Battle reports, tactics, and general banter about Warhammer 40k, D&D 3.5/Pathfinder, Malifaux, and Warhammer Fantasy!

Monday 14 April 2014

Eldar Nightspinners: Why is nobody taking these?!

Hey folks! Lately I've been bringing Nightspinners in my Eldar army, and I have been VERY impressed with what they can do. This has led me to wonder why I haven't seen them come up very often in lists and battle reports across the internet. I really am feeling like this is a very underrated unit, and I'd like to outline why I think you guys should consider bringing them to games in the future!

The first thing I want to bring up is I think the major selling point of these guys. Their main weapon, the Doomweaver, has a Barrage firing mode. I don't think I really need to go over why Barrage is so awesome this edition, but for those unfamiliar with the rule, I'll give you guys the low down. Barrage weapons can fire with line of sight to reduce the scatter of their blast (a 5" blast in the case of the Nightspinner) by their ballistic skill like normal, but If you can't get line of sight, that's no problem! You can fire anyways and hope for either a direct hit, or a low roll on the dice. The next thing Barrage does is it deals wounds as if you were firing from the center of the blast template, allowing you to ignore intervening cover (but not jink saves, area terrain and the like), as well as allowing you to essentially snipe out specific models such as special weapons or even characters. Lastly, Barrage weapons always hit vehicles on their side armour, which means that you don't even have to maneuver to get those side shots. Just lob away.

Now Barrage is great, right? But that's not all this baby has in store. Thanks to the Monofilament rule, your already impressive Strength 7 becomes a mighty Strength 8 against any models with initiative 3 or lower, which includes models with no initiative value (i.e any non-walker vehicle). So you take the Strength 8 blast, and put that against a vehicle's side armour and ignore any intervening terrain like say, an Aegis Defence Line, now you've got a pretty scary tank-hunting unit that can sit out of line of sight and pop tanks. It's also awesome for taking out infantry, even if they have a 2+ save. That's the other thing Monofilament does for you. Any to-wound roll of a 6 brings your AP down to 1 (which, indecently, doesn't hurt when rolling on the Vehicle Damage Chart!). This means that you can be hitting tons of guys, picking out the one you really want dead, and maybe even ignoring their armour saves AND cover that isn't area terrain! All this potentially from out of line of sight!

"But what if something starts to get close?" I hear you asking me. "You don't want to be firing a blast at close range. You might scatter into yourself!" Well fear not loyal reader, because your trusty Nightspinner has your back here too! It has an alternate firing mode, which transforms its Barrage weapon into a flame template, with the same Strength and same Monofilament goodness! Couple this with being a fast vehicle capable of driving up 12" to unleash your fury, and you need not fear even fast units packing Meltaguns!

Now, if all this still isn't good enough for you, consider what support you could give this unit. Why not take a Farseer? With Guide and/or Prescience, now you can also re-roll your scatters on your barrage weapon, dramatically increasing your odds of hitting the guy you want. In fact, with just one Farseer, you can have two Nightspinners both pounding the enemy with deadly accuracy, and forcing them to the safety of area terrain. This gives you terrific board control, and its not even that expensive. With the Holo-Field upgrade (you are taking Holo-Fields, aren't you?) a Nightspinner comes out to just 130 points.

Now, I've done a lot to pump up Nightspinners, but there are some downsides to this unit. Against higher initiative models, you're going to be Strength 7 instead of 8, meaning that for the most part you won't be getting to instant-kill characters. The next thing is that being a vehicle, you are prone to being destroyed in one shot here. Jink and Holo-Fields, with a (ruin to hide behind maybe?) will help mitigate this, but it does happen. Thirdly, there is the downside to any blast. You could scatter badly. We've all had games where we just couldn't get a direct hit to save our lives, and that can really hurt this model's damage output, as you don't really have any other weapon to fire instead. This can be mitigated somewhat if you want to get close enough to use your template instead, but that can be a risky move.

Overall, I have enjoyed great success with these vehicles, and I think that they are a  very effective and deadly addition to an Eldar army. Do yourselves a favour and try one out!

April Painting Challenge: Update!

Hey everyone! this is just an update on the April Painting Challenge, and what I've Accomplished so far. Its been a busy month with lots of painting and assembling happening, and while I'm not as far along as I would have liked, I do think that any progress is good progress. So far the 15 Dire Avengers are completely finished, and I have my Stegadon built and magnetized so that I can use any of the 3 loadouts. I hope to have it primed and at least partially painted by the end of the week, but with the Easter weekend coming up it may not happen.


So this is them. The yellow took quite awhile, as yellow is wont to do, and I'm not sure how happy I am with it, as no matter what I do I can't seen to get it to come out smooth. I am really happy with how the red for the crests and cloth came out though, and I think the colour scheme is elegant in its simplicity, and incorporates a combination of the traditional colours of the Dire Avengers well with the colours of the Alaitoc Craftworld.

Anyways, that's it for this subject, and I hope to have more updates for you guys soon.

Friday 11 April 2014

Warhammer 40k Battle Report: Orks V.S White Scars

The Orks have taken an Imperial world. The White Scars Chapter have been sent to drive the Xenos out, but are faced with a little more then they bargained for...

This was a 1250 battle between my Orks and Todd's White Scars. The mission was the Scouring with a Spearhead deployment
The Board
The Armies

Orks

HQ: 
Big Mek with Kustom Force Field, Bosspole, Cybork Body, and Power Klaw - 125

Troops:
13 Shoota Boyz with Big Shoota, and Nob with Power Klaw - 118

30 Shoota Boyz with 3x Big Shoota, and Nob with Power Klaw and Bosspole - 235

Lord of War:
Stompa - 770

Total: 1248

This was a fun list to make, as Todd had challenged my Orks, and told me I could bring my Stompa if I wanted. Of course, I couldn't just NOT bring a Stompa. These are Orks we're talking about. So my army ended up basically being a Stompa and a few Boyz. I decided to beef up the Squad out side of the Stompa, so that I could bubble wrap it in Boyz to keep any melta guns out of range. It also served to keep the Boyz in range of the Big Mek's Forcefield. I didn't have much of a plan other than to unleash the Stompa and try and blow up all his troops. If I get lucky, maybe one of my troops will survive and I''ll be able to claim an objective.
Da Orks!


White Scars

HQ:
Chapter Master on Bike with Lightning Claw, and Power Fist - 190

Elites:
Dreadnought with Twin-Linked Lascannon - 125

Troops:
5 Bikes with 2x Grav Guns, Sergent with Melta Bombs - 140

5 Bikes with 2x Grav Guns, Sergent with Melta Bombs - 140

5 Bikes with 2x Meltaguns, Sergent with Melta Bombs - 130

7 Scouts with Sniper Rifles - 82

Heavy Support:
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon Sponsons -140 

Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon Sponsons -140 

Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon Sponsons -140 

Fortification: 
Aegis Defence Line with Quadgun - 100


Total: 1252

So first off, the points for this list may be a little off, as Todd's tablet has been out of commission, and so he made this list from memory. With that said, there was a decent amount of anti-tank, in this list, and it was also pretty maneuverable, so it was going to be tough for my Boyz to engage them properly. My only real hope was that the Stompa could prove to difficult to hurt and just rampage around the battle field.
Dem 'Umies
The Game

Todd won both the roll for choice of table side, and the roll for first turn and decided to go first. We places objectives fairly spread out, but forgot to put randomize the value of them, and so we a agreed to just draw them randomly at the end. Todd deployed fairly aggressively with his bikes deployed up as far as he could, and his scouts and tanks mostly behind the defence line, along with the dreadnought.

Todd's Deployment
I counter deployed in a kind of bubble wrap formation. The Stompa went down in the back, flanked by a forest, and the big squad of Boyz surrounded it to try and keep any Meltaguns out of melta range, as well as benefiting from the Big Mek's Kustom Force Field. The plan would essentially be just to advance everything and try and take down as much as possible with the Stompa before it went down. Who knows, with a little luck there might even be some Boyz left at them end to take objectives.

My Deployment
Turn 1

Gunning their engines, the Bikes begin to advance. The squad in the center with the meltaguns drives up to try and get out of line of sight behind a small building. The other two bike squads advance down their respective flanks towards the Orks. Meanwhile the Dreadnought lumbers forward to try and get some cover from the defence line and get a better arc of sight. Two of the Predator tanks lumber forward as well to try and get a clear shot.

The Chapter Master begins the engagement by painting the massive Stompa for an Orbital Bombardment. Unfourtunately, the Mek's Orky technologies interfere with the signal, and the shot lands on the front few Boyz instead, only killing two, thanks to the Force Field. The Bikes on the left flank fire at the Boyz at extreme range and drop a single Greenskin. All three Predators and the Dreadnought unleash the fury of their weapons on the Stompa, but between it's thick plates of armour and the Mek's Force Field, no harm comes to the effigy.

Eager to get to the Marines, the Boyz start to advance through the river at a surprisingly fast pace. The Stompa lumbers up behind them, ready to unleash its guns on the 'umies. The Boyz decide to return fire at long range at the Bikes on the left, but their shooting is wild and no Space Marines are hurt. The Stompa unleashes its Deffcannon on the Melta Bikes and kills a couple. The Supa-Gatler chews up a pair of the Bikes from the Chapter Master's squad, reducing them to little more than bloody chunks.

End of Turn 1

Turn 2

With relatively few casualties on both sides, the Space Marines know that they must make a move soon. The Bikes on the left advance to get into range of the Boyz, while the Chapter Master's Squad move behind the nearby building, hoping to goad the Stompa into attacking them. Everything else holds position. The Bikes begin to unleash their bolters on the Boyz, and kill a couple more, and the Scouts down another with their Sniper Rifles. All of the Predators and the Dreadnought manage to get a couple of hull points off the Stompa this time, blasting off weakened armour plates under a fusilade of Las and Autocannon fire.

Tiring of this long range fight, the Boyz split to the left to try and get into range to kill some of the Bikes. The Stompa goes off on its own towards the Chapter Master and his Squad, ready to stomp them into a pulp. The Boyz fire all of their weapons at the Bikes and manage to down one. The Stompa unleashes its entire payload into the Chapter Master and his squad, and when the dust settles, nothing but a crater with the charred and bullet ridden bodies of the Chapter Master and his retinue remains.

End of Turn 2
Turn 3

With the Death of their beloved Chapter Master, the Melta Bikes cruise forward, eager to take down the monstrous Stompa. The Left Bike Squad starts to retreat from the Boyz, while the Left Predator moves to try and get a better view of the Stompa. The left Bike squad downs another Boy or two with their Bolters. Firing their Meltaguns proves to do no damage to the Stompa, one Biker missing all together, and the other shot being blocked by the Force Field. The Combined fire from the Predators and the Dreadnought and Quad gun does much better and downs the Stompa's hull points yet further. Desperate to destroy the lumbering war machine, the Bikes charged the Stompa, clamping a Meltabomb to it, and blowing off a few more plates, only to be cut down by the massive chainblade an instant later. The Stompa consolidated towards the terrified Scouts.

The Stompa stomps towards the scouts, ready to do some damage. The Boyz move into the forest to claim the objective, and to take some more shots at the Bikes. Firing their shootas once again proves to be ineffective against the rock hard Bikes. The Stompa has some better luck, toasting a bunch of scouts. The Deffcannon hits a Predator, but fails to get through its armour. The Supa-Gatler immobilizes and takes a hull point off the Dreadnought. Eager for more bloodshed, the Stompa crashes into the scouts and easily cleaves through them.

End of Turn 3

Turn 4

With the line falling fast to the Stompa, the remaining Marines divert all of their attention to bringing it down. The Bikes pull back to fire their Grav guns at it. Though it takes much of their remaining firepower, the Dreadnought manages to finally blow up the Behemoth, but miraculously, the Big Mek, his Nob, the Big Shoota, and some of the Boyz manage to survive the catastrophic explosion.

Shaken, but not beaten, the Big Mek and his squad move behind the central building to take the objective, with just the Big Shoota remaining partially in view of the bikes to try and take one down. The other Boyz also move to fire on the bikes. Unfortunately, they're still Orks, and their shooting is entirely ineffective.

End of Turn 4

Turn 5


With the battle nearing its end, the Bikes retreat back to claim the objective in their back corner. The  Predators move about to get some shots into the Boyz. Luck is with the Orks, however, and only a couple of Boyz from the left squad are killed.

The Big Shootas all move to take some more pot shots at the bikes, but once again fail to harm them.

We roll to see if it goes on...

End of Turn 5

Turn 6

The Marines move around a bit more and kill the Big Shoota from the Big Meks Squad, as well as a few Boyz from the other Squad. Though the Big Mek is able to maintain order, the Nob is not and the larger squad starts to run.

The Nob, shouting orders at his squad finally manages to get them back into the fight, and they manage to get back to the objective. One boy with a Big Shoota manages to snap fire at a biker, and even manages to kill him. The Bikes hold.

We roll to see if it goes on...

End of Turn 6


Total Points:


The game ends and we draw for our objectives. I hold two, and he holds one. I draw a 1 point and a 3 point and Todd draws a 3 Point.

Orks: 6 (First Blood, Slay the Warlord, 4 for Objectives)

Space Marines: 7 (3 for Objectives and 4 for killing the Stompa)

Post Game Thoughts


That battle ended up being much closer than I thought it was going to be. I was pretty much resigned to a defeat, and while I wasn't wrong, it was more circumstance than anything that was the cause. Had I drawn literally any other point than the 1 for one of my objectives then I would have at least had a tie, but Gork and Mork are fickle indeed.

So, what would I have done differently? Honestly, I think I would have played the same game as I did. Obviously, running forward at the Chapter Master with the Melta Bikes right there wasn't a very tactically sound move, but it was definitely the most Orky thing to do, and so I had to do it. The only thing that I maybe should have changed was shooting at a Predator with the Deffcannon turn 1 instead of the Bikes. If I had blown one up it would have drastically reduced incoming fire at me, and maybe the Stompa would have survived the game.

I think there were a few things Todd could have done differently that would have helped him out. Instead of moving to kill the Stompa with his last unit of bikes on turn 4, I would have pressed the attack on the much-weakened Shoota Boyz. The rapid-firing bolters could really have done some damage, and while he may have lost a bike or two in the assault phase, he likely would have cleaned up the 15 or so remaining Boyz, and if not, he could have still gotten away with Hit and Run.This would have eliminated one of my Troops choices, given him an objective, and he then would have been in a position to flank my remaining squad if the Stompa blew, (which it did). It would have been a lot riskier though, if he had botched his rolls or the Boyz managed to beat him up good.

Overall it was a really fun game, and while I'm still not entirely convinced Stompas are really worth their points, I still will use mine every chance I get. They're just too fun not to use.

Thursday 3 April 2014

April Painting Challenge

So with the beginning of the month I think it's time to announce that I will be taking part in the Skulker's Surprise painting challenge! This is basically a personal challenge to see how much I can get painted in the month of April, and more importantly, some extra incentive to keep me going. Last month I managed to get a Wave Serpent and a half complete, as well as 5 Warp Spiders done


So these are going to be my painting goals for this month:

  • 15 Dire Avengers
  • 12 Skinks
  • 10 Temple Guard
  • Stegadon

It's quite a few models to get done in just a month, but I'm already well under way on the Dire Avengers and I think that if I stay focused I will be able to complete it.The Dire Avengers will need to be completed by the 12th at the latest, as I will be participating in a local 1000 point tournament, and a fully painted army is required to play. I also started painting my Lizardmen awhile ago and I promised myself that I would have them fully painted before I played with them, and with a 1000 point Fantasy tournament next month this seems like the perfect time to try and get a bunch done.

I hope to have periodic updates on my painting (probably as I finish each unit), so stay tuned for those, and in the mean time, check out Malduran's blog, Skulker's Surprise. He has some really interesting Battle Reports, as well as some cool hobby discussions going on. Plus, it's his challenge, and so I would be a pretty big jerk to take part in it and not even mention the guy, wouldn't I? Also check out Leyzer at his blog Leyzer: Warhammer & Airsoft Battles for more painting challenge goodness, battle reports, and terrain projects!

So make sure you continue to check in with us, and to complete your own painting challenge this month! I hope it will be a great way to get rid of all those obnoxious grey models I have and more importantly, help me have some more painted stuff in my battle reports for you guys!