their and back again!!!

its been a while  since posted  but ive been mega busy!!  iv posted my dark eldar then the new codex came out I didn't like it initially so decided id rush my eldar for January and then decided after talkin 2 some friends of mine what the best lists are for the new DE  so I bought what I needed to do it and im back painting to finish these for January  and here's my list


HQ
archon
clone field


Troops
warriors x5
venom
canon
night shield
x4


FA
razor wings
necro missiles
x3
sourges x3
haywire blasters x4


HS
void raven
necro missiles
x2


allies


HQ
autarch
bike


Troops
bikes


the main things ill need 2 kill are wave serpents/knights/MC and I think this list does it.  at the minute its had no play testsing but the play is reserve scourges n bikes n autarch


survive till turn 2 then bring on the scourges and bombers with a 2+ reserve roll and leave the eldar stuff off the board


venoms and warriors will either hide VS eldar and mech and chip away at MC if its nids or ork or lots of troops

first game with necrons

so after trading my orges for necrons I spent a few weeks prepping them and buying more bits for them to boost them up to be a super awesome fighting force and iv had my first game with them.


I used this list


HQ
szeras


elites
death marks x7
scythe


death marks x8
scythe


troops
warriors x9
ghost ark
warriors x10
ghost ark


FA
wraiths x5
3 coils


HS
barges x2




I would like to add another barge and destroyer lords to this list and boost up the death marks for a 1750 list


thoughts overall  the av13 wall worked really well and with necrons being skimmers they can jink and it doesn't really effect their shooting as a 6 is 3 hits lol the death mark  bombs worked really well and will be even better with destroyer lords to make them re-roll 1's the only down side is they got focussed hard after their initially volley and against d scythes they didn't last long lol :D


overall I like the army its not as fast as my eldar or dar eldar but it has a lot of solid shooting that is hard to ignore.

eldar lynx here!!!!

iv got the lynx finally  and its far easier to put together than the titan  as its just a big serpent LOL 


the main pieces  are 


both halves of the body
a piece that joins them 2gether underneath
then the gun is in 2 pieces 


the engines all fit into back nicely


now as mine is from alie express their are a few things  slightly mis cast with it their are quite a few mould lines which is to be expected but their is a side that has some bits taken out of it but apart from that it was only 50 dollars that's  30 quid ish for the UK people with free postage its a amazing price 


my next purchase will be 3 hornets as a bundle price for 60 dollars  n they'll have 2 pulsars for bigger games but that away off yet


the next big thing is clean up and then green stuff and glue it all together


on a side note the necrons now both have ghost arks im doing the ribs where the necrons sit at the moment then I need 3 destroyers to make lords and 3 more wraiths and 1 barge and necrons are done   

malifaux 101

iv had my intro game of malifaux and its very gd  the system its self is very different from warmachine/hordes  GW; these are my examples for differences as these are my other games. ill try and do it in order of play ish lol


firstly their is no dice the entire mechanics revolve around a deck of cards called the fate deck which is a 54 card deck like a playing card deck.  this is used to set up determine schemes and use abilities etc while playing.


winning malifuax is purely based on VP's so tabling an opponent is not an auto win like in other games it jus stops the game quicker.  which is different from standard wargames like GW n PP.


so set up
1. board set up  this is played on a 3x3 its not true line of sight this is done from base 2 base like PP . 
2. next is encounter size ie pts etc.  in malifuax the currency is soul stones  a number is agreed and this is the pts limit; soul stones are also used in game ill discuss this later. 
3. announce factions unlike GW n PP the lists aren't generated before u start which means that their is much more flexibility to create a list that works best for u.
4. their are 4 deployment styles in malifuax determined by a card draw from the fate deck.
5. next is strategies and schemes their are 5 strategies to choose from determined by a draw and 19 schemes available determined by a draw again which means ull have atleast 6 ways to score victory points
6. now u kno wat the missions are u can take the models that will best help u win which is done now up to the agreed limit of soul stones.  these stones are used to hire the crew the leader is either a henchmen or master who is free.  masters  can also buy up 2 3 upgrades and henchmen can buy 2.  soul stones can be spent to add to the soul stone pool during the game up to a max of seven, all masters/henchmen add a set value.
7. now players choose 2 of the schemes that are available from those generated.  schemes can be revealed for more points but this is optional
8.now its time to deploy this is done by a draw  highest card chooses.


now its time 2 play!! players draw 6 cards from their deck to make their hand these cards are used to cheat during actions


models generate 2 action points and masters generate 3. u cant score pts in turn 1 so generally this turn is used to move and set up for turn 2.


the turn itself  is 1 model per player  their are special abilities that let u move more than 1 but generally ull move 1 model perform all actions (like warmachine) then its the opponents turn.


the main benefit of this is that u don't have 2 take a pummeling and then retaliate with wat u have left u can make quick counters and their is a lot more depth compared to a full turn.


melee shooting and magic all use a duel mechanic and this is done with the cards and the stats of the models for example

a melee u draw a card add this to ur melee stat and have 2 beat their def    the opponent does the same.  after this u have a chance to cheat so u can win.


the difference in this score will also determin the amount of damage that is done  with modifiers so the greater the amount the more damage u will do.


that's quite a simplified overview of malifaux  the next thing is the models are mainly  plastic so those that don't like metal will be happy and the models are quite dynamic as well. 


the price is also very reasonable a crew deck and rulebook can be as much as 40 quid which makes start up costs very cheap compared to GW  PP  is only 30 quid ish for a starter set but u don't get a full rulebook.. 

gd game gd game

so I tried out dark elder n ergh!!!  I need to look at making some significant changes to the list im not sure what tho 


I only used models I had n while wyches are troops they didn't do much this game so I think rather than make them such a huge point sink ill make em cheap n get sumthin else




my main changes will be bikes for scourges at 120pts  for a unit of 5 with haywire blasters its awesome id also back them up with my farseer casting  guide/prescience  for the much needed re-rolls to boost their output


I think ill keep the ravagers for now but I am also mightly tempted to change these for reapers as more haywire is better for anti tank  which should balance out with 5 venoms for anti infantry and blasters for 2+ save guys


I started malifaux on a side note another lil skirmish game like warmachine but most models are plastic yay!!




so im kinda readin the rules for that n got a crew which ill finish buyin stuff for in the next few weeks  as it can be done quicker than the necrons


im doing intro games 2moz so ill post up thoughts etc after that

despair in the carnival of pain!!!

so iv mainly been sustaining my DE with despair as each rule that reinforced this glass hammer was slowly but surely taken away


but low and behold like many a bland codex we have a supplement that is worth of the architects of despair!!!!!!!!!!!


the covens  are far superior to the standard dex  chiefly becoz they have 7 formations that can be taken OR u pile them all into 1 super formation the carnival of pain!!! 


so my DE will be slowly changing into this


wracks and grotesques and plenty of heamonculus
talos and cronus


and lots of venoms!!!


so I went from the depths of despair back to soaring  the main problem is buying all the new bloody models!!!

titan!!!!!!!!

ive had the revenant for months now and not bothered to build but here its finally done to add to my eldar collection in time for the lynx coming in 2-3 weeks lol




and here it is

legs im waiting for the hips to set before the body goes on

and the body and arms!!!



ill finish this all off ready for its first outing on sunday :D

speed painting eldar

so with DE out soon and most rumours  point towards a beating from the nerf bat I need another army 4 January.


the elder are based crystal blue  and over the last 2 days iv dry brushed  washed and highlighted 7 vehicles and 5 wraithguard


2 keep this quick im using black for the weapons highlighted grey
canopies black n gloss
alternative colour will be purple 4 cloth and heads of wraith guard knight and lenses

NEARLY FINISHED

so im really excited that iv nearly finished my DE; left to paint I have the following


raider x2
5 beast master handlers for my beast pack


squad markings this will be based on battlefield roles from the rulebook but eldary-fied lol


so here are some pics !!
over view of what ive got painted so far



ravager



bikes



venom

ready to raid

so my dark eldar are achingly close to being finished im currently working on these at the moment:


the second set of bikes need blood adding to them


the sails need another coat of purple then their done


then I have 5 sponsons that need basing dry brushing highlighting gold and washing


then after that if I chose to take my beast pack ill need 2 finish the handlers but that's it


I then need 2 practice some freehand work for my squad markings as well as battle field role from the rulebook ob I wont follow the rule book pics ill make m own up or look around for inspiration


this is all in time for the new release in starting in 3 days time I cant wait as iv already painted up m warriors and wyches n I think they will have 2 be my troops ill need 2 paint up some raiders to go with them im not sure yet ill be waiting for the codex to come thru.


once this is done and the raiders are finished ill post a completed pic

7th ed tournaments

so I did my first 7th ed tournament it was only a lil one at my local 24 players 3 rounds and finished 6th so well im pressed heres what I took it was `1750


lord of change
exalted gift - allways grimoire
lv3


heralds
lv3
disc
x2


horrors x10
horrors x10


screamersx9


dp
wings
armours
lv3
nurgle
x2
greater gift  - allways etherblades


horrors x10
horrors x10


1740


game 1


necrons with ctan - in a nutshell got battered its fast n brutal  my only chance to tie it up with the screamer star failed and that was it was all down hill from here


game 2 a normal white scar list with a knight -  he played really aggressive so I could charge on my turn 1 n he got smashed lol


game 3 was grey knights with a warhound - this was a very close game I lost both princes turn 1 but after that screamer council did its thing n pretty much killed everything except the warhound my troops jus went to ground and coz it only ignored cover on a 6 he either missed or rolled 1s


the other thing was warp charges were capped at 12 which ment I could only really cast key powers every turn


these were normally spells like invisibilty forewarning and prescience iron arm and warp speed


 the next tournament im doing is Caledonian ion January and they have a lord of war restriction of 489 points and no better re-roll than 4+  as well as restrictions on army selection


so that will be interesting


the next tournament is another lil event at my local shop  with no lords of war this time so I shud do better

more progress

so to day iv managed to bloody up the ravagers venoms and bikes!!








I also managed to make a dent in the nurgle section of my deamons





iv started re painting the sails as the wash didn't go down properly so they got sprayed n iv jus re done the base.


the final 7 bikes have been dry brushed and highlighted next step gold then wash

army progress

so  at various points through the start of this year I bought n traded my way to a small horde of armies


staring with dark eldar - which are finally at the final furlong 2day ill finish off the 8 bikes from yesterday with blood and the ravage hulls will get the same treatment making them finished. :D


eldar - are sprayed blue at the moment and ready for painting during the winter months when its colder


deamons are sprayed black and ill hand paint the larger models like princes and batch spray things like the troops


necrons - there still in the needing phase and I need more models to make the army work im also going to purchase  2 annihilation barges 2day  pushing that total up 2 3 :D  then I need 1 more ghost ark more wraiths n im done :D




bit of a short post but im off out 2 collect sed models and paint

this weeks painting project

is basically going badly lol  iv still got the sponson gunners to paint and then the sails needs purple as well as washing and highlighting but the gold is finished on the hulls.


iv spent some time basing my eldar allies as im not worried that its getting later into the year and the sunny spells will start to thin out more so id like what ever im going to paint based and ready before the end of September.


so with this post here is the eldar based and ready for action


 


the base is crystal ice blue from army painter  then ill dry brush them highlight and finish them off with a wash to tie it all in


this is the same process as the dark eldar n I think they've turned out really well so i'm trying it agen

this weeks project

ravagers -  this week im painting ravagers and ive already got the main hulls up to being completed all I need 2 do is highlight them then wash them


but before I do that ill paint the gold and wash it all 2gether


the sails are also done and they cloth needs painting purple 


the sponsons will be painted separate as they all have guys on them so they need eyes doing




hopefully 2day ill finish the hulls, sails and front weapons off here is a pic so far




to day I hope to finish off the hulls, sails and front weapon they jus need highlighting and then washing but before that ill put the gold down.


iv also based n sprayed the wraith knight which is pictured
 

dark eldar rumour mill

vect is a lord of war choice which makes me believe all main characters  will go the same way calgar storm lord, swarmlord etc etc  chaos deamons will be an interesting one maybe all named characters will be LOW choices hmmm


im still painting and ill be starting my ravagers to day to get them up to speed which means all vehicles will be done soon 


then its on to the eldar allies


leaving  bikes and beasts to finish


but with a new book round the corner and the baron gone  the beasts may also get dropped

Id have 2 have 2 far seers to try and get invisibility successfully which means spending close to 500points on allies which is a lot at 1500 points even 1750 its a big chunk to put 2 1 side but well see
September is a few days away  :D

pyschic phase on a budget

so ive signed up for a tournament at my local gaming store and its my first for 7th BUT theirs a problem the pychic phase dice are capped at 12 which means ill get 18 dice max! 


so with 24 powers and only 18 dice their is a chance I wont get to cast every power even tho I cant do that neway  ill be restricted in what I can cast tho.


so what ive done is go thru n find out the minimum amount of dice u need to successfully cast ensuring that my dice go further.


ive also decided on when ill cast spells so turn 1-3 no summon spells as their LV3  ill be casting things like forewarning, cursed earth and flickering fire 


turn 3 on wards will be summoning spells to go for objectives


so heres what ive come up with


lv1 spells use 3 dice ull roll on average roll 1 4+ per spell cast
lv2 spells use 5 dice the average is 3 4+ per spell cast
lv3 spells use 7 dice the average is still 3 per spell


these do fluctuate  per 5 dice u can get 4  and per 7 up to 5/6


to safely cast  use  4/6/8  as these will add an extra  pass onto each roll

testing nurgle princes

I did a lil unbound 600pt event using 2 nurgle princes lv3 with wings and armour


and wat iv found is their awesome  with biomancy u get a 2+ cover 3+ armour 5+ inv if u get endurance off then u can throw in a 4+ FNP on top of all that


and if u manage to get iron arm and warp speed  u end up with a an awesome S9 T8 I10 A8 prince that munches everything im deff running 2 maybe instead of a screamer star  its very tempting.


ill crunch sum numbers as ill need a great unclean one 2 make them HS in staed of troops

FIXED MY PIC PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so this week iv mainly been painting these 5 dark elder venoms they jus need another gold coat and a wash over that and their done!!! 


the deamons are also all sprayed near enough



so this is me up to date ill take a pic of my necrons and post them as their all based as well

bellow of endless rage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

thoroughly annoyed that I cant post any pics its doing my head in so I can only type.


but heres what iv done over the last few week


near enough painted 5 venoms jus need 2 do gold and wash it


6 more bikes need gold and washing


iv also near enough painted 4 beast handlers and baron jus need 2 do boards weapons n their done


still gotta do wracks heamonculus as well as the ravagers


the deamons are all pretty much based now as well


im finding painting different things for a few hours a time is getting through it faster than block painting 1 thing at a time but well see.  I could do with these bin done for end of august while iv still got some warm days left  and in total iv got nearly 3 months ish before throne of skulls so im not 2 worried jus yet

nurgle counter attack

so iv been looking at nurgle units for my deamons their are loads of gd choices firstly


nurgle comes with shrouded as standard and defensive grenades which makes them great for digging in.


nurgle powers are also really gd on deamon princes  ap2/3 and poison is good for killing high toughness creatures OR biomancy to make them more durable and tank busters


an alternate deathstar is plague drones with full command  and plague banner 2+ poison for 1 round.  supported by the grimoire and a pair of biomancy princes power number 5 makes them eternal warriors and FNP4+  which makes them 3++ FNP4+ and with T5 and 3 wounds each they'll be very hard 2 shift  ws3 and 3 attacks makes them great choices


another great support unit for troops are beasts of nurgle and now that u can summon them as part of malefic powers. what makes these great is they have all the nurgle powers AND if u charge them it becomes a disordered charge AND if another unit charges a freindly unit within 12" of them they MUST charge that unit and these are T5 W4 Ad6+1 so on the charge 3 can have min 9-24 attacks and at 52pts a model with a max unit of 9 they is some deffinate worth to having a proper unit and summoning them


I will also be using standard plague bearers and heralds summoned as a buffer for my precious tzeentch units

problems with deamons

so iv been playing a deamon army for a few weeks now and their are a few problems


firstly its pure tzeentch so magic is fine iv got a screamer star 2 lv3 heralds with 9 screamers using divination and a lord of change with grimoire


secondly lack of punch I have 4 units that can fight in CC 2 deamon princes 1 lord of change and screamers


thirdly is mainly down to practice with the new rules and army as its not finished yet


fourthly more practice to make less mistakes !!


the psychic phase isn't as great as people make out the more u put in the more dice u need so u still don't get that many spells off and with poor dice rolls it  can be worse


on the plus side iv filtered in more gifts and their working really well the greater gifts are really gd


to fix this I need to finish off the army n boost up the units and then get more hitting power in the form of summoned deamons  im looking at


bloodthirsters as their awesome
plague drones for anti tank with corrosive weapons
plague bearers and heralds for sturdy troops


which can easily be done with a set of summoning units  4 lv3 units add 12 dice which is more than enough
the dice I want are 1,4,5,6
1 is cursed earth  at least 2 of these makes even T3 troops very durable and it stacks so I can make other bigger units even tougher like greater deamons or my hard hitting units like drones etc.
4 summons a herald which will be nurgle to join the plague bearers and give them FNP and with boimancy powers they'll be harder to shift or buff up other units
5 summons the plague drones
6 summons greater deamons :D


nurgle is also really gd for deamons  biomancy is great and ill be looking at a deamon list as well or a undivided list at some point

new stuff

well iv swopped my ogres for necrons lol and bought some scenery for my new gaming table. this will be built over this weekend.


iv also painted 9 kymeara  and 8 razor wings flocks  jus need 2 do bases for the khymeara


the baron and beast masters have been based ready for painting and iv still got the bikes to finish off.


iv also got all the vehicles to paint and sort out the wraith knight


the crimson hunter has been based n is ready to go


im still having problems with pictures on the tablet so that will be done after the weekend

the only constant is change

so this year iv been busy mainly buying armies building them and having fun playing them namely new armies like tau and eldar and goin back to some old favourites like dark eldar. 


with tau I enjoyed painting them as I airbrushed them which came out really well but overall playing wasn't that great.


the eldar haven't finished yet ill need a new 7th ed list which will be vehicle heavy and have 2/3 medium sized units of spiders :D  which I still have to build


dark eldar is an army I really do love everything about the background the models building painting EVERYTHING and my bone scheme is coming out really well

id still like a guard tank army(mainly for playing) and an ork army as I love everything about orks  


my latest purchase is a 1500pt deamons of tzeentch army

3 heralds on chariots
1 herald on disc


20 horrors


6 screamers


dpx2


the next purchase is more troops and a lord of change to make it up to 2k


it wont be a summoning list it will be the fires of change a pure fluffy list and everything will slightly different to embody the theme of change that is the core of tzeentch's background at somepoint I may also want the big birdy from FW

7th ed who cares what u think!!!

so 7th ed has no plopped out of the big machine that is GW and as allways we have to deal with it so I bought everything that came out as im a plastic crack addict n I thought id go thru everything so you heard/read it here maybe 3rd or 4th depending on how many other blogs n pages u read lol


firstly the presentation is epic the boxed set for the 3 books is great the art work is amazing the rule book has plenty of really crisp colour pictures its a great value.

the mission cards are really gd as well they come in a sturdy durable card box their embossed n are really gd quality ill be playing them more than the standard missions that's for sure !!

its the same with the psychic cards very durable card box and amazing artwork on all the cards well worth it  it did set me back 65 quid for everything tho which isn't cheap and what annoyed me is the psychic cards are simple switches where 1 power goes from another to a different number

unfortunately with the rules as all things with GW with one hand they giveth and with the other they takeeth away

so ill highlight changes as iv seen them from reading

overall all its not very well done the whole thin feels like ur reading about it but its not telling you what u want to know its like getting blood from a stone.


movement remains pretty much untouched and still works the same


shooting has changed loads  firstly it was really poorly written so it will cause lots of confusion its not clear on what to do with wound pools etc  even tho its  choose a unit fire weapons in groups ie boltguns then roll to hit and wound make saves etc then move on to the next the tactic will be choosing what to fire etc

assault has also taken a beating from the powers that be  now wounds are allocated from those at that I step which is really complex if their are multiple steps although u can ignore this and go for those that are closest if none are in b2b

challenges are now from engaged models only so those within 2" at the start of combat or B2B and wounds from challenges can go onto the unit and the unit can attack those in challenges IF the other unit is killed so hard characters wont care  but the send in lonely bob to stop the bloodthirster wont work nemore but oh well

also charging through difficult terrain is now -2 instead of 3 dice take away the highest which is better as it wont make charging impossible anymore
beasts no longer ignore difficult terrain  for charging in regards to I so beast packs will need the baron lol  :D

pychic phase is very complicated again it will take time to figure out how it works etc at the moment their is no range for dispelling  so u can allways try and dispel any power ur opponent is casting should have been written better


some changes to vehicles - open topped vehicles  the units now take damage if u flame them its D6 hits as well as damage to the vehicle  - vehicles are now ws1 all the time unless immobilised

some changes to special rules - have a read


night fighting is now 4+ all units get stealth   I preffered the old rule  with the amount of ignore cover its pointless


choosing an army  forgedadn unbound is overly complex and needs a better explanation

overall I think a tweak and re-reprint of the 6th ed book would have been better than what they have put out but like every 1 else where stuck with it hopefully 8th will be better

sun for the sun god

well I had 


3 venoms that needed spraying
2 raiders needed spraying
3 ravagers needed spraying
6 wracks needed spraying
5 incubi needed spraying
10 khymeara needed spraying
8 razor wings needed spraying
7 bikes needed spraying
1 wraithknight needed spraying
1 crimson hunter  needed spraying


and its been a blisteringly hot day so iv done shed loads of spraying


ive now only got 2 wracks wraithknight  hunter 1 bike and 8 razorwings left :) very impressed!!! :D


on a side note iv got my airbrush working as well so ill do the vehicles soon

dark eldar wishlist n stuff

so the new stuff for dark elder has been limited to when the last codex was released n that's quite a while ago now.  BUT now we have new apoc formations which is better than nothing but might as well be nothing as most people just play standard games lol


the other rumours are that well get a new codex late this year  rumours are wracks will be very important and be a big focus like wraiths were in the eldar book


wracks will be a dual kit for a unit that deals in chemical warfare 


bane unit which is inbetween a talos and grotesque  will have 2 see the stats if its not got a 3+ save it wont be much good


my wish list for dark eldar


points to stay roughly the same
flyers to get vector dancer and maybe shift to fast attack


that's about it well see what happens in the next few months the rulebook is the next big thing not long now !!

finally painting!!!!!!!!!!

so its bin a few months since I painted anything and I got the paints I need for my dark eldar and eldar army. so over the next few posts ill be showing off what iv bin doing.


for the armour im using:


zandri dust as a base
then karak stone as a dry brush over the top
then highlight with ubshanti bone
then washing it all with sepia


the eyes lenses are 
caliban green base
and warpstone glow over the top


the cloth is
naggaroth night


the splinter weapons are
gehannas gold
washed with sepia


the odd vials and chains etc are
rune fang steel
washed with nuln oil


the skin will be
ulthaun grey
eyes will be chaos black


after that ill have the bases 2 do below are some pics of what iv done so far  the armour helms with eyes done :)

top pic is the duke 

then snippet of warriors and wyches

the lynx effect!!

so at 1500 I struggled to create the perfect all comers list but I think iv found something to level the playing field D style!!


the eldar lynx 2 shot 5" d weapon at 60" range will take down most death stars!!!


so  lets have a look at the lynx for those that don't know its FW elder super heavy tank  its 320points has 6 hull points and is 12/12/11 (I think)  so its not much better armour wise than the normal skimmers but its got a few tricks up its sleeve!!!!


so wat are the tricks  firstly points its 320 for a D weapon!! guard pay 500ish for theirs ok heri better armoured and more hull points but their much larger as well
the lynx is quite low to the ground like most elder skimmers which means u can hide easier then move out and strike at the enemy :)
also as its not as strong as other super heavies if the goin gets tough and the enemy turns up the heat u can turn into a flyer and shoot off the board then come back in next turn with ongoing reserves :D


the down sides are its low armour if its played to aggressive  anything over str6 will be a pain and 6 hullpoints wont last long either 1pen wil take off 4 hullpoints at best which means it wont last longit will also give away extra points as its a super heavy its worth 3 points 4 if u can take it out str8 away for first blood


how will I use this ??


my dark eldar at the minute has the answer to most lists that the average player can bring lots of lance poison  atleast 3 troops for capturing objectives  a wraithknight a flyer

but no anti deathstar so its main role will be to generally get my first blood and be a annoying killing the top priority units like escalation or formations


next il try and repost what iv painted as it playing up at the moment  and then ill go thru my 4 top list ideas for the throne of skulls in november
 

nid list mmmmmmm n other general stuff iv not bin talking bout

so iv wrestled with great devourer many times thru out my time playing 40k it was the first army I ever played against and one id love to do so this year im taking the plunge and doing list iv never done before I started with eldar which I love n when their painted to match the dark eldar they'll be awesome


this months purchases will be foam for my dark eldar case I put the 3 flyers in and haven't used them now I have the crimson hunter so ill be taking out the 3 sets of foam that iv butchered and ill re pluck them so that my raiders all fit in 1 section interspersed with venoms n then ill have 2 slots left for other stuff this will be where I end up putting my eldar for when I have the hackering to ally :D


neway back to nids iv read the codex from cover to cover  watch battle reps and decided that all new comp lists will need a data slate old lists such as eldar/dark eldar will be amended shortly


so on to the list, im unsure about where formations go so ill write that bit up separately


Formation: skyblight swarm
flyrant with double devs
crone
harpies x2
gargoyles x10 x3 units


this is a lot of points but its well worth it !!


HQ
flyrant with double devs


elites
venomthropes x2


troops
tervigon
gaunts x30


FA
crone


HS
t.fex


fortification: aegis


so the idea is that the aegis will sit on the halfway point around the objectives.  T.fex, tervigon,guants and venomthropes and gargoyles will run up to the aegis and set up shop their.


then the flyers will come on


after turn 3 ill pump out more gaunts

the guants and gargoyles will then spread out for objective grabbing while the MC harass and tie up the enemy army.


and that's it

new army ideas

iv had my fill of decent armies i'm now ready for a challenge!!!


the final army I want is a list that I can play without vehicles.  so this first barrier takes out all but 2 codex's


the first is deamons:


iv played deamons since 4th ed on and off and seen them go from quirky and unique to a serious punch and with 6th ed they have become more generic with standard deployment and normal psychic powers.  which is quite disappointing the main reason I chose deamons in the first place was gone!!!


iv read the codex and 2 main lists stand out a nurgle biomancy list with GUO DP's and plague bearers lots of durable units playing the waiting game and grinding down the opposition


or a tzeentch list with a screamer star the list iv written up is a pure tzeentch fire list  BUT iv already had a deamon list so their isn't anything new and its a list a lot of players use already as its doing really well and that's the problem I want a list like my dark eldar that works with effort and will surprise people


and in pop the second viable choice NIDS


when I started playing 40k I learnt to play against this army when fex's where taken in both elites n heavy support n everything had ID protection and grenades.  2 editions later with several changes to the book and 40k its evolved into what I think dark eldar are; the spoiler army!!!  without biomancy and data slates at non GW events nids will struggle with tau and eldar etc BUT their are some armies that nids will beat generic marines  and other marine codex's and with skill they've proven to stand up to the big boys they may not win but they'll be able to annoy other players


so I need 2 buy a new case for my eldar then ill move onto nids with a skyblight swarm list and a normal list lol :D


 

thinking of footdar :D

so im looking at a footdar list where I can run lots of different units that I wudnt normally with mechdar  and for this list I need some heavy hitter and id either choose:


clownbomb or seer council


so first off the clownbomb a unit of harlequins tooled up with their characters and rest equipped with harlequins kiss


to boost this unit I add


2 far seers(1 with shard) and a warlock  the farseers will be aiming for fortune forewarning and prescience this will get me a 4+ inv with a re-roll and re-rolls for combat then a 3+ cover for area terrain


the warlock will have conceal  to improve the cover saves of the unit


so how surviveable are they well this depends on where they are and if u get veil of tears of as this reduces the range to 4-24"


the average should be 14-16"  which means turn1 ur safe turn 2 should still be safe unless they move closer to shoot but that puts u closer to charging :D


with a 4+ inv if u get it and re-rolls if u get it on 6 dice ull pass 50% saves its even higher in cover :)


on the charge the unit with re-rolls is pretty devastating VS marines as a staple


9 attacks from the farseers/warlock
41 attacks from the unit  with WS5  is an average of 5 misses  with an average of 12-15 wounds with more normall wounds than rending


the total points for this unit is 551points


now the seer council is an iconic unit that has been used since 4th ed eldar were kicking around then and their still here but with random powers the ummf may or may not be their lol


so the unit


2 farseers this time on bikes and again 1 with the shard I like the fearless units :D
again I want the same powers prescience fortune misfortune


warlocks x10 on bikes
warlock powers I want protect for a 2+ armour save  10 rolls I should get it and conceal for a 2+ cover n fortune 2 make it a re-roll :D


attacks
36 attacks  that hit on 4's so not as gd as the quins  BUT  these wound on 2+  and force massed saves with misfortune :D the average is


on average the warlocks will hit with 20-25  and wounding is off the charts as its 2+  with average of 20 wounds that's a decent conversion rate


I haven't turned this into actual wounds just a theoretical with both

now the seer council costs 740points


so ill be looking to add either a footdar list I may even add the seer council to my mechdar :D

while the cats away

the  mice have been mega busy on projects my goal is to have both done for the end of the year and today im making a massive dent in that i still have lots to do but so far to day ive


sprayed loads of wyches and warriors
made n sprayed a jetseer and 2 bikes
finished sprayin 11 reavers
done the last 2 ravager sponsons
put the arms on the wraithknight


for the rest of the day ill have
sprayed 2 more venoms
finished off 2 venoms
sprayed 2 raiders
converted up 5 warp spiders with bases and sprayed them
base and spray wraithguard
re-spray my eldar bikes
base and spray some beasts


this will leave me with this left 2 do over all
finish converting a baron
finish beasts handlers
base 8 razorwings
then spray them all
then 2 fully finish the armies ready for painting i need 2
fully convert 15 warp spider base n spray
build n spray 6 more reaver jetbikes
spray n base crimson hunter


then that's both armies completed I also have 2 magnetize the sails on all the dark elder ships as well lol n then im really done but im hoping to get these fiddly bits done by the of april so I cant start painting in may time. the bonus is everything is the same colour for both armies so I can do large batches at a time

autarchs multipurpose CC units

so for the first time I tried an autarch and their great the set up I used was:


autarch
warp spider generator
shard of anaris
phoenix gem
death spinner
banshee mask


this comes to 165 points n makes the unit fearless that he joins  banshee masks means the can take on other high I units like elder dark elder and nids 


the death spinner means he can join in with the fire and a full unit of 10 kicks out 23 shots


the shard makes the unit fearless and in combat he gets 2+ str rending and in a challenge he gets ID and fleshbane  so very gd and phoenix gem means when he dies he has a chance to come back with 1 wound


their equipment list means they can join nearly every unit to boost their potential or they can be made unit a super single man death star with


bike
laser lance
shard
mantle
phoenix gem


this gives  a fearless autarch re-rolling 2+ cover save and when he charges str8 ap3 with rending :D


not as the warlord they can be played very aggressively a unit that is well worth looking into

warp spiders tactics

so  I know warp spiders are gd as ever the maths speaks for itself but I made a slight error in judgement (ie didn't their rules properly)


here is another steller tactics article featuring warp spiders Ive bin meaning to add these to my list and the now have a double feature


warp spiders x8
exarch
fast shot


warp spiders x7
exarch
fast shot


so  what can warp spiders do? 


well  firstly their very fast n move 6"+2d6 +d6" run with fleet in the movement phase +12" range for their guns that's an average of 29" on average for threat range


also  3+ armour which is great for eldar and mitigates the T3


next str6 basic weapons wound most things on 2+  with 2 shots each means their is a decent volume which gets better  VS i3 or less with a +1 str  and rolls of 6's are ap1  this means they'll shred tanks and troops as be a pain for heavy troops as well


a unit of 10 with an exarch with fastshot costs 215 that gets you 21 shots its a bargain also the large volumes of shots will help take down flyers


their are 2 ways to use these units


firstly u can deep strike them and aim for the first threat on the board this can be a MC or a tank for first blood etc etc


or they can be kept on the board n move up when ready to counter then be defensive to protect tanks objectives and scoring units


ways to beef them up  adding an autarch with shard of anaris spider jump pack and death spinner makes a fearless unit that u can be really aggressive with them u can also add phoenix gem to make the autarch more annoying lol

eldar list finalised

so iv bin testing a few combos and have finally found the list I think will work at 1500 for throne of skulls.


HQ
farseer
jet bike
mantle


troops
avengers x5
serpent
holofield
scatter laser
shuriken canon
x3 units


FA
spiders x8
exarch
fastshot


spiders x7
eaxarch
fast shot


HS
wriathknight
fire prism




I think this list covers near enough all the bases   my next problem is anti flyer as I have no actual flyer


but twin linked spiders should take out a flyer  ill have to roll some dice n play some test games

new nids secret weapons :D

well well well gw adds insult to injury with the first data slate which was shocking their  was some interesting ideas but none of the formations were any good.


and then gw pulls out the skyblight swarm formation BOOM! that's what im taking bout endless swarm loads more flyers and gargoyles are troops and they can capture even if contested it makes for a very fast army its what nids have really needed.


and then living artillery formation more big heavies added to the army with warriors now serving some function to give preferred enemy to exocrines and biovores.


now with these additions nids can take on the big boys at the top the problem is its not obvious their is no 1 click unit or trick it takes hard work n skill although either formation will help loads so lets take the list n add a formation


HQ
flyrant
flyrant
flyrant


elites
venomthrope x2


Troops
gargoyles x10
gargoyles x10
gargoyles x10
termaguantsx30
tervigon
warriors
canon


FA
crone
crone


HS
t. fex
exocrine
exocrine


now im not sure on points but 5 FMC and 4 normal MC  that's lots of heavy duty as well as lots of bodies so now nids are looking pretty strong u can even change up the fast for a slow heavy walking list.


so try out the new formations their well worth it

new nids slightly improved

so iv been watching loads of battle reports and played against them 3 times now with my eldar and here are my findings

from the battle reports what iv said is in the previos blog  the core nid list looks like this

HQ
flyrants
devs
x2

Elites
venomthropes (2)

Troops
gaunts x30
tervigon

FA
crone

HS
exocrines
t.fex

the main tactic now is stay out of range if possible  the t.fex with FNP is very hard to kill even with re-rolling successfull saves which makes him a great choice for nid players and a key unit to support by hiding venomthropes behind him and some synapse.

the exocrines are a priority unit with ap2 large blast or 6 shots theyll be moving/shooting or moving running to get into position. i found that if they stack up they can down a large target or annoy light tanks.

as synapse is so vital now start to them down fast!!  the army does crumble quite quickly the bigger creatures can survive at ldship8  but the lower dugs at ldship5 have a really hard time.

i have seen a nids list similar to the above beat tau riptide list  the ap2  once in range is devastating.

Nids new and unimproved

firstly this was goingto be a one off when the codex came out but im quite late!!  so itll be a small series going thru

initial codex review
games vs new nids
new formations

so the codex its self isnt that bad really gw made quite a few blunders as they normally do first major blunder was taking biomancy away from nids that was pretty stupid.

the next blunder was not giving them eternal warrior in synapse again lol

the next was making synapse far to important with no realy way to then protect those units (ie no biomancy)  bcoz once a synapse creatures dies the army starts to crumble

pyschic powers  arent that bad really but not great their is no real stat modifier at all for T  BUT the gem is catalyst  FNP on psyker + a unit so combo it with shroding its looking better AND pychic scream its a 4/5 in the table but still its their lol :D

but all is not lost!!!!!
their are some new gribblies and some re-writes that really shine

first up is the venomthrope gives shrouded to units within 6"  thats a 5+ cover to fearless units in the open or a massive 2/3+ in some kind of cover makes even the worst bugs more durable.

next is the crone str8 vector strike and haywire missiles mmmmm nom nom :D

the mawloc is now str6 ap2  ignore cover and 2 goes at terror from the deep before mishap add that to a lictor who can help them snipe out key targets its a juicy lil combo

exocrines are the bomb diggity with 40k mainly about the shooting game nids really need 2 step up and this bad boi does just that ap2  6 shots at 24" on the move or +1 BS standing still and a large blast they are deffinately a pain !!!

so a basic list for new nids has mainly stayed the same
HQ
flyrant
wings
double devourers

add hive commander if u will be running lots of outflanking units

elites
a unit of 2/3 venom thropes for the shrouding bubble

now u can choose lictors for the mawloc combo
or hive guard
or zoanbhropes for more pyschic powers

troops
its still all about  tervigons and gaunts

warriors are usefull for back field objectives and the living artillery foramtion but thats it!
stealers are still crap

FA
here the main choice is harpy or crone  id deff take crone all the time
other options are gargoyles for skybligh formation

HS
here is where its all happening for nids main choices are
mawlocs
exocrines
t. fex
dakka fexes

alpha strike dark eldar v1

iv been watching loads of battle reports lately with an elder dark elder alpha strike list, which cud b quite useful vs tau eldar taudar. Eldau guard and neurons as these armies can still bring the hurt as well.

Dark eldar have always been the first in alpha striking armies venoms with lots of splinter canons and dark lances means they'll tear thru most armies pretty quickly but they won't win the war of attrition. The best way to get the alpha strike is baron and vect but that's 345 before any thing else is added but what u do get is +1 to table sides then a +4 to steal the initiative so u have better odds of  gettin the best deployment zone then take first turn is a 50/50 gamble so set up slightly defensively

U can take just baron or vect for either and they'll work fine to save points.  But what I like is the addition of eldar.  As their battle brothers I can beef up the output of the ravagers while having the elders durable tanks to hide behind and add their fire power to take down  flyers or light vehicles

For a list I'd be looking at something like this
Hq
Baron
Heamonculus

Troops
Wracks x3
Venom
Splinter canon
Night shields

X2 units

Fa
Beasts
Birds x6
Dogs x10

Hs
Ravager
Night shield
Flicker field

X3 units

Allies
Hq
Fraser
Bike
Mantle of the laughing god

Elites
Fire dragons x5
Serpent
Holo fields
Scatter laser
Shuriken canon

Troops
Avengers x5
Serpent
Holo fields
Scatter laser
Shurikan canon
X2 units

Fa
Crimson hunter
Exarch

Hs
Wraith knight


Tactics
I haven't finished this list yet  or worked out the points but I'll skim it down to 1500 if possible.  The wave serpents will be out front and partially hidden to improve their cover save the dark eldar will be behind hiding to make them harder to hit.  The wraith knight will start behind cover then move up and be used as a fire magnet to keep the vehicles alive the beasts will do the same with
2 fast units moving up I should be able to keep my vehicle alive.  Then each part of the army will have it own roles

beasts wraithknight are fire magnets
serpents take out light vehicles av10-12
ravagers and wriathknight go for high av and lords of war
venoms  take out wraithknights nids etc
 the fire dragons will also go for high av and lords of war

possible alterations
at this point im not really sure what id change  id like to add some bikes but well see how the beasts play first.  ill do a v2 when i have both codex's with me.

current eldar list

so iv finally got an elder list I can play at 1500pts


HQ
spirit seer


Troops
wraithguard
wave serpent
holofield
scatter laser


dire avengers x5
wave serpent
holo fields
scatter laser
shuriken canon
x3


bikes x3


fa
crimson hunter


HS
fire prism
holo fields


fire prism
holo fields


so iv tried out the list n I think to improve the effectiveness of both the prisms I cud use a far seer on bike and the crimson hunter cud be an exarch.


I also have a wraithknight as well  that I can swop in instead of the prisms

I would also like a few more FA units so I can take more objectives but well see


I now have all the army built as well as my dark eldar so once I have a case ill look at making an allies list

bin sensible !!!

usually I by things throughout the year paint them up and repeat.  this year i'm doing it different I'm buying all my stuff during the winter months then ill prep it when it starts to get warmer ready for it all to be painted in summer autumn.


for my dark eldar iv plugged a few of the gaps that they have currently had  by adding eldar with  2 wave serpents and a crimson hunter these can be used to snipe the guard tanks more successfully and do more damage the flyer is also better than the dark eldar 1 so that's y its in


im also  having a 3 wave serpent list with wraithknight as a primary force for dark eldar allies OR tau allies


the final list of models is to re do a deamons army pure tzeentch