In the previous engagment on the moon of Encratis IV the hated Disciples of Caliban stole ancient tomes from the clutches of Ahriman and his disciple, Lord Moros. It gave Moros great joy now that the forces of the Thousand Sons had finally caught up to the thieves as they attempted to board their Thunderhawks and make for their Cruisers in orbit.
Now was the time to retake what was rightfully his and take one step closer to understanding the webway. Ahriman could feel the power of the warp flowing through him. He grasped onto the strings of the future and foresaw victory. As the Land Raider and Rhinos of the Renegades approached the outskirts of the landing zone Ravenwing scanners alerted the Disciples of hostile forces. They deployed to ambush Ahriman and Lord Moros, but little did they know, that Ahriman could read their thoughts and see their plans, plans that would fail.
As the shining blue and gold vehicles drove confidently into the ruins of a long forgotten city, the Dark Angels attacked! The ravenwing burst from cover, dust and rocks spewing from their tires and firing bolters and meltas at Ahriman's Land Raider. Scouts squads bearing rocket launchers and Lascannon fire from concealed Predators streaked through the air. Inside the armored shell of the Land Raider Moros could see the calm in his master. The voice of Ahriman could be heard in the heads of the drivers, they avoided the fusillade of fire to the Disciples amazement. Ahriman could see where the shots would land before they were even fired, truly, this day the warp was strong with them!
Adso, commander of the deathwing terminators of the Disciples of Caliban teleported into the path of the land raider, taunting it. Ahriman obliged, the assault ramp lowered and Ahriman unleashed his powers. Moros and the Sekhmet terminators that accompanied them charged with all the strength they could muster to keep pace with their lord. Sorcerer Qoheleth and his rubric marines poured out of their Rhino forming a wall of sorcerous bolter fire. The ravenwing bikers fell to the withering barrage of inferno bolts and warp energy from Ahriman. Ahriman and his retinue charged the hill that Adso so boastfully held! Frag grenades exploded as Ahriman fell upon the terminator guard of Adso. Every swipe of their lightning claws was telegraphed and avoided as if Ahriman has fought this fight a thousand times already. They were no match for him as his force weapon melted through their armor as if it were made of wax. Moros locked weapons with Adso in defense of his lord. The power of the warp flowed through him, it seemed as if Adso was moving as slow as a training servitor. Moros parried his claws aside and finding a weak spot under his shoulder armor unloaded a bolter round deep into Adso. Their eyes met, an instant later the shell exploded along with Adso's left arm.
After the fall of their leader the remaining Space Marines lost their will to fight, it was clear there was some unseen force at play here. All of their shots failed to find their marks. Vailiantly they fought, but it was of no use. This day the forces of Ahriman were victorious! From the bloodstained corpse of Adso Ahriman secured the stolen texts. One would think he would be filled with pride at the glorious victory, but he was stoic, he had already foreseen this outcome.
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Awesome match Brother C. !
In this annihilation game, Brother C. went first, but from the very first turn we could all see how this was going to turn out. All his shots failed to even glace me. He did manage to knock out my Defiler in the first turn (but what else is new). I am considering getting rid of it in favor for something else. It just never performs well.
The dice really won this match for me, but the power of my hq squad really is something to be feared. He did manage to kill them off, but only because Ahriman failed 3..... 3! psychic tests in a row resulting in 2 wounds and his death. The rubric squads really held their ground, as they always do with their 4++ saves. I really need to take melta bombs on them.
I did learn a lot from this match and I realized a ton of things I can trim and change that will help me streamline my game.
For a limited time you can get a box of space marine scouts at 50% off manufacturers suggested price! Get them while they are in stock. With prices like this who needs to play with paper circles? Great if your just starting or to finish up your army. Heck I might buy some and I don't even play Space Marines. Every box comes with a variety of different weapons so you can outfit the squad many different ways. You get enough plastic parts to assemble five (5) Scouts. Miniatures care unpainted and unassembled. May not include the original packaging. All items purchased come from Amazon.com and ship directly to you.
Alright, so you purchased your codex and you think you have a pretty good well-rounded list, check, you have developed some strategies which play into the strengths and avoid the weaknesses of that list, check. Now for the fun part, PLAYING. But.. wait… there’s a problem. You haven’t purchased any models yet, and you don’t have the $400+ to drop on our entire list plus paint. Guess you’ll have to get that extra part time job, save every penny, or forgo that vacation this year; just to play the game? That’s ludicrous. I know many gaming clubs only allow you to participate if you have a fully modeled force. Sometimes they even need to be painted. At Lancashire Wargaming we understand the importance of experience and that money should never be a hindrance to your ability to play. That is why we allow new players to use all sorts of alternative means to play the game. This also has the added benefit of trial and error with list building. Players will learn what combinations work and which ones do not. All the while, not spending money and time on models they will not use. We recommend building slowly, setting a monthly budget for expenditures and allow your experience to shape how you construct your force. Below I will go through a few alternate solutions I have used before obtaining my models, you will need to check with your local club to see which of these they will accept, or… just find a friend who won’t mind playing with less than a fully painted force. Without further adieu…
1. cardboard or construction paper cutouts. These work great for very new players. Simply draw out on colored construction paper or cardboard the base sizes for your units you have chosen in your list. Write on these cutouts what the unit is, what weapons they are carrying, and any other important information to help remind yourself of what it is. It will look a bit silly on the board, all these paper discs, but trust me, this is a fantastic way to start and learn the game.
2. Proxies A proxy is basically any model representing another on the board. This may take many forms. You could borrow models from a friend. Who cares if they are even the right army? So you use your friends elder guardians as tacts in your army, it will begin to give you a feel for the scale of the game, sight lines, etc. If you did happen to order some models that you aren’t currently using in your list, substitute. For instance, you bought a command squad, and then later you decide, you really needed a scout squad to supplement your army. Use the models you have until you can afford to buy, model, and paint the scouts. Use household objects with similar sizes. My example is soap boxes as tanks, you will be amazed just how similar the size of a normal soap box is to the size of a rhino or pred. Go ahead, measure it, its certainly close enough to allow a new player to use.
3. Paper Hammer I stumbled upon this fantastic website recently. Paper Hammer. Its just amazing. Full paper models of many of the models from warhammer 40k. I don’t need to discuss this too much because I think the website certainly speaks for itself. I’ve attached an image of a paper drop pod I constructed in very little time. They have the templates and instructions all on the site. Simply download, print, cut, and glue. You’re done. You can even color the models if you like. This is my favorite place holder until you are able to purchase the models.
4. Other helpful tips: Split sets or battleforces with a friend. Here is an example. The prophet and I recently split an assault on black reach set. 35 dollars each, this was a great way for both of us to get some of the pieces we needed for our armies, at minimal cost. A single box of terms costs 50 bucks. For 35 I received a term squad, dread, and 10 tacts, and a captain model which would be great to use as a proxy for an HQ or sarge. EBAY – for used models, painted models, sets and sprues that people have simply bought and never used, got bored with, or just wanting to make a profit. Since it is an auction site, it can be very hit or miss, so be vigilante and careful. For example, I just recently I saw 2 ravenwing battleforce boxes for $100. they normally sell for $90 on GW. Can’t beat that with a stick.
In conclusion, having a built army on the board completely changes the look and feel of the game. It is well worth putting in the time and effort it takes to assemble your forces. However, and more importantly, is to expand the community and provide players with gameplay experience. (at least that is the viewpoint of Lancashire Wargaming) which is why we allow our members to play regardless of the built status of their army. We realize this will make us less appealing to the more hardcore gamers out there but we feel the investment in the new players is worth it.
questions? flames? comments? what model alternatives did you use when you first started playing warhammer 40k?
I was thinking about writing some back story for my army and thought I should do a little reading up on fan fiction for Warhammer 40k. let me just say that The story of commissar Abel told from her point of view through a journal, is by far the best piece of Fan written literature I have EVER read. I would highly suggest this to anyone looking into some fan based works.
I'm only up to the 8th of 21 chapters and I'm already completely and fully engrossed. The story follows Abel on her way to becoming a great Commissar and war hero. The story allows you to experience life in the imperial guard from a way I thought impossible. Abel's tale is one of both intrigue and war, action and passion ( and it's not raunchy either). The action is there and the strategic planing is exceptional while neither is dull or too graphic.
I had a great weekend! I got a hold of a new model and a new book! I can't wait to read about Ahriman and the Thousand Sons while I'm building my new Chaos Dreadnought!
Scarab swarms are an interesting topic. They have a few special rules that make cover saves complicated. There is a Scarab swarm special rule called small target, this rule states that a scarab swarms cover save is given a +1 modifier because they are hard to hit. The 5th rulebook has special rules for swarms, and this states that swarms have the stealth rule. Stealth also grants them a +1 modifier on cover saves.
Now the question is do scarab swarms get both those +1 modifiers or not? The Necron faq (around the bottom of the second page) clearly state that scarab swarms are to be considered swarms. Should they get both +1 modifiers it would only affect a few select situations. Because you can't have a 1+ cover save (meaning you would always save) when you turbo boost the save is still a 2+ cover save.
What would be affected is when the unit of scarabs and any independent character attached to that unit are in cover. If the terrain in question grants a 4+ cover save it would be counted as a 2+ if both rules were used. I wont go into detail about the 5+ or 6+ cover saves because I'm sure you can all determine what they would be.
I don't know how to take this exactly because there is some overlap with other rules for the scarab swarms also, but they do exactly the same thing. The rule vulnerable to blasts is given in both the necron codex and the 5th edition rulebook though this is the exact same rule, granted the stealth rule and small target do the same thing but at least have different names.
Personally I will be talking with whoever I play against before hand to determine how this rule will be played during the game. I suspect that if and when the Necrons get a new codex that this will be taken care of but until then it's basically between the players how the rules should be interpreted.
Would Necrons fight the Tyranids or vice versa? I think that they would leave each other alone. I am of course assuming that the Tyranids are soulless. Just a few points for my argument.
The nids are basically mindless animals without the hive mind therefore I categorize them as having about as much soul as an extremely angry/large dog. The C'tan really only want to devour souls.
Hive mind/synapse are psychic abilities, pariahs disrupt any psychic ability
Nids attack planets because they are hungry, Necrons live on dead worlds that have no life on them.
Even if a Tyranid managed to eat the heap of metal that would be a dead necron, the necron would phase right out of the Tyranid's stomach to be repaired on a tomb world.
In the codex it says that the nids intentionally avoid necron worlds.
I think the necrons might even be chummy with the Tyranids. All the nids want to do is devour life and grow. The necrons would very much enjoy the extermination of all life. I think the necrons may very well just let the nids go do there thing. Eventually resources will run out and who will be there to rule forever? NECRONS!!!! Granted the C'tan are pretty greedy and want to eat everybody's souls, but I don't think that the nids do anything with the souls anyway. I don't see why the nids and necrons can't form the axis of evil here. Tell me what you think in the comments.
Hey all! Here is my first attempt at an Ork list! WAAAAAAGHHHh! My thinking with this list is that Ork bikers are awesome! So the more the merrier! The bikerz charge in taking out all they can and absorbing as many hits as they can. The trucks and battle wagon follow up behind them and finish anything off that is left.
The tankbustas are in the battlewagon for anti-vehicle duty. Power Klaws will also help with vehicles.
I think it is a pretty decent list, but then again I am no ork player. I am doing this to help out the Prophet at the club. Gotta get him some wins for the green tide!
If you know something about orks comments would be great!
Finished them! Here are 3 of my Tzeentch Terminators that are the body guard of Ahriman for my army. They all have combi-meltas and powerfists. One is also carrying the Icon of Tzeentch!
Hope you guys like them, I still have lots of work to do on all my models, including these. I wanna get them looking more weathered like they were in battles. But my skills only take me so far. Learned a lot making these three.
I've recently been pondering how best to help our new members. and I decided to share some of my own experiences from learning to play the game. So.. you purchased a codex and you started to create a list. aka, you picked some really cool guys you think will help you win the match. that's great, most important thing is that you should be playing the army and the units you like; Since there really is no wrong way to start an army.
Now that you have your list, schedule a match. An important thing to do when first starting out is to play matches. Lots of matches. At the club, we allow the new players to use cardboard cutouts to represent their forces for educational purposes. We do not want to turn anyone away from learning the game just because they can't drop the money for all the models right away. We are all about growing and learning as a community, focusing on the teaching side of the game, instead of merely hardcore beat downs. Club members will be more than willing to take you under their wing and play some practice matches till you get the hang of things.
Having said that, we will not go easy on you. Just because you are not playing with a fully painted, modeled army does not mean you can slouch for strategy and sound tactics. Use this as an opportunity to try out units and strategies so you aren't wasting money and time one models you won't field in the end; all along developing your skill and experience in the world of 40k.
(there will another article in the near future detailing how to start an army on a small budget)
Now, the point of all this introduction...
You need to develop strategies for your list. As a player you need to consider all the possibilities you army has and develop a few strategies to use depending what your opponent may field. Some units can outflank, infiltrate, scout, deepstrike, etc. How will those special abilities play into your decisions as the field commander. How many units do you leave in reserve? Do you leave any? Do you leave them all? These decisions are important to think about well before you take the field in a match. As Moros talked about in an article last week, the first 20 matches should be treated as teaching tools. So, I encourage all the new players to use that time wisely, have some strategies to try out, take notes on things that worked and things that failed. Always take into consideration the wrath of the dice gods when hind sight analyzing. (attached above you will find a photo of some of the sketches I used when developing the strategies for my army. I encourage everyone to do something similar. Have a game plan, execute, don't go in blindly, trial and error is the key, but simply throwing units on the field is not going to help you become a better player.
And don't be afraid to ask LOTS of questions to the more experienced players.
So I've recently taken it upon myself to help some of our newer members get some wins under their belts at the club. My first task was to help Agni get a new list built for his Tyranids with the new codex and all.
Not sure how it will work out, But the basic idea is use the hormagaunts and rippers up front as a screen for the rest of the army. They then tie up anything they hit and the genestealers back them up with the killing blow on that unit.
The Mawlocs will strike into the back lines and go for vehicles and critical targets (like template/blast weapons). Then the Fex brood and the Tyrant smash in and finish off anything left.
I think the key is to deploy as close to the enemy as possible and keep everything semi-bunched up around the Tyrant. Not too close so the blast templates don't kill you. The goal is to overwhelm the enemy with close combat.
Comments welcome! Lets get some strategy talk going on for everybody's forces!
I'm new to this hobby and thus I don't know a whole lot about the lore involved. However I find it strange that pariahs are elite choices and that they would be used in battle as they are. As far as I understand, in order to create a pariah you need someone with the pariah gene or someone who is a physic blank. The blank's genes are then combined with necron technology to create the pariah.
Assuming that the blank isn't cloned and that for any one blank you can only make one pariah, why the heck would they just be thrown into battle as they are? Obviously a group of four isn't that many but at max per unit and taking only pariahs as your elite choices you can get 30 of these guys! These guys are rare! I've heard of people having a campaign mission of collecting a blank off a planet. If an army of necrons is coming to pick up one guy I sure as hell wouldn't put him or others like him in with the rest of the general army.
It would only make sense to me that a pariah would be an HQ choice. Not only are the pariahs great at taking down enemy psykers because of their aura, but they were once human which would make them more cunning leaders. Further more, pariahs should be named characters because they used to be human. I think an upgrade from a lord to pariah would be a cool thing to do in the new codex, it would be possible to keep the pariahs in the new codex as elite choices by saying that they were weaker blanks whereas the lord was a very strong psychic blank.
I may be totally off base here and if I am please tell me so in the comments, however after reviewing my codex and reading wiki pages a large potion of the lore makes me believe that these blanks are hard to come by and therefore the pariahs would be a more highly valued unit.
I'm sure that you've all seen those T-shirts that have a skeletal chest cavity printed on them. Well I was curious as to why no one made shirts with something else on them like muscles or even a suit of armor. After searching around for a bit, I decided I wasn't going to find anything I liked and decided to make my own.
As you can see it's not done quite yet but it's getting there. I still have to make shoulder pads which I will be printing on the sleeves and I'll need to make a back. I want to make it look a little more grungy, like war torn and soul-less should. I'd love to hear any comments no matter how devastating they may be to my confidence. Also does anyone know if I'm allowed to make this? Granted none of this is directly taken from any games-workshop images. I know it could get sketchy if I tried to sell it though.
Following the battle of Encratis IV the renegade sorcerers following the exile Ahriman brought word to their master that they had divined the location of an ancient artifact of dark power. It was rumored to be a piece of a long destroyed Eldar webway that would bring Ahriman one step closer to locating the fabled Black Library.
Still reeling from their defeat at the hands of the vile Disciples of Caliban, Ahriman decided to dispatch one of his most secret and terrifying servants to recover the Eldar technology; the Daemon, Vedrix. It is widely known that Ahriman and his cabal have long been struggling to control the warp, which so easily corrupts those who seek to leash its power. The mutation caused by their unwilling master Tzeentch is something that Ahriman thought was behind him. Vedrix proved however that the dark god of fate is not to be trifled with. Vedrix served Ahriman since before the Horus heresy as his second in command. He was there when the rubric was cast and like the other sorcerers that follow Ahriman now, his powers were greatly increased. Vedrix seemed to be growing beyond the others, proving himself again and again as a most loyal disciple to Ahriman. However, Ahriman began to sense that Vedrix had the taint of mutation in him. Vedrix himself abhorred what he feared he was becoming, Tzeentch showed all that dare to oppose him, that he alone controls all destiny and none can escape his plans. The changer of ways gifted Vedrix with daemonhood against his will.
Ahriman refused to concede to Tzeentch, he defies him still. And so Vedrix remains, caged in service to Ahriman. No other is allowed the taint of mutation, for Vedrix has mastered his own will and his loyalty to Ahriman remains! The other sorcerers demanded that Vedrix be watched over, so that the taint would not spread amongst them. Master Drekav is charged with this task. Together they set course for the Bellean sector with a small force of Rubric Marines. The artifact will be claimed for Ahriman!
-------- **Incoming transmission from Master Drekav** --------
My Lord,
Upon arriving in the Bellean sector our psykers pinpointed the Eldar artifacts on the 3rd moon of Bellean Prime. As we approached the ruins of an ancient Eldar complex scanners detected activity. The Disciples of Caliban had already deployed their scouting force. The cursed ravenwing bikers and their scouts took up defensive positions between the two artifacts, shielded by rubble and destroyed buildings. I ordered our sorcerers to move rubric marines in and secure the closest artifact. As they deployed with two of our mighty defilers supporting them they were ambushed by rocket fire and melta fire from the ravenwing.
Your hated nemesis Adso commanded them. He and his terminators teleported in and destroyed our scouting party of Chosen marines. We will have to recruit more champions to replace them, they were utterly destroyed by Adso's lightning claws. Hopefully the next group is not so weak.
It seemed the Lord of Fate was against us this day, but just then, Vedrix sensed his moment to strike and he was unleashed against Adso and his terminators as they decended upon our stalwart rubric marines. Just as they were about to be overwhelmed by the Dreadnought Cornelius and Adso, Vedrix crashed into their ranks impaling and dispatching Adso in a glorious shower of blood. Vedrix fell upon the remaining terminators who were no match for his power. The dreadnought was also destroyed as Vedrix tore the warmachine down, piece by piece. I landed on the far edge of the battlefield with my terminator champions. We destroyed the tactical marines guarding the Disciple's artifact and awaited the rubrics to arrive to make off with the webway technology.
While it was a brutal battle I believe you will be pleased with our victory!
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What a great 40k Friday Matchup! It ended in a tie, but it was a doosey. I really got hit hard by the dark angels alpha strike and lost both defilers. However, my daemon prince really saved the day instantly destroying a terminator squad lead by an hq unit.
That was the tide changer and it ended in a tie on turn 6 because of a technicallity. Brother C accidentally hit the objective marker when we were going to measure, knocking it into 3" of one of his few remaining terminators. Before he was moved, I woulda had the win controlling my objective and contesting his.
But to be gentlemen, we called it a tie. It was a great match and I learned a lot! Good game Brother C.! Hope to see your repsonse soon.
Just so everyone knows... there's a TON of interest in the Warhammer 40k IP right now. This means that there is lots to look forward to in the future, and lots of new faces that this will attract. To name a few items:
With all the new people we’ve been getting at the club that have no idea what 40k is about, I thought I would write up some tips on how to make war in the 41st millennium!
So, you’ve been introduced to the world of Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40k, where to start? At first glace the world of 40k can seem huge and menacing! It looks so complicated that you may be overwhelmed. Well don’t be! The truth is, Warhammer 40k is a very simple game, its very user friendly and easy to wrap your head around. However, I will acknowledge the fact that there is a ton of stuff to learn. This is why it might seem like its complicated on the surface, but when you explore it more you will realize that you already know everything you need to know! It’s just a matter of details.
First, you need to understand how the game works! At this point, don’t worry about the rules or the details of armies or anything too complicated. The first thing you should do is attend a club meeting or watch some battles being fought by somebody you know! Just get an idea of how things work! This will be your first look into the world of 40k and it should be something that sets your mind at ease. While there are lots of rules and details yet to learn the first thing you’ll notice is that it’s a lot like real life. Your soldiers move, run for cover, fire on the enemy and then charge into combat! These things are very basic and pretty much anybody that’s played a video game or played with action figures as a kid knows how this works. In the most basic way, all Warhammer 40k really does is translate fighting into dice rolls!
Now that you’ve watch your friends play a few games, you are ready to take the next step! It’s time to look into what kind of army you might be interested in playing. Now, there are a few ways to go about this. I will refer you to this article on the Games Workshop site (It has some great pictures). Depending on what kind of player you are there are some different things to consider first while deciding on an army.
Are you into the lore and history? Do you really like RPG kind of games? 40k has a very deep and rich back story that you will enjoy! When deciding on your army do some research and reading about the history of each race. Find a story you can relate to, so that when you are destroying your enemies on the table top you know why!
Are you a hobbyist? Did you like making model airplanes or cars when you were a k id? 40k is more than just a wargame, it is a deep and expansive hobby! There are some really great looking models out there! So check out pictures of the armies! Look online, there are tons of other hobbyists out there that can you give you a really good idea of what is possible! So pick the army that you think looks cool! It’s that simple! Then get to work bringing your gloriously painted army to bear on your enemy! Shame him in victory or defeat, because you look that much cooler!
Are you competitive? Do you play to win? There is an army for you in the worl d of 40k. When picking an army you need to do some research on the capabilities of each army. Do you like shooting heavy weapons downrange and blasting your opponent to pieces? Do you like the glory and honor of hand to hand combat and seeing the blood of your enemy stained on your sword? The armies of Warhammer 40k won’t let you down and each army can specialize in a variety of ways. However, some are better suited to one thing or another! Make sure you figure out which one fits you best and that will help you enjoy them more!
Taking this into consideration, choose your army! You should run it past your friends that already play 40k and let them know why you chose what you did. They will help you confirm your choice! Now you need to pick up your CODEX! Each army has a codex that explains all the units and special rules for that army. Once you have this, you are well on your way to playing!
Next you need to build your army list! Your army list is the roster of the soldiers and weapons and upgrades that you will be brining into battle. Your codex contains all the information you will need to build your list. You will need to build an army for a specific point value. Games of 40k are usually 2000 point games. Another common value, usually used for tournaments and official functions is 1750. At Lancashire Wargaming we play 2000 point games most of the time. Occasionally we will have special games with multiple players and these will introduce different point values. But you can deal with that when it arises. For now, get to work designing a 2000 point army!
There are some things to remember when designing your list. This is where the strategy portion of the game comes into play. You need to make sure you cover all the bases, and make sure you can handle everything that’s going to be thrown at you. Don’t just arbitrarily choose units. When you choose things for your list make sure you have a purpose in mind for that unit. Is it an anti-infantry unit? Is it an anti-vehicle unit? Is it a swarm that’s meant to just soak up damage type of unit? You will have to consider this when building your army because you want to make sure that you cross all the Ts and dot all the Is when it comes to your army.
This is the point at which you will be delving into your codex and talking with your 40k friends a lot. Remember, while some lists are better than others, you must remember to play something that is FUN for you. That’s the whole point. Even if its not the super-duper effective army list that you read about from all the tournament players, if you like it, you play it. The thing about Warhammer 40k is that the list is only half the battle, it’s your tactical skill that really makes your list shine.
Basically, you want to make sure you have these angles covered in your army list.
HQ or commander unit – Most armies may take up to 2, but that can get pricy!
1 troop choice for every 500 points the game is being played at.
Make sure each unit has a defined purpose, jack of all trade units don’t work as well as you’d think. Have a way to deal with vehicles / monsters – This usually takes the form of strength 8 plus weapons. So make sure you have some!
Have a way to deal with hordes – Usually this means flamethrowers or ordinance weapons! BOOM!
Have a general plan or idea for how you will use your army! For example, are you t he kin d that likes melee combat? Then you will want to load up all your guys in transports and rush them at the enemy! Doesn’t matter what you field, a good plan is the best way to win!
Is your army “FUN” to you? If you don’t like what’s in your army or how it plays, keep working till you find something you like!
Make sure you consult your codex for the ‘Force Organization Chart’ that’s usually found before the listing of all your units and upgrades. This will show you what you are required to take for your army. Most armies in 40k must take a required 1 HQ unit and 2 Troop choices. There is usually a limit of 3 squads from the Elite, Heavy Support, and Fast Attack sections. Remember, this isn’t a limit of 3 units, it’s a limit of 3 squads. Vehicles may sometimes be taken in squads, but usually they come solo filling up an a slot by themselves. Some vehicles can be taken as a ‘dedicated transport’ by troops and elite squads. These don’t take up any room on the force organization chart, so you can get more vehicles than you normally would be able to. Put some thought into it and play around with your calculator! See what kind of combinations you can come up with!
Next you will want to familiarize yourself with the rules as much as possible. I suggest focusing on the basics, the rulebook itself can be frightening. It is filled with lots of information. It will take time to understand it fully and to remember what you need to. But rest assured, just like the rest of 40k, the rules too are simple grasp there are just lots of them! You will find that conversing with your friends and reading forums and blogs (maybe even posting some questions too) will help you master the rules in no time. It’s fun to talk about the rules and argue some of the intricacies while you’re at it!
Here is the basic idea, so that you don’t feel so overwhelmed. In Warhammer 40k your soldiers can basically do what YOU would do if you were in their shoes. It takes some imagination, but really try to get yourself into the battle! If you were a trooper, what would you do in that situation? Would you duck for cover? Would you unload a clip of bolter fire into the enemy? Would you loose your chainsword and charge forth? The choice is yours and that is basically how the rules work. They allow you to do what your models would be doing if they were really at battle! I find that Warhammer 40k stands out from all other games I have played. You really can do whatever you want! (Within reason of course) and the rules will guide you through how to translate doing what you want into a 6 sided dice! So just relax and give it some time, soon you will be a master of
the rules of war!
I honestly think that just playing matches with some more experienced players is the fastest way to learn the rules and how to use your list, be prepared to be destroyed! But, every defeat will makes you that much stronger!
Speaking of playing matches, you’re basically ready to start playing! Now, officially you’ll need to purchase models and get to the hobby side of things. Once you have your list its easy to see what models you will need. However, 40k can be a bit of an expensive hobby if you just go out and buy your entire list at once! In order to ease the transition and allow you to practice with your army before you go buy models we at Lancashire Wargamming suggest that you play with paper cut-out. Yes, it will be a little bit weird pretending your fielding a brutal army when it looks like colored paper circles, however, this is the wisest way to find out if you’re truly going to want to invest into Warhammer 40k.
We use the circles for training purposes and to allow you to test out army lists and units to see what you really like before you go out and purchase models. By now you’ve probably taken a gander at some of the models and packages for sale over at Games Workshop. You’re probably saying to yourself, “Geeze, this looks like an expensive hobby!” I won’t lie to you, there is a commitment involved with 40k, but with some patience and wise tactics such as the circles, the cost can start to look more manageable.
When you’re talking about getting into 40k for the first time, there is going to be some more upfront cost than after you are into it for a bit. Buying paint and tools to work on your models is definitely pricey at first. Once you have a supply built up, its really just maintenance from there. The models themselves can get up there too but don’t worry; The key here is to realize that you don’t need to buy your entire army at once, you can budget it out and only spend as much as you want. Taking the collecting and modeling side of 40k slowly is the key to success in this hobby.
Personally, I only allow myself $30 a month. If I need something more than that, I just wait. I haven’t lost any interest and, in fact, I even find myself more excited when its time to order some models. So my advice is take it slow and don’t be turned off by the money side. I am confident that anybody can afford this hobby with smart planning.
You’re all ready to play! Remember, this is a hobby, not a sport. The point of 40k is having fun with your friends. You can get a tremendous sense of accomplishment from a fully painted army. You will win some and you will lose some! It’s a game that takes practice and tactics to win!
The most important thing to remember when making the decision to get into Warhammer 40k is to make sure you really get into the game. Delve into the lore for your faction. Let your imagination fly! Put time and energy into your models! Do the best you can! It’s like when you were a kid and your imagination was going non-stopped. So do whatever you can to have some fun! You won’t be disappointed!
While I was perusing around the net looking up 40k stuff I happened across a few blog sites that had some really cool features that we should start implementing.
The first thing is a modeling point system. Something that will help us work on our models and keep track of what we've done. Basically, as you complete models you earn points. These points give you a score and we can post everyone's score on the blog.
Here is the breakdown -
Infantry = 1 point
Cavalry, bikes, or 40mm models = 2 points
Monster or Dreadnought = 5 points
Vehicle = 10 points
Superheavy vehicle = 20 points
Small Terrain piece (5" or less width) = 2 points
Large Terrain piece (5" or greater width) = 5 points
Ruined building or fortification piece (Must also be considered Large Terrain) = 10 points
Now what you do is set a point goal for yourself. Say, I want to set a goal of 200 points for this year. And you keep track on the site! Models only count when they are completed! This counts painting. It should help us personally get moving on our models and help the battlefields of the club start looking awesome!
The second thing I'd really like to see added is a list that is displayed on the blog sidebar that details each member of the club and their Wins, Loses, and Ties. This is not for the purposes of making somebody feel bad, but it is a motivational thing to help us all better ourselves. I also like the idea of knowing my history, cause I won't remember!
Eventually further down the road when we start designing the campaign we can have a tracker for that also.
Let me know what you guys think or if you need me to do anything for it. I think Brother C. will have to get the ball rolling on this stuff since he's the author.
I've looked into just about everything on Necron tactics. I have read other people's ideas and battle strategies. Through this I have come to one conclusion. Most people are wrong. A large majority of people who think they are helping necron players with their advice are actually doing the opposite. That said I'll give a brief description of what I think is ideal in a necron army compared to the tips others give.
1.One of the main tactics I found for necron army builds is taking tons of warriors. Ok, warriors are good but you shouldn't take 5 units at full capacity. during my last game against Agni Prime my warriors were practically useless. one thing I know for certain is, keep the numbers LOW in your units of warriors. 10 is perfect but 11 to 13 warriors are ok too. In a 2000 point game you should take 4 squads of this small size. Especially in a capture and control mission, you need lots of troops units. Even if you can zoom in with your destroyers to contest, to win you need to have some points under your control.
2.Tip number two, TAKE HEAVY DESTROYERS
I've read so many negative comments on heavy destroyers, about how they are worthless. As far as I can tell these comments are wrong. especially in our gaming club armor is power and saves keep your units alive. high toughness is great but a good armor save is even better, most players know this and use it in their armies. you need a way to get past that armor. Heavy destroyers do that, and in a pinch you can run them in to contest a point. One squad will do just fine, try and protect them though. Destroyers and heavy destroyers are tough but not invincible.
3.My final tip goes for everyone non-necron players included
Don't put too much faith into any one unit. Trying to run a list based solely around an amazing super unit is a losing tactic. At best you will end up killing of one or two units with your unit. when other players see a unit like that they will light it up. If your not trying to be sneaky or you think your "super" unit can take the fire of a whole army you will be sorely disappointed. I've tried using my destroyer lord in this way and he kills things but he ends up dying too quickly. play defensively, play smart, and don't think that any one unit will win you the game. Winning will always be a matter of making the right choices. Starting with what units you take and ending with the final culmination of the game. The winner will be determined by who kept their cool and made the best choices and who took the safest risks.
hopefully I haven't ranted too much and good luck to all players in the upcoming 40k day.
Just wanted to give you an update I recently saw...
A semi-local club is running a spring tournament if anyone is interested. Granted I know we have alot of new players for the game, but it might be worth going to check out if you'll be in the area. The tournament is 1000 points and there will be a painting competition going on as well.
I'm not trying to upset anyone but I feel like we have or may soon outgrow solely using blogger. I realize that we don't have a ton of traffic but it will be easier to increase the traffic and keep regular visitors if we upgrade to a host.
Problems that I currently see with continuing to only have a blogger site
1. the site looks less professional
2. lancashiregaming.blogspot.com is just too long to remember.
3. Unable to create a proper store for the amazon affiliate store.
4. I foresee problems finding posts in the future. already I dislike the way things are setup.
5. and the biggest problem is that it hurts our branding potential.
I found a host that only costs 1.95 per month and dreamhost also provides a free 1 yr. domain registration. I would be willing to pay for it, at least until the site starts making money. The host does support word-press but I'm not sure about blogger. meaning I would have to port everything over but that's no big deal. tell me what you guys think in the comments please.
was checking out some of the other 40k blogs and stumbled across GGM studios. I guess they are a pretty well known entity for modeling/painting. Just wanted to drop you all a line to check out some of their work. I'm not convinced on their color schemes necessarily, but it is very inspirational stuff.
In order to attempt to generate some revenue for the blog I took the liberty of creating an amazon affiliate site which you can find here. Basically if anyone buys something through our "Store" we get a small percentage based on how many items we sell. Amazon has great prices on many Warhammer 40k box sets and I've never had any problems with them. Shipping is fast and making a purchase through our a store is completely safe so next time you have models to buy check it out and refer anyone you know who is looking for models. the store is still under construction and will eventually feature more than just Warhammer 40k products currently the Orks and Necrons are completely done because I like them the most :p .
We can only offer products that are available on Amazon so i'm sorry if we don't have something you want. Also some newer models are harder to get a hold of. The blood angels for instance have very few models on Amazon. I will be administering and updating the store and if all goes well it will end up here on the blog.
I recently bought a screen printing kit and I think we are due for some club gear. I spent some time working on possible logos and stuff like that and here's the one I picked to draw up in Illustrator. I hope you guys like it and that it's not too offensive. The actual image looks much crisper than this one I just mocked this up in word.
I reworked the logo tell me what you guys think of this one. I was thinking about possibly giving the tank more horse and buggy-esque wheels. I know that this is less controversial than my previous one. Post comments on what you think about it.
I spent most of my day this time assembling my Carnifex. I decided I wanted to have something to show for all of my time spent.
First I had to figure out what the heck the Fex is going to be. As you can see... ALL of the parts that came with the fex practically covered the table. I decided to go with a 100% melee build, as the fex has the worst ballistics and could not hit the broad side of a barn.
As you can see, I tried to get as many spikes as possible! His body easily attached to his legs and tail. Once I had his head on, it really started to take shape.
I wanted to see how he compared to some other large units I've grown used to seeing. Jon's poor units look so TINY!
Set of talons attached.
All arms attached.
and finally... epic showdown.
Fexes in your bases eating your manses!
In the end, I did not have enough time to plan out a good army for our 2k points, and the Necrons disassembled my army like scraps of paper. I never realized how much ranged power they have and I'll work to deal with them in the future. My possible units went from less than 20 to almost 40 with the new codex, and I simply need to read more and learn what every unit can do.
Disciples of Caliban [dark angels] vs. Prophets of WAAAAGH! [orks]
mission: capture and control game: pitched battle army size : 2000 points
Prophets of WAAAAAGH! [henceforth referred to as PoW] took the field first. He placed his objective in his lower right corner and I did the same. Therefore the objectives were as far away from each other as I could get them. I knew I would have an advantage of mobility this day and did not want his ork hoard ganging up on any of my units.
Deployment:
He deployed everything. 2 trucks full of boys and a big gunz for defense and 4 trucks with boys, 2 big gunz and a copta squad to try to take my point. I left everything 2 term squads one with belial (brother adso), 2 ravenwing squads and a vernerable dred with drop pod in reserve. I also fielded 2 scout squads as infiltrating units. My deployed units were 2 preds with TL lascannon and 2x heavy bolters and a rhino with 5 man tact squad with plasma. All of which were on defense.
I infiltrated my 2 scouts squads in the middle of the board to distract and just be a nuisance as the ork sped across the map with his forces.
Turn 1.
Orks move out. completely annihilate one scout squad. However they forced 2 trucks to disembark, one less turn of sprinting across the map. without the use of camo cloaks (where's my 5th ed. codex?) I think they did a pretty decent job. Big guns unloaded on my preds, taking off one of the heavy bolters.My turn.
I deathwing assaulted Brother Adso and crew (5 terms, 3 claws, 2 TH + SS) just in front of the cover around the objective. He was not ready for this. fire from both my preds and rockets from the 2nd scout squad took down most of the copta squad in the middle and an assault by the scouts finished them off.
Turn 2.
orks continue to truck (literally) across the field. big guns take more shots at my preds, destroy another heavy bolter. Orcs on defense try assaulting my Adso squad, Nob with a powerclaw takes out my two TH+SS (gg invuln save rolling) but he loses quite a few boys in the process. my turn
Dreadnought deepstrikes just behind Adso's squad. Ravenwing squad 1 comes on the outflank behind his big gunz shooting at my defense. Take out the entire squad from shooting. Leaving his trucks in crossfire for the next round. preds drop a truck and boys get shot a bunch. Scouts still holding middle as a speed bump.
Turn 3.
orks rush my preds on defense. did not quite make it. shoot at my scouts in the middle after disembarking. (nice) and finish them off. They did their job well - will continue to use them in future games. big guns shoot at ravenwing but some bad rolling saved the bikers. warboss moved into assault the dread. between the pod and a wall of the terrain, the orcs were forced into a cattle chute to assault him, the warboss leading the charge. but Brother Cornelius in his dread was too fast, as soon as that adamantium skull came around the corner, he was grabbed by the neck and crushed to death. A nob with powerclaw managed to stun the giant for a round. Alex (the ork player) was not ready for his warboss to go down so easily. Adso's group killed more boys defending their HQ and nearly taking out Adso with a wrecking ball. (good rolling on his 5+ invuln.) My turn.
Adso's group continues to fight at their objective. Ravenwing 2 come on the outflank behind another big gunz. and take it out. ravenwing 1 goes after truck in the middle, blows it up, and shoots the boys in the crater. preds destroy another advancing truck and shoot up the boys in the crater just before they get to them. dread is stunned and deathwing squad 2 still in reserve (bad).
Turn 4.
Orcs try to assault preds on defense, no avail. missing with all powerclaw attacks. Assaulting the dread only results in another stun. boys continue to pour onto Adso's squad. wrecking ball misses. big gunz rolling fails again to damage ravenwing who now have complete control of the field. My turn.
Deathwing squad 2 come down prepare to assault the last big gunz. adso continues to fight toward the objective. predators finish off assaulting squad of orcs. rhino races to control my objective. ravenwing finish off another entire squad of boys in the middle.
Turn 5.
Orcs try to bring their last truck up for a final charge. hoping the game will not end on turn 5. big gunz try to shoot at terms, all saves made. dread is assaulted again, taking out the multi-melta. boys are being thrown at Adso, trying to stop his advanage. the claws are just tearing their fowl smelling flesh. My turn.
Adso finishes off the entire squad but 1 nob. deathwing squad 2 assaults big gunz and wipes them off the board, consolidating roll, puts them within range of the enemy HQ. preds explode last truck and ravenwing fire shots at whatever is still moving. dread uses heavy flamer on boys nearby.
Game ends on turn 5.
final score: ork objective: contested DA objective: controlled by DA
winner: DA
Commentary:
Alex, the ork player, is still very new to the warhammer community. I have had the benefit of seeing his develop as a player with absolutely no idea of what he is doing, to making very good decisions for his army. I have seen large leaps and bounds in his play style as well as the units he is fielding. I think his nobz with powerclaws really were his best unit. they were a threat in melee, and a threat to my armor. keeping my dread stunned a losing a weapon, just missing on my preds and putting the hurt on my termies. He had some real bad luck with his warboss. I felt bad taking it out in one turn, but I think he learned from the experience. The big guns did not serve alex well at all. managing just 2 destroyed weapons for the game. Some firepower from the back would have been good to defend against my ravenwing who ran circles around his units. playing a pitched battle, I think it would have been in his best interest to simply line up his attack force and send everything at my objective. I don't think I could have stopped that many orks without major losses. The scouts served very well as a deterrent for him. (oh look squishy units to kill) meanwhile not focusing on taking the objective and letting my ravenwing and preds shoot everything to death at range.
I think the most important lesson Alex learned was not to listen to his fear. He admitted he didn't rush all his boys into my objective because he was afraid of my defenses. But the truth is, I don't think I could have stopped him if he did. I had prepared for this, infiltrating my scouts, forcing him to make a decision, assault the scouts or the objective. This is the first time he experienced the mental battle side of the game and it was a great learning experience. I also strongly recommend nob bikers for him. to try to reign in some of my mobility and have a force to compete with my terms.
it was a great battle, both players had lots of fun. comments, suggestions, questions, flames?
Another great 40k day at Lancashire Wargaming wrapped up today!
As usual, I am posting my feedback and commentary of the day! Perhaps there will even be some battle reports! This was the meeting at the new location for the club, out of my basement and into a larger room! It worked out really well; we had tons of space and easy access to snacks.
I got to play against our newest visitor to the club. It was his first game and he was playing necrons. It was a good solid match, and as usual against the crons I found out how dangerous heavy destroyers are. They knocked out my landraider carrying my command squad on the first turn of shooting! I was lucky that Ahriman and his body guards lead by Lord Moros were able to really shine. And shine brightly they did, they single handedly knocked out the entire necron left flank. Killing a whopping 5 units without losing a single wound. They downed the Necron destroyer lord and 3 scarabs, 2 10 man warrior squads, 3 heavy destroyers, and 3 destoyers and proceeded to move in and take the necron base. They absorbed a huge amount of damage and were easily my MVP of the match.
I was finally able to use them to their full potential by deploying them as close to the enemy as I could and caught them off guard as they were moving into firing positions on my right flank. This match really taught me how effective an aggressive anvil unit like my command squad can be. Even with the land raider they more than made up for their hefty cost.
The rest of the match was trying to kill the second destroyer lord on my left flank with my thousand sons and defiler. He took out my predator but we were eventually able to take them out and whittle down the warrior and destroyer squads backing him up.
All in all, I was really impressed with my opponent. His first game out and he had a pretty good list made up and used them pretty well. I think I got lucky catching him off guard so fast on the right flank.
Hope to hear from you other guys! POST your battle reports from your point of view! POST your questions about how you got rocked, what you might be able to do better! The more we talk the better we can all become!
