I realise it has been a while since I last wrote anything on the Chaos codex. I have been distracted and playing a few games.
There is a very real chance that both Ahriman and Huron will become mainstay HQ choices for Chaos lists. The reason for this is very simple. They have an exceptional Warlord trait.
By being able to infiltrate d3 units, you can get a first turn charge with a number of the units in the chaos list. This opens a world of tactical options, and essentially prevents gunlines from causing all kinds of carnage. You really do need the first turn to take the most advantage of this though. If you don't get it, consider hiding your units within cover. If you do go first, deploy in the open 18 inches away. Fast units like raptors, mauler fiends, daemon princes, spawn, bikers and warptalons can assault the enemy before they have chance to do anything.
With d3 units able to do this, you want to include three units if you include either Huron or Ahriman to take advantage of this. The best thing with this strategy is it is automatic with these Warlords, and is in effect another special rule for the characters.
Wednesday 28 November 2012
Saturday 17 November 2012
Tankbusting 101 - Weapon comparison - BS4
For the last couple of weeks I have been quite busy not getting around to writing anything more on the chaos book. It seems anything I can do to avoid writing I seem to do instead.
What I thought I would do instead is write an updated 6th edition anti tank capability comparison between various weapons in both Space Marine and Imperial Guard lists including as many of the different types of guns as I could think of, seeing how bs 3 and 4 affect the various weapons and equally importantly looking at how the changes to how AP affects armour harms your chances of a kill.
Firstly lets look at common anti tank weapons available to marines using BS4 adjusted for 6th edition AP values, bearing in mind anything with ap 3+ is actually 50% worse at tank killing now;
What I thought I would do instead is write an updated 6th edition anti tank capability comparison between various weapons in both Space Marine and Imperial Guard lists including as many of the different types of guns as I could think of, seeing how bs 3 and 4 affect the various weapons and equally importantly looking at how the changes to how AP affects armour harms your chances of a kill.
Firstly lets look at common anti tank weapons available to marines using BS4 adjusted for 6th edition AP values, bearing in mind anything with ap 3+ is actually 50% worse at tank killing now;
ML Chance of
Glance Chance of Pen Chance of kill
VS AV 10 11.11% 44.44% 7.41%
VS AV 11 11.11% 33.33% 5.56%
VS AV 12 11.11% 22.22% 3.70%
VS AV 13 11.11% 11.11% 1.85%
VS AV 14 11.11% 0% 0%
Lascannon Chance of
Glance Chance of Pen Chance of kill
VS AV 10 11.11% 55.55% 18.52%
VS AV 11 11.11% 44.89% 14.81%
VS AV 12 11.11% 33.50% 11.05%
VS AV 13 11.11% 22.11% 7.30%
VS AV 14 11.11% 10.72% 3.54%
TL Lascannon Chance of
Glance Chance of Pen Chance of kill
VS AV 10 13.88% 69.44% 23.15%
VS AV 11 13.88% 55.55% 18.52%
VS AV 12 13.88% 41.67% 13.88%
VS AV 13 13.88% 27.76% 9.25%
VS AV 14 13.88% 13.88% 4.44%
Autocannon* Chance of Glance Chance of Pen Chance of kill
VS AV 10 11.11% 33.33% 5.56%
VS AV 11 11.11% 22.22% 3.70%
VS AV 12 11.11% 11.11% 1.85%
VS AV 13 11.11% 0% 0%
VS AV 14 0% 0% 0%
TL Autocannon* Chance of
Glance Chance of Pen Chance of kill
VS AV 10 13.88% 41.67% 6.67%
VS AV 11 13.88% 27.76% 4.63%
VS AV 12 13.88% 13.88% 2.22%
VS AV 13 13.88% 0% 0%
VS AV 14 0% 0% 0%
Assault Cannon** Chance of Glance Chance of Pen Chance of kill
VS AV 10 11.11% 22.22% 3.70%
VS AV 11 11.11% 11.11% 1.85%
VS AV 12 0% 11.11% 3.70%
VS AV 13 3.70% 7.41% 2.46%
VS AV 14 3.70% 3.70% 1.23%
VS AV 10 11.11% 22.22% 3.70%
VS AV 11 11.11% 11.11% 1.85%
VS AV 12 0% 11.11% 3.70%
VS AV 13 3.70% 7.41% 2.46%
VS AV 14 3.70% 3.70% 1.23%
TL Assault Cannon** Chance of Glance Chance of Pen Chance of kill
VS AV 10 13.88% 27.39% 4.57%
VS AV 11 13.88% 13.28% 2.21%
VS AV 12 0% 13.28% 6.64%
VS AV 13 4.43% 8.86% 2.93%
VS AV 10 13.88% 27.39% 4.57%
VS AV 11 13.88% 13.28% 2.21%
VS AV 12 0% 13.28% 6.64%
VS AV 13 4.43% 8.86% 2.93%
VS AV 14 4.43% 4.43% 1.48%
Melta under half range
Chance of Glance Chance of
Pen Chance of kill
VS AV 10 1.83% 64.84% 33.03%
VS AV 11 3.66% 61.17% 31.20%
VS AV 12 5.49% 55.68% 28.76%
VS AV 13 7.32% 48.36% 25.40%
VS AV 14 9.15% 39.21% 21.14%
Melta over half range
Chance of Glance Chance of
Pen Chance of kill
VS AV 10 11.11% 44.44% 24.07%
VS AV 11 11.11% 33.33% 18.55%
VS AV 12 11.11% 22.22% 12.96%
VS AV 13 11.11% 11.11% 7.41%
VS AV 14 11.11% 0% 1.85%
* has two shots, this is a per shot comparison, so you get two chances of this
** has four shots, this is a per shot comparison, so you get four chances of this
Saturday 20 October 2012
Chaos Codex review Part 2 - HQ Special Characters Part 1
Following on from part one this one will look at special characters. I know many people on the internet will tell you that you can't compare units from one book to another but that is exactly what I am going to do. I am going to compare units from their 4th edition incarnation to the new 6th edition one. Something really strange is going on this didn't post in the correct formatting!
Abbaddon the Despoiler. The big bad. Mr Chaos himself, the 40k Archeon. Lots of different names, lots of special rules. Lets look at how he measures up to his old self. First thing to note is that his statistics line is more or less identical to before. The only difference comes from his wargear. He now costs ten points less, which noone will complain about.
Equipment wise he has lost his personal icon, but keeps his combi bolter, the Daemon sword Drach'nyen and the Talon of Horus. He now differs in that you will need to choose which weapon to use in combat. Before he combined both weapons to be a mighty whirlwind of destruction. Now you either choose to kill terminators and use Drach'nyen, or for anyone in power armour or worse, the Talon of Horus. While you can still use the Daemon weapon against other units, since it adds a whole bunch of extra attacks, it has a chance of injuring its wielder. I would personally recommend using the Talon of Horus unless you really like running a risk.
Special rule wise, he has the same rules as before, with the addition of Champion of Chaos and veterans of the Long War. These rules will be looked at later on, but suffice to say they are both beneficial special rules. He is still in possession of Mark of Chaos Ascendant which does the same as before. He comes with a fixed Warlord Trait, which in this case is Black Crusader, a good special rule against Space marines, but does nothing against anyone else. He has a special rule which allows him to take Chosen as troops, but I don't see this being used all that much. Would have been far better to have Black Legion terminators as troops, but I surpose you can't have everything.
So the question is, should you use him? The answer is it depends. While cheaper, he is still very expensive. In no way is he worse than he was in 4th edition and he is cheaper to boot. For all intents and purposes he is the most powerful character in the book, but he only influences a small area of the table. His ranged abilities are somewhat limited. You will want to build your army around him, in a unit of chaos terminators ideally.
Rating: 4/5
Huron Blackheart
In what appears to be a direct copy of Abaddon, Huron has the same statline and is ten points cheaper. He has the same special rules as before with the addition of Veterans of the Long War. He loses his personal icon. His warlord power is pretty good and allows you to infiltrate some units. The biggest difference here is what the Hamadyra does. Before it gave Warptime, now you have to randomly generate a power every turn from three spell lore’s. I would say this is not an improvement. You may end up with a power you can't use.
The Tyrants claw has changed almost completely. It is no longer a powerfist with built in heavy flamer, but instead it is a unique power weapon with built in heavy flamer. It has the strength bonus of the maul combined with the ap of the sword, along with special rules like shred and armourbane making it a good utility weapon. Is it better than before? Yes, except against terminators and monstrous creatures. Importantly it doesn't strike last.
Should you use him? Well I don't see why not. He is not massively expensive, and the Tyrants Claw is a very effective weapon. It is a bit of a shame it isn't a daemon weapon but I surpose you can't have everything!
Rating: 4/5
Kharn the Betrayer
Wow, a character with a different stat line! Kharn loses an attack from the 4th edition book, he also only becomes five points cheaper. So not a good start. Special rules wise, he is fairly similar to before. He also has the same equipment, except Gorechild is strictly improved. Not suffering the ignominy of striking last, his power axe hits on initiative and has armour bane for cutting through tanks. Not too shabby!
His warlord power grants him and his unit hatred, which is always good! Being a Khorne lord he moves Beserkers into troops choices. Blessing of the Blood god is slightly worse, now requiring a dice roll to prevent psychic powers affecting him and his unit rather than being immune. Mark of Khorne will go someway to remedying his missing attack, but as per every other marked character, to get the full advantage of the gods ability you need to be in a unit with an icon. Speaking of which, The Betrayer special rule has changed, where other friendly models in combat can also be hit, so there is no advantage for separating Kharn from his unit any more. You might as well keep him with them.
So is he worth it? He has taken a hit on some of his more exceptional abilities and doesn't appear to have gained anything overly spectacular. Indeed most of his gains seem to be there to offset his reductions, eg in attacks. I still think he is a very strong character, very few enemy HQs will be able to stand up to him, unless they strike first. The advantage is, most HQs who strike before him, won't have the AP to get through his armour, protecting him from his fairly poor invulnerable save.
Rating: 4/5
Ahriman
Same stats as before but with a twenty points price cut. So nothing to complain about with that so far. It is beginning to be a trend this! Special rules wise, he is more or less the same, has veterans of the long war like all of the special characters so far. His warlord power is the same as Hurons allowing infiltration.
Wargear is the same as before, except the Blackstaff has changed. Due to casting rules changing in general it is perhaps not as potent as before. It just allows the casting of up to three witchfire powers, but you have no guarantee you will even have three witchfire powers. Its combat usefulness is limited because it is a force staff. You get four spells, from either Tzeench, Biomancy, Pyromancy or Telepathy decks, which is the same selection as a normal Tzeench sorcerer. No Divination which is really annoying given he should have this lore!
So is he worth it? Probably not. On paper he is very good, but you can field a level three sorceror of tzeench for a considerable amount less points, with better equipment options and same access to spells. However he can, with the right spells cause a massive amount of destruction with three witchfires per turn. He also has a better stat line than a normal sorcerer.
Rating: 3/5
Abbaddon the Despoiler. The big bad. Mr Chaos himself, the 40k Archeon. Lots of different names, lots of special rules. Lets look at how he measures up to his old self. First thing to note is that his statistics line is more or less identical to before. The only difference comes from his wargear. He now costs ten points less, which noone will complain about.
Equipment wise he has lost his personal icon, but keeps his combi bolter, the Daemon sword Drach'nyen and the Talon of Horus. He now differs in that you will need to choose which weapon to use in combat. Before he combined both weapons to be a mighty whirlwind of destruction. Now you either choose to kill terminators and use Drach'nyen, or for anyone in power armour or worse, the Talon of Horus. While you can still use the Daemon weapon against other units, since it adds a whole bunch of extra attacks, it has a chance of injuring its wielder. I would personally recommend using the Talon of Horus unless you really like running a risk.
Special rule wise, he has the same rules as before, with the addition of Champion of Chaos and veterans of the Long War. These rules will be looked at later on, but suffice to say they are both beneficial special rules. He is still in possession of Mark of Chaos Ascendant which does the same as before. He comes with a fixed Warlord Trait, which in this case is Black Crusader, a good special rule against Space marines, but does nothing against anyone else. He has a special rule which allows him to take Chosen as troops, but I don't see this being used all that much. Would have been far better to have Black Legion terminators as troops, but I surpose you can't have everything.
So the question is, should you use him? The answer is it depends. While cheaper, he is still very expensive. In no way is he worse than he was in 4th edition and he is cheaper to boot. For all intents and purposes he is the most powerful character in the book, but he only influences a small area of the table. His ranged abilities are somewhat limited. You will want to build your army around him, in a unit of chaos terminators ideally.
Rating: 4/5
Huron Blackheart
In what appears to be a direct copy of Abaddon, Huron has the same statline and is ten points cheaper. He has the same special rules as before with the addition of Veterans of the Long War. He loses his personal icon. His warlord power is pretty good and allows you to infiltrate some units. The biggest difference here is what the Hamadyra does. Before it gave Warptime, now you have to randomly generate a power every turn from three spell lore’s. I would say this is not an improvement. You may end up with a power you can't use.
The Tyrants claw has changed almost completely. It is no longer a powerfist with built in heavy flamer, but instead it is a unique power weapon with built in heavy flamer. It has the strength bonus of the maul combined with the ap of the sword, along with special rules like shred and armourbane making it a good utility weapon. Is it better than before? Yes, except against terminators and monstrous creatures. Importantly it doesn't strike last.
Should you use him? Well I don't see why not. He is not massively expensive, and the Tyrants Claw is a very effective weapon. It is a bit of a shame it isn't a daemon weapon but I surpose you can't have everything!
Rating: 4/5
Kharn the Betrayer
Wow, a character with a different stat line! Kharn loses an attack from the 4th edition book, he also only becomes five points cheaper. So not a good start. Special rules wise, he is fairly similar to before. He also has the same equipment, except Gorechild is strictly improved. Not suffering the ignominy of striking last, his power axe hits on initiative and has armour bane for cutting through tanks. Not too shabby!
His warlord power grants him and his unit hatred, which is always good! Being a Khorne lord he moves Beserkers into troops choices. Blessing of the Blood god is slightly worse, now requiring a dice roll to prevent psychic powers affecting him and his unit rather than being immune. Mark of Khorne will go someway to remedying his missing attack, but as per every other marked character, to get the full advantage of the gods ability you need to be in a unit with an icon. Speaking of which, The Betrayer special rule has changed, where other friendly models in combat can also be hit, so there is no advantage for separating Kharn from his unit any more. You might as well keep him with them.
So is he worth it? He has taken a hit on some of his more exceptional abilities and doesn't appear to have gained anything overly spectacular. Indeed most of his gains seem to be there to offset his reductions, eg in attacks. I still think he is a very strong character, very few enemy HQs will be able to stand up to him, unless they strike first. The advantage is, most HQs who strike before him, won't have the AP to get through his armour, protecting him from his fairly poor invulnerable save.
Rating: 4/5
Ahriman
Same stats as before but with a twenty points price cut. So nothing to complain about with that so far. It is beginning to be a trend this! Special rules wise, he is more or less the same, has veterans of the long war like all of the special characters so far. His warlord power is the same as Hurons allowing infiltration.
Wargear is the same as before, except the Blackstaff has changed. Due to casting rules changing in general it is perhaps not as potent as before. It just allows the casting of up to three witchfire powers, but you have no guarantee you will even have three witchfire powers. Its combat usefulness is limited because it is a force staff. You get four spells, from either Tzeench, Biomancy, Pyromancy or Telepathy decks, which is the same selection as a normal Tzeench sorcerer. No Divination which is really annoying given he should have this lore!
So is he worth it? Probably not. On paper he is very good, but you can field a level three sorceror of tzeench for a considerable amount less points, with better equipment options and same access to spells. However he can, with the right spells cause a massive amount of destruction with three witchfires per turn. He also has a better stat line than a normal sorcerer.
Rating: 3/5
Saturday 13 October 2012
Chaos Codex review Part 1 - Marks and Icons
Before I start to review the units it is worth looking over what exactly the Marks and Icons do for the new 6th edition codex. They do exactly the same, regardless of unit, so it should come as no surprise that some marks are more useful on some units than others.
In the 4th edition Codex the Marks and Icons did more or less the exact same thing, with Icons bestowing the Mark of chaos and a teleport homer on a unit of normal chaos space marines. Very few other units could take marks. This has all changed.
In 4th edition which we are all familiar with, the marks did the following;
Khorne: +1 attack.
Tzeench: +1 invulnerable save, or a 5+ one if they didn't have one.
Nurgle: +1 toughness, but didn't count for instant death.
Slaanesh: +1 initiative
Icons as explained above, gave a squad the mark, and the ability to act as homing beacon for teleporters and chaos daemons. The only exeception was th Icon of Chaos Glory which gave the unit a reroll on morale checks, because Chaos Marines didn't get "And they shall know no Fear" like loyalist marines. In the vast majority of cases squads didn't bother with Icons, except occasionally the Icon of Chaos glory as cult troops were available in the Troops section with better equipment options and statistics, such as Plague marines and Khorne Beserkers.
Fast forwards to 2012 and the new Chaos Codex is out for 6th edition. The Marks of Chaos have changed considerably. The new Marks of Chaos give the following rules.
Khorne: Rage and Counter attack
Tzeench: +1 invulnerable save to a 3+ maximum, or 6+ if they don't have one.
Nurgle: +1 toughness
Slaanesh: +1 initiative
Those marks which can take psychic powers have to take at least one spell from their patron god. As you can see, most of the marks havn't changed all that much. Khorne changes slightly, but charging it is as good as it used to be.
Icons now add something extra on top of the Marks. Most of them are limited to squads which already have a Mark of Chaos. They now add +1 to the combat result, like the marine and guard standard equivelents.
Icon of Wrath: Furious charge and rerolling charge range. Khorne only.
Icon of Flame: Bolt weapons have Soul Blaze. Tzeench only.
Icon of Despair: Fear. Nurgle only.
Icon of Excess: Feel no Pain. Slaanesh only.
Icon of Vengeance: Fearless.
The first and most important thing to bear in mind is that the Icon of Vengeance is a much improved version of the Icon of Chaos glory. Not taking morale tests is far better than rerolls.
Looking at the Mark and Icon combinations, Khorne looks to have a very good combination, although in a lot of ways the Khorne Beserkers unit needs these to restore them back to their 4th edition capabilities. This will be looked at in more detail in the Elites section.
Tzeench seems very similar to before. I don't think the Soul Blaze rule is especially good as a rule, a 50% chance of landing a couple of extra flamer hits really doesn't do anything for me. However the Mark of Tzeench is very good on certain units, like Terminators, or those with the Daemon rule.
Nurgle mark is worth having, every unit can benefit from toughness increases. Fear on the other hand is just not worth the points. So many units will be fearless or otherwise immune that it is more or less a joke special rule.
Slaanesh is interesting. While the mark isn't anything great on the face of it, it does boost the normal marines to a higher initative than loyalists, so terminators with lightning claws for example, benefit by being able to strike first with lethal effectiveness. The best reason to upgrade to Mark of Slaanesh is to have the Icon. I expect these to be very common, as Feel no Pain is an exceptionally good special rule. Terminators with this will be very strong, as will any units with the Daemon special rule.
In the 4th edition Codex the Marks and Icons did more or less the exact same thing, with Icons bestowing the Mark of chaos and a teleport homer on a unit of normal chaos space marines. Very few other units could take marks. This has all changed.
In 4th edition which we are all familiar with, the marks did the following;
Khorne: +1 attack.
Tzeench: +1 invulnerable save, or a 5+ one if they didn't have one.
Nurgle: +1 toughness, but didn't count for instant death.
Slaanesh: +1 initiative
Icons as explained above, gave a squad the mark, and the ability to act as homing beacon for teleporters and chaos daemons. The only exeception was th Icon of Chaos Glory which gave the unit a reroll on morale checks, because Chaos Marines didn't get "And they shall know no Fear" like loyalist marines. In the vast majority of cases squads didn't bother with Icons, except occasionally the Icon of Chaos glory as cult troops were available in the Troops section with better equipment options and statistics, such as Plague marines and Khorne Beserkers.
Fast forwards to 2012 and the new Chaos Codex is out for 6th edition. The Marks of Chaos have changed considerably. The new Marks of Chaos give the following rules.
Khorne: Rage and Counter attack
Tzeench: +1 invulnerable save to a 3+ maximum, or 6+ if they don't have one.
Nurgle: +1 toughness
Slaanesh: +1 initiative
Those marks which can take psychic powers have to take at least one spell from their patron god. As you can see, most of the marks havn't changed all that much. Khorne changes slightly, but charging it is as good as it used to be.
Icons now add something extra on top of the Marks. Most of them are limited to squads which already have a Mark of Chaos. They now add +1 to the combat result, like the marine and guard standard equivelents.
Icon of Wrath: Furious charge and rerolling charge range. Khorne only.
Icon of Flame: Bolt weapons have Soul Blaze. Tzeench only.
Icon of Despair: Fear. Nurgle only.
Icon of Excess: Feel no Pain. Slaanesh only.
Icon of Vengeance: Fearless.
The first and most important thing to bear in mind is that the Icon of Vengeance is a much improved version of the Icon of Chaos glory. Not taking morale tests is far better than rerolls.
Looking at the Mark and Icon combinations, Khorne looks to have a very good combination, although in a lot of ways the Khorne Beserkers unit needs these to restore them back to their 4th edition capabilities. This will be looked at in more detail in the Elites section.
Tzeench seems very similar to before. I don't think the Soul Blaze rule is especially good as a rule, a 50% chance of landing a couple of extra flamer hits really doesn't do anything for me. However the Mark of Tzeench is very good on certain units, like Terminators, or those with the Daemon rule.
Nurgle mark is worth having, every unit can benefit from toughness increases. Fear on the other hand is just not worth the points. So many units will be fearless or otherwise immune that it is more or less a joke special rule.
Slaanesh is interesting. While the mark isn't anything great on the face of it, it does boost the normal marines to a higher initative than loyalists, so terminators with lightning claws for example, benefit by being able to strike first with lethal effectiveness. The best reason to upgrade to Mark of Slaanesh is to have the Icon. I expect these to be very common, as Feel no Pain is an exceptionally good special rule. Terminators with this will be very strong, as will any units with the Daemon special rule.
Monday 8 October 2012
Chaos 6th Edition Codex review
So my first codex book of 6th edition has arrived. As I have five armies in 40k, this is the first of hopefully five new books in the next couple of years.
My plan is to review as a contrast to the 4th edition book, as well as looking at the units in the context of the game. This page will be a holding page with links to each of the sections as they get written, but some of my first thoughts are included below from a quick flick through the book. I will be starting on HQs.
First of all, let me say the new hardback book is very nice to look at. Perhaps a little pricey but you can see that this increased cost has been spent on making it considerably more durable and it is full colour.
On the face of it the new book doesn't seem to have any real powerhouse units. A lot of the codex has had units shifted around, with cult troops moved away from troops and into elites. This however can be played around with, depending on what HQs you pick.
Existing chaos players will probably have to alter some models. The changes made to terminators equipment is very annoying. I will need to rip arms off nearly all of my terminator models to make them legal.
Thousand Sons Sorcerers do not get access to Divination discipline which is not right. Both Magnus and Ahriman display clear divination in the background of the Thousand Sons legion, as well as in every piece of Heresy writing, yet it is not available here! Even if the majority of sorcerers didn't have this, Ahriman should have had it.
Noise marines have gone from totally useless to a lot better. Sonic blasters are now worth it vs GEQs and Blastmasters are lethal to marines because both weapons have ignore cover special rule now. Good news for me with my largely Emperors Children based chaos army.
A lot of the units which were poor before, such as spawn, dreadnoughts and bikers have had an overhaul as well, you may well see considerably more of these in lists.
Codex review pages:
Part 1: Marks and Icons
Part 2: Special Characters Part 1
My plan is to review as a contrast to the 4th edition book, as well as looking at the units in the context of the game. This page will be a holding page with links to each of the sections as they get written, but some of my first thoughts are included below from a quick flick through the book. I will be starting on HQs.
First of all, let me say the new hardback book is very nice to look at. Perhaps a little pricey but you can see that this increased cost has been spent on making it considerably more durable and it is full colour.
On the face of it the new book doesn't seem to have any real powerhouse units. A lot of the codex has had units shifted around, with cult troops moved away from troops and into elites. This however can be played around with, depending on what HQs you pick.
Existing chaos players will probably have to alter some models. The changes made to terminators equipment is very annoying. I will need to rip arms off nearly all of my terminator models to make them legal.
Thousand Sons Sorcerers do not get access to Divination discipline which is not right. Both Magnus and Ahriman display clear divination in the background of the Thousand Sons legion, as well as in every piece of Heresy writing, yet it is not available here! Even if the majority of sorcerers didn't have this, Ahriman should have had it.
Noise marines have gone from totally useless to a lot better. Sonic blasters are now worth it vs GEQs and Blastmasters are lethal to marines because both weapons have ignore cover special rule now. Good news for me with my largely Emperors Children based chaos army.
A lot of the units which were poor before, such as spawn, dreadnoughts and bikers have had an overhaul as well, you may well see considerably more of these in lists.
Codex review pages:
Part 1: Marks and Icons
Part 2: Special Characters Part 1
Monday 24 September 2012
Double FOC musing
I have been quite preoccupied on other parts of my life the last couple of months and haven't had a great deal of time to write about 40k. I have been planning a Dark Heresy Roleplay session and have just started running it, which is taking up a lot of my free time, in addition to other non wargame related things.
A lot of other blog sites have commented on how double force organisation charts are overpowered and they have quoted horrific builds like six squads of six longfangs with missile launchers to put their point across.
I personally don't think it is any worse than allies. If anything, its a lot more balanced than taking things from another army which is clearly not designed to be allied with your book. You also have to take another HQ and two troops, which is more of a points investment than the one HQ and one troops choice from your ally.
It can also help fix some of the issues certain armies face where some of their FOC charts are full of good stuff, while others have very little. This typifies some of the older 4th ed army books, such as Chaos, Eldar and Daemons to name but three.
Talking of which, the new chaos book hits shortly, I will be hopefully writing a review once I get it.
A lot of other blog sites have commented on how double force organisation charts are overpowered and they have quoted horrific builds like six squads of six longfangs with missile launchers to put their point across.
I personally don't think it is any worse than allies. If anything, its a lot more balanced than taking things from another army which is clearly not designed to be allied with your book. You also have to take another HQ and two troops, which is more of a points investment than the one HQ and one troops choice from your ally.
It can also help fix some of the issues certain armies face where some of their FOC charts are full of good stuff, while others have very little. This typifies some of the older 4th ed army books, such as Chaos, Eldar and Daemons to name but three.
Talking of which, the new chaos book hits shortly, I will be hopefully writing a review once I get it.
Wednesday 15 August 2012
Assaulting from a transport, rule changes for 6th
Assaulting from a transport has never been so difficult. There have been a number of quite large changes which affect how this works.
Firstly, you can only now disembark if the transport moves a maximum of 6 inches in the movement phase. You can only assault if the vehicle is an assault vehicle.
Other vehicles previously could be used to launch assaults if they stayed stationary, but this rule has gone. Also gone is the ability to move full speed and drop off the troop capacity. Now, no matter how fast your transport may be, be it a slow Rhino or a supersonic Stormraven, you can only move 6 inches to drop your troops off.
This means you will need to be virtually on top of the enemy the turn before, in order to do this. Flyers will need to go into hover mode to drop off their troops, because otherwise they are moving too fast to do this.
Firstly, you can only now disembark if the transport moves a maximum of 6 inches in the movement phase. You can only assault if the vehicle is an assault vehicle.
Other vehicles previously could be used to launch assaults if they stayed stationary, but this rule has gone. Also gone is the ability to move full speed and drop off the troop capacity. Now, no matter how fast your transport may be, be it a slow Rhino or a supersonic Stormraven, you can only move 6 inches to drop your troops off.
This means you will need to be virtually on top of the enemy the turn before, in order to do this. Flyers will need to go into hover mode to drop off their troops, because otherwise they are moving too fast to do this.
Tuesday 14 August 2012
Unit types
Having played quite a few types of games, it is becoming clearer that unit types matter a lot more than they did before, when it comes to charging.
Essentially, if you are a close combat unit, you want either fleet, a jump pack or to be six inches away at most to achieve charges on a regular basis.
If you don't have fleet or a jump pack, you will find it very difficult to get a charge unless you can walk right up to them in the movement phase. This is easier to do with some units than others.
Certain units like Eldar jetbikes are incredibly rapid with a huge turbo boost and the ability to move in the assault phase but charging they can only move 12 in movement, and charge 2d6 like foot infantry. This makes them very difficult to use as shock assault troops, as they will need to close into short range of most enemy units the turn before, and they typically have neither the numbers or toughness/saves to take much punishment.
Khorne Berserkers are going to be quite badly affected unless they gain fleet in the forthcoming chaos codex to help them cope with the charge ranges. This applies equally to any infantry unit on foot, which specialises in combat, and needs to charge to get the best out of their special rules, eg furious charge, rage etc.
If you have a means of delivering said combat troops into battle via an assault vehicle, this is helpful, but not all armies get them, with only dark eldar raiders, ork trucks and marine landraiders being anything like common. The dark eldar and ork vehicles suffer from low durability, while the landraider is a huge points investment making this a tricky balance.
The ideal method will be to load up all your assault troops in an assault flier, such as a Stormraven. This has huge durability while no units have skyfire, and is incredibly rapid, capable of dumping off its cargo, then speeding around in subsequent turns to bring its formidable firepower to any part of the table, while not risking death from anti tank guns, unless they are in huge numbers.
Essentially, if you are a close combat unit, you want either fleet, a jump pack or to be six inches away at most to achieve charges on a regular basis.
If you don't have fleet or a jump pack, you will find it very difficult to get a charge unless you can walk right up to them in the movement phase. This is easier to do with some units than others.
Certain units like Eldar jetbikes are incredibly rapid with a huge turbo boost and the ability to move in the assault phase but charging they can only move 12 in movement, and charge 2d6 like foot infantry. This makes them very difficult to use as shock assault troops, as they will need to close into short range of most enemy units the turn before, and they typically have neither the numbers or toughness/saves to take much punishment.
Khorne Berserkers are going to be quite badly affected unless they gain fleet in the forthcoming chaos codex to help them cope with the charge ranges. This applies equally to any infantry unit on foot, which specialises in combat, and needs to charge to get the best out of their special rules, eg furious charge, rage etc.
If you have a means of delivering said combat troops into battle via an assault vehicle, this is helpful, but not all armies get them, with only dark eldar raiders, ork trucks and marine landraiders being anything like common. The dark eldar and ork vehicles suffer from low durability, while the landraider is a huge points investment making this a tricky balance.
The ideal method will be to load up all your assault troops in an assault flier, such as a Stormraven. This has huge durability while no units have skyfire, and is incredibly rapid, capable of dumping off its cargo, then speeding around in subsequent turns to bring its formidable firepower to any part of the table, while not risking death from anti tank guns, unless they are in huge numbers.
Monday 6 August 2012
2+ saves are so much better than in 5th
Fresh from my last article on power weapons, the next logical step is to
see what units are the biggest winners from the changes. One thing
which is apparant is that in order to get an AP2 weapon, aside a couple
of exceptions, Monstrous creatures, Dreadnoughts and Warscythes come to
mind is that you have to strike last.
This gives a huge boost to troops who have 2+ saves, which previously wasn't half as effective as it seemed on paper due to power weapons carving through it like butter in close combat, and the fact that many units hid away in transports until they were certain of charging, meaning they had very little exposure to shooting.
The biggest beneficiary of this change are Mega Nobz. With no invulnerable save to speak of, they relied entirely on their 2+ save which was easy to negate. Now the only way to do this is to use a Power Fist or Power Axe for the majority of models. This means that the Nobz own Power Clawz strike at the same time, allowing them to dish out damage simultaneously with any unit capable of cutting through the armour, without being horribly killed first.
The other big gainers are Marine Honour Guards. Seldom seen due to high points cost and requiring a chapter master, they come free with a power weapon and artificer armour giving them a 2+ save. They are pretty much in the same boat as mega armour, although with less wounds, so easier to kill still.
Terminators on the other hand have and havn't changed, depending on what load out they have. Thunderhammer terminators are more or less the same as they used to be, as they should be fighting units which ignore terminator armour in combat, otherwise why did you include them? The tactical terminators, and those armed with lightning claws gain similarly to those above, with the lightning claw ones getting a ridiculous boost provided the enemy didn't have a 2+ save. If they do, they will struggle, otherwise they will carve through any unit you can think of.
This gives a huge boost to troops who have 2+ saves, which previously wasn't half as effective as it seemed on paper due to power weapons carving through it like butter in close combat, and the fact that many units hid away in transports until they were certain of charging, meaning they had very little exposure to shooting.
The biggest beneficiary of this change are Mega Nobz. With no invulnerable save to speak of, they relied entirely on their 2+ save which was easy to negate. Now the only way to do this is to use a Power Fist or Power Axe for the majority of models. This means that the Nobz own Power Clawz strike at the same time, allowing them to dish out damage simultaneously with any unit capable of cutting through the armour, without being horribly killed first.
The other big gainers are Marine Honour Guards. Seldom seen due to high points cost and requiring a chapter master, they come free with a power weapon and artificer armour giving them a 2+ save. They are pretty much in the same boat as mega armour, although with less wounds, so easier to kill still.
Terminators on the other hand have and havn't changed, depending on what load out they have. Thunderhammer terminators are more or less the same as they used to be, as they should be fighting units which ignore terminator armour in combat, otherwise why did you include them? The tactical terminators, and those armed with lightning claws gain similarly to those above, with the lightning claw ones getting a ridiculous boost provided the enemy didn't have a 2+ save. If they do, they will struggle, otherwise they will carve through any unit you can think of.
Wednesday 1 August 2012
Power weapon comparisons in 6th edition Part 2
Continuing on from my most Popular article ever, I will look at some
other typical enemies to use power weapons on. As I covered the two
most common marine types in the last article, this one is perhaps
unsurprisingly looking at some different. This one will look at two
large groups of enemy units. The first one is more or less Ork
equivalents. WS4, T4 and 4+ save or worse. There is no point in
looking at the difference between 4+,5+ or 6+ saves, because all of the
weapons ignore them. The second one is Guard equivalents, so WS3, T3
and again 4+ save or worse. This covers guard, guardians, and a variety
of tyranid creatures. As before all numbers assume a marine sergeant
with a bolt pistol and the weapon, who has not charged, eg has his basic
number of attacks, plus one for a pistol.
Vs WS4/T4/4+
Power weapon: 0.75 [0.25 per attack]
Power sword: 0.75 [0.25 per attack]
Power axe: 0.99 [0.33 per attack, strikes at initiative one]
Power maul: 1.25 [0.42 per attack]
Power spear: 0.99 [0.33 per attack charging]
Power spear: 0.75 [0.25 per attack otherwise]
Power fist: 0.84 [0.42 per attack, strikes at initiative one]
Against this type of enemy the Power Maul is the most effective weapon. The old power weapon, along with the Sword are the worst.
Vs WS3/T3/4+
Power weapon: 1.32 [0.44 per attack]
Power sword: 1.32 [0.44 per attack]
Power axe: 1.66 [0.55 per attack, strikes at initiative one]
Power maul: 1.66 [0.55 per attack]
Power spear: 1.66 [0.55 per attack charging]
Power spear: 1.32 [0.55 per attack otherwise]
Power fist: 1.10 [0.55 per attack, strikes at initiative one]
Against horde style enemies, it also appears the Power Maul is the most efficient. This is because although it shares its damage output with the Power Spear and the Power Axe, it has its power in all the rounds of combat, and doesn't strike last.
Overall looking at these weapons a general picture is emerging. The Power Maul is the weapon of choice if the enemy do not have power armour. If they do you want power swords, and if they are likely to have a load of terminators, you want a Power Axe. The spear is an interesting weapon, offering a boost in the first round, before becoming the worst weapon in subsequent rounds. Armies with low strength and high initiative and attacks will benefit the most from taking a Power Spear, so most likely Eldar, although I guess it is possible marines could get some use from it. As before the Power Fist offers the most utility, being effective against everything
Vs WS4/T4/4+
Power weapon: 0.75 [0.25 per attack]
Power sword: 0.75 [0.25 per attack]
Power axe: 0.99 [0.33 per attack, strikes at initiative one]
Power maul: 1.25 [0.42 per attack]
Power spear: 0.99 [0.33 per attack charging]
Power spear: 0.75 [0.25 per attack otherwise]
Power fist: 0.84 [0.42 per attack, strikes at initiative one]
Against this type of enemy the Power Maul is the most effective weapon. The old power weapon, along with the Sword are the worst.
Vs WS3/T3/4+
Power weapon: 1.32 [0.44 per attack]
Power sword: 1.32 [0.44 per attack]
Power axe: 1.66 [0.55 per attack, strikes at initiative one]
Power maul: 1.66 [0.55 per attack]
Power spear: 1.66 [0.55 per attack charging]
Power spear: 1.32 [0.55 per attack otherwise]
Power fist: 1.10 [0.55 per attack, strikes at initiative one]
Against horde style enemies, it also appears the Power Maul is the most efficient. This is because although it shares its damage output with the Power Spear and the Power Axe, it has its power in all the rounds of combat, and doesn't strike last.
Overall looking at these weapons a general picture is emerging. The Power Maul is the weapon of choice if the enemy do not have power armour. If they do you want power swords, and if they are likely to have a load of terminators, you want a Power Axe. The spear is an interesting weapon, offering a boost in the first round, before becoming the worst weapon in subsequent rounds. Armies with low strength and high initiative and attacks will benefit the most from taking a Power Spear, so most likely Eldar, although I guess it is possible marines could get some use from it. As before the Power Fist offers the most utility, being effective against everything
Wednesday 25 July 2012
Relative powers of different abilities
So far I have not had time to work out and write down the various other power weapon statistics against other common enemy types. This post is kind of related, so bear with me.
Rending used to be the poor relative of having a power weapon. It only used to ignore armour saves on a 6. However with the changes made to power weapons and rending remaining the same, it has actually improved rending, relative to the other weapons. Essentially, rending stood still, while power weapons took steps backwards.
The same goes for Monstrous creatures, their attacks still ignore armour save, and what is more, they now have a special attack they can use if they really want to against armour. You probably won't ever need to use it, unless assaulting Monoliths and Landraiders, but its nice to have for free!
I am not convinced fleet is as good as it used to be, and it was never brilliant before. A lot of eldar troops have this ability but are not close combat equipped. Those troops who are close combat equipped could run d6 and charge 6 in the past, now it is looking like they will be statistically worse than the average of 10.5 the 5th edition run+charge brought.
Rending used to be the poor relative of having a power weapon. It only used to ignore armour saves on a 6. However with the changes made to power weapons and rending remaining the same, it has actually improved rending, relative to the other weapons. Essentially, rending stood still, while power weapons took steps backwards.
The same goes for Monstrous creatures, their attacks still ignore armour save, and what is more, they now have a special attack they can use if they really want to against armour. You probably won't ever need to use it, unless assaulting Monoliths and Landraiders, but its nice to have for free!
I am not convinced fleet is as good as it used to be, and it was never brilliant before. A lot of eldar troops have this ability but are not close combat equipped. Those troops who are close combat equipped could run d6 and charge 6 in the past, now it is looking like they will be statistically worse than the average of 10.5 the 5th edition run+charge brought.
Saturday 14 July 2012
Power weapon comparisons in 6th edition Part 1
One of the largest changes has been the change to the humble power weapon. For three editions, a power weapon was just that, a power weapon. Now, there are several different types. At first look the sword looks to be the pick of the bunch, but perhaps running the numbers will reveal something special about the others.
All numbers are assuming it is a normal marine sergent with a power weapon and a bolt pistol. This gives him three attacks, or two with a power fist.
VS Marines [T4, 3+]
5th edition Power Weapon 0.75 kills [0.25 per attack]
Power Sword: 0.75 kills [0.25 per attack]
Power Axe: 0.99 kills [0.33 per attack, strikes at initative one]
Power Maul: 0.42 kills [0.14 per attack]
Power Spear: 0.99 kills [0.33 per attack charging]
0.25 kills [0.08 per attack otherwise]
Power Fist 0.83 kills [0.41 per attack, strikes at initative one]
So vs marines it is quite difficult to make a decision. As you can see from the numbers, vs other power armoured marines, the power sword offers an identicle kill ratio as the 5th edition equivelent. The power axe offers the best return on points invested but is slow, although a charging spear is very strong, provided you don't get bogged down. The maul seems out of its depth vs power armour
VS Terminators [T4, 2+/5++]
5th edition Power weapon 0.5 kills [0.17 per attack]
Power Sword 0.12 kills [0.04 per attack]
Power Axe 0.66 kills [0.22 per attack, strikes at initative one]
Power Maul: 0.42 kills [0.14 per attack]
Power Spear 0.16 kills [0.05 per attack charging]
0.12 kills [0.04 per attack otherwise]
Power fist 0.55 kills [0.27 per attack, strikes at initative one]
Vs terminators, the power sword and charging spears potential drops off a cliff. The maul is consistant, but not great. The axe and fist are considerably more efficient than most of the weapons as they ignore the save, but still have to compete with the invulnerable.
This post is continued here
All numbers are assuming it is a normal marine sergent with a power weapon and a bolt pistol. This gives him three attacks, or two with a power fist.
VS Marines [T4, 3+]
5th edition Power Weapon 0.75 kills [0.25 per attack]
Power Sword: 0.75 kills [0.25 per attack]
Power Axe: 0.99 kills [0.33 per attack, strikes at initative one]
Power Maul: 0.42 kills [0.14 per attack]
Power Spear: 0.99 kills [0.33 per attack charging]
0.25 kills [0.08 per attack otherwise]
Power Fist 0.83 kills [0.41 per attack, strikes at initative one]
So vs marines it is quite difficult to make a decision. As you can see from the numbers, vs other power armoured marines, the power sword offers an identicle kill ratio as the 5th edition equivelent. The power axe offers the best return on points invested but is slow, although a charging spear is very strong, provided you don't get bogged down. The maul seems out of its depth vs power armour
VS Terminators [T4, 2+/5++]
5th edition Power weapon 0.5 kills [0.17 per attack]
Power Sword 0.12 kills [0.04 per attack]
Power Axe 0.66 kills [0.22 per attack, strikes at initative one]
Power Maul: 0.42 kills [0.14 per attack]
Power Spear 0.16 kills [0.05 per attack charging]
0.12 kills [0.04 per attack otherwise]
Power fist 0.55 kills [0.27 per attack, strikes at initative one]
Vs terminators, the power sword and charging spears potential drops off a cliff. The maul is consistant, but not great. The axe and fist are considerably more efficient than most of the weapons as they ignore the save, but still have to compete with the invulnerable.
This post is continued here
Friday 6 July 2012
First read through, the main differences between 5th and 6th.
Psychic powers have changed, but you can optionally use the normal ones
you have access to in your book. That is is you get any. I suspect
people will use the normal ones in their books for the time being in my gaming group at least.
Vehicles and power weapons are most changed. Vehicles now have a number of hit points. You lose one hit point on a glance, and on a penetrate you lose 1hp and roll on the death chart. Most tanks, execept landraiders and monliths have 3 hit points, so glance, glance dead occurs. Power weapons are now divided into four different types. They all cost the same and have different stats.
Random charge ranges are in though jump troops and fleet troops get rerolls on their 2d6 charge dice. This is combined with premeasuring which should help somewhat in combating failing a charge with actual close combat troops.
All heavy weapons which are not blast or flamer can move and fire at Bs1. This is called snap shot. You can also snap shot as a stand and shoot reaction, flamers work here inflicting d3 hits automatically. Rapid fire weapons like bolters can fire their 1 long range shot even if they move now, two still within 24 inches. Tanks while moving get to fire 1 gun with normal bs, but other guns have to be fired as snapshot [bs1] so twinlinked guns are where its at. Flamer/blast weapons not being able to use snapshot will obviously need to be fired using the main BS.
All characters including sergent types get look out sir. They also have a great rule that if the character rolls a 6 to hit with shooting or combat you choose who gets hit.
Wound allocation is now far more sensible. Basically you make your saves and the nearest models die, no miraculous survival of heavy weapons if they are stood at the front. There are complications due to terrain, because you can choose to just shoot those in the open, or in lesser terrain, but then you can only kill those models. This is much better IMO.
Flyers and flying monsters have the same rules as before as well as an alternative much faster, but less manuverable method of flight. Monsters will probably overtake dreadnoughts in importance due to the changes to tanks. Monsters can be attacked by anti vehicle grenades, but they typically are tougher with armour/wards so shouldn't get bogged down too much.
Deployment is different. You now choose sides, mission etc before setting terrain up to facilitate the addition of fortifications. You can also now take allies from a list, which depends a lot on what army you play as. A lot of alliances you would expect are in there, eg marines with each other and other imperial forces, but some are more unusual, eg marines and tau.
Vehicles and power weapons are most changed. Vehicles now have a number of hit points. You lose one hit point on a glance, and on a penetrate you lose 1hp and roll on the death chart. Most tanks, execept landraiders and monliths have 3 hit points, so glance, glance dead occurs. Power weapons are now divided into four different types. They all cost the same and have different stats.
Random charge ranges are in though jump troops and fleet troops get rerolls on their 2d6 charge dice. This is combined with premeasuring which should help somewhat in combating failing a charge with actual close combat troops.
All heavy weapons which are not blast or flamer can move and fire at Bs1. This is called snap shot. You can also snap shot as a stand and shoot reaction, flamers work here inflicting d3 hits automatically. Rapid fire weapons like bolters can fire their 1 long range shot even if they move now, two still within 24 inches. Tanks while moving get to fire 1 gun with normal bs, but other guns have to be fired as snapshot [bs1] so twinlinked guns are where its at. Flamer/blast weapons not being able to use snapshot will obviously need to be fired using the main BS.
All characters including sergent types get look out sir. They also have a great rule that if the character rolls a 6 to hit with shooting or combat you choose who gets hit.
Wound allocation is now far more sensible. Basically you make your saves and the nearest models die, no miraculous survival of heavy weapons if they are stood at the front. There are complications due to terrain, because you can choose to just shoot those in the open, or in lesser terrain, but then you can only kill those models. This is much better IMO.
Flyers and flying monsters have the same rules as before as well as an alternative much faster, but less manuverable method of flight. Monsters will probably overtake dreadnoughts in importance due to the changes to tanks. Monsters can be attacked by anti vehicle grenades, but they typically are tougher with armour/wards so shouldn't get bogged down too much.
Deployment is different. You now choose sides, mission etc before setting terrain up to facilitate the addition of fortifications. You can also now take allies from a list, which depends a lot on what army you play as. A lot of alliances you would expect are in there, eg marines with each other and other imperial forces, but some are more unusual, eg marines and tau.
Wednesday 4 July 2012
First thoughts on 6th
Ive been busy reading away at my rulebook. Ive not finished yet, but I have noticed a couple of big changes to how my group used to play.
You now roll up deployment before mission type. This is the opposite way around. You also can't put terrain down until AFTER deployment areas have been agreed, because the rules facilitate monstrous fortresses being deployed. In my opinion this is going to cause a LOT of issues because people will think that they are being shafted with the table set up.
People have been telling me that the allies are optional. That isn't how it reads. It is optional for the player making the list, so he can choose or not, the other player doesn't get a say in it at all. A lot of the ally rules are fluffy, eg dark angels and space wolves are not battle brothers, but they both are with all the other marines and guard. Tau and space marines being chummy is probably because the Ultramarines [who are the only space marines apparently] are protecting the tau these days.
Seems noone especially likes grey knights. Probably due to how over powered they are that they are no-ones battle brothers because other armies would be able to become beardier just by adding a liberal dose of grey knights.
Dreads, along with nearly every other tank are shafted. Cheap tanks like rhinos still have a purpose. Im unsure about any others without playing some games to get some better perspective. I did however read there is something called "heavy vehicle" which as far as I can tell no actual vehicle in the rules has at the moment. I am guessing this is what super heavies may become. The Vulcan mega bolter is also in the weapons section which adds more weight to this theory, as only super heavies and titans have ever had this.
It would be very silly to have stupidly expensive vehicles and crap rules. People, well me anyway, will pay good money for a tank if its rules are decent, but I certainly wont be buying any more vehicles until I can convince myself they are worth the points. Its much like if its god awful looking and has good rules, it would still be bought. But with no positives, it really wont find its way into my shopping basket.
If Baneblades do come over, and I am hoping they do, I would like to see structure points remain and/or a huge amount of hit points, eg 10 or so, otherwise its 500 points which is easy to kill. I would have preferred they removed vehicles entirely and gave them toughness/wounds/saves as it would have made things much simpler.
Also field artillery guns are now halfway decent. A good toughness value, 2 wounds and power armour and the ability to move. Maybe the Thunderfire cannon wont be as lame!
Aircraft are also very good, as are flying monsters. We could be seeing a lot more of these.
You now roll up deployment before mission type. This is the opposite way around. You also can't put terrain down until AFTER deployment areas have been agreed, because the rules facilitate monstrous fortresses being deployed. In my opinion this is going to cause a LOT of issues because people will think that they are being shafted with the table set up.
People have been telling me that the allies are optional. That isn't how it reads. It is optional for the player making the list, so he can choose or not, the other player doesn't get a say in it at all. A lot of the ally rules are fluffy, eg dark angels and space wolves are not battle brothers, but they both are with all the other marines and guard. Tau and space marines being chummy is probably because the Ultramarines [who are the only space marines apparently] are protecting the tau these days.
Seems noone especially likes grey knights. Probably due to how over powered they are that they are no-ones battle brothers because other armies would be able to become beardier just by adding a liberal dose of grey knights.
Dreads, along with nearly every other tank are shafted. Cheap tanks like rhinos still have a purpose. Im unsure about any others without playing some games to get some better perspective. I did however read there is something called "heavy vehicle" which as far as I can tell no actual vehicle in the rules has at the moment. I am guessing this is what super heavies may become. The Vulcan mega bolter is also in the weapons section which adds more weight to this theory, as only super heavies and titans have ever had this.
It would be very silly to have stupidly expensive vehicles and crap rules. People, well me anyway, will pay good money for a tank if its rules are decent, but I certainly wont be buying any more vehicles until I can convince myself they are worth the points. Its much like if its god awful looking and has good rules, it would still be bought. But with no positives, it really wont find its way into my shopping basket.
If Baneblades do come over, and I am hoping they do, I would like to see structure points remain and/or a huge amount of hit points, eg 10 or so, otherwise its 500 points which is easy to kill. I would have preferred they removed vehicles entirely and gave them toughness/wounds/saves as it would have made things much simpler.
Also field artillery guns are now halfway decent. A good toughness value, 2 wounds and power armour and the ability to move. Maybe the Thunderfire cannon wont be as lame!
Aircraft are also very good, as are flying monsters. We could be seeing a lot more of these.
Friday 22 June 2012
6th edition
As you will have noticed I have not posted much recently. This is because of the immenent release of 6th edition.
No point in posting tactics or reviews for a system which will be gone in a month.
No point in posting tactics or reviews for a system which will be gone in a month.
Tuesday 12 June 2012
End of 5th
Gamesworkshop have removed the sale of their 5th edition rulebooks, along with a "cryptic" message on their page. I assume this means 6th edition, preorder at least, is going to occur this month, probably with a full release in next months White dwarf.
I have a number of misgivings about 6th, as I am hoping it turns out to be nothing at all like 8th edition fantasy. Hopefully it will end up just being a tweaking of 5th edition rules. Please don't let there be random psychic powers!
I have a number of misgivings about 6th, as I am hoping it turns out to be nothing at all like 8th edition fantasy. Hopefully it will end up just being a tweaking of 5th edition rules. Please don't let there be random psychic powers!
Friday 18 May 2012
Looking into Infinity
Having looked extensively into the rumours concerning the immenent release of 40k 6th edition I have many concerns.
If it is going to be like fantasy 8th edition, and a lot of what is coming out suggests it is, then I think I will be less than enthusiastic about getting into it.
With this in mind, I have been looking into Infinity the game. For those who are not aware of this game, it is a sci fi game, using small amounts of models [usually tops out at 10 per side] which is quite similar to Necromunda in appearance, although the rules system is completely different.
For a considerably lower entrance cost, given all the rules and units rules are completely free to download and small numbers of models it looks to be an interesting game. I have already ordered a full and large selection of the Nomad faction which I hope to be putting photos up of at some stage.
If anyone is interested, information can be found http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/
If it is going to be like fantasy 8th edition, and a lot of what is coming out suggests it is, then I think I will be less than enthusiastic about getting into it.
With this in mind, I have been looking into Infinity the game. For those who are not aware of this game, it is a sci fi game, using small amounts of models [usually tops out at 10 per side] which is quite similar to Necromunda in appearance, although the rules system is completely different.
For a considerably lower entrance cost, given all the rules and units rules are completely free to download and small numbers of models it looks to be an interesting game. I have already ordered a full and large selection of the Nomad faction which I hope to be putting photos up of at some stage.
If anyone is interested, information can be found http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/
Friday 4 May 2012
Thoughts on Warhammer 40000 6th edition
I know 6th edition isn't out yet, but it is a virtual certainty that it will be coming out in the near future. All of the clues point towards a Summer release, with the Autumn of Fliers due after it, which gives a good clue that fliers may be due after it.
Interestingly, it seems that other far more popular blog websites than mine are collecting rumours. It seems the fake 6th ed rules that were found a few months ago may have been a working document. That means it is probable that the new book has at least some of the rules mentioned in it.
What seems to be a certainty is that the psychic phase is to be altered. The reason I say this is because of the change of wording in the Grey Knights book, to having Psychic (1) or (2) which wouldn't be needed if it wasn't changing. Necrons not having psykers being released also makes sense, as they will be easier to write with 6th in mind without having these rules to take into account. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Tau being released before or around the same time as 6th hits, because they too don't have psykers.
There are also rumblings that vehicles will get a kind of wounds system. This could be interesting, as vehicle balance is not great at the moment, hence the huge amounts of mech armies around. It would probably be simpler for everyone if all vehicles were just monstrous creatures but I can't see that happening.
Interestingly, it seems that other far more popular blog websites than mine are collecting rumours. It seems the fake 6th ed rules that were found a few months ago may have been a working document. That means it is probable that the new book has at least some of the rules mentioned in it.
What seems to be a certainty is that the psychic phase is to be altered. The reason I say this is because of the change of wording in the Grey Knights book, to having Psychic (1) or (2) which wouldn't be needed if it wasn't changing. Necrons not having psykers being released also makes sense, as they will be easier to write with 6th in mind without having these rules to take into account. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Tau being released before or around the same time as 6th hits, because they too don't have psykers.
There are also rumblings that vehicles will get a kind of wounds system. This could be interesting, as vehicle balance is not great at the moment, hence the huge amounts of mech armies around. It would probably be simpler for everyone if all vehicles were just monstrous creatures but I can't see that happening.
Thursday 3 May 2012
Assaulting 101
Taking a break from all the Tyranid Codex review pages I have written recently to look at a key area of the game; Assaulting.
I think there is a common misconception as to what a good assault unit does. A good unit DOES NOT win in the turn it charges into combat. This is very bad.
Now you may be thinking why am I saying this. Surely a unit which can kill pretty much anything on the charge, such as a full squad of Paladins with master crafted weapons, is a great unit. In a lot of ways you would be correct. But not all.
In an ideal world you want to leave a couple of enemies left. This is to stop the enemy offloading a bunch of high powered anti infantry weapons into you. Melta and plasma weapons enmass will cut through your super expensive Paladin unit before you can say help. By staying in combat, you force them to come into hand to hand to fight you. This is where you are strongest, so it is a win win situation.
Once you kill the enemy in their turn, feel free to consolidate then charge into something else in your turn.
The only real problem with this is that you need to be able to kill the enemy in their turn even if they charge you, so it is a fine balance between the two.
I think there is a common misconception as to what a good assault unit does. A good unit DOES NOT win in the turn it charges into combat. This is very bad.
Now you may be thinking why am I saying this. Surely a unit which can kill pretty much anything on the charge, such as a full squad of Paladins with master crafted weapons, is a great unit. In a lot of ways you would be correct. But not all.
In an ideal world you want to leave a couple of enemies left. This is to stop the enemy offloading a bunch of high powered anti infantry weapons into you. Melta and plasma weapons enmass will cut through your super expensive Paladin unit before you can say help. By staying in combat, you force them to come into hand to hand to fight you. This is where you are strongest, so it is a win win situation.
Once you kill the enemy in their turn, feel free to consolidate then charge into something else in your turn.
The only real problem with this is that you need to be able to kill the enemy in their turn even if they charge you, so it is a fine balance between the two.
Tuesday 1 May 2012
Tyranid Codex review Part 4
Tyranid Codex review Part 4: Elites Part 2
Part 4 is the conclusion of the elite choices.
Zoanthrope
This is a synapse creature, with psychic powers designed to hunt marines and tanks. So far, so good. It has a marine like stat line, but with lower ballistic skill and initative and maximum leadership. In terms of equipment it comes with a 5+ save and claws, so nothing especially useful here. However much like other psykers its true value comes from its powers.
In terms of biomorphs, it comes with Psyker, Synapse, Shadow in the Warp and Warp Field. As Warp Field is the only one not covered earlier, it is the only one I will go into any detail on now. Essentially this gives the Zoanthrope a 3++ save, which is as good as a Storm shield. Nothing to complain about here, although volume of small arms fire is still a worry due to the lowish toughness.
It has two psychic powers built in for free. The first is Warp Blast, a marine killing gun with the same strength and AP as a Eldar Reaper Launcher and a small blast. Has the same range as a bolter too. Being move and fire like everything else in the book, its pretty decent. The second power is Warp Lance, a maximum strength single shot AP 1 Lance shot. Quite probably the most lethal lance in the game, and comparable in terms of penetration as a melta weapon. Shorter range than the Blast, this is the primary reason for including Zoanthropes
This also has access to a Mycetic Spore for deep striking. This could come in handy due to the relative short range of the powers on the Zoanthrope, and you can take 1 to 3 in a brood.
Conclusion:
This is a serious competitor for the Elite slot anti tank, along side the Hive Guard. Unlike the Hive Guard, the Zoanthrope can cause serious damage to marines and heavier tanks, but at the expense of volume of fire, toughness and indirect fire abilities. It also has to pass a psychic test, which can be an issue against some defences which can cancel powers out.
The Doom of Malan'tai
Doom is an unusual creature, unlike pretty much everything else in the game. Its stats are not all that impressive, with it resembling a marine in most ways, except better wounds, attacks and leadership. This is not good for a model that costs more than 5 marines.
I think it is a special character Zoanthrope though this isn't made explicit in the rules. It has the same claws, 5+ save and 3++ Warpfield, along with Psyker, Shadow in the Warp but oddly isn't Synapse. It also gets the Cataclysm psychic power, which is a bolter ranged shooting attack, which hits at the strength of the number of wounds it has left, which could be a lot depending on events in the game (see below) This is a large blast and AP1, so quite probably very fatal for most things stood underneath, even at its basic strength. The downside is you take d3 wounds, with no saves of any kind, before gaining wounds back when this power is cast, so try not to use it when you have less than 3 wounds left, or you could see it killing itself.
Spirit Leech makes every non vehicle unit in 6 inches take leadership tests on 3d6. For every point they fail by they suffer a wound with no save allowed. This is pretty decent, and against lone characters could be fatal. Obviously most expensive things have good leadership, but 10 is the highest you can have, and 10.5 is the average on 3d6 so this should kill a couple of models per turn.
In combination with Spirit Leech is Absorb life. For every wound Doom inflicts, it adds one to the creatures total wounds. This works in tandem with Psychic Strength which matches the strength to the total wounds. I have to wonder why these two rules are separate, they could easily be covered by the one single rule, but its hardly the end of the world that they dont.
This also has access to a Mycetic spore, it could help get into range to use its power, but there are better units to use the spore on
Conclusion:
A relatively random, possibly completely lethal, special character. You need to be careful early on to ensure it doesn't die, picking on units clumped together. With the very good AP of the power, it can demolish units of pretty much anything. Just be wary about spending wounds if there isn't at least four wounds left on the model, or it could die. Avoid close combat like the plague, just use its power to shoot at the enemy units from range.
Pyrovore
This should be a short entry. This unit is terrible. Really, really terrible. Getting that out of the way, in the interest of objectivity I will look at why I think this is the case. You pay nearly as many points as for a hive guard, but you have below average weapon skill and ballistic skill, terrible initative followed by only two wounds, a 4+ save and marine strength and toughness. This is incredibly easy to kill.
Its special rules are as follows. Flamespurt is a heavy flamer, not even a good one like a hellhound, just a regular heavy flamer. So you need to be on top of enemy units with a unit which is utterly terrible in close combat. Acid Maw gives it ignoring armour save abilities in close combat, but as mentioned, it has one attack, terrible initiative and low weaponskill, it is highly unlikely to ever get to use this. Volatile means it explodes 50% of the time should it die. This is fairly likely to happen but unfortunatly more likely to happen when near your own troops than in combat with the enemy. Acid blood means if it is wounded in combat the enemy might take wounds, but it only has two, its not realistically going to win you the combat, you are still going to be dead. You can if you should desire buy 1 to 3 of these and put them in a spore.
Conclusion:
Don't use this please. It really is bad. Its only use is an expensive suicide unit, which is likely to go off amongst your own troops.
Ymgarl Genestealers
These are a special unit of elite Genestealers. Less of an assault force than their more common cousins, these are a specialist unit designed to wipe out small support units and characters hanging around at the back.
So the main question is what do you get over regular Genestealers, which are troops and not in the ultra competitive elite slot. You are paying nearly 50% more points per model for these and on stats only get +1 armour save, taking them to 4+. So you best get some value from the equipment and special rules, or these are a no starter.
They come with rending claws as weapons, with no options for Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands or Toxin Sacks. So far, so bad. No option to take a Broodlord either.
They have Fleet, Move through Cover and Brood Telepathy as the regular Genestealers do. Brood Telepathy is pretty good as it means the unit doesn't need to take any tests for Instinctive behaviour if out of synapse range.
So what you are paying for must be covered in the two special rules they have, which normal Genestealers don't. Lets look at them. First up Dormant. This ability means you nominate a piece of terrain and then write it down after both sides have deployed. The unit are in reserve, but when they arrive they are placed in it, don't scatter and can move and assault normally. This is a massive ability as you can put them in a building with enemy heavy weapons etc and they won't have a chance to defend themselves from your charge. Being Genestealers they are more than capable of wiping out most units they charge. Unit size is 5 to 10, which is fine, you probably only want a small unit as you have to deploy within the boundaries of the terrain you have chosen.
Dormant works nicely along side their second ability, Alter Form. In every assault phase they can pick either +1 Strength, +1 Attacks or +1 Toughness. There is a trick to this that any long time Wood Elf player will be familiar with. What you need to do is choose the ability which will most likely result in you winning in your opponents turn, allowing you to move and assault again in your next turn with no danger of being shot. If the enemy only have a handful of devastators, you should choose +1 toughness to limit how many kills you inflict. If however you are charged, and you need to win, you should choose +1 attack. Strictly speaking +1 strength is worse than the other two as you are relying on rending to kill power armour rather than slightly easier to wound rolls.
Conclusion:
This is a unit which competes with the Lictor, more than Genestealers. Its abilities are very similar to the Lictor, being about to appear and cause havoc. The difference being that Genestealers have far more offensive output and can charge on the turn they appear. Of the two, I would be more tempted to field these Ymgarl Genestealers simply because they don't rely on surviving a whole turn of firepower before being able to charge.
Overall Elites Choice Conclusion:
The elites choices are basically split into two camps. There are the anti tank Zoanthropes and Hive Guard, and the utility units which covers everything else. To make a competitive army, you will want at least two slots with the anti tank options. It doesn't matter which you pick really. You can then take one of the other units in your third slot, or indeed another of the anti tank ones if you should wish. You can probably drop one anti tank if you have a Tyrannofex with a Rupture cannon, but I would never drop both. As long as you avoid taking the Pyrovore, the other choices are okay support elements, it really depends on what style of play you want to do. A large gaunt horde charging across the table might want Venomthropes, but a more specialised army could get more out of a Lictor style disruption unit.
Zoanthrope
This is a synapse creature, with psychic powers designed to hunt marines and tanks. So far, so good. It has a marine like stat line, but with lower ballistic skill and initative and maximum leadership. In terms of equipment it comes with a 5+ save and claws, so nothing especially useful here. However much like other psykers its true value comes from its powers.
In terms of biomorphs, it comes with Psyker, Synapse, Shadow in the Warp and Warp Field. As Warp Field is the only one not covered earlier, it is the only one I will go into any detail on now. Essentially this gives the Zoanthrope a 3++ save, which is as good as a Storm shield. Nothing to complain about here, although volume of small arms fire is still a worry due to the lowish toughness.
It has two psychic powers built in for free. The first is Warp Blast, a marine killing gun with the same strength and AP as a Eldar Reaper Launcher and a small blast. Has the same range as a bolter too. Being move and fire like everything else in the book, its pretty decent. The second power is Warp Lance, a maximum strength single shot AP 1 Lance shot. Quite probably the most lethal lance in the game, and comparable in terms of penetration as a melta weapon. Shorter range than the Blast, this is the primary reason for including Zoanthropes
This also has access to a Mycetic Spore for deep striking. This could come in handy due to the relative short range of the powers on the Zoanthrope, and you can take 1 to 3 in a brood.
Conclusion:
This is a serious competitor for the Elite slot anti tank, along side the Hive Guard. Unlike the Hive Guard, the Zoanthrope can cause serious damage to marines and heavier tanks, but at the expense of volume of fire, toughness and indirect fire abilities. It also has to pass a psychic test, which can be an issue against some defences which can cancel powers out.
The Doom of Malan'tai
Doom is an unusual creature, unlike pretty much everything else in the game. Its stats are not all that impressive, with it resembling a marine in most ways, except better wounds, attacks and leadership. This is not good for a model that costs more than 5 marines.
I think it is a special character Zoanthrope though this isn't made explicit in the rules. It has the same claws, 5+ save and 3++ Warpfield, along with Psyker, Shadow in the Warp but oddly isn't Synapse. It also gets the Cataclysm psychic power, which is a bolter ranged shooting attack, which hits at the strength of the number of wounds it has left, which could be a lot depending on events in the game (see below) This is a large blast and AP1, so quite probably very fatal for most things stood underneath, even at its basic strength. The downside is you take d3 wounds, with no saves of any kind, before gaining wounds back when this power is cast, so try not to use it when you have less than 3 wounds left, or you could see it killing itself.
Spirit Leech makes every non vehicle unit in 6 inches take leadership tests on 3d6. For every point they fail by they suffer a wound with no save allowed. This is pretty decent, and against lone characters could be fatal. Obviously most expensive things have good leadership, but 10 is the highest you can have, and 10.5 is the average on 3d6 so this should kill a couple of models per turn.
In combination with Spirit Leech is Absorb life. For every wound Doom inflicts, it adds one to the creatures total wounds. This works in tandem with Psychic Strength which matches the strength to the total wounds. I have to wonder why these two rules are separate, they could easily be covered by the one single rule, but its hardly the end of the world that they dont.
This also has access to a Mycetic spore, it could help get into range to use its power, but there are better units to use the spore on
Conclusion:
A relatively random, possibly completely lethal, special character. You need to be careful early on to ensure it doesn't die, picking on units clumped together. With the very good AP of the power, it can demolish units of pretty much anything. Just be wary about spending wounds if there isn't at least four wounds left on the model, or it could die. Avoid close combat like the plague, just use its power to shoot at the enemy units from range.
Pyrovore
This should be a short entry. This unit is terrible. Really, really terrible. Getting that out of the way, in the interest of objectivity I will look at why I think this is the case. You pay nearly as many points as for a hive guard, but you have below average weapon skill and ballistic skill, terrible initative followed by only two wounds, a 4+ save and marine strength and toughness. This is incredibly easy to kill.
Its special rules are as follows. Flamespurt is a heavy flamer, not even a good one like a hellhound, just a regular heavy flamer. So you need to be on top of enemy units with a unit which is utterly terrible in close combat. Acid Maw gives it ignoring armour save abilities in close combat, but as mentioned, it has one attack, terrible initiative and low weaponskill, it is highly unlikely to ever get to use this. Volatile means it explodes 50% of the time should it die. This is fairly likely to happen but unfortunatly more likely to happen when near your own troops than in combat with the enemy. Acid blood means if it is wounded in combat the enemy might take wounds, but it only has two, its not realistically going to win you the combat, you are still going to be dead. You can if you should desire buy 1 to 3 of these and put them in a spore.
Conclusion:
Don't use this please. It really is bad. Its only use is an expensive suicide unit, which is likely to go off amongst your own troops.
Ymgarl Genestealers
These are a special unit of elite Genestealers. Less of an assault force than their more common cousins, these are a specialist unit designed to wipe out small support units and characters hanging around at the back.
So the main question is what do you get over regular Genestealers, which are troops and not in the ultra competitive elite slot. You are paying nearly 50% more points per model for these and on stats only get +1 armour save, taking them to 4+. So you best get some value from the equipment and special rules, or these are a no starter.
They come with rending claws as weapons, with no options for Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands or Toxin Sacks. So far, so bad. No option to take a Broodlord either.
They have Fleet, Move through Cover and Brood Telepathy as the regular Genestealers do. Brood Telepathy is pretty good as it means the unit doesn't need to take any tests for Instinctive behaviour if out of synapse range.
So what you are paying for must be covered in the two special rules they have, which normal Genestealers don't. Lets look at them. First up Dormant. This ability means you nominate a piece of terrain and then write it down after both sides have deployed. The unit are in reserve, but when they arrive they are placed in it, don't scatter and can move and assault normally. This is a massive ability as you can put them in a building with enemy heavy weapons etc and they won't have a chance to defend themselves from your charge. Being Genestealers they are more than capable of wiping out most units they charge. Unit size is 5 to 10, which is fine, you probably only want a small unit as you have to deploy within the boundaries of the terrain you have chosen.
Dormant works nicely along side their second ability, Alter Form. In every assault phase they can pick either +1 Strength, +1 Attacks or +1 Toughness. There is a trick to this that any long time Wood Elf player will be familiar with. What you need to do is choose the ability which will most likely result in you winning in your opponents turn, allowing you to move and assault again in your next turn with no danger of being shot. If the enemy only have a handful of devastators, you should choose +1 toughness to limit how many kills you inflict. If however you are charged, and you need to win, you should choose +1 attack. Strictly speaking +1 strength is worse than the other two as you are relying on rending to kill power armour rather than slightly easier to wound rolls.
Conclusion:
This is a unit which competes with the Lictor, more than Genestealers. Its abilities are very similar to the Lictor, being about to appear and cause havoc. The difference being that Genestealers have far more offensive output and can charge on the turn they appear. Of the two, I would be more tempted to field these Ymgarl Genestealers simply because they don't rely on surviving a whole turn of firepower before being able to charge.
Overall Elites Choice Conclusion:
The elites choices are basically split into two camps. There are the anti tank Zoanthropes and Hive Guard, and the utility units which covers everything else. To make a competitive army, you will want at least two slots with the anti tank options. It doesn't matter which you pick really. You can then take one of the other units in your third slot, or indeed another of the anti tank ones if you should wish. You can probably drop one anti tank if you have a Tyrannofex with a Rupture cannon, but I would never drop both. As long as you avoid taking the Pyrovore, the other choices are okay support elements, it really depends on what style of play you want to do. A large gaunt horde charging across the table might want Venomthropes, but a more specialised army could get more out of a Lictor style disruption unit.
Monday 30 April 2012
Tyranid Codex review Part 3
Tyranid Codex review Part 3: Elites Part 1
After the mammoth entries last week, I am onto Elites choices now. These will be in places a fair amount shorter than the previous entries, simply because a lot of these units only do one or two things really well.
Hive Guard
These are an anti tank unit sporting a very good two shot Impaler Cannon, which is basically a +1 strength autocannon, but with half the range. On the plus side the gun is assault, like all tyranid weapons and doesn't need line of sight to fire. Most of the creatures actual stat line is fairly irrelvant, but it does have a marine level ballistic skill, combined with monstrous creature toughness and a 4+ save, meaning they can be quite difficult to shift. A couple of wounds completes the package nicely.
You will probably want to use of these to dispose of transports. The gun is fairly effective against most armour values, but 13 and upwards may be pushing it. They are not especially points efficient being used against infantry, as the AP isn't good enough to worry marines. Just concentrate on shooting either tough things with low armour saves, or tanks in the armour 10-12 band and they will be fine.
Conclusion:
They have no options to talk about beyond picking 1 to 3 in a brood, they are what they are, light tank hunters, and they come in at a bargain price. One of the best units in the codex, I have no doubt.
Lictor Brood
Ahh the Lictor. In the past, the Lictor was a feared unit causing havoc and being virtually impossible to see and hit. These days it is far more conventional, but has a few complex rules to look into. First lets consider its stat line. What first jumps out at me is its high weaponskill, strength and initative. It hits marines on 3s, wounds them on 2s, but not being a monstrous creature it has to rely on rending to kill things. That is a bit disappointing. The problem is that it only has a marine level toughness, three wounds and a guardsmans armour save to protect it from being hit back. Its Weapon Skill is not good enough to prevent 99% of things hitting it back on a 4+. It will struggle to kill more than one power armoured model a turn, but for every 6 marine attacks back, it will take one wound on average.
You can take 1-3 of these in a brood, which might be needed if you want them to attack squads. Even fairly weak units like devastators, which should be its ideal targets, will likely inflict one wound on it in combat.
It comes with, and can't change or upgrade, a 5+ save, Rending Claws and Scything Talons. Not great, but it is what it is.
Chameleon skin is effectively deepstriking, anywhere outside of 1 inch from the enemy without scattering or risk of death. Unfortunately no option to charge, so you are stuck either shooting, or running. As you don't scatter it is unlikely you will want to run, simply because you could have chosen to deploy pretty much anywhere you could actually run to. So for shooting, what do you have?
What you have are flesh hooks. The range is the same as a pistol, but due to deployment rules that shouldn't be an issue. You have two shots at strength 6 and rending. So effectively a two shot Assault cannon if being fired at tanks. On the plus side, you can appear behind the tanks, and shoot at their weak rear armour. This is a good use of the ability, as a Lictor brood can rampage through a parking lot of tanks, shooting and assaulting if it survives one turn of shooting.
It comes with a selection of special rules, with stealth and move through cover being very handy, as should it appear in cover, it has a very good 3+ cover save to protect it. If it is engaged in a combat it cant win, it can always use hit and run to escape, and with its high initiative, it should manage to do this.
Lastly Pheromone trail. This could have been good, if the words "on the board at the start of the movement phase" were removed from the ability. This gives the tyranid player a bonus +1 to reserve rolls when he is on the table. The downside is, the Lictor has to have arrived the turn before, or it doesn't do anything, which means it needs to have passed its reserve roll a turn or so before. You don't even have the option of deploying it normally or infiltrating. Think of this as an occasionally useful, but probably hardly ever used ability and you wont go far wrong.
Conclusion:
This is a utility unit, specialising in disruption of the enemy and tank destruction. I would avoid any infantry units unless they are heavily depleted as even relatively poor units can take wounds off them. If you can shoot a tank or dreadnought in the rear, you should hopefully be able to do something, stay in cover as much as possible. The good news with this is that the tank may need to turn round to shoot you, and if it does, hopefully its weaker armour is facing longer range guns on your side. If you do get engaged in close combat, use hit and run to escape.
Deathleaper
This is a Lictor special character, costing just over the price of two ordinary Lictors. So it better be pretty good, as it is nearly as expensive as the HQ options! Lets look at what you get on top of a Lictor statistic line. Well standing out for me is the incredibly high weapon skill, the same as the Swarmlord. This means that marines only hit you on 5+, which is a big thing. Same poor save and average toughness, but a point more initiative, although that will only really help vs halberd armed grey knights and some eldar units. You also get an extra attack, nice but by no means does this make it competent in close combat.
It has exactly the same biomorphs and weapons as a Lictor as well as the same Fleet, Move through Cover, Pheromone trail, Stealth and Hit and run rules. In addition it has a couple of unique special rules.
"Its after me" is very decent, it is perhaps the sole reason to actually include the Deathleaper. This reduces one enemy HQs leadership by D3. Best used on psykers. Ability stops should the Deathleaper die, so keeping alive is important.
"What was that" reduces enemy movement in difficult terrain by one dice, down to a minimum of one dice, provided the enemy are in pistol range. Could potentially stop you being charged.
"Where'd it go" Allows the Deathleaper to disappear if it is more than 1 inch away from the enemy, then return back to the table by Chameleon skin deployment. Can be incredibly useful for redeploying and keeping yourself alive. It has the added bonus that should you go second, that you could redeploy on turn 4 and reappear contesting an objective on turn 5 when the enemy can't kill you.
The final special rule is Killing Strike, causing both its combat attacks and Flesh Hooks to rend on 5+, which is quite nice, and makes it quite a lot more reliable at tank hunting.
Conclusion:
Much like the normal Lictor, this is a disruption unit. It is actually better at its job than a unit of two lictors, due to the variety of special rules it brings to the table. I would therefore suggest including the Deathleaper should you ever be tempted to field more than one normal Lictor.
Venomthrope
Another utility unit, of a totally different type to the two Lictors. The Venomthrope is primarily a support unit. The statistic line is not exactly impressive, sporting a marines strength and toughness as well as ballistic skill, despite having no ranged attacks. It has a poor weaponskill, only two attacks, low initiative and only two wounds.
In terms of weapons, it comes with lashwhips, making its initative somewhat better and a 5+ save, which isn't brilliant. It also comes with Toxic Miasma biomorph, perhaps the only time you will see this in a game. However you don't really buy this creature for its statistics, you buy it for its special rules.
First up, Toxic Touch, meaning all its close combat attacks wound on a 2+. Not bad, but really it doesn't have the stat line to be wanting to be in combat, two attacks and a poor weaponskill, coupled with a poor armour save, do not make this a combat beast. So this probably isn't the reason you are taking this.
Second, and most importantly, is Spore Cloud. This incredibly handy ability does a couple of things. Firstly it gives all units on your side within 6 inches a 5+ cover save. This protects everything, including Hive Tyrants etc, who are within range. All units within this range also count as being armed with defensive grenades should anyone assault you. Unlikely, but it is there. An unusual and probably unforeseen side effect of this is that units which are normally strength 3 or lower will benefit assaulting tanks, as defensive grenades give you strength 4, allowing you to target rear armour of things. Units wishing to charge units taking advantage of this cover must take dangerous terrain tests. All these bonuses are lost should the Venomthrope die.
This is the first unit which has access to a mycetic spore. This is essentially a drop pod but will be discussed in further detail in the troops entry where it appears in the codex.
Conclusion:
The Venomthrope brings a lot to the table, in terms of keeping your horde alive when crossing the table. The only real problem is keeping it alive as a single krak missile hit and that is probably it. Its cover save bonus is far more useful to the units around it than itself. With this in mind, you really need to keep it out of line of sight, preferably behind one of the giant new plastic tyranids, be it a Trygon, Mawloc, Tervigon etc.
That concludes the elites part 1 of my review of the Tyranid Codex. Click here for part 4.
After the mammoth entries last week, I am onto Elites choices now. These will be in places a fair amount shorter than the previous entries, simply because a lot of these units only do one or two things really well.
Hive Guard
These are an anti tank unit sporting a very good two shot Impaler Cannon, which is basically a +1 strength autocannon, but with half the range. On the plus side the gun is assault, like all tyranid weapons and doesn't need line of sight to fire. Most of the creatures actual stat line is fairly irrelvant, but it does have a marine level ballistic skill, combined with monstrous creature toughness and a 4+ save, meaning they can be quite difficult to shift. A couple of wounds completes the package nicely.
You will probably want to use of these to dispose of transports. The gun is fairly effective against most armour values, but 13 and upwards may be pushing it. They are not especially points efficient being used against infantry, as the AP isn't good enough to worry marines. Just concentrate on shooting either tough things with low armour saves, or tanks in the armour 10-12 band and they will be fine.
Conclusion:
They have no options to talk about beyond picking 1 to 3 in a brood, they are what they are, light tank hunters, and they come in at a bargain price. One of the best units in the codex, I have no doubt.
Lictor Brood
Ahh the Lictor. In the past, the Lictor was a feared unit causing havoc and being virtually impossible to see and hit. These days it is far more conventional, but has a few complex rules to look into. First lets consider its stat line. What first jumps out at me is its high weaponskill, strength and initative. It hits marines on 3s, wounds them on 2s, but not being a monstrous creature it has to rely on rending to kill things. That is a bit disappointing. The problem is that it only has a marine level toughness, three wounds and a guardsmans armour save to protect it from being hit back. Its Weapon Skill is not good enough to prevent 99% of things hitting it back on a 4+. It will struggle to kill more than one power armoured model a turn, but for every 6 marine attacks back, it will take one wound on average.
You can take 1-3 of these in a brood, which might be needed if you want them to attack squads. Even fairly weak units like devastators, which should be its ideal targets, will likely inflict one wound on it in combat.
It comes with, and can't change or upgrade, a 5+ save, Rending Claws and Scything Talons. Not great, but it is what it is.
Chameleon skin is effectively deepstriking, anywhere outside of 1 inch from the enemy without scattering or risk of death. Unfortunately no option to charge, so you are stuck either shooting, or running. As you don't scatter it is unlikely you will want to run, simply because you could have chosen to deploy pretty much anywhere you could actually run to. So for shooting, what do you have?
What you have are flesh hooks. The range is the same as a pistol, but due to deployment rules that shouldn't be an issue. You have two shots at strength 6 and rending. So effectively a two shot Assault cannon if being fired at tanks. On the plus side, you can appear behind the tanks, and shoot at their weak rear armour. This is a good use of the ability, as a Lictor brood can rampage through a parking lot of tanks, shooting and assaulting if it survives one turn of shooting.
It comes with a selection of special rules, with stealth and move through cover being very handy, as should it appear in cover, it has a very good 3+ cover save to protect it. If it is engaged in a combat it cant win, it can always use hit and run to escape, and with its high initiative, it should manage to do this.
Lastly Pheromone trail. This could have been good, if the words "on the board at the start of the movement phase" were removed from the ability. This gives the tyranid player a bonus +1 to reserve rolls when he is on the table. The downside is, the Lictor has to have arrived the turn before, or it doesn't do anything, which means it needs to have passed its reserve roll a turn or so before. You don't even have the option of deploying it normally or infiltrating. Think of this as an occasionally useful, but probably hardly ever used ability and you wont go far wrong.
Conclusion:
This is a utility unit, specialising in disruption of the enemy and tank destruction. I would avoid any infantry units unless they are heavily depleted as even relatively poor units can take wounds off them. If you can shoot a tank or dreadnought in the rear, you should hopefully be able to do something, stay in cover as much as possible. The good news with this is that the tank may need to turn round to shoot you, and if it does, hopefully its weaker armour is facing longer range guns on your side. If you do get engaged in close combat, use hit and run to escape.
Deathleaper
This is a Lictor special character, costing just over the price of two ordinary Lictors. So it better be pretty good, as it is nearly as expensive as the HQ options! Lets look at what you get on top of a Lictor statistic line. Well standing out for me is the incredibly high weapon skill, the same as the Swarmlord. This means that marines only hit you on 5+, which is a big thing. Same poor save and average toughness, but a point more initiative, although that will only really help vs halberd armed grey knights and some eldar units. You also get an extra attack, nice but by no means does this make it competent in close combat.
It has exactly the same biomorphs and weapons as a Lictor as well as the same Fleet, Move through Cover, Pheromone trail, Stealth and Hit and run rules. In addition it has a couple of unique special rules.
"Its after me" is very decent, it is perhaps the sole reason to actually include the Deathleaper. This reduces one enemy HQs leadership by D3. Best used on psykers. Ability stops should the Deathleaper die, so keeping alive is important.
"What was that" reduces enemy movement in difficult terrain by one dice, down to a minimum of one dice, provided the enemy are in pistol range. Could potentially stop you being charged.
"Where'd it go" Allows the Deathleaper to disappear if it is more than 1 inch away from the enemy, then return back to the table by Chameleon skin deployment. Can be incredibly useful for redeploying and keeping yourself alive. It has the added bonus that should you go second, that you could redeploy on turn 4 and reappear contesting an objective on turn 5 when the enemy can't kill you.
The final special rule is Killing Strike, causing both its combat attacks and Flesh Hooks to rend on 5+, which is quite nice, and makes it quite a lot more reliable at tank hunting.
Conclusion:
Much like the normal Lictor, this is a disruption unit. It is actually better at its job than a unit of two lictors, due to the variety of special rules it brings to the table. I would therefore suggest including the Deathleaper should you ever be tempted to field more than one normal Lictor.
Venomthrope
Another utility unit, of a totally different type to the two Lictors. The Venomthrope is primarily a support unit. The statistic line is not exactly impressive, sporting a marines strength and toughness as well as ballistic skill, despite having no ranged attacks. It has a poor weaponskill, only two attacks, low initiative and only two wounds.
In terms of weapons, it comes with lashwhips, making its initative somewhat better and a 5+ save, which isn't brilliant. It also comes with Toxic Miasma biomorph, perhaps the only time you will see this in a game. However you don't really buy this creature for its statistics, you buy it for its special rules.
First up, Toxic Touch, meaning all its close combat attacks wound on a 2+. Not bad, but really it doesn't have the stat line to be wanting to be in combat, two attacks and a poor weaponskill, coupled with a poor armour save, do not make this a combat beast. So this probably isn't the reason you are taking this.
Second, and most importantly, is Spore Cloud. This incredibly handy ability does a couple of things. Firstly it gives all units on your side within 6 inches a 5+ cover save. This protects everything, including Hive Tyrants etc, who are within range. All units within this range also count as being armed with defensive grenades should anyone assault you. Unlikely, but it is there. An unusual and probably unforeseen side effect of this is that units which are normally strength 3 or lower will benefit assaulting tanks, as defensive grenades give you strength 4, allowing you to target rear armour of things. Units wishing to charge units taking advantage of this cover must take dangerous terrain tests. All these bonuses are lost should the Venomthrope die.
This is the first unit which has access to a mycetic spore. This is essentially a drop pod but will be discussed in further detail in the troops entry where it appears in the codex.
Conclusion:
The Venomthrope brings a lot to the table, in terms of keeping your horde alive when crossing the table. The only real problem is keeping it alive as a single krak missile hit and that is probably it. Its cover save bonus is far more useful to the units around it than itself. With this in mind, you really need to keep it out of line of sight, preferably behind one of the giant new plastic tyranids, be it a Trygon, Mawloc, Tervigon etc.
That concludes the elites part 1 of my review of the Tyranid Codex. Click here for part 4.
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