I am back from my weekend in the "Sun" and I have returned undefeated! I went 5-0 this weekend at Blood in the Sun, but too few points were earned to take home the title. More on my games and opponents, as well as the event as a whole later on the blog. I just walked in the door and I need sleep! One thing I will mention is my "strength of schedule" was pretty decent. After each game I will also list my opponents final placing. I played some tough players. I scored 7th overall in the final tally.
Game 1 - Alex Nikitenko (Orcs and Goblins) 11-9 win (8th)
Game 2 - Michael Groth (Beastmen) 19-1 win (30th)
Game 3 - Jeff Heck (Beastmen) 11-9 win (6th)
Game 4 - Dan Ruud (Daemons) 16-4 win (41st)
Game 5 - Kevin Bruins (High Elves) 15-5 win (13th)
Another interesting note... Best Overall was won by Brettonians, Best General was won by Beastmen, and third place was Wood Elves!!!
Showing posts with label Blood Angels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blood Angels. Show all posts
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Monday, September 6, 2010
Weekend wrapup
It was a good holiday hobby weekend. I had a short week last week with my vacation up state, so I was looking forward to coming home, picking up my Island of Blood set, and getting some games in. Lets start with Island of Blood. One word: Fantastic! I love the small rule book, and I love the Skaven models. I already assembled my Skaven set, I traded away my High Elves today for another Skaven set, and I already started some conversion work. At the very least I immediately cut the cleaver off of my Warlord and added a shield. It is silly to have two weapons when one is a halberd! I think I am planning on taking the halberd off the other one as well as the back banner. I might change the head too, I have a cool engineer head left over from my Doomwheel kit I've been meaning to use for a conversion.
After picking up my Island of Blood set on Saturday, I also picked up a Mephiston model for my Wife's Blood Angel army, and I played my first game of Warhammer 40k in about 2 months. Mephiston is a beast! We also picked up another 2 Assault Squad boxes so she could fill out her army a little better, but for our game Saturday we just added Mephiston to her existing army and played 2000 points. I played a pretty standard list and was able to intercept Mephiston with a Lone Wolf to handle him, but she has a much better grasp on how to use him in the future. My opinion is that he is best as a support character following behind another Assault Squad, intercepting armor and assisting in assaults to take the focus off of himself. He also NEEDS cover, either from actual cover or other marines. Fell No Pain probably doesn't hurt either from a Sanguinary Priest.
Today I played a a 3000 point 'Ard Boyz practice game against Mike's High Elves with Teclis leading them using Shadow magic. Mike won the 'Ard Boyz at RIW Hobbies, so I knew even though he made some minor changes to try and improve his list, it would be a very close idea of what I would be facing in the semi finals (especially since we are car pooling together). He had a level 2 with High magic, a BSB, and the Phoenix Guard special character. He had a large bunker unit of Spearmen, a small unit of archers, a smaller unit of Swordmasters, a big unit of Phoenix Guard, a small unit of White Lions, a large unit of Seaguard, minimal unit of Dragon Princes, and 4 Great Eagles. I played with the list I used for 'Ard Boyz, but I dropped a unit of Giant Rats, dropped a unit of Gutter Runners, dropped a level of magic off a Warlock, and also dropped his forbidden rod. Instead I added 2 units of Rat Ogres with a master-bred and an additional packmaster.
At the start of the game I scouted one unit of Gutter Runners in front of 2 Great Eagles. The other unit was flanking the other Great Eagles and Dragon Princes. When he tried to open the game by charging the one unit, a stood and shot, killing one Great Eagle with my poisoned slings. I killed the second on the same side when he charged me that turn. I would just like to say now, if you are playing Skaven and do not have Gutter Runners in your army list... go buy them now. Log on to GW, call your store, check EBay, just go buy them. They have proven again and again how valuable they are, both in practice games and at 'Ard Boyz itself.
He advanced slightly and I pretty much rushed forward. Very first turn I cast Plague and it was scrolled by Teclis, and I lost Plague for the game. I then cast the 13th Spell on his not-large-enough unit of Swordsmen and warped the entire unit into Clan Rats. Then my Grey Seer (not the General) rolled a 4 and then a 3 and was instant killed himself. There is a reason I take two Grey Seers, and give the Power Scroll to the second! Magic was not to grand during the game as far as high amounts of power dice, we both rolled pretty much average. But the High Elves had the Banner of Sorcery and Teclis, both adding d3 power dice each casting phase, as well as the crystal that removes a power die and adds it to his pool in each dispel phase. I was lucky that my channel rolls were on fire! Even still, Teclis was great with magic and even rolled FOUR irresistable force spells in a single phase at one point (only 1 with double 6's).
My Hell Pit Abominations were almost non-factors until very late in the game. I fled a charge from Phoenix Guard early that left me recovering until I could get a late charge on HPA 1. HPA 2 was supremely unlucky, as he had a Pit of Shades scatter 8 inches OFF of the nearby Storm Vermin right onto him, and promptly failed his Initiative test. That was the only "deadly" spell I got hit by really. The rest was buffs and debuffs from Teclis to help his army. I already mentioned my one 13th Spell, but I did get another off on turn 6 that wiped out the rest of the White Lions to secure their victory points.
The shooting was very limited in the game. On the first High Elf turn though, he shot my Rat Ogres and killed 1 Packmaster (which is 25%!). They promptly failed their leadership test and fled off the board. This was a very good lesson. I've already drafted a new list with a single unit of 6 Rat Ogres with 3 Packmasters. Throughout the rest of the game I used the Storm Banner combined with Howling Warpgale to stop the High Elf shooting phase and all but shut down the leftover Great Eagles.
My own shooting was not spectacular, but the Doomrocket is a beutiful thing. On my own first turn (I activated the Storm Banner on his second turn), I cast Skitterleap on my own Warlock Engineer from my Grey Seer and sent him behind enemy lines. I set up about 16 inches away from the center of Teclis' Spearmen bunker, rolled 12 on 4d6, and killed 25 out of 31 models in the unit!!! I did position him so that if I rolled too high, I would at least hit the unit behind Teclis and possibly still him too, but the dice gods smiled on my sneaky tactics, and the Horned Rat laughed at the dead elf-things.
I also really nailed the best tactic for defeating Teclis... charge his unit and allocate attacks onto the wimpy elf. Sure he wounds on 2+ with his one attack, but steadfast Slaves or Stormvermin (who finally killed him) will work just fine. In the end I had flank Abomination charges and the Rat Ogres finally making it into combat to wrap things up. Turn 6 the only High Elf unit on the board were the Phoenix Guard, but he had killed enough Skaven that even with only 1 unit left, I only got a minor victory. Against another 'Ard Boyz winner, and Teclis, I will take it and chalk it up as a lot of quality experience!
After picking up my Island of Blood set on Saturday, I also picked up a Mephiston model for my Wife's Blood Angel army, and I played my first game of Warhammer 40k in about 2 months. Mephiston is a beast! We also picked up another 2 Assault Squad boxes so she could fill out her army a little better, but for our game Saturday we just added Mephiston to her existing army and played 2000 points. I played a pretty standard list and was able to intercept Mephiston with a Lone Wolf to handle him, but she has a much better grasp on how to use him in the future. My opinion is that he is best as a support character following behind another Assault Squad, intercepting armor and assisting in assaults to take the focus off of himself. He also NEEDS cover, either from actual cover or other marines. Fell No Pain probably doesn't hurt either from a Sanguinary Priest.
Today I played a a 3000 point 'Ard Boyz practice game against Mike's High Elves with Teclis leading them using Shadow magic. Mike won the 'Ard Boyz at RIW Hobbies, so I knew even though he made some minor changes to try and improve his list, it would be a very close idea of what I would be facing in the semi finals (especially since we are car pooling together). He had a level 2 with High magic, a BSB, and the Phoenix Guard special character. He had a large bunker unit of Spearmen, a small unit of archers, a smaller unit of Swordmasters, a big unit of Phoenix Guard, a small unit of White Lions, a large unit of Seaguard, minimal unit of Dragon Princes, and 4 Great Eagles. I played with the list I used for 'Ard Boyz, but I dropped a unit of Giant Rats, dropped a unit of Gutter Runners, dropped a level of magic off a Warlock, and also dropped his forbidden rod. Instead I added 2 units of Rat Ogres with a master-bred and an additional packmaster.
At the start of the game I scouted one unit of Gutter Runners in front of 2 Great Eagles. The other unit was flanking the other Great Eagles and Dragon Princes. When he tried to open the game by charging the one unit, a stood and shot, killing one Great Eagle with my poisoned slings. I killed the second on the same side when he charged me that turn. I would just like to say now, if you are playing Skaven and do not have Gutter Runners in your army list... go buy them now. Log on to GW, call your store, check EBay, just go buy them. They have proven again and again how valuable they are, both in practice games and at 'Ard Boyz itself.
He advanced slightly and I pretty much rushed forward. Very first turn I cast Plague and it was scrolled by Teclis, and I lost Plague for the game. I then cast the 13th Spell on his not-large-enough unit of Swordsmen and warped the entire unit into Clan Rats. Then my Grey Seer (not the General) rolled a 4 and then a 3 and was instant killed himself. There is a reason I take two Grey Seers, and give the Power Scroll to the second! Magic was not to grand during the game as far as high amounts of power dice, we both rolled pretty much average. But the High Elves had the Banner of Sorcery and Teclis, both adding d3 power dice each casting phase, as well as the crystal that removes a power die and adds it to his pool in each dispel phase. I was lucky that my channel rolls were on fire! Even still, Teclis was great with magic and even rolled FOUR irresistable force spells in a single phase at one point (only 1 with double 6's).
My Hell Pit Abominations were almost non-factors until very late in the game. I fled a charge from Phoenix Guard early that left me recovering until I could get a late charge on HPA 1. HPA 2 was supremely unlucky, as he had a Pit of Shades scatter 8 inches OFF of the nearby Storm Vermin right onto him, and promptly failed his Initiative test. That was the only "deadly" spell I got hit by really. The rest was buffs and debuffs from Teclis to help his army. I already mentioned my one 13th Spell, but I did get another off on turn 6 that wiped out the rest of the White Lions to secure their victory points.
The shooting was very limited in the game. On the first High Elf turn though, he shot my Rat Ogres and killed 1 Packmaster (which is 25%!). They promptly failed their leadership test and fled off the board. This was a very good lesson. I've already drafted a new list with a single unit of 6 Rat Ogres with 3 Packmasters. Throughout the rest of the game I used the Storm Banner combined with Howling Warpgale to stop the High Elf shooting phase and all but shut down the leftover Great Eagles.
My own shooting was not spectacular, but the Doomrocket is a beutiful thing. On my own first turn (I activated the Storm Banner on his second turn), I cast Skitterleap on my own Warlock Engineer from my Grey Seer and sent him behind enemy lines. I set up about 16 inches away from the center of Teclis' Spearmen bunker, rolled 12 on 4d6, and killed 25 out of 31 models in the unit!!! I did position him so that if I rolled too high, I would at least hit the unit behind Teclis and possibly still him too, but the dice gods smiled on my sneaky tactics, and the Horned Rat laughed at the dead elf-things.
I also really nailed the best tactic for defeating Teclis... charge his unit and allocate attacks onto the wimpy elf. Sure he wounds on 2+ with his one attack, but steadfast Slaves or Stormvermin (who finally killed him) will work just fine. In the end I had flank Abomination charges and the Rat Ogres finally making it into combat to wrap things up. Turn 6 the only High Elf unit on the board were the Phoenix Guard, but he had killed enough Skaven that even with only 1 unit left, I only got a minor victory. Against another 'Ard Boyz winner, and Teclis, I will take it and chalk it up as a lot of quality experience!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Rhellion turns 100, Mrs. Blood Angel, and Víglundr!
Thanks for reading my blog, because today Rhellion's Tabletop is 100 posts old! I've almost been kicking around a year now, and this blog has really enhanced my hobby experience and kept me motivated.
In other Rhellion hobby-related news, my wife has decided to give 40K another go. She played Eldar about 6 years ago, but was mostly a painter not a gamer. This past weekend she took a trip to our FLGS Pandemonium and picked up Codex: Blood Angels, a squad of new Death Company, and a Baal Predator. She also drafted a bunch of my unused Codex Marines to fill out a full 2000 points already. She has a ways to go to learn the rules of the game, but I'm already excited. Haha.
In Galus Campaign news, I've created my campaign Hero with the 40K Fight Club Character Creation Rules. I'll be playing my first Galus game this Friday, and should have a full battle report next Wednesday, after the first period is over (so as to not reveal stratagems). Here he is:
Víglundr, Son of the Bear, Slayer of Daemons
Víglundr was a massive man even by Space Marine standards when he was discovered by the Wolf Priests in his home village. He was the Village Seer's son, but as a great warrior he lead war parties in defense of his village against the warring factions of Fenris. While going through the trials of the Space Wolves, he was singled out because of his attunement to the Rune's, and his ability to harness their powers specifically for hand to hand combat. He became a Rune Priest while his other brothers became Blood Claws, and as they all because Space Wolves together he stood not in the rear commanding the powers of lightning and storm, but in the front line swinging his force weapon and slaying the enemies of the Chapter.
His attunement to the runes and martial prowess with his runic axe, Kjonir, earned him place on expeditions to the fringe of the Eye of Terror in defense of the world there from Daemon and Chaos Cultist raids. On one such defense mission, Víglundr was at Brom Wolfheart's side when a great Keeper of Secrets was summoned to the battlefield and began to lay waste to the Space Wolves before it. Víglundr stepped forward and took a mighty blow from the Daemon that would have cleaved a normal Space Marine in two, and stepped forward and sundered the Greater Daemon in turn. Instantly the Chaos warband's resolve left them, their battle lust gone, and they fled. Víglundr just stood and led the howl of victory, with a gaping hole in his side.
Rune priest
Wargear: Runic Weapon, Terminator Armor, Wolftooth Necklace
Psychic Powers: Jaws of the World Wolf, Murderous Hurricane
Galus Upgrades: +1 Initiative, +1 Wound, Force Weapon, Eternal Warrior
Points: 220
[The Force Weapon upgrade allows him to cause instant death even if the enemy is immune to instant death.]
In other Rhellion hobby-related news, my wife has decided to give 40K another go. She played Eldar about 6 years ago, but was mostly a painter not a gamer. This past weekend she took a trip to our FLGS Pandemonium and picked up Codex: Blood Angels, a squad of new Death Company, and a Baal Predator. She also drafted a bunch of my unused Codex Marines to fill out a full 2000 points already. She has a ways to go to learn the rules of the game, but I'm already excited. Haha.
In Galus Campaign news, I've created my campaign Hero with the 40K Fight Club Character Creation Rules. I'll be playing my first Galus game this Friday, and should have a full battle report next Wednesday, after the first period is over (so as to not reveal stratagems). Here he is:
Víglundr, Son of the Bear, Slayer of Daemons
Víglundr was a massive man even by Space Marine standards when he was discovered by the Wolf Priests in his home village. He was the Village Seer's son, but as a great warrior he lead war parties in defense of his village against the warring factions of Fenris. While going through the trials of the Space Wolves, he was singled out because of his attunement to the Rune's, and his ability to harness their powers specifically for hand to hand combat. He became a Rune Priest while his other brothers became Blood Claws, and as they all because Space Wolves together he stood not in the rear commanding the powers of lightning and storm, but in the front line swinging his force weapon and slaying the enemies of the Chapter.
His attunement to the runes and martial prowess with his runic axe, Kjonir, earned him place on expeditions to the fringe of the Eye of Terror in defense of the world there from Daemon and Chaos Cultist raids. On one such defense mission, Víglundr was at Brom Wolfheart's side when a great Keeper of Secrets was summoned to the battlefield and began to lay waste to the Space Wolves before it. Víglundr stepped forward and took a mighty blow from the Daemon that would have cleaved a normal Space Marine in two, and stepped forward and sundered the Greater Daemon in turn. Instantly the Chaos warband's resolve left them, their battle lust gone, and they fled. Víglundr just stood and led the howl of victory, with a gaping hole in his side.
Rune priest
Wargear: Runic Weapon, Terminator Armor, Wolftooth Necklace
Psychic Powers: Jaws of the World Wolf, Murderous Hurricane
Galus Upgrades: +1 Initiative, +1 Wound, Force Weapon, Eternal Warrior
Points: 220
[The Force Weapon upgrade allows him to cause instant death even if the enemy is immune to instant death.]
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Tantalus Lander for Space Marines?
Will the Tantalus Lander look anything like this Forgeworld work in progress Storm-Eagle?
Apparently the Tantalus Lander is coming in the new Blood Angels codex. There is some speculation on the 'net about whether it will be available to all Space Marine Chapters through the upcoming Battle Missions book. Here is some info, and you can decide for yourself. I'm holding my breath for it, so if do don't post anything for a while......... just wait longer.
In the new Blood Angels Codex, due to be released toward the end of April, there will be a brand-spanking new vehicle introduced for their army. The GW designers have finally listened to old Valerian and introduced the Tantalus Lander as an air and space capable flying support vehicle to fill the niche between the Land Speeder and the Thunderhawk Gunship. Here are the stats:
BS FA SA RA
4 13 11 10
Type: Fast, Skimmer, Assault Vehicle
Weapons: Either 2 Assault Cannon or 1 Twin-linked Assault Cannon (not sure yet), and either Twin-linked Flamers or Twin-Linked Plasma Guns (not sure yet on this one either).
Transport: 16 Infantry, or 8 Jump Infantry, or 5 Terminators, or 1 Dreadnought
So, for the concept just imagine a Space Marine version of the IG Valkerie. The model is reminiscent of the Thunderhawk, but smaller, with an Assault Ramp on the front like a Land Raider. The backstory on this "new" vehicle is that it has always been around in the Space Marine chapters, but an Administratum clerk once mistyped it as a Thunderhawk, and thus the Imperium fell victim to false reports. Many of the classic ground planetary assaults were actually carried out in Tantalus Landers, and not necessarily Thunderhawks.
Alright, so as I said, this is a new vehicle that will be introduced in the Blood Angels codex, but additional rumors indicate that the vehicle will become available to other Marine armies, and that will probably be accomplished in the upcoming Battle Missions book, that is due to be released in March.
I don't think there is any way they lose out on the revenue by not making it available to all marines. Plus the backround states all chapters use them. More...
The Tantalus only allows for jump pack squads to assault after moving or deepstriking. Everything else disembarks as normal. It's not possible to assault with a Dreadnought or Mephiston out of a moving Tantalus.
The transport capacity is 16 power armour or 5 bikes or 1 Dreadnought. Terminators, servitors and jump packs take up two slots, attack bikes take up two bike slots.
I read it in one of the many rumor posts over on the Blood Angel's forum. Will try to go back and find the post. There were two indicators that it might/would become available to all Marines. First, was the rumor to that effect, and that the Battle Missions book was supposed to include various new units in addition to just the rules for more mission scenarios. Second, the fluff behind the Lander was that it was commonly used by all Chapters (not just Blood Angels), and had often been mistaken for Thunderhawks in reports of Space Marine planetary assaults.
Source: The Bolter and Chainsword
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Working on a new draft
I picked up a set of sniper Scouts and a Librarian, and added them to the new army I have been play testing for the upcoming O.F. Chapter Tournament.
At this point, I have the entire army either fully painted (most of the infantry) or base coated (most of the tanks). The only things that are just primed still are the Landspeeders.
Here is the army. I've played it once, and tabled a Blood Angels army. This version is slightly changed from that game, to take a Whirlwind instead of a Vindicator.
Librarian
Ironclad Dreadnought: 2 hkm's
Dreadnought
Tactical Squad: lascannon, flamer, rhino
Tactical Squad: missile launcher, flamer, rhino
Scout Squad: sniper rilfes, camo cloaks
Landspeeder Squadron: 3 speeders, multi meltas, heavy flamers
Predator: autocannon, heavy bolters
Whirlwind
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