Getting excited for NOVA!

So after a crazy 8-9 months of travel, changing jobs, and moving, I am finally ready to get back to geeking out with tabletop and board games!  While I will be playing X-Wing at NOVA (subject for a different post), I have had a blast playing 40K!  I know there is a lot of doom and gloom regarding Games Workshop right now, but I haven't had this much fun with 40K since 5th Edition!

I spent the last two months playing in the Road to NOVA 40K League in Northern VA and Maryland, which was an absolute blast!  I was rocking a full Drop Pod army which seems to suit my play style really well and got to play five great games against five great opponents in the area.  Every game was a nail-biter (minus the one against Werner where he crushed me with his Decurion) and it was amazing to finally have a chance to just play some 40K after such a long hiatus.  I actually went 4-1 and missed out on the final Top 8 by a single battle point, so I was very happy with how it went!

NOVA and Smurfs

So the past couple of weeks have been insane with the lead up to NOVA... not to mention the actual convention itself.  This was my second NOVA and first as a staffer, and it was even more fun than last year.  I played in the Narrative again, and I was really stoked to see that it had almost doubled in size!  I had a good run, winning my first three games before losing a very winnable last game.  I was a walking zombie at that point and my opponent played a solid game while I made a ton of mistakes.  I guess I can't handle late nights as well as I used to.  I was actually going for the "Fame" track where your warlord has to achieve specific goals such as killing a unit or holding the relic. Had an unkillable super soldier not popped up on T5 and ran down my leadership 10 stubborn Iridium Commander, I would have been able to add Fame to last year's Infamy.  I am really looking forward to next year and plan on actually helping run the Narrative and/or finally playing in the GT.

In addition to NOVA, I have been anxiously awaiting the release of the new Space Marine codex.  The old one was really feeling its age with all the new Tau and Eldar running around, and I was holding out hope that a refresh would make the Smurfs more viable.  Having downloaded the ebook version (yay to no more Apple monopoly), I am feeling a little underwhelmed.  Tacticals got slightly cheaper (flamer/ML and Vet Sarge is same price though), but not enough to offset how fast they die in this edition.  Some units like TFCs got some nice buffs and/or got cheaper, but I personally do not see any killer units on par with Riptides, Broadsides, and Wave Serpents.  I think the closest is Tiggy (who is now amazing), but nothing else really just jumps out at me.  Maybe (probably) I am wrong though.  At the very least, the Chapter Tactics should make for fun, fluffy army builds.  Personally, I am excited about the Ultramarine characters (and Honor Guard).  It will be nice to take the Smurfs for a spin and have some solid, tactical turn-by-turn options.  I just hope they don't get relegated to always being allies (Tiggy may become the most popular ally EVER)... I really hope they get a chance to be the Imperium's heroes once again.

FINALLY!

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/wnt/blog.jsp?pid=9700004

Games Workshop is FINALLY releasing digital codexes on non-Apple phones/tablets!  This is huge as I can only afford one extremely overpriced company at one time.  Buying GW products on an Apple platform is just more than my wallet or my wife can stand.

As you can tell, the campaign lost momentum when a couple of people moved and has been discontinued.  In the meantime I have been hard at work prepping for NOVA and working on my SM/Tau Army and display board.  I am very excited about the progress and will try to find time to post updates about them soon.

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...

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:

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:

/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...

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.


TMI Update

Warning:  This post is about my plans for the next couple of weeks in regards to gaming.  Nothing terribly interesting.

I have had a lot of irons in the fire over the past two weeks, but hopefully things will slow down soon.  On the gaming front, I've had just as much going on.  I traded some of my old models that have been collecting dust for some new items, including a Dreadknight and PAGK squad for my GK force.  So now I have a decent-sized backlog of stuff to get painted for my GK force.  Additionally, a significant portion of the trade went towards some Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game (LotR SBG) stuff. 

I have been wanting to try a different game system for quite a while and looked hard at WHFB.  However, feedback on Fantasy has been pretty mixed and it seems to be pretty costly to start one, let alone two armies.  The reason I say two, is that because my wife is going to play with/against (depending on how you look at it) me.  She enjoys strategy games and painting, but the sheer number of models involved with 40K was a deal-breaker for her and that game.  However, LotR should be a good fit for us to play together.  With armies consisting of a limited number of figures with no $1=1 point figures (I'm looking at you Razorspam), it should be easier for us to buy and paint opposing forces.  So when I am not working on 40K stuff, I will be painting up a small force of Dwarves, while she will be doing Wood Elves.

On the GK front, I should get some more proxied GK games in this week using my modified Draigo list.  I am going to remove all the metal PAGKs halberds and replace them with power swords and falchions to stretch my buck as far as I can.  I am hoping that 1-2 more boxes of PAGKs should fill out the rest of my army. 

My Smurf army is still in maintence mode, but I am going to try and repaint two more Tactical Squads. I may also try to redo a couple Assault Squads just to open up a few more options in my Blue Angels lists.  Because of work, my next tournament won't be until July.  It looks interesting, as each player brings four different lists and can pick one for each round after pairings.   Each list can only be used once.  I have some ideas of how I plan on setting up my lists and will probably do a post on them in the next couple of days. 

The final thing on my mind is figuring out whether or not to head to the Nova Open GT or Da Boyz GT.  I haven't made it to a GT yet, but I bet they would be a blast.  I am leaning heavily towards the Da Boyz GT because of cost/logistics, but I still am working out details.  In either case, I will be taking my Space Marines as my GKs won't be finished yet.  That and I don't feel like debating about what color BAs/GKs should be in order to be WYSIWYG.  Hmmm... that's also another future post...

In other news...

Chuck Norris was seen exiting Pakistan early this morning...

Nice guys finish first?

I saw this on Gone to Ground and thought it was a great read.  It basically talks about being friendly and having a good time while gaming... even tournament games!  I was lucky enough to have great opponents for all three matches on Saturday.  All three matches were very close, hard fought, and competitive affairs, but there wasn't a single cross word or rules question that wasn't settled quickly and amicably.  "Competitive" and "Friendly" games are not mutually exclusive, contrary to popular internet belief.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing to win as long as you do it within the rules (and without "lawyering"), with respect for your opponent, and remembering at all times it is just a game!  Smiles, small talk, laughing and groaning about dice (in reasonable amounts) all make for enjoyable games whether it is in the garage or a local RTT.

Having said that, I probably need to work on being more friendly during tournament games.  I tend to overthink everything... and with the tournament time constraints mixed with "pressure" to not screw up, I have to really focus on trying to play fast.  That causes me to end up in what my wife calls "the zone" where I am focused way too hard on the little plastic men on the table.  If you ever play me and it seems like I'm pissed off at the world, I promise that's not the case.  It's just a side effect of my brain not having enough horsepower to carry on a conversation and play the game at the same time. 

Saturday of "Gaming"

Today was a mixed day. 

I had a last minute opportunity to slip away from the house and go to a gaming store about 45 minutes away.  I was pretty stoked about seeing the new GK stuff and getting some games in.  I've been to the store several times before and it's normally pretty active so I figured that at a minimum there would be a few people around to play or "talk shop" with.  However, when I walked in, it was completely deserted.  It was like 11:30, so I just figured it was still early.  I bought the GK codex, two Smallworld expansions for my wife (we both love that game), a drink, and sat down to read through the codex and wait for more people to show up.  Two problems quickly became apparent: no one else showed up, and the GK codex had a lot less fluff than I was hoping for.

Small Pleasures (....that's what SHE said)

So this weekend I was on the road for work, but my wife was able to accompany me.  While I was in a meeting, she took the opportunity to hit "the biggest mall she's ever seen" for an afternoon of shopping.  However, it was me who ended up coming out like a bandit.  She found a GW store in the mall and bought me a lot of good loot!  The biggies were:



Manufactorium





Battlefield Accessories



Like I mentioned in a previous post, most places around here don't have a lot of their own terrain, so I'm trying to build up my own stock.  Hopefully I'll be able to get enough to really have some great table setups at home or at my local store.

Jumping on the Grey Knight Bandwagon... (Again)

Since starting 40k in January 2009, I've always loved the fluff and models from the Grey Knights.  There is just something made of pure win about knights in shining armor hunting down the things that go bump in the night.  I tried to start the army a few times, each time buying more of the metal models, but could never get past one simple fact....  The DH codex is not competitive in 5th Edition.

I understand that quite a few people have done very well with the DH codex in 5th Edition, but I'm just not that pro and I'm too "competitive" to stomach that much losing.  So each time I just ended up writing up some lists, playing some test games, and eventually giving up.

However, the new GK codex looks to be pretty solid and have a multitude of competitive builds.  My favorite thing about my Codex: Space Marine army is that it is extremely flexible, and I can run a completely different build each week.  I think to a lesser extent GKs will be the same way.  While they lack the sheer number of unit options of other books (e.g. only two fast attack... seriously?), I think the units they do have are flexible enough to make up for it.  Overall I think that GKs will find themselves around Nids or BA in powerlevel, which makes me happy.  I won't be tempted to play the martyr card when I lose, and I really can't be accused of being a codex-jumpy powergamer if/when I win.

I'm taking this codex release as an opportunity to start a new army that is competitive and has great conversion/painting potential.  By the time I finished painting my Smurfs, I had learned a significant amount about the hobby aspect of 40k and my latest models are light-years ahead of my first ones.  That and having a fully-painted army already removes the temptation to rush and speed paint models just to get them done.  I can actually take my time on each model and really make them look good... or as good as I can anyway.

Possible lists and paint schemes incoming...

Manifesto/Initial Thoughts

So now that I'm living in upstate New York, I've found two things to be true:

1.  Lake-effect snow sucks
2.  40k games are hard to come by

I started out playing 40k in OH which has a very solid community of gamers.  It was possible to get games in any night of the week and hit a RTT pretty much every Saturday if you were willing to drive an hour.  And most of the stores were heavily focused on tabletop games, so there was never a shortage of tables or terrain.  In short, I was spoiled...

The part of New York I now reside in isn't as blessed when it comes to 40k and the transition was a huge shock for me.  Finding games now takes a considerable amount of effort and with moving, work, and other committments, I haven't played any sort of "serious" game in about 9 months.  So not only am I pretty rusty, but I'm behind in the meta too.  I'm hoping that by keeping a blog and following other blogs/forums I will be able to get back into things and avoid getting curbstomped too bad when I do travel to tournaments.  That and I'm hoping that by showing my process for building a new army, I might be able to recruit some new players locally so I don't have to drive so dang far...