NOVA FAQs/Mission Packets Updated!

By Jorsch-d4jydu9 from DeviantArt

Per Mike on Dakka: Here's GT Final Packet (missions won't change, polish/typos have been caught/changed): http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/NOVA-2012-Warhammer-40000-DRAFT-Final-GT-Packet.pdf Here's Invitational Final Packet: http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/NOVA-2012-Warhammer-40000-Final-Invitational-Packet.pdf Here's Trios Final Packet: http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/NOVA-2012-Warhammer-40000-Final-Trios-Packet.pdf Relinking Narrative Final Packet: http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/NOVA-2012-Warhammer-40000-Final-Narrative-Packet-11.pdf FAQ Final Packet (changed Anrakyr back, among a few others): http://www.novaopen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/NOVA-FAQ-v6th.21.pdf

There are quite a few big things in there:

Mysterious Objectives are IN
You have the option to choose your Warlord Trait
Archeotech Artefacts are on some tables
Fame/Infamy are primarily Warlord-based
Stormravens now can Shadow Skies in a reasonable manner
Grand Strategy affects allied detachments

I am trying to digest the ramifications for my army list very quickly.  I am fine with the Mysterious Objectives and Archeotech Artefacts, as I have a good amount of scoring bodies to take advantage of them.  However, I am concerned about the Warlord issues.  I really want to go for Fame/Infamy, and I am a little worried about how well my poor Libby will be able to handle those.  Also, it would be super nice to be able to choose an Warlord trait for a beefy character.  However, I really want to keep Dread Calgar in my list, so that prevents me from just going with my Vanilla Marines list or replacing the Libby with TDA Calgar in my current list.  I am thinking that I will just stay the course with my current list because it is pretty characterful, and felt pretty strong in my limited playtesting.  Also, the Libby IS being escorted by 5 TH/SS Terminators.  I would hope that would be enough to keep him alive if he has to get out of his ride to do some good. 

Choosing Warlord traits is a big deal, as it can open up a lot of options and maybe mitigate some of my weaknesses.  I am debating giving the Libby the Strategic Genius (reroll reserves) trait because it would allow me to make the Stormtalon more reliable and give me some options with Deep-striking Strike Squads and/or bringing in Attack Bikes from reserve.  I am also debating on giving him the Tenacity (FNP within 3" of an objective).  That will help keep him and the Termies alive and maybe prevent them from getting torrented as badly.

NOVA List and Theme Items for Narrative

T-shirt back design

My wife and I spent the last couple of nights working on my "Theme Gear" for the NOVA.  We used one of our friends' Cricket cutters to make the T-shirt.  The details of the Narrative are still a little sketchy, so I went with a fairly straight-forward design based on the old "Uncle Sam Wants You" posters.  The PAX is basically the new planetwide police/defense force, so I thought it would be a good reference.  The front pocket has a small design of the Air Force Memorial.

Down to two lists for NOVA!

Picture is unrelated... but still super cool!

After doing some debating and flipping some coins, I have narrowed down my options for the NOVA Narrative event to two main options.  I will either take my Honor Guard Grey Knights or Vanilla Marines with a non-Pally GK contingent.  Overall, I am expecting the Narrative to be a little more low-key than the GT, so my list decisions are being decided largely by theme and what I have painted well.  For example, I decided that Dread Calgar is a requirement in whichever list I take. I just love the model too much not to use it.  That pretty much ruled out the Vanilla Marine list unless I take allies.

Help me pick my NOVA list!

So I am currently scrambling to finalize my list for the NOVA Narrative Event.  When I registered, I completely missed the part about submitting my list ahead of time.  The draft primer can be found here, but the main highlights are:

2000 points (NOT 1999+1) with full use of Double FOC and Allies
Forgeworld is allowed, but no Superheavies/Gaurgantuan Creatures (could be interesting)
8 Points for completing two Missions each round
8 Points for KPs each round
10 Theme points for modeling/converting to match the narrative
"Infamy" points for completing random objectives (probably my main goal)
Painting Score (not much I can do about that in three weeks with the upcoming move)

New Loot!

My wife and I drove into town last night to do some shopping, and we both came away with some nice stuff.  She ended up with a new Galaxy III, but I think I still came out ahead...

Necron Deathstar... the missing piece! (Or not...)

Destroyer Lord... now a team player

I started working on my Necrons in late 5th Edition and never settled on a list that I really like.  A big part of that is I always felt they were missing something, specifically in the anti-tank category.  However, the new vehicle rules makes both Gauss and Tesla much more useful at killing tanks,  which means Surf Lords, Scarabs, and Lanceteks are no longer "required" to kill tanks.  Now almost any unit in the codex can do a decent job of killing tanks, which really increases the number of viable builds.

EDIT:  I incorrectly thought Destroyer Lords were Fearless... which completely breaks my analysis.

More Playtest Thoughts

Hail to our new 2+ Save Overlords!

It's been a crazy week, so I have not had a lot of time to blog.  However, I played my 2K Space Marines against a Dark Angels list on Thursday, and it was a very interesting game.  I am still learning a lot of the nuances of 6th and it really looks like details matter even more now than in 5th.  My opponent took the following list:

Belial with LCs
Librarian (Had the Divination Primaris Power and the Overwatch Power)
Deathwing with Banner, Apothecary, TH/SSs and CMLs
Deathwing with TH/SSs and CMLs
Deathwing with LCs and CML
Tactical Squad with PP, Flamer, and ML
Ravenwing Squad with PF, MGx2, and MM AB
Land Raider Crusader
Veteran Squad with lots of PWs and SS

Tactical versus TH/SS Terminators

From Google (not mine... yet)

In my Second Company blog post, Rau said:

"I kinda get the comparison you're making between Assault and Shooty terminators, but I don't think you worked out the 'true' difference very accurately.

1st off, against vehicles, Thunderhammers offer no advantage over Powerfists. No more autostuns. Vs infantry, you reduce them to I1, but aside from mega-deff characters, you hit them with a thunderhammer, they should be dead. So this rule comes into play maybe 25% of the time. Therefore, for comparative purposes, pretty much the sole difference between Assault and Shooty Termies is having either a Stormbolter, and thus a shooting attack, or a Storm Shied, and thus an invulnerable save.

Quite clearly, on a points vs usability scale, the Storm Shield wins every time, Those 3++ saves being invaluble. However, now power weapons are nerfed, the need for an invunerable save on Terminators has reduced considerably.

For me, the main difference between Assault and Shooty Termies is that Shooty Termies can operate on there own and still be 100% effective. Assault termies need a land raider minimum, and generally they need an IC in there too. If we exclude the IC requirement, just the Raider more than Doubles the cost of the unit. Ok, you're not JUST getting a transport with a raider, but to use your termies effectively, that raider has to throw caution to the wind and get up nice and close, which means melta time.

Those points spent on the raider would get you, well, another unit of Terminators! Plus HQ upgrades for both. Lets not forget 'normal' terminators are still putting out 3 S8 AP2 attacks each on the charge. With an assault cannon, they’re also putting in 12 shots before the assault to boot. If you’re doubling your numbers by loosing the Land Raider, well the numbers just get silly.

I think the changes to Power Weapons and vehicles put Shooty Termies out front in 6th, for me anyway."

My reply was going to be a bit long for a comment (and I was hurting for content), so I figured I would do a full post to reply.  He makes a lot of good points and admittedly, I was pretty torn between Tactical Terminators and TH/SS when I was writing up the list.  However, I decided to stick with my 5th Edition staple for the following reasons:

A Few More Second Company Pics

Second Company locked and loaded for 6th Edition

Papa Smurf about to bring the pain...

One of these days I will put together a better picture station, but for now these will have to do.  It was pretty humbling to look back over a lot of my older models and how I "magnetized" and painted them.  It probably took me an hour to touch up the stuff that was too terrible-looking for me to stand.  Maybe one of these days I will get around to stripping them and remodeling/painting, but for now they work as a nice trip down memory lane.  Now just to get some games in with them...

Painting Update

Air Superiority... a beautiful thing

 I spent the past two nights updating my Second Company and Honor Guard to reflect my new lists.  I built/painted a Stormtalon and rekitted the Stormraven to be a Dakka machine.  I did not magnetize the Stormraven when I first built it, so it took some doing to magnetize it without doing any damage to the model or the paintjob.  I learned from my mistake though, so all the Stormtalon's weapon options are pinned for easy switching.  I also assembled and painted the Quad gun and some Aegis lines.  I still have a few more barriers to do, but the pieces I currently have should be enough to work until I can finish assembling/painting the rest.  My next goal is to get some well-lit pictures of both armies tomorrow night.  More pics below:

Updating the Honor Guard for 6th

I am already very happy with my Honor Guard list, so I really only see making minor tweaks to bring them into 6th Edition.  It was already a solid list with a lot of flexibility, so it made the transition pretty well in its current form.  Yes, all the units lost AP2 Force Weapons, but that isn't a deal breaker.  My current list is:

Draigo
Paladins (5) with DH x2, Halberd x2, Pyscannon x2, and Banner
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
Venerable Pysfleman
Pysfleman Dread
Stormraven with TLMM and TLPC and SL
Dread Calgar with Teleporter

The main units that had some changes include:

Second Company in 6th Edition....

Papa Smurf is BACK!

When I started 40K about two three years ago, I chose Ultramarines Second Company as my first army, so it is only fitting that I start with them for 6th Edition.  While my Battleforce Marines are a good starting point, I think I am going to start from scratch to see how I can best take advantage of the new 6th edition rules.  For the first iteration, I am focusing solely on "pure" Space Marines without allies until I get a better handle on how things are going to shake out.  At first I was making this a 1999 list, but decided to put on my big-boy pants and just go to 2K.  I doubt the second FOC is going to really make any armies really OP.  A few older books might get a boost, but I figure a well-built list will be able to handle any shenanigans.  (Warning... this is a long post, so feel free to skip ahead)

HQ(s):

When I build a Space Marine Army, I generally start with the HQ because of the FOC and Chapter Tactics shenanigans.  In my opinion, there are four main HQs that fit my playstyle and are worth considering for the list:

List Building Process/Plan for 6th Edition



These guys are probably making a repeat appearance soon...

Warning:  This is my own personal plan for 6th Edition and may or may not have anything useful for everyone else.

Now that 6th Edition is out, it is time for me to start tweaking my lists.  As I have mentioned before, I am a very middle of the road player.  I really don't focus on or excel at any one aspect of the game.  I spend more time playing than painting and have been making an effort to field fully-painted armies for all of my games.  Because I try to take a balanced approach to 40K, this really affects how I build my lists and design my armies.

I lean more towards the playing/competitive side of 40K, but really don't get the chance to really pursue that too much due to my location.  I haven't been to GTs yet and I really don't even get to go to that many local Tournaments.  That may change after I move this fall, but I doubt it will change how I do approach the game.  Right now, I have no desire to build rock-hard or spammy lists.  I am not bashing anyone who does, because I think that min-maxing is a very valid skill and builds effective lists.  However, those are overkill in the small, local metas I play in, so I have been able to get by with more offbeat lists.  I personally like big, splashy models like LRs/Stormravens and melee beatsticks.  I also like building lists that get their redundancy by mixing slightly different units with overlapping abilitys.  I also get bored painting the same thing again and again.  Different strokes for different folks.  With that in mind, this is how I plan on approaching 6th Edition:

Some things I missed the 1st time around...

I have had a little more time to digest the rules and picked up on a few things I had missed:

1.  Flying Monsterous Creatures are not as bad as I thought.  When I played my first game, my opponent and I overlooked the "Grounding Rule."  That makes a significant difference in their survivability, because ANY hits (not wounds!) causes the FMC to take a 3+ test or be grounded.  Tossing a few low-strength shots at a FMC can knock it out of the air long enough for the real firepower/assault to take it out.

2.  I am still trying to figure out the Stormraven... I think its awesome, then find a new rule that makes me think it's crap, and back and forth.  I initially thought it was a death trap, then realized I could use it as a Fast Skimmer which would avoid the S10 AP1 hits when it crashed.  However, it must start in reserve and cannot disembark anyone if it moves more than 6", so the earliest anyone is getting out of it (barring the special deepstrike) is Turn 3.  Land Raiders have similar issues but at least don't have to start off the board.  I think the LR actually benefits from the new rules because the occupants slingshot ahead, hopefully leaving the LR outside of melta range.

First Game of 6th Edition... 1st Impressions

The new "I-win" Button

I played my first game of 6th Edition this afternoon and I have to say I am really looking forward to the changes.  I took the following army which works out to approximately 1999 points:

Primary Detachment (Space Marines)
Libby with Null Zone/Avenger
Tactical Squad with Flamer/ML and Rhino
Tactical Squad with Flamer/Lascannon and Rhino
3 MM Attack Bikes
2 MM/HF Landspeeders
Stormtalon with Typhoon ML
Autocannon/Lascannon Predator

Allied Detachment (Honorguard Counts As Grey Knights)
Draigo
5 Pallies with Brotherhood Banner and Pyscannon x2
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback
Pysfleman

Paladins survived!!!!

Just when you thought the Nerfbat got them...

I sat down and had some personal time with the 6th Edition rulebook tonight, and I think it is going to be a good edition.  I am not going to spend a lot of time breaking down the new 6th Edition Rulebook, as there are many other sites that will do a much better job of it, and I need to work through a lot of the nuances such as the new Psyker Powers.  All I have to say is that I am very excited about the update and think it makes a lot of armies a lot more viable.  Some big winners are:

/SQUEEE White Dwarf Flyer Pics!

GW... take my money NAO!  I know a lot of people are not going to like the Stormtalon, but I personally like it.  I may be forced to adjust my Smurf lists to include at least one (I'm hoping they can be squaded), but I am going to at least buy one to build/paint.  The Necron Scythes are even sexier.  I already incorporated one into my 2K Necron list which I plan to blog about in the next day or so.  I have been trying to put together a post/list for several weeks now, but work hasn't cooperated.  It also didn't help that I have been having a major issue wrapping my head around the Necron Codex.

More updates to follow...

Last Hoorah for the Honorguard (for a while)

My FLGS held a 2500 point tournament yesterday with Comp and Painting scores, so I brought out the Honorguard again.  I was actually looking to bring my Vanilla Marines, as 2500 actually makes Calgar reasonably viable.  However, I sold quite a few models a while back, so could no longer field a 2500 point list I liked.  I took the following list:

Draigo (Chapter Champion)
5 Pallies with Brotherhood Banner (TDA Honorguard)
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL (PA Honorguard)
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL (PA Honorguard)
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL (PA Honorguard)
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL (PA Honorguard)
5 GKSS with Pyscannon and Passback (PA Honorguard)
Stormraven with TLMM and TLPC and SL
Venerable Dread with AC and Pysbolts
Vindicare (Telion)
Dreadknight with Incinerator and Personal Teleporter (CALGAR!)
Pysfleman
Pysfleman

If I'm on Youtube, I'm Famous... Right?

A video someone made showcasing the armies at Sat's Tournament

I was able to take my Honorguard to a tournament in Syracuse yesterday, and they performed pretty well again.  The meta was tougher than normal, with multiple GK, BA, SW, and Necron players.  The tournament required you to take at least one choice from each Force Org chart.  Luckily, I didn't have to change my 2K Honorguard list to meet that criteria.  I would normally do battle reports, but my memory is pretty fuzzy.  I am going to give very short summaries:

Display Board Complete!

My beautiful wife spent this last week helping me put together a display board for my army.  We had some adventures cutting the foam, but it turned out pretty good.  I also took the time to paint some of the GW Honoured Imperium set.  Overall, I am very happy with the results and can't wait to take it to a RTT tomorrow!

 

Finished Stormraven... Honorguard almost done!

I spent the weekend finishing up the last model for my Honorguard Counts As GK army and I am pretty stoked about how it turned out!  I also finished up five more Honorguard so my 2K list is pretty much done.  I just want to put together a display board for the tournament before I take full army photos.

Honorguard against Steel Rain... for all the marbles

As I mentioned in my two previous posts, I had the opportunity to play in a 2K tournament on Sunday. My first round was a lucky, but convincing win against an SW list, while my second round was solid victory over a Newcron army.  My list was:

Draigo
Paladins (5) with DH x2, Halberd x2, Pyscannon x2, and Banner
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
Venerable Rifleman
Rifleman Dread
Stormraven with TLMM and TLPC and SL
Dread Calgar with Teleporter

The tournament itself was a three-round tournament with each of the three deployments. The objectives for each round were the same: three sieze ground objectives, two capture and control objectives, and KPs. Winning an objective was worth 10 points, draws were worth 5, and losses 0 for a max of 30 points per round. I didn't get army lists from my opponents so I am going from memory.

Round 3
Deployment: Spearhead

So I rolled into the third round with 60 points and was paired off with a Space Marine player who had also received 60 points from his previous rounds.  I don't think either of the next two people had 40 points, and I think I had a sizeable VP lead, so I just needed to force a draw to win the Tournament.  However, when I saw his list, I knew I was facing an uphill battle:

Vulkan
Tactical Squad with PF, MG, MM, and DP
Tactical Squad with PW, Flamer, MM, and Rhino
Tactical Squad with PW, Flamer, ML, and Rhino
Scout Squad (10) with Snipers and Cloaks
Ironclad with DP
Ironclad with DP
Devestators (5) with MLx3 and LC and TLLC Razorback
Devestators (5) with MLx3 and LC and TLLC Razorback
Thunderfire Cannon

Honorguard are afraid of the dark? (GK vs Necron Batrep)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had the opportunity to play in a 2K tournament on Sunday.  My first round was a lucky, but convincing win against an SW list.  My list was:

Draigo
Paladins (5) with DH x2, Halberd x2, Pyscannon x2, and Banner
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
Venerable Rifleman
Rifleman Dread
Stormraven with TLMM and TLPC and SL
Dread Calgar with Teleporter

The tournament itself was a three-round tournament with each of the three deployments. The objectives for each round were the same: three sieze ground objectives, two capture and control objectives, and KPs. Winning an objective was worth 10 points, draws were worth 5, and losses 0 for a max of 30 points per round. I didn't get army lists from my opponents so I am going from memory.

Round 2
Deployment: Pitched Battle

For the second round, I was paired off against a Newcron player with an interesting list.  He was still in the process of finishing his army, so he was lacking some of what I would consider the harder units in the codex.  His list was:

Stormlord
3 Lords with Scythe and Res Orb
1 Transmorg Cryptek with Harp
20 Warriors with Ghost Ark
20 Warriors
20 Warriors
5 Lychguard with Scythes
7 Deathmarks
1 Heavy Destroyer and 3-4 Destroyers

Honey Calgar don't care!

Dread Calgar... he takes what he wants!

I had an opportunity to make it out to a small 2K tournament yesterday, so I dusted off my Honorguard (Counts As GK) army and bumped it up to 2K.  I didn't use the 2K list I posted earlier because some models are still under construction.  Here is what I took:

Draigo
Paladins (5) with DH x2, Halberd x2, Pyscannon x2, and Banner
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
GKSS (5) with Pyscannon and Pysback with SL
Venerable Rifleman
Rifleman Dread
Stormraven with TLMM and TLPC and SL
Dread Calgar with Teleporter

FAQ Day!

https://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?categoryId=1000018&pIndex=1&aId=3400019&multiPageMode=true&start=2

They updated 99% of the 40K books, including the Necron Codex.

Necrons
1.  Taking two Courts means you can attach two Royal Court members to a unit.  (Huge Buff)
2.  Abyssal Staves calculate ID against Leadership... not toughness (aka they don't) (Nerf)
3.  Created Scarabs must be spawned in coherency with the unit's footprint before the turn started (Needed Nerf)
4.  Stormlord benefits from Chronometron (Buff)
5.  Stormlord does not get lightning attacks if you use Solar Pulse to see during your phase. (Nerf)
6.  Whipcoils got hit with the Lash Whip nerf, so modifiers such as FC or Halbreds apply after you get reduced to I1.  (Nerf)
7.  Trazyn does not replace a model until AFTER he has failed his Everliving Roll (Huge buff for him)
8.  Entropic Strike works before rolling to penetrate and is distributed evenly across squadrons.

Counts As Thunderwolf Cav....

Note: In the video, Buffalo Cavalry >>>> potential Bear Cavalry.

Things have been busy than I expected this week, so no new Necrons yet.  I did finish building my Stormraven which I intend to use in an upcoming 2000-point tournament.  I will throw up a quick post of my planned list and hopefully be able to give some battle reports after the tournament.


Necrons have arrived!!!

That glare you see is the solar pulse....

The Tomb World just coughed up:

3 Barges
5 Immortal/Deathmark Boxes
2 Warrior Boxes (Tournament Spoils)
2 Ghost Arks

I love brick and mortar stores with 20% discounts! This should pretty much cover my Nemesor with Lychguard force. I would rather have Wraiths, but I have to wait for Wave 2. I plan to tear into these and start building within the next day or so....

Building a list around Lychguard...

Necron version of TH/SS Terminator

As I mentioned in a previous article, I think that Lychguard are not only beautiful models, but have decent rules.  However, they REALLY need some support to make them worthwhile.  They have several major weaknesses and I personally think that Wraiths can do almost anything a Lychguard unit could better and cheaper.  Wraiths have better invulnerable saves, are faster, are cheaper, and have multiple wounds.  9 times out of 10, if I was looking for a counter assault unit, I would go with the Wraiths.  However, that is not the point of this exercise, so I am going to focus on ways to mitigate the weaknesses of Lychguard and look at how they can differentiate themselves from Wraiths and Scarabs.

2K Necrons with Nemesor Zahndrekh

As I have looked through the Necron Codex, several shiney things caught my eye.  One of my biggest "failings" in making competitive lists is that I generally like to field big, flashy HQs and/or a centerpiece deathstar unit.  My favorite Smurfs lists had Calgar or Librarians leading Honorguard or Assault Termies riding in a Land Raider.  My Honorguard lists are built around Draigo and Pallies (the very definition of overpriced deathstar).  I have never been much for many of the MSU-style shooty builds, as they lack what I consider an "epic" character--both figuratively and literally.  Nothing against them (they are generally much more effective), but I enjoy having some sort of hero character/unit in my armies.  As I was reading through the Necron Codex, I was immediately drawn to three entries--Lychguard, Nemesor Zahndrekh, and Vagard Obyron.