Thursday 20 December 2012

On cursed dice

So, as per a previous post I bought new dice because the old ones were cursed.
Hmmm, trying to wound with a Psycannon having managed two hits (needing 2+ to wound)
See, this may have worried me, had my honourable Eldar opponent not manged to do this with his nasty will-kill-everything cannons (needing 2+ to insta kill):
Yes, that is a 1/216 chance right there. I guess dice are just like that...




Expanding that losing feeling

So, managed to lose another game, but in a new and creative way: this time I decided it was a good idea to get up close and personal with Eldar. I forgot that Eldar weapons are short ranged, and got far too close. Having seen the results of close range fire I still pressed in. Basically, when the Eldar player pulls back, do not run in after him (you idiot). However, the Eldar player, whose name I have momentarily forgotten, was one of those one of those Good Gamers that makes losing a fun and learning experience. In short, a good evening.

What was interesting was that my only surviving models this evening were from the Inqusitor Warband that I added to my list. They are the guys in the red circle.
They had just taken out the crew of the Eldar cannons and were about to stomp on the Rangers.

I will most certainly continue to explore the use of warbands, especially using Coteaz.
I do not much like the Coteaz model. It is quite nice but the massive ermin and the eagle are off putting. So, I have been using my own version. Here he is moments after the Terminators he was with got blown away by a massive cloud of shuriken, and moments before he charged the Wraithlord (yeah, like, whatever, leave me alone, it could have worked...



...although on this particular occasion it did not...)
In conclusion, warbands will be The New Black (especially in combination with the Dreadknight that may be under the Christmas tree... more on that later...).

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Solomon Lok army, Termies and Interceptors

Here are the models from the list two posts back. Not a great paint job, I know, but I am happy with them. This is sans Mr. Lok's warband.

The glass at the back contains a rather nice Danish snaps.

Very smoothe and pleasent.
For reasons of regional loyalty I still have to say that Svendborg Gylden is better. I do not currently have a bottle of this so the below picture of from the interweb.
Spirits do not usually survive long in this household, but the snaps my brother gave me last Christmas still lives.
I did ask for 'an interesting snaps', and my brother most certainly delivered. It is infused with this mushroom...
...and is probably one of the most unique tastes I have ever come across...

...anyway, that might be a slight detour away from the whole wargaming thing...ehm...
So, as I was saying, I hope to soon have an opportunity to test the Lok List.





Tuesday 18 December 2012

Random fact

42 percent of page views on this blog are via Chrome. Now you know...

Latest defeat

So, my latest defeat was to Blood Angels with about 6 Dreads. I have started to realise that I do not have enough firepower against vehicles and power armour. Storm bolters are cool, but AP4 is not much fun against 3+ armour saves.
So, I have decided to experiment with Inquisitors: 1) they can be a cheap HQ which frees up points for more storm bolters; 2) Corteaz makes henchmen warbands troop choices! (yay). Especially (2) Corteaz creates a whole lot of room for some fun options. I am especially interested in hotshot lasguns (Str 3, but Ap3). Yes, against Space Marines they need a 5 to wound, but no armour save. In addition, warbands can take three plasmaguns. That should create some interesting options.
My next list I will try will therefore be:
Storm Bolter Extravaganza:

HQ: Solomon Lok (from Forgeworld) (based on the rules provided by Forgeworld you have to take a specific warband, which is a bit annoying, but hey at 80 points, it's not bad, and there is a Mystic in there which basically is a mobile teleport homer. Put them in a rhino, send them forward to an objective and deep strike some termies). Lok also makes the squad he is with Feel No Pain when 3 inches from an objective.

Termies 1:
Justicar with Strorm Bolter and Halberd
Three Termines with Storm Bolter and Halberd
One Terminator with storm bolter and hammer
One Terminator with Psycannon and halberd
Psybolt ammo

Termies 2:
Justicar with Strorm Bolter and Halberd
Three Termines with Storm Bolter and Halberd
One Terminator with storm bolter and hammer
One Terminator with Psycannon and halberd
Psybolt ammo

Termies 3:
Justicar with Strorm Bolter and Halberd
Three Termines with Storm Bolter and Halberd
One Terminator with storm bolter and hammer
One Terminator with Psycannon and halberd
Psybolt ammo

Termies 4:
Justicar with Strorm Bolter and Halberd
Three Termines with Storm Bolter and Halberd
One Terminator with storm bolter and hammer
One Terminator with Psycannon and halberd
Psybolt ammo

Interceptors:
Justicar with Storm Bolter and Halberd
Two GKs with Incinerator
Two GKs with Hammer and Storm Bolter
Six GKs with Storm Bolter and Helberd
Psybolt ammo

Rhino

Total 1500p

That is a lot of shooty-ness. Low on anti-armour, so that may end up being a problem, but let's see...

Monday 17 December 2012

My secret weapon!!



My secret weapon arrived!! Oh yes, I shall deal deadly doom to my enemies with these guranteed curse free dice!!!
Ok, so my first game withn these babies I lost, but more on that later...

Saturday 1 December 2012

My dice are cursed.

Yep, they really really really are!
At an Apocalypse Game last weekend I again used the Vindicare assassin to hunt tanks again, this time targeting an Eldar Falcon.

Again, 2+ to hit, and if that fails a 4+, 4D6 to penetrate armour. Front armour on a Falcon? 12. 12 with 4D6? Easy!! Falcon is going down in a major way!
Except, my dice are cursed.
Turn 1: Roll a 1. Not a problem. Just need 4+. Roll a 2.
Turn 2: Roll a 1. Please, let me get a 4+. Roll a 3.
Turn 3: Falcon has been wrecked by other bits of my army, so turn my attention to Eldar-Boss-Type-Person.
Clear line of sight. 2+/4+ to hit. Eldar boss only has one wound left. I roll a 4 *HIT* YAY.
Hellfire ammunition means I just need a 2+ to wound. I roll...
My dice are cursed...
Eldar Boss goes on to blow up my Land Raider with a Vortex granade.

Now, according to this interesting article, GW dice do roll about 29 percent 1s (should be about 16.6 percent), but still!!!
So, yeah, my dice are cursed.
The solution: Guranteed curse-free casino dice.
Oh yes!

First Victory

Having had by bottom comprehensively slapped in my first four games I finally managed a victory in a closely fought battle against Imperial Guard.
My opponent fielded a rather attractive Imperial Guard Army. Those Rough Riders carry a mean punch in their first attack and wiped out my Interceptors. The rocket tank on the far left wrecked havoc on my back field.
This battle could have gone either way and was very dynamic. There were several strikes and counter strikes, each of which, had things worked out just a little bit differently, could have changed the game fundamentally. It was also one of my most enjoyable games so far. Not because I won - really this game could have gone either way. But because: 1) I had finally gotten slightly more to grips with the rules; 2) my opponent and I were roughly of equal experience; and 3) most importantly my opponent knew games etiquette. This last one I have realised is key to an enjoyable game. Fortunately, most of my opponents have known games etiquette, but not always. Bad etiquette destroys the gaming experience. Will probably write something about that later.
Anyway, a good tightly fought game, will try to write up a proper report at some point.
The, for me, most peculiar part of the game was a duel between my Vindicare (super sniper - using an Infinity model) and a Leman Russ tank.

Vindicares are designed for tank killing. Almost impossible not to hit the target with a Vindicare. BS8 so just need a 2+, and if that fails a 4+. Once the target has been hit armour benetration is with 4D6 - easy! Yeah, there is something wrong with my dice! Round 1: hit, no armour penetration; Round 2: hit, no armour penetration; finally on Round 3 manage to penetrate the front armour of the Leman Russ and is rewarded with a nice big explosion. Still, I am starting to feel there is something wrong with my dice...

Opening Battles

Having decided on GK I went about putting together enough points to attend the weekly games night at my local friendly games store Dark Sphere.
Battle 1: 1250 GK including some SM allies vs. Chaos Space Marines.
Result: crushing defeat.
Lessons Learnt: I have no idea what I am doing/ do not get into close combat with Chaos Champion-thingy/ must read the rule books in more detail.

Battle 2: 1250 GK including some SM allies vs. Chaos Demons
Result: crushing defeat.
Lessons Learnt: see Battle 1, but replace 'Chaos Lord-thingy' with 'Great-Big-Khorne-Demon-Thingy'

Battle 3: 1250-ish GK vs. Chaos Space Marines
Result: Crushing Defeat.
Lessons Learnt: do not play against people who are much much more experienced than myself. It is not fun.

Battle 4: 1250-ish GK vs. Imperial Guard
Result: Crushing Defeat.
Lessons learnt: walking terminators into massed lasguns and heavy artillery is not a good idea. Terminator armour comes with deep strike capability for a reason. Justicar Thawn rocks! A roll of 4+ would have seen me draw rather than lose (naturally I rolled a 2 - more on my dice later).

Choices, choices

So, having decided to get back into 40k I needed to choose an army. Despite my background with Eldar I wanted a human army this time. I first chose Imperial Guard, but having bought the Codex and a few units I got put off by the frailty of IG units. So, went for Space Marines. Gathered a good few points of them, but then had a read of the Grey Knights Codex! Ahhh, now that is more like it. Grey Knights it was.

Returning to 40k

Some time in the mid 1990s my brave gang of Eldar warriors faced a frontal assault by an army of Space Marines in Terminator armour. A valuable lesson was learnt that day: yes, terminator armour is tough, but if you have enough shots even a 2+ save will eventually fail. Hence, walking Terminators into a gunline is not a good idea...
The final outcome of the battle, and indeed the Eldar army itself, have been lost in the intervening years. I moved away, lost touched with my usual circle of players, and did other stuff...
However, in the spring of this year I found my old copy of Ian Watson's Inquisitor, which inspired me to get back into The Hobby.
This blog, written mainly for my own amusement, will chronicle my return to 40k.