Its been a fair while between posts, I don't update as often as I used to do. I have however been thinking about just how accurate a blast weapon is, opposed to a regular shot from a unit. Consider some basic units;
Ork: BS2
Guardsman/fire warrior/termagant: BS3
Space Marine: BS4
These are some of the common basic unit types in the game. They cover the three most common ballistic skill levels. An ork has 1/3 chance of a hit, a guardsman a 1/2 chance of a hit and a marine a fairly high 2/3 chance of a hit.
So how does this compare to blast weapons? Lets consider the two basic sizes, small blast at 3 inches and the larger one at 5 inches.
All blast weapons have a 1/3 chance of a hit, from the off. This matches what Orks already get, but is worse than the other races standard BS. So straight away, you might be thinking, why would you use such an innacurate weapon?
Well the good folks at GW allow you to take your BS into account when seeing if you hit. As you know, you have a mighty 3/36 or 1/12 chance of rolling a double one, or a one and a two. This is a bonus chance of hitting, should your shot scatter.
So you will find an Ork has roughly a 0.36 chance of a hit with a blast weapon. Except that in reality he doesn't. Because, as you know the template is bigger than 1 inch wide, so if it scatters only 1 inch, you will still hit at least the target model. With the larger blast, you will still hit them if it scatters 2 inches. So what does that do to the maths? Well it improves the chance of the ork hitting to a mighty 0.39 for the smaller blast and a fairly impressive 0.50 with the larger blast. You also have a chance of hitting other models in the squad!
So for orks, its an entirely positive experience using blast weapons. Unfortunately, if you have more than BS2, they get less of a boost and with bs4 small blasts are less accurate than firing a normal gun.
Chance of hitting the exact model with bs 3 is 0.42 and with scattering the small blast hits 0.50 and the larger one 0.61.
Chance of hitting the exact model with bs4 is 0.50 and with scattering the small blast hits 0.61 and the larger one 0.75.
Friday 24 October 2014
Tuesday 15 July 2014
7th Edition. Is it really 6.5?
So after a fairly long hiatus, I have finally got around to looking at the 7th edition rules.
I have to say, I am not really impressed. For a rough estimate, I would suggest around 95% of the core rules and around 99% of special and weapon rules have stayed the same. For the price of the books I expected more.
Which brings me to the books. There is a big rule book, a background book and a sort of painting book.
The painting book has mostly big photos of models with no real explanation on how they were painted. There is a heavy emphasis on Ultramarines and not much on other factions and something that may possibly be classed as tactics, but it really doesn't come across that way in reading it. I could quite happily have never seen this book, never mind paid actual money for it. If it had shown a few more gamers armies, or shown how to do some of the painted models, or painting methods, then I would have been much more impressed.
The background book is a rehash of what has been said in previous publications. I couldn't actually see anything new in this whole book. While I am sure it is of some value to new gamers, to someone who has been playing for near twenty years, its not very much use to me. The specific sections on different factions is covered in much better details in their own codexes.
Now those books have been dealt with, back to the rules. The rules are really just 6th edition with a couple of changes. This isn't a bad thing as 6th was a solid set of rules.
Big changes, as far as I can tell are as follows;
Psychic phase. It looks like initially a small nerf in the volume of powers cast, although certain armies will see a boost I think. Its quite similar to the old fashioned dice pools for casting from fantasy. Its early to say for sure, but focused witchfires actually look usable now, which is a nice change. There doesn't appear to be an upper limit on how many dice you use to cast either. This means you can throw all your dice at a spell you really want. I also like how you get the primaris power for free if you pick all your powers from the same deck. Overall this is an improvement.
Shooting phase. There has been a fairly interesting change. You now roll all the weapons of one type, then resolve the effects before rolling the next set. This will slow games down, but provides a tactical choice to the game in trying to stack melta hits on characters when the fodder is hosed down in front of him with lesser weapons. I like this.
Charge ranges: Has stayed the same, but with small changes. Now difficult terrain reduces the charge by a set distance. Makes it a bit more predictable. I think this is good too.
Vehicle damage: It is now no longer possible to blow up a vehicle in one hit with an Ap3 or worse weapon. This makes vehicles across the board tougher and thus more desirable. Except oddly landraiders, and other 14 all round vehicles, which were virtually impervious to these lower damage weapons in the first place. I am unsure how much of an effect this will have, except armour 10 vehicles become considerably tougher.
Lords of war are now included in the Force Organisation Chart.
New missions are far more dynamic, allowing armies built around speed and reaction to do well, where as static armies may struggle.
Overall my impressions are that 7th is a positive step forwards. I can't think of any changes that have been for the worse, but it does strike me as more 6.5 than a new version of the rules.
I have to say, I am not really impressed. For a rough estimate, I would suggest around 95% of the core rules and around 99% of special and weapon rules have stayed the same. For the price of the books I expected more.
Which brings me to the books. There is a big rule book, a background book and a sort of painting book.
The painting book has mostly big photos of models with no real explanation on how they were painted. There is a heavy emphasis on Ultramarines and not much on other factions and something that may possibly be classed as tactics, but it really doesn't come across that way in reading it. I could quite happily have never seen this book, never mind paid actual money for it. If it had shown a few more gamers armies, or shown how to do some of the painted models, or painting methods, then I would have been much more impressed.
The background book is a rehash of what has been said in previous publications. I couldn't actually see anything new in this whole book. While I am sure it is of some value to new gamers, to someone who has been playing for near twenty years, its not very much use to me. The specific sections on different factions is covered in much better details in their own codexes.
Now those books have been dealt with, back to the rules. The rules are really just 6th edition with a couple of changes. This isn't a bad thing as 6th was a solid set of rules.
Big changes, as far as I can tell are as follows;
Psychic phase. It looks like initially a small nerf in the volume of powers cast, although certain armies will see a boost I think. Its quite similar to the old fashioned dice pools for casting from fantasy. Its early to say for sure, but focused witchfires actually look usable now, which is a nice change. There doesn't appear to be an upper limit on how many dice you use to cast either. This means you can throw all your dice at a spell you really want. I also like how you get the primaris power for free if you pick all your powers from the same deck. Overall this is an improvement.
Shooting phase. There has been a fairly interesting change. You now roll all the weapons of one type, then resolve the effects before rolling the next set. This will slow games down, but provides a tactical choice to the game in trying to stack melta hits on characters when the fodder is hosed down in front of him with lesser weapons. I like this.
Charge ranges: Has stayed the same, but with small changes. Now difficult terrain reduces the charge by a set distance. Makes it a bit more predictable. I think this is good too.
Vehicle damage: It is now no longer possible to blow up a vehicle in one hit with an Ap3 or worse weapon. This makes vehicles across the board tougher and thus more desirable. Except oddly landraiders, and other 14 all round vehicles, which were virtually impervious to these lower damage weapons in the first place. I am unsure how much of an effect this will have, except armour 10 vehicles become considerably tougher.
Lords of war are now included in the Force Organisation Chart.
New missions are far more dynamic, allowing armies built around speed and reaction to do well, where as static armies may struggle.
Overall my impressions are that 7th is a positive step forwards. I can't think of any changes that have been for the worse, but it does strike me as more 6.5 than a new version of the rules.
Saturday 1 February 2014
New Tyranids, a brief look at the new codex
There has been a lot of hate on the Internet about the new book. But some crucial points have either been missed or brushed under the carpet.
A lot of units have a sizable points reduction. Anywhere between 20 and 25% in some cases. Their statistics mostly remain the same.
They now also gain a bonus attack from two sets of melee weapons. Something they never used to have.
For me, most of the book is usable with a couple of exceptions. The Tyranid Prime is massively over priced now, and I think everyone could see Tervigons being hit by the nerf bat. Lictors, previously the worst unit are slightly improved now having infiltrate. The Deathleaper is a really good unit.
Boneswords being AP 3 didn't surprise me. It doesn't affect MCs but warriors suffer. But were you really expecting them to go up against terminators? I didn't think so.
Daemons got similar points drops and they had reductions in statistics. Their book is very usable and I really see no reason to not think the Tyranid one will be too.
Also, the Tyrant gets very cheap wings. Expect to see ALL flying tyrants unless someone stumps up the points for Swarmlord and Tyrant guard.
A lot of units have a sizable points reduction. Anywhere between 20 and 25% in some cases. Their statistics mostly remain the same.
They now also gain a bonus attack from two sets of melee weapons. Something they never used to have.
For me, most of the book is usable with a couple of exceptions. The Tyranid Prime is massively over priced now, and I think everyone could see Tervigons being hit by the nerf bat. Lictors, previously the worst unit are slightly improved now having infiltrate. The Deathleaper is a really good unit.
Boneswords being AP 3 didn't surprise me. It doesn't affect MCs but warriors suffer. But were you really expecting them to go up against terminators? I didn't think so.
Daemons got similar points drops and they had reductions in statistics. Their book is very usable and I really see no reason to not think the Tyranid one will be too.
Also, the Tyrant gets very cheap wings. Expect to see ALL flying tyrants unless someone stumps up the points for Swarmlord and Tyrant guard.
Tuesday 28 January 2014
Wraithknight thoughts
So my attention has recently been turned towards the Eldar Wraithknight. One of my gaming group is consistently telling me I need to buy one. With the considerable price tag attached to this unit in both money and points, you need to ask and answer yourself a number of questions first.
1. Do my armies have 240-300+ points spare for a large monster with just two guns?
2. Will it synergise with my existing Eldar force?
3. Is it really better than taking two Wraithlords or Fire Prisms who cost half as much?
The first question is very important. How cruicial to the running of your army is having one or more of these creatures? I play a fairly wraith heavy eldar army and I have no spare points, never mind slots for this to take part.
Its firepower, while on the face of it impressive, is really not. If you think about it, the Wraithcannons are just a pair of longer ranged Wraithguard guns. So it has the firepower of two Wraithguard. Fielding this naked is the most points efficient, but should only be done if you really need two more long ranged anti tank guns. I am fairly certain Fireprisms work out a lot better choices, because they can fire blasts as well as a powerful lance shot from their main gun. Absolutely noone ever looks at the standard Landraider and goes "Wow, two twinlinked lascannons, thats a very powerful battle tank". They buy it for its dual nature as a heavily armoured transport with guns. This version of Wraithknight has roughly the same firepower, although it isn't twinlinked, nor can it fire any shoulder weapons, and can't transport either.
I would ignore the Sword/Shield entirely. Paying extra points, lose both my guns, gain a shield and a single rerolled miss in close combat. Really? I think not. I think this is the only chassis that would ever use both staggeringly over priced shoulder mounts though.
The third option, Suncannon/shield initially looks pretty viable. You get more or less 3 plasmacannon shots, without gets hot and at s6 not s7. So far so good. But the price is an eye wateringly high, when you buy the nigh on compulsary scatter laser. You also lose anti tank for a bunch of anti infantry shots. This is horribly inefficient compared to the Fire prism also. Do you really need more anti infantry fire? Eldar are full of them! Also, two Wraithlords with paired starcannons would throw down 8 shots between them, and can also have the sword.
Next up you need to check if it will synergise. It is a very unusual unit. It has very little firepower and its combat ability, while strong vs s3 or s4 units, it will fold like a soggy cardboard box in combat against something like Thunder Hammer terminators or anything armed with poison. It is reasonably tough against shooting, but even kitted out with a force field, its better to keep in cover than rely on that. Otherwise you could find a mere 6 krak missiles ending your day prematurely.
Thirdly you need to consider if other units can do its job better. First to consider is the Wraithlord. It is half as much and comes with half as many wounds. It doesn't however come with built in heavy weapons, so you will need to purchase them. Wraithlords are characters, so can challenge characters, unlike the wraith knight. Wraithlords are also considerably smaller and easier to hide in cover. Wraithknights are faster due to jump jets and can in theory deep strike, provided you want to risk it mishapping. It can't however be in two places at once, and its firepower is pretty much worse than a pair of Wraithlords who can have flamers and swords without penalty.
That is all well and good, but they seem to come out much the same as a pair of Wriathlords really. I think I would prefer two models over one big one, especially given theres not all that much difference between a brightlance and a wraithcannon, but each to their own.
No the biggest problem is the Fire Prism. This tank, for a lot less points, even with the compulsory holofields works out at least a hundred points cheaper and is faster, tough, and can engage both tanks and infantry with ease on the same chassis.
My conclusion from this piece is that the Wraithknight is not an ultra competitive choice. It may be in some builds, specifically Taudar or Eldau or wraithwing lists, that fielding three of them works out just fine for you. My issue is that their armour save is not all that ultra fantastic considering most weapons being aimed at it will bypass it entirely, and invulnerable saves are not brilliant on the two chassis which can have them. I mean how often do non stormshield terminators fail their saves? A lot!
1. Do my armies have 240-300+ points spare for a large monster with just two guns?
2. Will it synergise with my existing Eldar force?
3. Is it really better than taking two Wraithlords or Fire Prisms who cost half as much?
The first question is very important. How cruicial to the running of your army is having one or more of these creatures? I play a fairly wraith heavy eldar army and I have no spare points, never mind slots for this to take part.
Its firepower, while on the face of it impressive, is really not. If you think about it, the Wraithcannons are just a pair of longer ranged Wraithguard guns. So it has the firepower of two Wraithguard. Fielding this naked is the most points efficient, but should only be done if you really need two more long ranged anti tank guns. I am fairly certain Fireprisms work out a lot better choices, because they can fire blasts as well as a powerful lance shot from their main gun. Absolutely noone ever looks at the standard Landraider and goes "Wow, two twinlinked lascannons, thats a very powerful battle tank". They buy it for its dual nature as a heavily armoured transport with guns. This version of Wraithknight has roughly the same firepower, although it isn't twinlinked, nor can it fire any shoulder weapons, and can't transport either.
I would ignore the Sword/Shield entirely. Paying extra points, lose both my guns, gain a shield and a single rerolled miss in close combat. Really? I think not. I think this is the only chassis that would ever use both staggeringly over priced shoulder mounts though.
The third option, Suncannon/shield initially looks pretty viable. You get more or less 3 plasmacannon shots, without gets hot and at s6 not s7. So far so good. But the price is an eye wateringly high, when you buy the nigh on compulsary scatter laser. You also lose anti tank for a bunch of anti infantry shots. This is horribly inefficient compared to the Fire prism also. Do you really need more anti infantry fire? Eldar are full of them! Also, two Wraithlords with paired starcannons would throw down 8 shots between them, and can also have the sword.
Next up you need to check if it will synergise. It is a very unusual unit. It has very little firepower and its combat ability, while strong vs s3 or s4 units, it will fold like a soggy cardboard box in combat against something like Thunder Hammer terminators or anything armed with poison. It is reasonably tough against shooting, but even kitted out with a force field, its better to keep in cover than rely on that. Otherwise you could find a mere 6 krak missiles ending your day prematurely.
Thirdly you need to consider if other units can do its job better. First to consider is the Wraithlord. It is half as much and comes with half as many wounds. It doesn't however come with built in heavy weapons, so you will need to purchase them. Wraithlords are characters, so can challenge characters, unlike the wraith knight. Wraithlords are also considerably smaller and easier to hide in cover. Wraithknights are faster due to jump jets and can in theory deep strike, provided you want to risk it mishapping. It can't however be in two places at once, and its firepower is pretty much worse than a pair of Wraithlords who can have flamers and swords without penalty.
That is all well and good, but they seem to come out much the same as a pair of Wriathlords really. I think I would prefer two models over one big one, especially given theres not all that much difference between a brightlance and a wraithcannon, but each to their own.
No the biggest problem is the Fire Prism. This tank, for a lot less points, even with the compulsory holofields works out at least a hundred points cheaper and is faster, tough, and can engage both tanks and infantry with ease on the same chassis.
My conclusion from this piece is that the Wraithknight is not an ultra competitive choice. It may be in some builds, specifically Taudar or Eldau or wraithwing lists, that fielding three of them works out just fine for you. My issue is that their armour save is not all that ultra fantastic considering most weapons being aimed at it will bypass it entirely, and invulnerable saves are not brilliant on the two chassis which can have them. I mean how often do non stormshield terminators fail their saves? A lot!
Monday 27 January 2014
Asurman and Dire Avengers. Why my opinion has changed
Anyone reading this blog for a long time will no doubt be laughing at the amount of backtracks I have made on actually using units, as opposed to just reading about them. This is another such article.
Despite much trepidation I have been using both Dire Avengers, and Asurman in my lists. Both seem over priced for what they do, yet in using them, I have won more games.
In football management terms, sometimes you can have a player in your team, who doesn't appear to do a great deal, but his inclusion means you have more wins, so you keep including him without knowing why.
This is the case with my Dire Avengers. Everything about them screams over priced to me. Yet they consistently do a job and do it well. Perhaps its because I don't waste points on Exarchs and just field units of 8 normal warriors. At the moment I don't really know, but I am endeavouring to find out.
Asurman on the other hand is solid as a rock. This is the reason he is my Warlord. He has worse shooting than half the other Phoenix Lords, and worse combat than pretty much all of the Phoenix lords, but is one of the most expensive.
The key to using him is to understand his Warlord trait ability. D3 Warlord traits. What you are hoping to roll is number 4. This allows him to reroll his armour save. A 2+ rerollable save, with eternal warrior and a 4++ invulnerable save rerolling 1s is insanely strong. Small arms fire will bounce off him 35/36 times he is wounded which makes killing him virtually impossible outside of ap2 fire.
Stand at the front of the unit he is in, and tank everything. You can look out sir any Ap2 hits and even if you fail, you are eternal warrior so its not the end of the world if a railgun hits you in the face. In the event you don't get the Warlord trait you want, you can always hope you get Fortune. You do have a farseer right?
His shooting attacks are pretty lame. A pair of catapults making them twinlinked isn't really all that, considering his high bs of 7 would have made it kind of twinlinked anyway.
Get him into combat however and he shines. His special Diresword makes him S5 AP2 striking on initative with a boat load of attacks. He can and will carve through anything without a decent save, and if they have poor leadership, he will do an even more damage when they fail their leadership tests. This special ability even bypasses eternal warrior!
Despite much trepidation I have been using both Dire Avengers, and Asurman in my lists. Both seem over priced for what they do, yet in using them, I have won more games.
In football management terms, sometimes you can have a player in your team, who doesn't appear to do a great deal, but his inclusion means you have more wins, so you keep including him without knowing why.
This is the case with my Dire Avengers. Everything about them screams over priced to me. Yet they consistently do a job and do it well. Perhaps its because I don't waste points on Exarchs and just field units of 8 normal warriors. At the moment I don't really know, but I am endeavouring to find out.
Asurman on the other hand is solid as a rock. This is the reason he is my Warlord. He has worse shooting than half the other Phoenix Lords, and worse combat than pretty much all of the Phoenix lords, but is one of the most expensive.
The key to using him is to understand his Warlord trait ability. D3 Warlord traits. What you are hoping to roll is number 4. This allows him to reroll his armour save. A 2+ rerollable save, with eternal warrior and a 4++ invulnerable save rerolling 1s is insanely strong. Small arms fire will bounce off him 35/36 times he is wounded which makes killing him virtually impossible outside of ap2 fire.
Stand at the front of the unit he is in, and tank everything. You can look out sir any Ap2 hits and even if you fail, you are eternal warrior so its not the end of the world if a railgun hits you in the face. In the event you don't get the Warlord trait you want, you can always hope you get Fortune. You do have a farseer right?
His shooting attacks are pretty lame. A pair of catapults making them twinlinked isn't really all that, considering his high bs of 7 would have made it kind of twinlinked anyway.
Get him into combat however and he shines. His special Diresword makes him S5 AP2 striking on initative with a boat load of attacks. He can and will carve through anything without a decent save, and if they have poor leadership, he will do an even more damage when they fail their leadership tests. This special ability even bypasses eternal warrior!
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