Blog Wars 2 - the aftermath!!

So Im back from Blog Wars 2 run by Alex at From the Fang and I have to say what a good event, Well run, great players and a good, fun event.

There was a great mix of tournament regulars, bloggers and the guys from 40kUK were there too. This tournament is on my list to head to whenever it comes up.

I played 3 games each of 2 hours 30 min each with primary and secondary objectives which I will list as i go through the missions and how I did.

I had intended to take photos of all the turns for each game but I kept forgetting...what a numpty.

Game 1 V`s Graham Sanders Tyranids from Rogue Trader Blog

The mission was kill points with the special character worth 2 and Dawn of war.

I was not happy about facing doom with a full foot slogging list, in fact I felt my bum hole tighten at the prospect.

I was however not a problem, at the end of tun 2 the Assault Brethren had killed 2 Spores, a Carnefex and 2 Zonthropes and the rest of the army accounted for another Spore, Doom and put some wounds on the remaining Fex and I had not taken any significant casualties.

By the bottom of turn 4 he had lost his Tyrant, the remaining Fex the last of the Thropes and all the remaining spores. The Assault Brethren were eating his army and the Tervigons were pumping out kill points.

By the time the game ended I had 1800+ VP and 16 kill points and not lost a single unit. The assault Brethren had scored 9 of those kill points by themselves, they gave me the massive win. Helbrecht performed well against the trash but did bugger all against the bigger, more important stuff. at 1 point he kicked out his full 8 attacks on the charge but that was his highlight.

That win shoved me straight up to table 2 playing Gary "the voice" Percival from the 40kUK podcast and his Deathwing army.

Turns 1-4 saw all my Crusaders killed by a mad amount of Krak missiles and he lost a few terminators to massed fire and exploding speeders.

Turn 5 after some manoeuvring I managed to get into assault range of his command squad and needed a 6 on a charge through difficult terrain which I got and then over the next 2 turns the Assault Brethren wiped them out and he fed them 2 more 5 man assault units which the obligingly ate and when the game ended turn 6 he had 3 table quarters to my 1 giving him 3-0 on Primary objectives but I had scored 3 points on secondary objective through victory points making it 0-3 to me. So after checking with Alex we had a draw.

This game went to a draw but only because Gary made a game of it, he could have won this one by reversing his army pouring fire into my assault unit, I may never have caught him as I spent a turn dithering with them midfield.

Game 3 saw me playing against Dave Symcox, the host of 40kUK who quite frankly outplayed me, 3 turns of firing from 4 grey hunter packs and long fangs and some other stuff left me with bugger all left. I got ground out, the game may have gone differently if I hadn't made a mistake with failed charge but I got comprehensively spanked.

That game cost me 2nd or 3rd place.

I did however play pretty well, my list (excluding Helbrecht) was awesome, the Assault Terminators are epic. I have read stuff on this website and I disagree that gun lines are the way forward for Templar's, If you want a gun line play guard or car parking Grey Knights.

Templar's are about shoving a spiky unit down you opponents throat!!

So I think I placed 4th but it wasn't so clear on the evening so I shall edit this post once Alex publishes is on From the Fang.

I did after all my complaining about him win best painted Special Character in the evening for Helbrecht so I went away very pleased with my performance playing and my painting.

I would like to thank Alex for a great event, one which I shall be making every effort to attend when ever he runs one. and I encourage anyone that reads this to take part too.

Its a great opportunity to meet other bloggers and bullshit with them.

Von Muller out....

Helbrecht

So, for Blog Wars 2 I needed to paint 3 Terminators, 1 Cyclone Terminator and Helbrecht, I finished the job last night at about midnight.

The terminators came out as expected and fit very nicely with their brethren but I just couldn't get Helbrecht right. I don't know what it is with this figure, it's a cracking mini with loads of detail and a sculpt which radiates menace but I just couldn't get a paint job I was happy with.

Characters are supposed to be just that, characterful, loads of detail and plenty of time spent on them, he had about 10 hours of my time. I'm just disappointed with the way he turned out. He fits in nicely with the rest of the army and will most certainly stand out but I think he might have to get a dipping and repainted in the same style as my Champion, but another day.

Helbrecht

So I thought I would do a review of Helbrecht, see what my expectations of him are and then after Blog Wars tomorrow I post how he actually did.

His stat line is more or less the same as a Marine Captain with the exception of 4 wounds and attacks rather than 3 so a little underwhelming for this Templar badass so far. He does however give me Rites of Battle which means all my units may use his leadership whilst he is alive, combined with my normal Marshal (who I'm beginning to this is better) means I can loose one of them without dropping to 8 leadership (important when your army is subject to the target priority rule).

He does come tooled up with all the bells and whistles including a combi-melta which is nice as I have zero in my list without him meaning that I may well get to pop a Land Raider if I come up against one. He also has Bionics, Articifer Armour, Crusader seals, frag and krak and the sword of the High Marshall's which is a Master Crafted power weapon that gives him +D3 attacks in the first round of assault.

The sword I not going to make a whole heap of difference when I think about it, Ok, 8 attacks on the charge is awesome but its only at S4 and with Accept any challenge I think the average kills is only 3 or 4 against marine equivalents. He will however be locked up in a nice big bubble wrap blanket of assault Terminators, my Terminator Marshal and the Champion, so I how he is going to be fairly hard to kill.

I think where this guy comes into his own is if I were to run a "Black Tide" style list, he can take a non Terminator Command Squad with an additional 5 Neophytes one of whom can be a company or fighting company standard bearer. Its possible (at great cost) to run a massive 19 man command squad with feel no pain that get extra attack, counter attack and re-roll failed pinning and moral checks with furious charge. Scary bad eh?

I can see that being used in a friendly game but it would get crushed utterly in a tournament environment.

So as I type this I feel kind of sad that I decided to run Helbrecht but I am hopeful he will prove me wrong by doing something unexpected.

My goals tomorrow? Win at least one game. That's all, just one little game, not one where my opponent rolls badly or my dice are on fire, just one where I play better than my opponent...we shall see.

Wish me luck!!

Blog Wars 2 take 2

Well, the list I had decided on for Blog Wars 2 has fallen flat, Bloody Games Workshop have made Grimaldus mail order only, and I couldn't take the risk of him not turning up.

So I the list I sent to Alex was the same one I took to Onslaught, and I wasn't happy with it.

So after a second trip to GW I picked up a Helbrecht mini up and submitted a different list in the hope Alex would kindly let me change the army I ran now it included a special character and he agreed.

So...the list I am going to run is a variation of the Grimaldus list;

HQ: Grand Marshall Helbrecht

HQ: 1 Marshal, Chain Fist, Storm Shield, Terminator Armour, Adamantine Mantle

Emperor's Champion, Accept Any Challenge

Elite: Sword Brethren Terminator Assault Squad

4 Terminator with Lightning Claws, Crusader Seals

5 Terminator with Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, Crusader Seals

Furious Charge

Elite: Sword Brethren Terminator Squad

3 Terminator

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher, Chain fist

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher

Tank Hunter

Elite: Sword Brethren Terminator Squad

3 Terminator

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher, Chain fist

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher

Tank Hunter

Troops: Crusader Squad

4 Initiate with Bolt Pistol and CCW

1 Initiate with Lascannon

Troops: Crusader Squad

4 Initiate with Bolt Pistol and CCW

1 Initiate with Lascannon

Troops: Crusader Squad

4 Initiate with Bolt Pistol and CCW

1 Initiate with Lascannon

Basically Ive swapped Grim out for Helbrecht. Not too exciting but i feel better for having a special character in the list again to keep in with the spirit of the tournament.

I can hide him in with the terminators letting them absorb the bulk of the fire as the rush towards the enemy, Helbrecht kicks out alot of attacks but only at S4 which is a shame, still he should hold up well.

I managed to get a start on him tonight and I have to say hI'm finding him a bit of a pig to paint. I have never really liked painting metalics and I want him to be the propper colours so I shall have to persevere.

Only 3 full days untill I get to play what I hope will be some fun games. I will let you know how I got on and how well or badly I did.

Wish me luck!!

Blog Wars

Now then, now then boys and girls!!

I am rather hoping that I will get the opportunity to take part in BLOG WARS 2 on the 3rd of December assuming I can arrange the time off work and I can get a space in the tournament.

I was thinking about what army to take if I did get to go and after a bit of discussion with a mate I decided on a proper fluffy list that should I hope cut the mustard. The tournament asks that all armies take a special character, the Templars being the exception to the rule but really I can see no reason not to.

I only have 2 special characters available to me, High Marshal Helbrecht and Chaplain Grimaldus. I wanted to go for Helbrecht initially, I like the mini and I LOVE the +d3 attacks this dudes pumps out, on the charge he is capable of 8 S4 with one re-roll with a power weapon, that's a bucket load of attacks. Downside, instant death, hes a fair chunk of points to loose to a lascannon or powerfist.

Now, Grimaldus is more points, less attacks and lower leadership so why take him? Ill be running him in a monster assault Terminator unit, 4 claws and 5 hammers with the chump and a Marshal with Shield and Chain fist all hoofing it across the battlefield to get to grips with the bad guys. Grim will help me get there fast, real fast. The unit moves 6", runs upto 6" then if they take a casualty I get to zeal. Grim means my guys auto pass moral as he makes them fearless so when I take casualties they can move another D6 and the crusader seals mean I get a re-roll, the potential for 18" move on foot per game turn. He is also not a bad looking mini and I have neither of the special characters, off to workshop tomorrow to buy them and I`ll have some pics up once I have them done.

The list I intend to run with is as follows;

Total Roster Cost: 1750

HQ: Chaplain Grimaldus

3 Cenobyte Servitors

HQ: 1 Marshal, Chain Fist, Storm Shield, Terminator Armour, Adamantine Mantle

Emperor's Champion, Accept Any Challenge

Elite: Sword Brethren Terminator Assault Squad

4 Terminator with Lightning Claws, Crusader Seals

5 Terminator with Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield, Crusader Seals

Furious Charge

Elite: Sword Brethren Terminator Squad

3 Terminator

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher, Chain fist

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher

Tank Hunter

Elite: Sword Brethren Terminator Squad

3 Terminator

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher, Chain fist

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher

Tank Hunter

Troops: Crusader Squad

4 Initiate with Bolt Pistol and CCW

1 Initiate with Lascannon

Troops: Crusader Squad

4 Initiate with Bolt Pistol and CCW

1 Initiate with Lascannon

Troops: Crusader Squad

4 Initiate with Bolt Pistol and CCW

1 Initiate with Lascannon

Baring the Crusader squads, that is a fluffy Templar list, a Sword Brethren attack force. I did have a look at a Black tide list from the days of old but I wouldn't have the time to paint that many marines.

How does the list work (like you couldn't work that out)? Basically, i shove the assault Termies with Grim, the Marshal and the Chump down my opponents throat. The Cyclone Brethren advance on one flank of that unit pumping fire into everything it can then assaulting in support or making a nuisance of themselves, no one can afford to ignore 10 tank hunting Termies advancing up a flank. The crusaders provide supporting fire or even get stuck into combat should I need them to.

Its a list I like, it does everything I want it to, loads of fire and a very, very nasty hammer unit. I may also consider adapting it for normal tournament play by dropping Grim and making the crusader squads bigger or even dumping the saved points into Typhoons. i could even take it to caladonian uprising in January with a few tweeks.

So...there are 10 days between now and Blogwars 2, I have lads comming round to play magic on one day and I'll be going to Bradimus Primes "Win Gym" for our usual weekly 40K mauling. 8 days ....

3 Terminators

1 Grimaldus

3 Servitors

Do-able ? I hope so because that's the task I've set myself if I don't I'll be buggered.

Wish me luck!!

Drop Podding

My my, 3 posts in a week!! unheard of, I've gone 6 months without that many. It is testament to how much I enjoyed Onslaught, it has really fired me up for more fluffy (ish) lists to take to get a battering.

As promised I thought I would have a go at a drop pod list, I've been playing around with Army Builder and all the pure drop pod lists I have managed to come up with have been suited to MSU spam lists which I'm not keen on. The list I finally settled on is a mixture of the pods and foot sloggers (I can see Bradimus Prime smashing his head into a desk shouting IDIOT).

1850 Pts - Black Templars Roster

Total Roster Cost: 1850

HQ: Marshal (6#, 375 pts)

1 Marshal

1 Adamantine Mantle

1 Storm Shield

1 Chain Fist

1 Terminator Command Squad

1 Sergeant

1 Terminator

1 Terminator with Assault Cannon & Chain Fist

1 Terminator with Assault Cannon & Power Fist

Tank Hunters

1 Drop Pod

: Emperor's Champion

1 Emperor's Champion

Accept any challenge

Elite: Sword Brethren Terminator Squad

1 Sword Brethren Terminator Squad

3 Terminator

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher

Tank Hunters

Elite: Sword Brethren Terminator Squad

1 Sword Brethren Terminator Squad

3 Terminator

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher

1 Terminator with Cyclone Missile Launcher

Tank Hunters

Troops: Crusader Squad

1 Crusader Squad

7 Initiate with Bolt Pistol and CCW

1 Initiate with Meltagun

1 Initiate with Bolt Pistol & Power Fist

Frag Grenades

1 Drop Pod, 30 pts

Troops: Crusader Squad

1 Crusader Squad

7 Initiate with Bolt Pistol and CCW

1 Initiate with Meltagun

1 Initiate with Bolt Pistol & Power Fist

Frag Grenades

1 Drop Pod, 30 pts

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron

1 Land Speeder Squadron

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron

1 Land Speeder Squadron

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron

1 Land Speeder Squadron

Heavy Support: Predator Destructor

1 Predator Destructor

2x Lascannons

1x Smoke Launcher

1x Searchlight

As you may know, Templar drop pods come in using the normal reserves rules so I plan that the pods will come in turn 3 or 4 (yeh right). The cyclones and Pred deploy popping armour and generally wreaking havoc with my opponents armour, I can deep strike or reserve the Typhoons if I need to for late game objective grabs or again, deploy for more anti horde or armour.

The Typhoons should be great for dealing the ever present AV 11 Rhino/Razorback and AV 12 Chimeras with AP8 Krak and decent horde control with Heavy Bolters and Frag missiles.

Assuming the dice gods favour me The pods come down on or near objectives, on flanks or behind the lines and a 5 man Terminator squad with tank hunting assault cannons is not to be sniffed at more so in fact as the Marshall is in there and a couple chain fist's for removing those hard to shift tanks. I could change the Marshall's Chain fist for a claw if needed but I have found the fist to be probably the best choice over all.

This list does only have 2 scoring units, this is a BIG risk, deep strike mishap or bad turn being shot at or in combat could end any chance of tanking objective. The plus side is that I can drop them where I want to contest my opponents objectives, the Cyclone Terminators are resilient enough to absorb a fair bit of fire so I can potentially advance them into my opponents line pouring on fire and taking ground.

That is the plan...remember no plan ever survives contact with the enemy.

I have a double raider list ill post up next, and I'm in the middle of painting 2 Typhoons and I hope to get them done by the end of next week so we shall have to see ho much progress I make on them.

I am thinking about changing the vow for the Champion to Abhor the witch, this list will suffer badly against lash and probably suffer against Deamons.

More tinkering to follow!!

Thanks for reading!!