just gonna spam the Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem because...I can. Anyway, that's my 1,500-point list. For bigger games, I'll have room for at least one more Knight.

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Castellan with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 604 (Ion Bulwark Warlord Trait and Cawl's Wrath)

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and stormspear rocket pod 440 (Fury of Mars)

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon and stormspear rocket pod 530 (Mark of the Omnissiah)

Armiger Helverin with heavy stubber 174

Total: 1,748 (9 Command Points -> 6 because of Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem)

This list is for 1,750-point games because apparently that's the point number they're using at tournaments or something. I'm not sure. But that's what I'm going with if I'm only restricted to a 1,750-point list. Still a pretty fun and great list that's thematic, since I'm going House Taranis-styled House Yato, and all the awesome heirlooms and whatnot. For 2,000-point games, I can swap the Armiger Helverin for a proper Titanic Knight

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Castellan with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 604 (Ion Bulwark Warlord Trait and Cawl's Wrath)

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and stormspear rocket pod 440 (Fury of Mars)

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon and stormspear rocket pod 530 (Mark of the Omnissiah)

Knight Warden with meltagun 424 /  Knight Paladin with heavy stubbers 423

Total: 1,998 / 1,997 (9 Command Points -> 6 because of Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem)

Of course, there's always the option to swap the 4th Knight out for an Imperial Guard Battalion. This will give me more Command Points as well as infantry and a tank. After all, it's weird to have a Knight lance go into battle alone without infantry and armored support. Well, Knights are armor, but you know what I mean. It's unfortunate that Knights cost so much that I can only squeeze in a small, almost minimal Battalion, otherwise I would have a lance of Knights accompanying a full-sized Brigade. Well, that's that. What to do indeed.

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Castellan with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 604 (Ion Bulwark Warlord Trait and Cawl's Wrath)

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and stormspear rocket pod 440 (Fury of Mars)

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon and stormspear rocket pod 530 (Mark of the Omnissiah)

Total: 1,574

Imperial Guard Battalion Detachment

Company Commander with plasma pistol 35 (Kurov's Aquila)

Tempestor Prime with bolt pistol 41

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions (Kamikaze Storm Troopers) with 2 hot-shot volley guns 62

Leman Russ Executioner tank with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Total: 424

Grand Total: 1,998 (14 Command Points -> 10 because of Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem and Imperial Commander's Armory Stratagem)

There you go. Perfect for a 2,000-point game, and the Astra Militarum detachment is a household retinue for House Yato, escorting and protecting the Knights with infantry and tanks. There's even Kamikaze Storm Troopers!

For even bigger games, I can go with a pure Knights list.

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Castellan with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 604 (Cawl's Wrath)

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and ironstorm missile pod 411 (Fury of Mars)

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon and stormspear rocket pod 530

Total: 1,545

Super-heavy Detachment

Knight Valiant with 2 siegebreaker cannons and 2 shieldbreaker missiles 594 (Mark of the Omnissiah and Blessed by the Sacristans Warlord Trait)

Armiger Helverin with heavy stubber 174

Armiger Helverin with meltagun 187

Total: 955

Grand Total: 2,500 (12 Command Points -> 9 because of Heirlooms of the Household Stratagem)

So that's a full pure Knights army for a 2,500-point game, if anybody ever wants to play that many points. I don't have to worry about it as I probably wouldn't be getting the Knight Valiant for a while. I'll focus on the Knight Castellan and Armigers Helverin for now, and once I'm done with that, I'll see how much funds I have left. Money is always a limiting factor. And time too. I've no idea how busy my next semester will be, so it might be difficult for me to build a second Dominus-class Knight during the semester. Won't stop me from trying, though. As always, it'll be funny to use the Our Darkest Hour Stratagem on my Knight Valiant, bring him back to life (on a 4+ though, ugh) and then unleash 3D6 auto-hitting shots with his conflagration cannon. Cool, eh?

For the Emperor and the Omnissiah!

Monday, June 25, 2018

Forge World Knights

Well, I'm not usually a Forge World person (because they're so damned expensive that I'm priced out of them), but I guess this will be interesting for everyone. Basically, Forge World is writing rules for us to use the Dominus-class and Armiger-class Knights in Horus Heresy games.



Warhammer Community has the article here. So check it out if that's your thing.





Apparently these designs have been retconned to have existed for a super-long time, since the ancient Dark Age of Technology and before the Horus Heresy. Why no one mentioned them in the lore or fluff, I can't say for sure, but...yeah. Whatever.





But that's not all. Apparently Forge World has been cooking up new Knights too. Instead of building transports for Adeptus Mechanicus or writing rules for old Mechanicum units (Thanatar, Castellax, Vorax, etc) in Imperial Armor or working on Fires of Cyraxus, the staff at Forge World decided to shelve that and work on building new Knights. Because they make more money than making rules for 30K Mechanicum units for 40K.



So yeah. New Forge World Knight. Yay. Except that I can't afford that, so I'll pass. Plus resin is such a pain to work with.



The Thanatar appearing in the Forge World Open Day seems promising, and could hint at a release of Fires of Cyraxus, but I won't hold my breath. Disappointed once, will be disappointed forever. If I don't expect anything, I'll be pleasantly surprised, much better than being bitterly disappointed yet again.



You already know the Imperial Knights FAQ and Renegade Knights Index. After all, I already reported them in this blog (and I was faster than Natfka at Faeit 212 blog too!). But just to remind you guys, the FAQ now allows us to use our Forge World Imperial Knights in our army rather than restrict it only to Dominus-class and Questoris-class Knights. As long as they're Titanic (and most of the Imperial Knights in Forge world - if not all - have the keyword Titanic), they're good to go.





Oh, right. And not forgetting the Renegade Knights and their use of forge world Knights too.





...at least that's what the Warhammer Community said, but they posted loyalist Mechanicus Knights for the Renegade Knights pictures. Derp.

Anyway, you can check out the Forge World Knights here, or you can check out the Index for Renegade Knights and the Imperial Knights faq here. For the Emperor!

Friday, June 22, 2018

Trying to build House Yato

One of the good things about building an Imperial Knight army is that I already have 4 Knights. Knight Crusader, Knight Errant, Knight Paladin and Knight Warden, so I have a very flexible force to swap out stuff here and there. Unfortunately, with the new codex, it seems that I've new stuff to get to expand on my Knights roster and build a more optimal list. Maybe.

So how do I do it?

First, let's look at the new Knights. Which would be best to add to my current roster? The Dominus-class Knights look absolutely amazing, so I'll definitely get at least one. Since my strategy usually relies on shooting with my Knight Crusader or Knight Paladin, it would be better for me to get the Knight Castellan instead of the Knight Valiant. He synergizes better with my Knight Crusader for example, or lore-wise, he synergizes really well with my Shadowsword. I can imagine an anti-Titan force. House Yato's Knight Castellan smashing the void shields apart with his shieldbreaker missiles, and then Colonel Ikeda's Shadowsword driving up to deliver the killing blow with his volcano cannon. Well, fluff-wise, it would be a company of three Shadowswords flanking the Knight Castellan. So Knight Castellan it is, even though I actually like the Knight Valiant a lot. The conflagration cannon seems so awesome. Tough choice, really tough choice. But I like plasma. Besides, my Draconian Armored Defenders is a defensive sige army, so it makes more sense for them to pair up with a Knight Castellan who sits back and fires from long range while extending his Ion Aegis over the squadron of Leman Russ Executioners and armor infantry. Even a traitor Titan Legion would have to be cautious going up against the formidable firepower of a Knight Castellan and a company of Shadowswords!

Next, what other stuff should I add to my Knight list? I was thinking a Knight Preceptor because of his las-impulsor and also because he gives buffs to Armiger-class Knights. Furthermore, he's great at close-range and melee (well, all Knights except the Crusader are good at melee). So it would be fun for me to play around with a Knight Preceptor and stick him with a couple of Armiger bodyguards.

So what Armiger bodyguards do I want? This actually surprised me. I thought I was more inclined toward the Armiger Helverins because they're the shooty version, after all. But as I tried to build a list around them, it appeared that most of the Household Traditions don't benefit them. Of course I have one version where I don't get a Knight Preceptor (which sucks because the Armiger Helverins don't get re-rolls of ones if I don't take him) but a 2nd Knight Crusader instead. So it'll be a Knight Castellan, 2 Knights Crusader and 2 Armigers Helverins in a single Super-heavy Detachment for 6 Command Points. This iteration will take House Hawkshroud as the Household Tradition because that seems to be the most...uh, effective and fluffy Tradition for a shooty Knight army that wants to stay back and fire from afar. It's not that bad, actually, and I do like the list. But I can't optimize my Armiger Helverins without the Knight Prceptor. Oh well. That's fine too.

But if I don't go the shooty House Hawkshroud (Yato) route, then what are the other options and possibilities?

I could rebuild a Questoris Mechanicus or Mechanicus Knights list with my army. Especially with what I have in mind with regards to purchasing new Knights. That would mean getting Forgebane (yay). A Knight Castellan, a Knight Prceptor, a Knight Errant and 2 Armigers Warglaive in a lance, and a patrol detachment of Adeptus Mechanicus.

House Yato Adamantine Lance (taking House Krast Tradition)

Knight Castellan with 2 shieldbreaker missiles and two twin siegebreaker cannons (Warlord Trait First Knight, Cawl's Wrath Heirloom) 604

Knight Preceptor with multi-laser and Stormspear rocket pod 470

Knight Errant with heavy stubber and Stormspear rocket pod 440

2 Armigers Warglaive with meltaguns 177x2=354

Total: 1,868

Draconis IV Adeptus Mechanicus Patrol Detachment (Stygies VIII forge world dogma)

HQ

Tech-priest Enginseer 47

Troops

5 Rangers with 2 transuranic arquebus 85

Total: 132

Grand Total: 2,000 (9 Command Points)

Well, this is the pure Knights list...or was supposed to be pure Knights, but obviously I ended up with spare points for an Adeptus Mechanicus Patrol Detachment. Oh well. But if I want more Adeptus Mechanicus stuff, I could always take out the Knight Errant and squeeze in a Battalion and a couple of Onager Dunecrawlers.

House Yato Adamantine Lance (taking House Krast Tradition)

Knight Castellan with 2 shieldbreaker missiles and two twin siegebreaker cannons (Warlord Trait First Knight, Cawl's Wrath Heirloom) 604

Knight Preceptor with multi-laser and Ironstorm missile pod 441/Knight Errant with heavy stubber and Stormspear rocket pod 440

2 Armigers Warglaive with meltaguns 177x2=354

Total: 1,399/,1398

Draconis IV Adeptus Mechanicus Battalion Detachment (Stygies VIII forge world dogma)

HQ

Tech-priest Dominus with volkite blaster and macrostubber 125

Tech-priest Enginseer 47

Troops

5 Skitarii Vanguard with taser goad and 2 plasma calivers 72

5 Skitarii Vanguard with arc pistol, arc maul and 2 arc rifles 56

5 Skitarii Vanguard 40

Heavy Support

Onager Dunecrawler with Icarus Array 130

Onager Dunecrawler with Icarus Array 130

Total: 600

Grand Total: 1,999/1,998 (11 Command Points)

This gives me a bit more Command Points and a lot more dakka (I think?). Honestly, I would prefer to go the shooty route and give my Onager Dunecrawlers neutron lasers and get Armigers Helverin instead but House Krasts's Household Tradition doesn't benefit them well. Armigers Helverin don't have melee weapons, so Cold Fury doesn't benefit them as much as say, Armigers Warglaive who have the Reaper chain-cleaver that allows them to re-roll all hit rolls in the fight phase in the turn they charged, or was charged or performed a Heroic Intervention. On the other hand, I don't really need the Knight Preceptor so I can just replace him with my Knight Errant instead, since everyone gets to re-roll hit rolls in the fight phase regardless. And with the range, I doubt House Vulker's Firestorm Protocols benefit the Armigers Helverin much, plus I have the Knight Preceptor to re-roll ones anyway. The point is to maximize the use of the Armigers Warglaive and Knight Preceptor's melee capabilities with House Yato/Krast's Cold Fury. I have half a mind to just make my Skitarii Metalica, but I think I prefer Stygies VIII. Actually, I prefer Mars, but whatever. Lucius might not be a bad choice either, given the amount of AP -1 weaponry (bolt rifles, heavy flamers, heavy bolters, Custodes' spears, etc.). But they're just there...to provide infantry and anti-air support for my Knights. So cool beans...I think?

However, it is entirely possible to swap the Knight Castellan out for a Knight Valiant and go House Raven so that I can advance everyone and shoot without penalties. That would be cool and I could swap the Icarus array on one of the Onager Dunecrawlers for a neutron laser. The Knight Valiant would get either Ion Bulwark or Blessed by the Sacristans Warlord Trait (you can bet I'll use it on the conflagration cannon) and the Mark of the Omnissiah Heirloom. Everyone would be advancing and firing, so that will be awesome. I would replace the meltaguns on the Armigers Warglaive with heavy stubbers and take away the arc pistol so that I can upgrade the Ironstorm missile pod into a Stormspear rocket pod. That sounds like a great option too. If I go this route, I'll make my Skitarii Metalica to go along with the whole House Raven and Metalica forge world pairing (never mind it's House Yato and Draconis IV forge world in my case). In either case, I can make the Tech-priest Dominus my Warlord and give him the Necromechanic Warlord Trait and either Autocaduceus of Arkhan Land or the Lucius Solar Flare Relic. The Solar Flare will teleport my Tech-priest Dominus to wherever my Knights are and repair whoever needs repairing (heal 2 wounds, use Tech-Adept Stratagem to heal another 2 wounds on my Knight!). If need be, I can use it to repair up to 8 wounds on my Onager Dunecrawler, especially with the Autocaduceus of Arkhan Land allowing me to re-roll repair rolls! Of course, if I go the House Raven and Metalica route, I don't mind taking Ordered Efficiency Warlord Trait and Raiment of the Technomartyrs to...utterly destroy assault armies. That would be fun. Maybe. I don't know. We'll see! In either case, I'll spend an extra 2 Command Points to give my main Knight (Knight Castellan or Knight Valiant) a Warlord Trait and a relic, if necessary. Combined with Mark of Omnissiah, and healing 4 wounds a turn, my Knight Valiant might just never die. Probably the Lucius relic Solar Flare here works better for my Knight Valiant adopting the House Raven tradition.

Of course, there's the Imperial Knight route or Questoris Imperialis. So instead of doing Mechanicus, I go down the Imperial Knights route. As mentioned earlier, I could just get another Knight Crusader and 2 Armigers Helverin, and then do a House Hawkshroud styled House Yato Lance.

House Yato Adamantine Lance (taking House Hawkshroud Tradition)

Knight Castellan with 2 shieldbreaker missiles and two twin siegebreaker cannons (Warlord Trait Ion Bulwark, Armor of the Sainted Ion Heirloom) 604

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon, Stormspear rocket pod 530

Knight Crusader with 2 heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon, twin Icarus autocannon 515

2 Armigers Helverin with heavy stubbers 174x2=348

Total: 1,997 (9 Command Points)

Now that's an all Knight list! Of course, if I decide to take a Knight Preceptor instead, I could instead go House Griffith and take Imperial Guard since...well, Questoris Imperialis and Astra Militarum pair together as opposed to Questoris Mechanicus and Adeptus Mechanicus. But how would that work out?

House Yato Adamantine Lance (taking House Griffith Tradition)

Knight Preceptor with multi-laser and Stormspear rocket pod (Knight Seneschal Warlord Trait, Mark of the Lance Heirloom) 470

2 Armigers Warglaive with meltaguns 177x2=354

Total: 824

Kamikaze Storm Troopers Battalion

HQ

Tempestor Prime with command rod 45

Tempestor Prime with command rod 45

Troops

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

10 Militarum Tempestus Scions 100

Elites

Militarum Tempestus Command squad with 4 plasma guns 88

Total: 426

Draconian Armored Defenders Spearhead

HQ

Company Commander with power sword 34

Fast Attack

2 Armored Sentinels with lascannons 120

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannons 192

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannons 192

Leman Russ Annihilator with lascannon and plasma cannons 212

Total: 750

Grand Total: 2,000 points (12 Command Points)

The purpose of this list is to maximize the use of House Griffith's Glory of the Charge Household Tradition. The Armigers Warglaive have 10 attacks on the charge if I use the Sweep (good for infantry!) and by giving the Knight Preceptor the Knight Seneschal Warlord Trait, I'm potentially giving him 18 attacks with Titanic Feet! Not to mention, if I escort him with the Armigers Warglaive, they can re-roll ones during the fight phase! This makes them more reliant on the Knight Preceptor, as opposed to House Krast's Household Tradition that gives me a flat-out re-roll all hits during the fight phase. This looks good too, but I'm a little disappointed I can't squeeze a Knight Castellan into the list. Oh well. We'll see. Actually, there's a way to play with the Knight Castellan in the list. It'll be something like:

Draconian Armored Defenders

Brigade Detachment (12 Command Points)

HQ

Company Commander with plasma pistol and power sword (Warlord with Grand Strategist Warlord Trait and the Kurov's Aquila Heirloom) 39

2 Tempestors Prime with command rods 45x3=90

Elites

Militarum Tempestus Command Squads with 4 plasma guns 88

Commissar with bolt pistol 16

Commissar with plasma pistol 20

Troops

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

10 Militarum Tempestus Scions 100

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

Fast Attack

Armored Sentinel with plasma cannon and sentinel chainsaw 57

2 Armored Sentinel, each with lascannon (60x2=120)

Heavy Support

3 Leman Russ Executioner tanks, each with lascannon and plasma cannons (192x3=576)

Total: 1,395

Super-heavy auxillary

Knight Castellan with 2 shieldbreaker missiles and 2 siegebreaker cannons 604

Grand Total: 1,999 (15 Command Points)

Of course, I could spend 2 Command Points to give the Knight Castellan a Warlord Trait and an Heirloom (preferably House Krast's First Knight and Cawl's Wrath), then spam Ion Aegis to protect my tanks and infantry. It'll be...hilarious. For bigger games, I'll just wrap it up with a Shadowsword and swap one of the Leman Russ Executioner tnaks for a Leman Russ Annihilator. Cool, eh?

Now which do you think is the most feasible list? The House Hawkshroud styled list? The Questoris Mechanicus list? Or should I just get a Knight Castellan and play him alongside my Astra Militarum Brigade? Or is the House Griffith Titanic Feet styled list more fun to play? Or perhaps the Relentlessly Advancing House Raven styled Knight Valiant and friends with Metalica-styled Draconian Skitarii?

Awesome news for Imperial Knight players!

Well, let's be honest. It's not just Imperial Knight players. It's Renegade Knight players as well. Games Workshop has seen fit to bestow upon us rules for Renegade Knights! Check out the Warhammer Community article today!



You can access the PDF for Renegade Knights through this link. It gives you Chaos Traitors and heretics point deductions and rules to Questoris Traitoris. So now you'll be able to field Renegade Knights using the same number of points as us loyalists, and you still have all those customization that Traitors are allowed. So 2 Avenger Gatling cannons or whatever. No Knight Preceptor, funnily enough. Not only that, you can also field your Chaos Armigers (both variants) or Chaos Dominus-class Knights. So Chaos players can field a Renegade Knight Castellan or Renegade Knight Valiant if that pleases you. Furthermore, you have your own Questoris Traitoris Stratagem that costs 2 Command Points.



You also get a Relic that's called the Traitor's Mark, which subtracts Leadership from enemy units 12" away, or 2 Leadership from enemy units 6" away from the bearer. Cool.





So you get those two above, and more. Yay. Good for you, Chaos players. Celebrate!



And what about us Loyalist Imperium players? Well, I've great news for you guys. Guess what? We have a FAQ for our Imperial Knights codex! This is excellent news, especially for people who play pure Knights! Basically, if your Super-heavy Detachment contains at least 1 Titanic Imperial Knight, you get 3 Command Points. So you can add 1 Questoris-class Knight and 2 Armigers for 3 bonus Command Points! Sweet! And here's the kicker. If your Super-heavy Detachment contains three Titanic Imperial Knights, add 6 to your Command Points for a total of 9! Can you f-ing believe this?! HOLY EMPEROR! Our prayers have been answered! Thank you, God-Emperor of Man! Thank you so much! FOR THE EMPEROR! WOOHOO! YEAH!

...so what does this mean for me? I dunno. I can't build a Knight army until I get to the States. All I have is one Knight Crusader on hand, so I'll live with that for now. I'm planning to bring him to the States and build a Knight army around him and a Dominus-class Knight. With the 6 Command Points given us Knights now, this is gonna be awesome!

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Draconian Armored Defenders versus Primaris Space Marines Battle Report

I managed to finally get a game for the first time in ages! No, it's not after the Age of Darkness. Never mind, bad joke. Anyway, I managed to get a game today, as well as 5 new Cadian Guardsmen, who will be painted in the Draconian colors of black and gold. For Draconis! For the Emperor! Yeah, they're Draconian Guardsmen who learn the Cadian Regimental Doctrine of Born Soldiers, but they're not Cadians. They're Draconian. The Draconian Armored Defenders!

I'm starting to think my Draconians specialize in defensive siege warfare. On the tabletop, I play a static gunline, but this easily translates into a defensive army that entrenches themselves firmly behind trenches (again, another bad joke), defensive lines, barricades and barriers, and overwhelm all attackers with...well, overwhelming firepower. Tough, sturdy Leman Russ Executioner tanks who just sit still and bombard attacking enemies, and Guardsmen who...well, take cover in trenches and shoot prettty well (with the re-rolls of ones, I guess). And then you have the elite Kamikaze Storm Troopers who are the Draconian equivalent of Cadian Kasrkins. Yay. These are the attackers who drop in behind enemy lines and take out high-value targets and strategic installations while the armored tanks and entrenched infantry defend and endure the assault from the enemy. Makes a lot of sense. That's why they're called the Draconian Armored Defenders.

Anyway, my opponent brought Primaris Marines. He spent a Command Point to upgrade a Primaris Captain into the Chapter Master (but he wasn't the Warlord...wait, what?), had a 2nd Primaris Captain, but this guy was in gravis armor for the added Toughness. Then he had 3 squads of Intercessors, which were 7, 6 and 6. Or something. I'm not sure how that worked out. He also had 3 Aggressors and 2 squads of 7 Hellblasters each. So it was a Battalion of Primaris Space Marines. They were all foot-slogging because...well, he didn't bring transports. He was a Blood Angels player so he wasn't used to this list and he didn't know how to make use of them...evidently. It was a 1,200-point game. Obviously he didn't want to play against my Imperial Knight and honesstly, I had no intention of fielding my Knight Crusader in such a low-point game (I originally brought my Knight Crusader to face Adeptus Custodes).

On the other hand, I brought a company commander with plasma pistol, a Tempestor Prime with tempestus command rod, 2 infantry squads with plasma guns, 10 Militarum Tempestus Scions (Kamikaze Storm Troopers), a Militarum Tempestus Command squad with 4 plasma guns, a Taurox Prime with Taurox gatling cannon and hot-shot volley guns, and 4 Leman Russ tanks. I only had 2 Leman Russ Executioners with plasma cannons and lascannons and a Leman Russ Punisher with 3 heavy bolters. So to top up the rest of the points, I borrowed a Leman Russ main battle tank with 3 heavy bolters.

We rolled off to see who deployed first, and he won, and I finished deploying last. That meant he had a +1 to his roll-off. Unfortunately, he rolled a 1 and I rolled a 5, so the +1 didn't matter. I started first.

Turn 1

Mindful of the threat his Hellblasters posed to my tanks, I began by having all my Leman Russ Executioner tanks firing at the first squad of Hellblasters and wiped them out. The Leman Russ main battle tank then fired on the Aggressors and wiped them out too. That was a significant chunk of his firepower gone. As for my Taurox Prime, it went up and killed maybe 1 or 2 Intercessors. My Leman Russ Punisher also took out another 2 or 3 Intercessors, but because they had cover from my AP 0 Punisher gatling cannon, they had 2+ saves and made most of them.

My opponent then moved his Intercessors and Chapter Master forward, as well as his Hellblasters. His Hellblasters put about 4 wounds on my Leman Russ Punisher tank, and between the krak grenades from the auxiliary grenade launchers and the bolt rifles, the Intercessors put about 3 wounds on the Taurox Prime. Not a lot of harm done.

Turn 2

My Leman Russ Executioner fired on the Hellblasters and took out about 3 or 4 of them, I believe. The other Leman Russ Executioner and main battle tank wiped out an Intercessor squad, but the Leman Russ Punisher didn't do much because the Intercessors made most of their 2+ saves. The 10 Militarum Tempestus Scions had disembarked, but their shooting was ineffectual despite the First Rank, Fire! Second, Rank, Fire! from my Deep Striking Tempestor Prime. I only took out maybe 1 or 2 Intercessors at most. My plasma command squad also took aim from the order and killed about 4 or so Intercessors, I believe? I can't remember. Anyway, I know there were still quite a few Intercessors left, maybe 2 or 3 from one squad, and 2 or 3 from another squad, and 2 from one last squad.

The Hellblasters moved forward and planted another 4 wounds on my Leman Russ Executioner this time (not the Punisher - he fired on the Punisher originally because that was the only tank within his line of sight and he didn't dare put his Hellblasters within line of sight of my Leman Russ tanks). The Intercessors mowed down the majority of my Kamikaze Storm Troopers with their bolt rifles...they took out 3 of my plasma gunners with their shooting. Then the Chapter Master and Intercessors charged into combat and the Chapter Master basically killed 3 Guardsmen with his power fists, and then the Intercessors killed another 5. I don't know why my Sergeant and lone Kamikaze Storm Trooper could fight back but they did and did nothing. Then the last 2 Kamikaze Storm Troopers fled because they failed morale - losing 8 casualties would do that to you. With the Kamikaze Storm Troopers wiped out, the Intecessors and Chapter Master consolidated into my sole surviving plasma gunner and the Taurox Prime.

Turn 3

I used Jury Rigged to heal a wound on my Leman Russ Executioner, and then had my plasma gunner, Tempestor Prime and Taurox Prime fall back. The 2 infantry squads let loose with whatever lasgun shots and plasma gun shots they have, but I think they didn't kill anyone. The Leman Russ Executioner wiped out the Hellblasters, then the second one wiped out another Intercessor squad. The Leman Russ Punisher shot the Chapter Master, who was the closest enemy unit to him, and killed him through sheer dakka despite the 2+ saves. The 2nd Leman Russ main battle tank then kiled a second Intercessor squad, which meant there was only 2 Intercessors left on that end of the table. On the other end, where the blasted remains of the Hellblaster was, the Warlord Primaris Captain was alone.

The 2 guys survived my plasma gunner's barrage despite the "Get back into the fight!" order after falling back. They shot him to death, and then charged my Tempestor Prime, but failed to kill him. My Tempestor Prime only took a wound, and he fought back...only to roll 3 ones for his attacks. Wow. Anyway, that was game. My opponent conceded because he had nothing left - just 3 models on the table. I still had 4 Leman Russ tanks and a Taurox Prime - all of whom were over half their health - and 2 full infantry squads who were completely unscathed and still under the command of my Company Commander. There was little point in continuing. The outcome was clear.

The Draconian Armored Defenders had won. Against humanity's finest...against the legendary Space Marines. Despite all the narrative, all the lore, all the fluff I've read, on the tabletop, the Imperial Guard prevailed and utterly crushed the Space Marines. The Adeptus Astartes were unable to match the sheer firepower of the Astra Militarum and their armored might.

To be fair, if it had been completely infantry against infantry, the Intercessors and Primaris Space Marines would have won. Honestly, I was lucky. I got to go first. If my opponent had gone first and had the full benefit of unleashing a bombardment of plasma from his Hellblasters, I would have lost a tank or 2, and I wouldn't have been able to wipe out so much of his forces. The winner was decided by who got to go first. It was...just weird.

Well, I'll take the victory and celebrate another Imperial Guard victory! It's rare that we get to win, so let's just praise the Emperor for now!

Tada raised his head and watched the blasted battlefield. The Space Marines had tried to charge over the terrain to destroy the tanks, but the formidable firepower of the Leman Russ tanks had pulverized them to nothing. Superheated plasma from the Leman Russ Executioners turned even the most armored Space Marine into molten slag, and the Leman Russ Punisher sent a devastating barrage that crumpled the power armor of the charging Space Marines and reduced the transhumans inside into bloody pulps.

"This was...surprisingly easy," he remarked to his adjutant, Tsutsui. "I thought the Space Marines were supposed to be the Emperor's Finest. The Angels of Death...gods among us mortals. But they die just like any other mortal."

Tsutsui shrugged. "Well, they had quite the lackluster codex. Or maybe the Space Marine commander didn't know what he was doing."

"The Emperor Protects...we must have gotten some really good rolls."

"Yeah, and those poor bastards must be rolling pretty badly."

They glanced at the Leman Russ main battle tank that they had borrowed. The attached tank commander, Ueda, stood out of his cupola and waved at them.

"Did you even need my help?"

"Yeah, of course. Your main battle cannon utterly obliterated them."

"Well, Strength 8 AP -2...it wonds these Marines on a 2+." Ueda shrugged. "No wonder they're falling like fries."

"Where's their armor?"

"You mean their Repulsor tank? Come to think of it, if they had even one Repulsor tank, we would be destroyed."

Tada couldn't help but shudder at that. The amount of lascannons bristling on that Primaris Space Marine tank was nothing short of obscene. On the other hand, a single Repulsor cost almost two times as much as one Leman Russ tank. But it had 4 lascannon shots, enough to destroy a single Leman Russ tank in one volley.

"Good thing we brought anti-infantry tanks today. They had so much infantry."

"...yeah. The Emperor protects."

Despite the legends he had read and heard about the revered Space Marines, Tada was still perplexed over how they were crushed so easily. Even their vaunted power armor could not withstand a barrage from a Leman Russ tank. No wonder the Tallan Desert Raiders defeated the accursed Iron Warriors during the Horus Heresy despite being mere mortals.

"Well..." Tada ducked as his Leman Russ Executioner fired another volley of plasma, which incinerated another squad of hapless Space Marines. "Let's just celebrate this victory, all right?"

"...Lieutenant, don't forget to honor the Kamikaze Storm Troopers," Tsuutsui reminded him. Tada started.

"Oh, right..."

The Kamikaze Storm Troopers had sold themselves dearly, getting wiped out to a man. They had scrambled ahead and dropped right behind enemy lines to distract the Space Marines, their hot-shot lasguns - or hellguns being ineffectual against the ceramite power armor of the transhuman warriors. In retaliation, the Space Marines had butchered the Storm Troopers, leaving only Colonel Matsuda, the Tempestor Prime behind.

But the Kamikaze Storm Troopers' sacrifice had not been in vain. Thanks to the diversion, the Space Marines were distracted long enough for the Leman Russ tanks to roll into position and pulverize their positions into molten craters with high ordnance, explosive shells and superheated plasma. They never stood a chance.

"Welcome to the Guard," Tada muttered. "You win some, you lose some. This is why the Imperial Guard always win. Every one of us is expendable, and not afraid to sacrifice our lives to achieve an objective. Emperor bless their souls...they did good."

"Indeed," Tsutsui agreed before blasting another heavy weapons Marine squad into oblivion with the plasma cannons. "But you know....our armor infantry has barely fired a shot."

The two infantry squads entrenched in cover were only providing cover fire, their las-fire ineffective against the hulking warriors' power armor. But as with the Kamikaze Storm Troopers, their attempts at combat had successfully diverted the Space Marines' attention away from the real threat. Thanks to that, the Leman Russ tanks were mostly unscathed.

"Well, that's why the Storm Troopers always get the glory." Tada shrugged. "And the normal infantry don't. But if you ask me, I'd rather be alive than receive posthumous honors."

"Agreed." Tsutsui swept the main Executioner cannon around, but saw that there were no longer any targets around. "Huh...the Space Marines are wiped out."

"Oh well." Tada glanced at the defensive lines where the infantry remained under cover. "The infantry finally has work to do. Get them to scout the area. Ensure there are no survivors."

"Roger that."

With that, the Draconian Armored Defenders moved on to the next phase of their defensive mission.

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Gaunt's Ghosts The Anarch

Oh, thanks to Warhammer Community, I've found out that the fourth and final book for the Victory story arc - after the events of Blood Pact, Salvation Reach and The Warmaster, is titled The Anarch! I have no idea when it'll be released, but it should be soon. I hope. For now, we'll be waiting on Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain novel, Choose your Enemies. But yeah, I can't wait for The Anarch because Dan Abnett is promising that it'll be an awesome novel!

So strap on your lasguns, Ghosts, and let's get on with liberating the Sabbat Worlds! Or...do you want to live forever?

Friday, June 15, 2018

New Forge World rules for Adeptus Mechanicus!

With Imperial Armor: Fires of Cyraxus being thrown into oblivion and...well, probably never going to be released, there are Adeptus Mechanicus players complaining about how they can't use their forge world units for their Warhammer 40,000 games. I feel them. I have a couple of Castellax battle-automata and a Thanatar siege-automata sitting on my shelf next to a couple of Tech-priests Dominus who probably wouldn't see the light of day...or a game because we have no rules for them in Warhammer 40,000.

Ugh. That sucks.

But fear not! Thanks to a wide petition from avid fans, Forge World has finally seen fit to supply us with rules for the Titan Guard and the drill thing...!



The main article is from Warhammer Community, so check out their page if you're interested!



Looking really cool, huh? So basically we have the Termite Assault Drill and Skitarii Titan Guard, which are the Secutarii Hoplites and the Secutarii Peltasts!



I know lots of people have been clamoring for a transport for Adeptus Mechanicus, and Forge World has finally answered their prayers. Here you go, the first-ever Adeptus Mechanicus transport that can ferry Skitarii or Mechanicus units about. Have fun!




And then you have these guys who guard Titans. This is pretty timely, especially since we just got our Knights release. Add a couple of Secutarii units to guard your Dominus-class Knights! This will be so awesome! For the Omnissiah!

Hopefully there will be more on the way for the Adeptus Mechanicus, especially since there's so much Mechanicum Taghmata stuff to port over from Horus Heresy. Ugh. I can't wait to use my Legio Cybernetica...my automata are waiting on the shelf, collecting dust as they wait to get rules for Warhammer 40,000. NOOOO!!!!! Well, the only thing I can do now is pray to the Machine God and trust that the Motive Force will move things along nicely for us. We'll see.

Thursday, June 14, 2018

Final Deathwatch touches

You know what? I've decided to say screw it and go for fluff over crunch. I know this will impact my list greatly, but I'm not going to bother with a Deathwatch Battalion Detachment. The Deathwatch in my army was always meant to be an elite, strike force that supports my Imperial Guard, not take center stage. My Astra Militarum is the real army here, my primary faction. I want to stay true to that. So screw the 5 Command Points and let's just go for an Astra Militarum-based force that is supported by a small, elite force of Deathwatch specialists, rather than trying to tailor and min-max my list for as many Command Points as possible.

Draconian Armored Defenders

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Company Commander (Warlord, Grand Strategist Warlord Trait and Kurov's Aquila Heirloom) 30

Tempestor Prime with bolt pistol 41

Troops

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

10 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 4 plasma guns 148

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Dedicated Transport

Taurox Prime with Taurox gatling cannon, 2 hot-shot volley guns 114

Taurox Prime with Taurox gatling cannon, 2 hot-shot volley guns and storm bolter 116

Total: 1,119

Death Reapers (Deathwatch) Kill-Teams

Primaris Patrol Detachment

HQ

Primaris Watch Captain with master-crafted stalker bolt rifle, bolt pistol and power sword 98

Troops

Hellstorm Fortis Kill Team
6 Intercessors with stalker bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 2 Hellblasters with heavy plasma incinerators and bolt pistols 133+78+72=283

Total: 381

Grand Total: 1,500 (8 Command Points)

If I expand it to a 1,750-point list, I can create a small Deathwatch Battalion, or so I believe. But it seems that it's more practical for me to take a Veteran force to supplement my Imperial Guard, not the Primaris Marines. Actually, it seems that it's more practical to take Veterans instead of Primaris Marines. While Primaris Marines and their Fortis Kill-teams look good on paper, it's a little impractical to load up on them (especially since they're so expensive) unless I'm hell-bent on playing a pure Deathwatch army. But let's say I do want to play a pure Deathwatch army...

Death Reapers (Deathwatch) Kill-Company

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Primaris Watch Captain with master-crafted stalker bolt rifle, bolt pistol and power sword 98

Primaris Librarian with force sword and bolt pistol 102

Troops

Hellflame Fortis Kill Team
6 Intercessors with stalker bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 2 Hellblasters with heavy plasma incinerators and bolt pistols 133+78+72=283

Hellstorm Fortis Kill Team
1 Intercessor with stalker bolt rifle and bolt pistol with Hellfire Rounds, 5 Intercessors with bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Vengeance Rounds plus 1 with auxilary grenade launcher, Aggressor with flamestorm gauntlets, 3 Hellblasters with heavy plasma incinerator and bolt pistol 22+101+39+108=270

Deathstorm Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm bolter and power sword, Black Shield with storm shield and power sword,  Veteran with Deathwatch frag cannon, 2 Veterans with infernus heavy bolters 162

Total: 915

Supreme Command Detachment (1 Command Point)

HQ

Watch Master with guardian spear 130 (Warlord, Lord of Hidden Knowledge Warlord Trait and the Tome of Ectoclades Relic)

Watch Captain in Terminator armor with storm bolter and relic blade 130

Watch Captain in Terminator armor with storm bolter and relic blade 130

Elites

5 Terminators with storm bolter and power sword 195

Total: 585

Grand Total: 1,500 (9 Command Points)

That looks really cool. I actually really like this list, and I think I can build it in a short time without needing to buy too much stuff. Only issue is the Watch Captain in Terminator armor, but I believe I get him online as well. All I need is a Primaris Patrol box set, a Primaris Librarian, a single Intercessor box set (thanks to Kraggi, it seems I no longer need the Deathwatch upgrade frame from there), Aggressors, a Start Collecting! Deathwatch, 5 Terminators and the two Terminator Captains. That will set me up for a nice Deathwatch army. Essentially the Death Reapers' core is made of the Watch Master who is protected by high-ranking Terminator bodyguards, each of whom is a hero or champion in his own right. So they're not so much Watch Captains but Terminator Bodyguards...however, it bears noting that they do hold the rank and authority of Captains or above, even if they don't actually command a company or something. That's left to the Primaris Captain. These are the elite of the elite, veteran champions who have survived everything the galaxy has thrown at them, and serve as bodyguards to the Chapter Master of the Death Reapers. Since we have Black Shields, I'll be calling the elite Terminator bodyguards the Death Shields, led by the Death Shield Captains. Makes sense, right? Sort of. I think. It does annoy me a little that I don't have enough points left for my Imperial Guard army, but oh well. At least I tried. The Terminators and 2 Terminator Captains fit the Supreme Command Detachment of having an elite retinue of Terminator bodyguards, commanded by 2 Terminator Champions, escorting the Chapter Master. I can already think of a great story for this. Furthermore, this also shows the split between the Primaris Marines and the Veterans. It's going to be so cool! I'll be experimenting with the list more and I hope I'll figure something out soon. I'll be getting the Tarataros Terminators as they'll be easier to convert with the shoulder pads and all that. Or not. I dunno. They are the coolest looking Terminators in my opinion (I don't like the squarish Catapharii or the weird bullish masks of the normal Terminators), so I'll go for them instead.

I can expand the roster a little for bigger games. For example, in a 1,750-point tournament setting, I'll just add in the extra stuff I got from the Start Collecting! Deathwatch box, such as the Venerable Dreadnought and a couple of Veterans.

Death Reapers (Deathwatch) Kill-Company

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Primaris Watch Captain with master-crafted stalker bolt rifle, bolt pistol and power sword 98

Primaris Librarian with force sword and bolt pistol 102

Troops

Hellflame Fortis Kill Team
6 Intercessors with stalker bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 2 Hellblasters with heavy plasma incinerators and bolt pistols 133+78+72=283

Hellstorm Fortis Kill Team
1 Intercessor with stalker bolt rifle and bolt pistol with Hellfire Rounds, 5 Intercessors with bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Vengeance Rounds plus 1 with auxilary grenade launcher, Aggressor with flamestorm gauntlets, 3 Hellblasters with heavy plasma incinerator and bolt pistol 22+101+39+108=270

Deathstorm Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with combi-plasma and power sword, Black Shield with storm bolter and power sword,  2 Veterans with Deathwatch frag cannons, 2 Veterans with infernus heavy bolters, Veteran with heavy flamer 247

Elites

Venerable Dreadnought with twin lascannon and missile launcher 165

Total: 1,165

Supreme Command Detachment (1 Command Point)

HQ

Watch Master with guardian spear 130 (Warlord, Lord of Hidden Knowledge Warlord Trait and the Tome of Ectoclades Relic)

Watch Captain in Terminator armor with storm bolter and relic blade 130

Watch Captain in Terminator armor with storm bolter and relic blade 130

Elites

5 Terminators with storm bolter and power sword 195

Total: 585

Grand Total: 1,750 (9 Command Points)

That looks like a nice and fluffy list. Not only do I have a healthy mix of Primaris Marines and Veterans, plus the elite Death Shields squad and a Venerable Dreadnought, I also managed to sneak in a Corvus Blackstar. I would prefer to have the lascannon one, but oh well. Maybe I'll use the one with the lascannon instead. We'll see. Well, that's something I'll worry about in the far future. For now I'll just focus on getting these dudes and the Primaris Marines, and the Veterans. It's going to be so fun painting them black...

Only gripe I have is the inability to bring in my Imperial Guard forces, but I guess that's for super-large games. Not sure who will play those games with me. Well, we'll see. I'm still an Imperial Guard player at heart so I won't give up on my Guardsmen. But for a 2,000-point game, I'll just add another Veteran Kill-team and a Chaplain in Terminator Armor to nicely round it up to almost 2,000 points.

Death Reapers (Deathwatch) Kill-Company

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Primaris Watch Captain with master-crafted stalker bolt rifle, bolt pistol and power sword 98

Primaris Librarian with force sword and bolt pistol 102

Troops

Hellflame Fortis Kill Team
6 Intercessors with stalker bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 2 Hellblasters with heavy plasma incinerators and bolt pistols 133+78+72=283

Hellstorm Fortis Kill Team
1 Intercessor with stalker bolt rifle and bolt pistol with Hellfire Rounds, 5 Intercessors with bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Vengeance Rounds plus 1 with auxilary grenade launcher, Aggressor with flamestorm gauntlets, 3 Hellblasters with heavy plasma incinerator and bolt pistol 22+101+39+108=270

Deathstorm Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and xenophase blade, Black Shield with storm shield and power sword,  2 Veterans with Deathwatch frag cannons, 2 Veterans with infernus heavy bolters, Veteran with heavy flamer 240

Elites

Venerable Dreadnought with twin lascannon and missile launcher 165

Flyer

Corvus Blackstar with twin lascannon, 2 stormstrike missile launchers, hurricane bolters and auspex array 257

Total: 1,415

Supreme Command Detachment (1 Command Point)

HQ

Watch Master with guardian spear 130 (Warlord, Lord of Hidden Knowledge Warlord Trait and the Tome of Ectoclades Relic)

Watch Captain in Terminator armor with storm bolter and relic blade 130

Watch Captain in Terminator armor with storm bolter and relic blade 130

Elites

5 Terminators with storm bolter and power sword 195

Total: 585

Grand Total: 2,000 (9 Command Points)

This is not competitive...it's meant to be a fluffy list with my favorite models (Tartaros Terminators, Corvus Blackstars, and trying out the new Primaris Marine models). That's why I didn't bother with too many Detachments. Threw in a Death Shield Terminator squad with the Death Shield Champions to escort the Watch Master, who most likely will load up on one of the Corvus Blackstars with the Veteran kill-team. The Deathstorm Kill-team is also a pretty mixed and fluffy team - it reflects all the different types of Veterans with all sorts of different, fancy weapons such as combi-plasma, infernus heavy bolter and Deathwatch frag cannon, rather than spamming whatever weapons I can get (well, it's also because of the limited number of heavy weapons on the sprues). I did toy around with trying to get heavy thunder dudes, but I guess I'll go with this after all. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but as I said, we'll see. I doubt I will, given how this list fits so perfectly. I hope I'll be able to grab the models!

Regimental Benefits and Command Points farming solution

Okay, I see a lot of people complaining about allies, multiple Detachments, and min-maxing - especially regarding minimal Imperial Guard Battalions to farm 5 Command Points for the lowest cost possible. I agree that min-maxing is an issue, and the system is indeed vulnerable to exploitation, but a lot of the proposed solutions seem hell-bent on penalizing people for taking multiple Detachments or allies. That will just throw people down into the other end of the spectrum and have everyone just take one detachment instead. So everyone will be squeezing everything into Brigade Detachments and people will just go from one end of the spectrum to the other, and take mono-armies. Frankly, as much as it is irritating to see that 180-point Guard Battalion sitting in one corner of your opponent's list, it's just as boring to see everyone bring a brigade or battalion of nothing but Space Marines, or Chaos Space Marines, or Guard. The fun in 8th Edition is the allies system, where you can have your Guard supporting a Space Marine assault, or hordes of Daemons following in your Chaos Space Marines' wake. It'll be a waste to throw all that away. No one will take any of the specialist Detachments. At least now we have people taking specialist Detachments alongside Battalion - that's the way it's meant to be played. An Imperial Guard Spearhead Detachment of an armored Leman Russ company supported by a battalion of Guardsmen? Oh, yes please. That's fluffy, fun and makes a lot of sense. A Battalion of Guardsmen, with supporting infantry, heavy weapons and auxiliaries hunkering down in the deployment zone while an Outrider Detachment of Space Marine bikers zoom forward to grab objectives (perform surgical strikes at high value targets)? Definitely. A battalion of Skitarii infantry escorting an Imperial Knight? Makes a lot of sense. Even more, if they're accompanied by a Vanguard Detachment of chanting Electro-priests. A Battalion of Thousand Sons (Rubric Marines) that march alongside a Spearhead Detachment of daemon engines like Forgefiends and Maulerfiends? Fluffy as hell.

The issue here isn't with allies. It's with people min-maxing. Like, if someone just taking a minimum-sized Thousand Sons Battalion with nothing but Tzaangors and Cultists and no Rubric Marines, because it gives 5 Command Points, and they only need the Sorcerers for the psychic powers. Or an Outrider Detachment of Space Marine bikers that outnumber your measly 30 Guardsmen in the Battalion for some stupid reason (it's supposed to be the other way around). Or 3 gigantic Knights stomping around the field while 30 Guardsmen cower at the back instead of...you know, actually escorting the Knights. And where are the freaking Leman Russ tanks? Or 30 Cultists on the table, with the rest of the army being nothing but Daemon Princes, Daemon Primarches (Magnus and Mortarion). Uh...where are all the Chaos Space Marines? Oh, so the Cultists are there just for the Command Points? But...how the heck did they summon all those Daemons without any Traitor Astartes' assistance?

One of the ways I proposed in an earlier post was to stipulate that each Detachment must be at least a percentage of your points. Of course it's impossible to make each Detachment exactly the same number of points as each other, and it would restrict list-building a lot. So let's give some leeway. For example, in a 1,000-point game where you're only allowed 2 Detachments, each Battalion Detachment must be at least 33% of your army. So you don't just grab a 180-point Guard Battalion for 5 Command Points and then stuff the rest of the points into say, 2 Knights or something. Of course, this is only for Battalion (and Brigade, if necessary), because specialist Detachments are meant to be elite, small, specialist Detachments. It makes no sense for 3 Assassins in a Vanguard Detachment to be 33% of a 1,000-point army, after all. And the Command Point you get for these specialist Detachments are too little anyway.

Image result for warhammer 40,000 detachments battle-forged 3 command points

So for 2,000-point games with a maximum of 3 Detachments, each Battalion Detachment must be at least 25% (or 500 points). So no more spamming 180-point Imperial Guard Battalions, or Cultists Battalions or whatever. Want those 5 Command Points? Invest a huge chunk of your army into that Battalion Detachment. Otherwise no go. Of course, specialist Detachments are excluded - bringing just 3 biker squads or 3 Assassins, or maybe even 3 Veteran squads, or 3 psykers, won't be enough tor a specialist Detachment (especially Vanguard Detachments). Otherwise there's no point in me taking 3 Armored Sentinels in an Outrider Detachment to represent a scouting Imperial Guard platoon because I might as well roll it into a larger Battalion (that might be the point, though). Or 3 Hellhounds.

Another solution, because people are so hell-bent on punishing players for taking allies (imposing penalties) and complaining that people min-max by selecting the best units from 3 codexes or whatever, is to give Regimental Benefits. No, not just the Regimental Doctrine that applies to everyone in your Detachment. I'm talking about something bigger.

Image result for warhammer 40,000 detachments battle-forged 3 command points

Right now, the ruling is that if your army is Battle-forged, you automatically get 3 Command Points. That is great. But here's my suggestion:

All Battle-forged armies start with 3 Command Points. Furthermore, if all Detachments in your army share a <REGIMENT> or <HOUSEHOLD> or <CHAPTER> or <LEGION> or <HIVE FLEET> or <BROOD BROTHERS> or <CRAFTWORLD> or <MASQUE> or <CHAOS DAEMON> or <DYNASTY> or <SEPT> or <ORDER> or <FORGE WORLD> or <WARBAND> or <WHATEVER> KEYWORD, you get an additional 5 Command Points.

If 5 is too much, then 3. I don't know. Or 4. Thing is, it'll have to offset the advantage you get from just taking any random Imperial Guard Battalion for 5 Command Points in an Adeptus Custodes or Imperial Knights or whatever list for less than 200 points. It gives you an incentive to build a mono regiment army. This works especially well for Imperial Knights, who are lacking so much in the Command Points Detachment. Instead of spending those 180 points on a freaking minimum-sized Imperial Guard Battalion for 5 Command Points, you can spend those on an Armiger Helverin or Armiger Warglaive to get the same HOUSEHOLD benefit. This rewards people for deciding to be loyal and stick to their main Faction rather than taking random allies just for the Command Points or whatever. Furthermore, it also allows elite armies who are lacking in Command Points, such as Imperial Knights or Adeptus Custodes, to actually have a fair chance of using that vast array of Stratagems in their codexes without being forced to rely on taking minimum-sized Imperial Guard Battalions for farming Command Points. As a side note, Drukhari are special, but that can be easily adjusted to rewarding players for receiving +9 Command Points for taking 3 or more Drukhari Patrol Detachments (as part of their Raiding Force rule) or +18 for taking 6 or more Drukhari Patrol Detachments that do not share the Cabal or whatever keyword that applies to the other forces.

Image result for warhammer 40,000 detachments battle-forged 3 command points

This doesn't punish people for taking allies, however. But it does prevent exploitation by ensuring that if you want to take an allied Detachment, you've to actually invest more in them - such as buying a Battalion to get the same number of Command Points as someone playing a mono-faction list. Of course this also forces people to stop min-maxing - you want those 5 Command Points? No mixing and matching Regiments - instead of bringing a Cadian Spearhead Detachment of heavy weapon squads with a Catachan Battalion of artillery or Leman Russ tanks and Strength 4 Infantry, you pick one Regiment - otherwise, you lose out on those 5 Command Points.

In such a scenario, you can see how it works. That 180 points you were going to spend on Imperial Gaurdsmen for your Space Marine army to get 5 Command Points? Might as well invest those points in a Predator or a couple of tactical squads, or maybe a Terminator squad instead, and you'll get the same number of Command Points regardless. Honestly, you can still take a 180-point Guardsmen Battalion for 5 Command Points if you really, really want to, but it makes no difference than if you invested those points on units from the same Chapter. But you have the option to do either - perhaps you want to stage a last-stand scenario where the last, remaining survivors of a near-annihilated Imperial Guard regiment are making their last stand when the Space Marines swoop in to save them. You also can just go with a fluffy, all Ultramarines list. You don't get penalized for doing either option. This, which encourages diversity, is what I believe is the best solution rather than discouraging one or the other. But if you're still worried about exploitation (people trying to squeeze in three Battalions to get 15 Command Points, rather than the 10 they get with a single Battalion of the same Chapter - but honestly, why aren't you using the other Detachments like Spearhead or Vanguard or maybe just grab a 2nd Battalion of the same Regiment or Chapter for the same 15 with less taxes, or 12 with 2 specialist Detachments? You're not that desperate for those 3 extra Command Points, are you? Especially when you already have 12 Command Points - and that's even before you include the 3 from your army being Battle-forged, so a total of 15 - are you that desperate for 18 Command Points? Why not just take a mono-faction Brigade, which will net you a total of 20 Command Points?), then there's also the option to combine this option with the suggestion above: not only do you get 5 Command Points for playing the same REGIMENT or CHAPTER or HOUSEHOLD or FORGE WORLD, any Battalion Detachment you include in your army must be a minimum of x% of your entire army (25% for 2,000 points sounds fair enough).

Of course, this scenario is not perfect, and I'm open to suggestions. I really, really don't want to penalize people for taking multiple detachments or allies, and I think forcing people to spend Command Points to "purchase" extra Detachments will be a bad idea. Nobody will want to take a new Detachment, and everyone will just cram everything into a single Detachment, whether it's a Battalion or a Brigade, because there really is no benefit to taking an Outrider Detachment or Vanguard or Spearhead Detachment (since your Battalion allows you to take up to 3 per slot). It will render these Detachments completely obsolete and redundant. So instead of taking a Vanguard Detachment, I'll just put all the Elites in my Battalion's available slots, save on the HQ tax, and even save on Command Points too! Uh...how is that "balanced" or fair? That doesn't solve the problem of min-maxing - people will just min-max in the other direction.

Well, let me know what you guys think, and I'll see you guys next time!

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Still trying to figure out a fluffy Deathwatch list

I'm still struggling over what models I want to buy. I really want to play Primaris Marines, but I also like the Veterans. I guess I'll get both, but not on the scale of splitting them into 2 Battalions. I have neither the money nor time for that, and the whole point is to have them support my Astra Militarum, not replace my Astra Militarum completely.

So how do I go about it? Well, I'll start out with a small force.

Death Reapers (Deathwatch) Kill-Company

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Watch Master with guardian spear 130 (Warlord, Lord of Hidden Knowledge Warlord Trait and the Osseus Key Relic)

Primaris Watch Captain with master-crafted auto bolt rifle, bolt pistol and power sword 98

Troops

Hellfire Kill Team
5 Intercessors with auto bolt rifles and bolt pistols (Sergeant with power sword) with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 1 Aggressor with flamestorm gauntlets, 4 Hellblasters with assault plasma incinerators and bolt pistols 110+39+144=293

Hellstorm Kill Team
5 Intercessors with auto bolt rifles and bolt pistols (Sergeant with power sword) with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 3 Inceptors with 2 plasma exterminators each 110+78+177 = 365

Veteran Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and xenophase blade, Black Shield with storm shield and power sword, Veteran with stalker pattern boltgun and chainsword, Veteran with infernus heavy bolter and Veteran with Deathwatch frag cannon 150

Total: 1,036

Draconian Armored Defenders

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Company Commander with bolt pistol 31 (spend 1 Command Point for Kurov's Aquila)

Tempestor Prime with plasma pistol 45

Troops

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

Infantry squad with plasma gun 47

10 Militarum Tempestus Scions 100

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Total: 462

Grand Total: 1,498 (13 Command Points -> 12 Command Points for Kurov's Aquila)

This looks like a good start, and it even includes quite a number of Kamikaze Troopers and a tank, so that's what I like. Now what happens if I expand it to a 2,000-point list?

Death Reapers (Deathwatch) Kill-Company

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Watch Master with guardian spear 130 (Warlord, Lord of Hidden Knowledge Warlord Trait and the Osseus Key Relic)

Primaris Watch Captain with master-crafted auto bolt rifle, bolt pistol and power sword 98

Troops

Hellfire Kill Team
5 Intercessors with auto bolt rifles and bolt pistols (Sergeant with power sword) with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 1 Aggressor with flamestorm gauntlets, 4 Hellblasters with assault plasma incinerators and bolt pistols 110+39+144=293

Hellstorm Assault Kill Team
5 Intercessors with auto bolt rifles and bolt pistols (Sergeant with power sword) with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 3 Inceptors with 2 plasma exterminators each 110+78+177 = 365

Veteran Strike Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and xenophase blade, Black Shield with storm shield and power sword, Veteran with stalker pattern boltgun and chainsword, Veteran with infernus heavy bolter and Veteran with Deathwatch frag cannon 150

Total: 1,036

Draconian Armored Defenders

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Tempestor Prime with plasma pistol 45

Tempestor Prime with command rod (spend 1 Command Point for Kurov's Aquila) 45

Troops

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

10 Militarum Tempestus Scions 100

10 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 4 hot-shot volley guns 124

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Total: 964

Grand Total: 2,000 (13 Command Points -> 12 Command Points for Kurov's Aquila)

This looks pretty cool, I guess. 3 Leman Russ tanks. A bunch of Kamikaze Storm Troopers escorting them. It fits my Draconian Armored Defenders narrative really well!

However, there's the option of just giving up on the Primaris Marines altogether and building a purely Veteran force. It kind of sucks for me, since the whole reason of playing Deathwatch was to build a narrative for the Ultimaris Decree and the seconded Primaris Chapters to the Deathwatch. But I'll just indulge myself in building a non-Primaris list for now.

Death Reapers (Deathwatch) Kill-Company

Veteran Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Watch Master with guardian spear 130 (Warlord, Lord of Hidden Knowledge Warlord Trait and the Tome of Ectoclades Relic)

Watch Captain in terminator armor with relic blade and storm bolter 130

Troops

Stormbolt Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and stormbolter, Black Shield with storm shield and stormbolter, 3 Veterans with stormbolters 110

Deathstorm Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and power sword, Black Shield with storm shield and boltgun, 3 Veterans with Deathwatch frag cannons 170

Infernus Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and stalker pattern boltgun, Black Shield with storm shield and stalker pattern boltgun, 3 Veterans with infernus heavy bolters 158

Total: 698

Draconian Armored Defenders

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Tempestor Prime with bolt pistol 41

Tempestor Prime with bolt pistol 41

Troops

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

10 Militarum Tempestus Scions 100

Elites

Militarum Tempestus Command squad with 4 plasma guns 88

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Total: 802

Grand Total: 1,500 (13 Command Points -> 12 Command Points for Kurov's Aquila)

This is actually fluffier and more fun for me, where I finally have a bunch of infantry - particularly my Kamikaze Storm Troopers and 2 Tanks! 2 Leman Russ Executioner tanks with plasma! Not bad! I actually like this list a lot as it allows me to bring more of my Leman Russ tanks and more of my Kamikaze Storm Troopers. Now what happens if I increase this list to 2,000 points?

Death Reapers (Deathwatch) Kill-Company

Veteran Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Watch Master with guardian spear 130 (Warlord, Lord of Hidden Knowledge Warlord Trait and the Tome of Ectoclades Relic)

Watch Captain in terminator armor with relic blade and storm bolter 130

Troops

Stormbolt Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and stormbolter, Black Shield with storm shield and stormbolter, 3 Veterans with stormbolters 110

Deathstorm Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and power sword, Black Shield with storm shield and boltgun, 3 Veterans with Deathwatch frag cannons 170

Infernus Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and stalker pattern boltgun, Black Shield with storm shield and stalker pattern boltgun, 3 Veterans with infernus heavy bolters 158

Flyers

Corvus Blackstar with twin lascannon, 2 stormstrike missile launchers, hurricane bolter and auspex array 257

Total: 955

Kamikaze Storm Troopers

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Tempestor Prime with command rod 45

Tempestor Prime with bolt pistol 41

Troops

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

10 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 4 hot-shot volley guns 124

Elites

Militarum Tempestus command squad with 4 plasma guns 88

Total: 446

Draconian Armored Defenders

Spearhead Detachment (1 Command Point)


HQ

Lord Commissar with bolt pistol and power sword (spend 1 Command Point for Kurov's Aquila) 35

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Leman Russ Executioner with heavy bolter and plasma cannon sponsons 180

Total: 599

Grand Total: 2,000 (14 Command Points -> 13 Command Points for Kurov's Aquila)

Oh! I actually like this list a lot! And the Corvus Blackstar actually does something (like transport my dudes). The only gripe I have is that there is no Primaris Marines. But that's fine, I guess. I'll just change the fluff a little. For one thing, this is easier to build since all I need are 3 boxes of Deathwatch kill teams. And it's pretty fun and fluffy to set up an infantry squad next to Infernus Kill Team as they take up positions with their infernus heavy bolters. Plenty of lascannons to go around in this list, as well as plasma. Now that I think about it, my Imperial Guard has all the plasma so I don't really need plasma weapons on my Deathwatch. Still, it does sadden me that I won't be playing with Primaris Marines and their fancy new weapons and Fortis Kill Teams. I really like all the bolt rifles with special issue ammunition and plasma weapons from the Hellblasters and Inceptors. Of course, it's still possible to play with Primaris Marines instead if I adjust my list a little...but I have no idea how to do it.

Death Reapers (Deathwatch) Kill-Company

Primaris Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Primaris Watch Captain with master-crafted stalker bolt rifle, bolt pistol and power sword 98 (Warlord, Lord of Hidden Knowledge Warlord Trait and the Tome of Ectoclades Relic)

Primaris Librarian with bolt pistol and force sword 102

Troops

Hellfire Kill Team
6 Intercessors with stalker bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 2 Hellblasters with heavy plasma incinerators and bolt pistols 133+78+72=283

Hellstorm Kill Team
5 Intercessors with bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher (Sergeant with power sword), 5 Aggressors with auto boltstorm gauntlets and fragstorm grenade launcher 125+185=310

Hellfury Kill Team
5 Intercessors with bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire/Vengeance Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 3 Hellblasters with plasma incinerator and bolt pistols 101+78+102=281

Total: 1,074

Kamikaze Storm Troopers

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Tempestor Prime with command rod (spend 1 Command Point for Kurov's Aquila) 45

Tempestor Prime with bolt pistol 41

Troops

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 hot-shot volley guns 62

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 hot-shot volley guns 62

10 Militarum Tempestus Scions 100

Dedicated Transport

Taurox Prime with Taurox gatling cannon, 2 hot-shot volley guns and storm bolter 116

Total: 426

Grand Total: 1,500 (13 Command Points -> 12 Command Points for Kurov's Aquila)

Just barely managed to squeeze my Militarum Tempestus Scions and a Taurox Prime in there. It sucks that I can't squeeze in any Leman Russ tanks and I have more Space Marines than Guardsmen. Not ideal, but I guess this is how it is. That's the price I pay for using Storm Troopers. Now, if I increase this to a 2,000-point list, I wonder what will I get?

Death Reapers (Deathwatch) Kill-Company

Primaris Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Primaris Watch Captain with master-crafted stalker bolt rifle, bolt pistol and power sword 98 (Warlord, Lord of Hidden Knowledge Warlord Trait and the Tome of Ectoclades Relic)

Primaris Librarian with bolt pistol and force sword 102

Troops

Hellfire Kill Team
6 Intercessors with stalker bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 2 Hellblasters with heavy plasma incinerators and bolt pistols 133+78+72=283

Hellstorm Kill Team
5 Intercessors with bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher (Sergeant with power sword), 5 Aggressors with auto boltstorm gauntlets and fragstorm grenade launcher 125+185=310

Hellfury Kill Team
5 Intercessors with bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire/Vengeance Rounds, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 3 Hellblasters with plasma incinerator and bolt pistols 100+78+102=280

Total: 1,073

Kamikaze Storm Troopers

Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Tempestor Prime with command rod 45

Tempestor Prime with plasma pistol 45

Troops

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

5 Militarum Tempestus Scions with 2 plasma guns 74

Total: 312

Draconian Armored Defenders

Spearhead Detachment (1 Command Point)

HQ

Lord Commissar with plasma pistol and power sword (spend 1 Command Point for Kurov's Aquila) 39

Heavy Support

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Leman Russ Executioner with lascannon and plasma cannon sponsons 192

Total: 615

Grand Total: 2,000 (14 Command Points -> 13 Command Points for Kurov's Aquila)

Hmm, this isn't so bad. It's a list that's teeming with plasma, plasma and more plasma. All my Kill-teams have plasma either in the form of Hellblasters or Inceptors. Well, Stalker only has 1 Hellblaster, but that's fine. My Militarum Tempestus Scions all have plasma guns, even the Tempestor Prime without a command rod is packing a plasma gun. The Kamikaze Storm Troopers stay true to their fluff of being a plasma-heavy regiment. Then you have the Lord Commissar with a plasma pistol leading 3 Leman Russ Executioner tanks - all laden with plasma cannons in addition to their Executioner plasma cannons - in a Spearhead Detachment. This also gives me an extra Command Point and my Leman Russ tanks get Objective Secured. This is just awesome. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my Watch Master, but I guess I'll just do something with him...for now. We'll see.

Anyway, this is what I have for now, and I'll see you guys next time! What do you think? Should I go for a mixed force? A Primaris force? A Veteran force? Let me know. I'll probably write my fluff accordingly. Right now I'm leaning toward an all-Primaris force, but that means selling my Watch Master, who's really not needed, to be honest. But I'm also tempted to field a Veteran team of specialists, like a team with infernus bolters, a team with Deathwatch frag cannons and so on. I could eventually turn it into a full Deathwatch army, which will look like this:

Death Reapers (Deathwatch) Kill-Company

Veteran Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Watch Master with guardian spear 130 (Warlord, Lord of Hidden Knowledge Warlord Trait and the Tome of Ectoclades Relic)

Watch Captain in terminator armor with relic blade and storm bolter 130

Troops

Stormbolt Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and stormbolter, Black Shield with storm shield and stormbolter, 3 Veterans with stormbolters 110

Deathstorm Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and power sword, Black Shield with storm shield and boltgun, 3 Veterans with Deathwatch frag cannons 170

Thunderbolt Kill Team
Veterans - Watch Sergeant with storm shield and stalker pattern boltgun, Black Shield with storm shield and stalker pattern boltgun, 3 Veterans with heavy bolters 128

Flyers

Corvus Blackstar with twin lascannon, 2 stormstrike missile launchers, hurricane bolter and auspex array 257

Total: 925

Primaris Battalion Detachment (5 Command Points)

HQ

Primaris Watch Captain with master-crafted stalker bolt rifle, bolt pistol and power sword 98 (Warlord, Lord of Hidden Knowledge Warlord Trait and the Tome of Ectoclades Relic)

Primaris Librarian with bolt pistol and force sword 102

Troops

Hellfire Kill Team
6 Intercessors with stalker bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 2 Hellblasters with heavy plasma incinerators and bolt pistols 133+78+72=283

Hellstorm Kill Team
5 Intercessors with bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher (Sergeant with power sword), 5 Aggressors with auto boltstorm gauntlets and fragstorm grenade launcher 125+185=310

Hellfury Kill Team
5 Intercessors with bolt rifles and bolt pistols with Hellfire/Vengeance Rounds plus 1 with auxiliary grenade launcher, 2 Aggressors with flamestorm gauntlets, 3 Hellblasters with plasma incinerator and bolt pistols 101+78+102=281

Total: 1,074

Grand Total: 1,999 points (13 Command Points)

Hmm, this isn't so bad. It's going to cost me a lot to assemble a full Deathwatch army, but I'll do it eventually. So maybe I'll hang on to my Watch Master for now. This will fit into my fluff and allow me to do that whole Veterans versus Primaris split that plagues the Imperium and Chapters for now. I think I'll focus on the Primaris side for now, and then build the Veterans later. Or I could build the Veterans first (since I already have the Watch Master) and build the Primaris later. It makes sense, too, given how the Veterans came first, and they got bolstered by the Primaris Marines later, after the Cicatrix Maledictum. Anyway, we'll see. For the Emperor!

To be honest, I might just sell the Watch Master and build a pure Primaris Deathwatch force. Anyone wants the Watch Master? My favorite list is the all-plasma list. Plasma Primaris, plasma Kamikaze Storm Troopers and plasma Draconians (Leman Russ Executioner tanks!). I'll most likely just go with that, so if anyone wants the Watch Master, please let me know.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Imperial Guard Command Point battery

I just thought of a better idea to counter unfluffy and un-thematic list, thanks to Wence in Bell of Lost Souls. Since everyone is complaining about how people just spam cheap Imperial Guard Battalion Detachments for those 5 Command Points, how about we increase the tax?

Current ruling is that we can take up to 3 Detachments for 2,000-point games, 2 Detachments for 1,000-point games, 4 Detachments for 3,000-point games. I was wondering what if we stipulate that each Battalion Detachment must be at least 25% of your entire army (subject to change for bigger games, maybe 20% for 3,000-point games)? That would solve the problem of people having 2 HQ and 3 infantry squads in one corner just to camp backfield objectives and do nothing except generate Command Points. Suddenly you can't just bring along 2 Company Commanders and 3 infantry squads any longer. If you want that extra 5 Command Points, you need a fully fleshed out Astra Militarum force, maybe with tanks, special weapons, heavy weapon squads, APCs, artillery or elite Veterans. Sure, maybe people will just bring hordes of Conscripts or spam infantry squads since hordes are the meta, but that's another 320 points that he won't be spending on his main army, and it's quite the hefty investment.

Having each Battalion Detachment being at least a quarter of your army will solve the problems of people just spamming cheap Battalions for 5 Command Points. Of course, I would rather not apply this to the specialist Detachments since it would penalize them too heavily. On one hand, it's easy to fill out a Spearhead Detachment of Leman Russ tanks to over 25% of my army, but it's practically impossible for my Outrider Detachment of Sentinels or Vanguard Detachment of Assassins or Veterans. Plus it'll be kind of sad if I can't ally an Outrider Detachment of Space Marine bikers to my Imperial Guard Brigade all because they fall just short of the 25%. However I can't just take minimal-sized tactical squads of Space Marines and a couple of Librarians for 5 Command Points. This is relevant especially to Imperial Guard's case where you just take minimum-sized Battalions for 180 points. Now you need to take a proper Astra Militarum fighting force, not just 3 random infantry squads wandering in the middle of nowhere and just cowering in the backfield while watching their Space Marine allies do all the work. Funnily enough, it also means the Space Marines don't outnumber the Guardsmen any longer, which is one of the beef I sometimes have with such lists.

I hope this works!

The Command Points dilemma

Apparently I have been hearing a lot of complaints, especially from Bell of Lost Souls, regarding Command Points. Specifically, there are a lot of people complaining about win at all costs players or competitive players min-maxing by taking minimal Imperial Guard Battalion detachments just for the 5 Command Points. See that 2 company commanders and 3 infantry squads standing in the corner of your opponent's deployment zone? They're there to serve a Command Point battery. For just 180 points, you get 5 Command Points. Woohoo. So every Imperial Knight list, every Adeptus Custodes list or basically every elite-styled list that has very few models and limited number of Command Points will always squeeze in a minimal Battalion Detachment of Astra Militarum (2 company commanders and 3 infantry squads) for that much-needed 5 Command Points.

Personally, I think it's working as intended. Come on, don't tell me it's unthematic and not fluffy to have an Imperial Guard regiment following your three Knights. That's ridiculous. If I bring three Knights to the table, I would want a household retinue of infantry (and tanks, but I don't have enough points for tanks, sadly enough) to accompany them. Complaining that I brought a Battalion of Imperial Guardsmen to accompany my Knights is sort of unfair - what are my Knight supposed to do without infantry support? Am I supposed to table my opponent since I obviously don't have enough models to hold objectives?

On the other hand, I can see this making the meta stale. When every Tom, Dick and Harry brings the same 2 Company Commanders and 3 infantry squads just to unlock 5 Command Points for their Imperial Knights or Adeptus Custodes or Blood Angels or whatever list, there begins to be a problem. This was one of the problems I ran into when constructing a fluffy Imperial Guard and Deathwatch list. If you refer back to my posts yesterday, I was complaining about not having enough tanks or infantry. Over half of my army in terms of points was devoted to Deathwatch, and I was kind of annoyed when I stared at my list and see that I don't have as many Guardsmen as I would have liked. The Deathwatch is supposed to be the elite infantry here! Why the heck do I have more Space Marines than Guardsmen?! An earlier iteration of my list had 33 Space Marines and 22 or 23 Guardsmen. Granted, I was using Militarum Tempestus Scions, but even then...why the hell are there more Space Marines than Storm Trooopers in my list?! That annoyed the heck out of me. If I really wanted to min-max and grab Command Points, I could have gone the route of just doing a Deathwatch Battalion with 2 minimal Astra Militarum Battalions, and that would unlock me 15 Command Points off the bat, to a total of 18. Hell, one version of my list did exactly just that. a Deathwatch Battalion, a Draconian infantry Battalion and a Kamikaze Storm Troopers Battalion. It had no tanks, no vehicles, nothing. That annoyed the hell out of me. Yeah, plenty of Command Points, but I'm not a min-maxing player, and I want my Leman Russ tanks. It made no sense for my Guardsmen to be milling around without tanks when they are the freaking Draconian ARMORED Defenders. I like my Kamikaze Storm Troopers and they're fluffy, but come on...it's nonsensical to play 3 Battalions and 18 Command Points with nothing but infantry.

That's absolutely BS. I want Storm Troopers. I want tanks. I want fluffy and thematic. I don't want my Guardsmen to be outnumbered by freaking Space Marines!!! And it can easily be abused. People running 1-2 Imperial Guard battalions that run around unlocking 10 Command Points for a mere 360 points to accompany their main detachment. And to add insult to injury, they decide to make one of their company commanders the Warlord (with Grand Strategist) and give him Kurov's Aquila. I mean, I do that, but Imperial Guard is my main army, and I play either mono-Imperial Guard or Imperial Guard with Space Marine/Imperial Knight support. So it makes sense for me. And I don't play 2 minimal infantry battalions either. I play either a gigantic Brigade with a Spearhead Detachment of Leman Russ tanks, or a Battalion with a Spearhead Detachment of Leman Russ tanks and a Supreme Command detachment that includes my Shadowsword for a fluffy, thematic armored regiment. Plus the Battalion isn't a minimal 180-point infantry squad - it's a fully fledged Kamikaze Storm Trooper Battalion with all the upgrades, plasma guns, deep-striking infantry, command squads and stuff. Just look at my lists. I never take Imperial Guard without my Leman Russ tanks, because that's how I like to play Imperial Guard. Armored Leman Russ tanks. Maybe I'm forced to throw in some infantry support (I've tried playing all-tanks, and no, it doesn't work - I need infantry) but that's fine. I need infantry to hold objectives and protect my tanks (meatshields!). That's why I play a Brigade sometimes, fill out the troops slot with Kamikaze Storm Troopers, a bunch of Armored Sentinels to protect my flanks, and my Leman Russ tanks. Plus a Shadowsword if I have the points. In that case, it makes sense for my Warlord to be an Imperial Guard commander (Tempestor Prime or Tank Commander or Company Commander), and Grand Strategist seems the most useful for me as an armored regiment player (what am I supposed to do with Draconian Disciplinarian or Bellowing Voice or Master of Command? An extra Tank Order won't help me).

When experimenting with my list to add Deathwatch support, I didn't make my Company Commander or any of my Imperial Guard Characters the Warlord. I made my Deathwatch Master the Warlord instead - okay, probably so that I can use the Stratagem to switch Mission Tactics - and if I want Kurov's Aquila, I spend a Command Point to get it. Not ideal, but I'm not a min-max player and I honestly don't care that I'm wasting a Command Point (which would potentially pay back for itself and get me more) instead of just making my Company Commander the Warlord straight-up. That's not fluffy. And it's kind of funny to see the Chapter Master or Deathwatch Watch Master deferring to a Company Commander of a battered tank regiment...like, seriously? Just...no.

But that really isn't a problem. As I pointed out, if I force my Company Commander to be the Warlord, then I can't get access to the Deathwatch Stratagem that requires my Watch Master to switch Mission Tactics (granted, you still can, but it costs 1 Command Point more). And if you're that bothered about Imperial Guard characters getting Grand Strategist and being the Warlord in other lists, think about it. Imperial Knight Warlord Traits are very powerful. If he's using his Imperial Guard commander as the Warlord, then he either has to spend Command Points on Exalted Court for the Warlord Trait for his Knights, or he's not getting that ion shield's 4++ invulnerable save or extra attack. Or House Vulker's Adamantine Armor or House Krast's re-rolling of ones. Sure, they get the potential to refund 1/3 of their Command Points, but they miss out on a lot of other powerful options.

So what exactly is the problem? When people abuse and exploit the system by throwing in the 180-point Imperial Guard battalion to unlock 5 Command Points. I think encouraging the use of Stratagems is good, and having more Command Points is better, but it's not good if it opens up the system to exploitation where people abuse it by taking 180-point minimal Imperial Guard battalions to grab 5 Command Points, which puts them at an unfair advantage over people who choose to be fluffy and play more elite lists like pure Imperial Knights or whatever. Of course, there's something I disagree about that - if you're spending 180 points on a cheap Imperial Guard battalion, that's less one detachment you have for your army (especially since you're limited to 2 or 3 per 1,000 or 2,000 points respectively). Plus those 3 random infantry squads and their 2 commanders might not have good synergy with the rest of your army. It does annoy me that the Guardsmen are outnumbered by their Space Marines compatriots, for example, or Adeptus Custodes, who are supposed to be the elite armies. No, I would rather they encourage a variety of playstyles where you spend those 180 points on Space Marine units or whatever units instead of setting them aside for an Imperial Guard Command Point battery.

How do we do that? How do we stop people from spamming Battalion Detachments? How do we encourage more diverse armies that make use of all the different battlefield roles instead of just spamming HQs and Troops for those 5 Command Points? Now, the thing is that Imperial Guard is so easily exploitable because how cheap they are, the perhaps the solution is not to penalize Battalions in general (can you imagine how hard it is for Thousand Sons players to play if they don't get 5 Command Points for their Battalions, and must spam Cultists instead?), but to look at Imperial Guard itself. Now, we have the Imperial Knight codex that prevents people from spamming Armigers to get 3 Command Points from multiple super-heavy detachments. Just look at the wording:

KNIGHT LANCES

On the battlefield, Knights gather in formations called lances, earth-shaking spearheads of towering war engines led by the highest ranking amongst them.

If your army is Battle-forged, select one model in each IMPERIAL KNIGHTS Super-heavy Detachment in your army. Each model you selected gains the CHARACTER keyword. However, the Command Benefit of each Imperial Knights Super-heavy Detachment is changed to ‘None’ unless it contains any combination of at least three QUESTORIS CLASS and/or DOMINUS CLASS units.

Now this might be the right idea. Of course, I am bothered by this because min-maxing people will just ditch the Armigers altogether, which makes for unfluffy and unthematic lists. No one would bother with Armigers if taking one penalizes you for your Command Points. People would just take three Questoris and/or Dominus class Knights and then fill out the rest of the points with Imperial Guardsmen (180-point battery!). At the same time, we can't dismiss this totally because people will just grab 9 Armigers for 9 Command Points (or 8 Armigers and 1 Questoris and/or Dominus Knight). Like...uh...okay...nope.

It would be much better to change it to "the Command Benefit of each Imperial Knights Super-heavy Detachment is changed to ‘None’ unless it contains any combination of at least two QUESTORIS CLASS and/or DOMINUS CLASS units." Yeah. Instead of three, make it two. That way, you don't get penalized for filling out the third slot of your super-heavy detachment with an Armiger or two. So a Dominus, a Questoris and an Armiger for 3 Command Points. Fair, right? Makes no sense to penalize us for taking even one Armiger.

So how does this apply to Imperial Guard? I was thinking that we can have something like this.

DEFENDERS OF HUMANITY

The Astra Militarum is the shield of Mankind. Only by its sacrifice and heroism are the worlds of the Imperium kept safe.

The Command Benefit of each ASTRA MILITARUM Battalion Detachment is changed to '3 Command Points' (or 2...) unless it contains any combination of at least three units possessing the Elites, Fast Attack, Heavy Support or Flyers Battlefield Role in addition to the minimum requirements (two units that have the HQ Battlefield Role and three units that have the Troops Battlefield Role).

No longer can you just take a minimal battalion of 2 company commanders and 3 infantry squads for the full 5 Command Points. I think changing it to 'None' is too harsh, so 2 or 3 Command Points for the minimal number of HQ and Troops should be fine, and there's better way to spend the 180 points for a measly 2 Command Points (maybe it's worth it for 3). Oh, and I think <REGIMENT> and <HOUSEHOLD> units in a Super-heavy Auxiliary Detachment should gain a Regimental Doctrine or Hosuehold Tradition as long as they are accompanied by another Detachment that has the same <REGIMENT> and <HOUSEHOLD>. Otherwise it makes no sense. It's a little stupid that I have to pay the 3 HQ tax for a Supreme Command Detachment just for my Shadowsword to get the Cadian Regimental Doctrine, and obviously I want to build my Draconian Armored regiment around a single Shadowsword, not be forced to build around three Shadowswords (or a Baneblade, a Stormlord and a Shadowsword) just to give them the Regimental Doctrine. For Knights, it's not as bad, since you'll never fill out 5 slots for your Super-heavy Detachment and if you do add a Super-heavy Auxiliary, you might as well split them into two Super-heavy Detachments. But it's aggravating for Imperial Guard players who just want to add a Baneblade or Shadowsword, and need to pay 3 HQ tax or take 3 super-heavy tanks (which is not realistic or practical).

And here we come to the next segment of the discussion. Variety. Diversity. Instead of forcing people to spam Battalions for Command Points, reward them further for taking thematic lists. The Astra Militarum's Leman Russ tanks in Spearhead Detachments getting Objective Secured is one such example - it's excellent and rewards people for taking Spearhead Detachments of Leman Russ tanks. Of course, with the Battalion's 5 Command Points being so much more than the Spearhead Detachment's 1 Command Point, Imperial Guard players are sort of...penalized for taking Spearhead Detachments somewhat, when they should just take a Battalion. If that's the case, why not raise all the specialized Detachments (Outrider, Vanguard and Spearhead) to 3 Command Points? Or 2 if you think that's a bit too little.

Furthermore, you can reward thematic lists. Say, Space Marine bikers in an Outrider Detachment get an extra attack (or extra 6" movement, or can hit and fall back). Sydonian Dragoons in an Outrider Detachment get extra movement, or re-roll charge rolls, or Ironstrider Ballistarii can shoot after Advancing. Terminators and Sicarian Infiltrators and Ruststalkers in a Vanguard Detachment can re-roll failed charge rolls. Biovores in a Spearhead Detachment can shoot twice. Wrydvane Psykers and Astropaths in a Vanguard Detachment roll 2 D6 instead of 1 for psychic tests. Astra Militarum Veterans in a Vanguard Detachment get cover saves even in the open. Flayed Ones in a Vanguard Detachment can re-roll failed wound rolls. Stuff like that. Reward people for taking these different Detachments rather than hamstring them into taking Battalions purely for the sake of farming Command Points. Introducing all these diverse Detachments was a great thing for 8th Edition, but I don't want to be punished for taking a Spearhead Detachment of Leman Russ tanks while my opponent grabs a Battalion Detachment that costs 4 times less but gives 5 times the Command Points. Like, seriously?! Well, Objective Secured is fine and all, but imagine if we get a benefit where Leman Russ tanks in a Spearhead Detachment count as not having moved when firing their weapons, which allows us to move 10" and fire twice with our turrey weapons, and still not suffer the penalty for moving and firing the sponson and hull heavy weapons. That might be better than Objective Secured (would be awesome if we get both!). That would make up for the much less Command Points, don't you think? Furthermore, you can't spam Spearhead Detachments of Leman Russ tanks because of the rule of three. So you're encouraged to take a more diverse force - a Battalion to protect your Leman Russ tanks, or an Outrider Detachment of 3 Hellhounds or Armored Sentinels that have their own bonuses for being taken in an Outrider Detachment (even if they only provide 1 Command Point).

Oh, and one last thing. People are complaining about unfluffy Chaos Space Marines lists, such as Thousand Sons not taking Rubric Marines but only spamming Cultists or Tzaangors for cheap Battalions to farm Command Points. Just like above, make the Thousand Sons or  Chaos Space Marines Detachment require at least one Rubric Marine or Chaos Space Marine unit in the Troop slot for the Battalion (2 units of Cultists or Tzaangors should be fine, since it makes sense that they outnumber the Chaos Space Marines, but it makes no sense if the Chaos Space Marines don't show up at all!). Of course, I don't foresee this being a problem because...let's be real, Cultists aren't that great and there are people who would prefer to field a purely Tzaangor army (though how much of that is "Thousand Sons" remains to be debated, which is what annoys many of the fluffy players). On the other hand, it's kind of arrogant to impose your own playstyle on others - "hey, if you're playing Thousand Sons, you must take Rubric Marines!" Come on, if they want to play Tzaangors, then let them. And despite all the complaints and whining about Thousand Sons becoming Codex: Tzaangor and how Tzaangors are supposedly so much better, I haven't seen Tzaangor lists dominate the meta. When is the last time you saw an almost purely Tzaangor list rank highly in a tournament? So how is taking Tzaangor bombs or what-not doing for you? Eh?

Seems like you're not penalized for taking Rubric Marines and Scarab Occult Terminators over Tzaangors, after all...some people just seem to like hyperbole and jumping into conclusions even before they try out the codex. Yeah, theoryhammering is fine and all, but when you're mistaken, you're mistaken. I guess.

Anyway, that's what I have. I'll see you guys next time!