Warhammer 40k Bood Angels: The Way of Sanguinius?

I just got this from Brother Captain DocRailgun... cant wait to see the results. Keep this stuff coming, and if any one else wants me to post coverage of their battles and armies, please send the content!


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Brother-Captain Jawaballs,

In the next month or so my Blood Angels will join they fray in a "War
Without End" campaign, and to seed the players our new club (The Lords
of War) will be holding a tournament. This tournament will require
lists of a thousand points with no named characters (which really
helps Orks).

Though the new SM Codex could have provided me with more options for
fewer points, I decided to go with the BA Codex and try out the "Way
of Sanguinius".

My list looks like this:
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/livingflag/40K/100_0166.jpg

HQ:
Chaplain

Troops:
2 x Assault squads (sgt with power fist), in Rhinos w/ extra armor
Full Tactical squad w/ lascannon
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/livingflag/40K/100_0172.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/livingflag/40K/100_0173.jpg

Elites:
DC Furioso
3 DC in Rhino w/ extra armor
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/livingflag/40K/100_0167.jpg

Heavy Support:
Baal Predator w/ heavy bolter sponsons and storm bolter
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p186/livingflag/40K/100_0170.jpg

Unfortunately, I need to do some painting to get these squads up to
standards, but there is a good amount of time until the tournament
begins.
In the meantime, I will be testing my list against as many opponents
as I can... at least one very soon. I will keep you up to date with
how my battle brothers do.

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Warhammer 40k: Apocalypse!



Ok, my movie making is backlogged... but I wanted to offer up a quick battle report on this weekends Apocalypse game.

10000 points of Marine/Imperium vs 10000 points of Chaos/chaos guard/kroot

We started this game at 10ish am, and finished around 6pm. My buddy Fritz over at The Way of Saim Hann put the game on and planned out the objectives and mission. It was a great Apocalypse game, hands down the most fun I have had playing in one to date. I don't usually like playing in these games because they tend to bring out the worst in people. But I reluctantly agreed since Fritz was putting the game on. This game though, had a minimal of nastiness, with only Black Matt, The Warmaster allowing the chaos blood rage to over take him and earning negative sportsmanship points. The good guys were facing a VERY powerful Chaos force including THREE super heavies, and 3 or 4 Lash sorcerers. We had NO super heavies and really not even a lot of heavies at all. 4 or 5 land raiders, 3 basilisks and a good spattering of smaller things. I fielding my Vindicator and Baal, neither of which barely fired a shot! :( One of our partners, a Daemonhunter force, was barely a factor as well, when he finally got his LR into the game it was destroyed, and his terminators were cut down when they deep striked. His Grey Knights barely fired a shot all game while holding a ruined building with no objective inside of it.... so it was almost 10k vs 8k. But bravely we charged!

Since there were 10 guys playing, and I am just one, and only have a narrow view of the overall game, this is my vision of the game. Cutting to the meat of it, I planned a turn 2 insertion of reserves up as far as we could get them. This would cut down on losses in turn 1 and 2 of fireing, since we went second. The plan was good. On bottom of two, a large assault force entered the battle from mid way up the right side board. I sent Dante with his HG, Corbs, DC in their rhino, Speeder, attack bike, and my two Furioso dreads. My Dark Angels partner sent his dread with Melta, land raider crusader, terminator squads and a rhino with assault squad to lead the way. We intended on thrusting the tanks up as far as we could, creating cover for the dreads and assault forces. Once we were close enough, we would hopefuly charge! But the best laid plans are at best useless the minute the enemy is engaged.

We charged up the right side, right at a force of Chaos dreads, vindicator, 2 defilers, obliterators and 2 demon lords and a sorcerer... all with lash. We had some protections, but their range was limited... Dante and his HG were lashed, and here is where we get into that old discussion concerning Jump troops and that dangerous terrain test. I have decided that I will not play against lash users, or any one who tries to rule munch this issue again. To sum it up, Jump Troops, when choosing to use their jump packs to move OVER 6", leave or enter difficult terrain must make a Dangerous Terrain check. They may choose to move like normal infantry, 2 or 3d6 taking the highest, and not suffer the test. But due to one poorly worded line in the rule book, I think the line is actually missing a single word, some people seem to think this applies any time models with jump packs enter or leave terrain, argueing that HAVING the jump pack forces the test, not using it. This is the epitome of bull shit rules munching, defies logic, and frankly goes against the spirit of the game and all that 40k was intended for. Lash is already bull shit enough, but to try to pull this as well just takes the cake. In case you dont know, Lash of Submission is a chaos power that allows the Chaos Player to actually move my models around the table, so he can then fire on them. This is typically used to get infantry from out of cover and lined up for nice template shots.

Dante and his HG were lashed a total of 4 inches away from where they were. Since they moved out of cover, the lasher asked me to make dangerous terrain tests. I would not even have argued with this if they had moved them over 6... seriously, normal infantry do not need to make a dangerous terrain test when lashed out of cover, why should jump... The lasher is NOT igniting the jump packs, they are using the power of chaos to magicly move the models. (His arguement was that he "used the jump pack option" to move him 4 inches...) Guh...

Any way, I made the tests, but its the fact of the matter. Chaos losers.

After the lashing, the entire HG was killed. Dante survived and moved to join the Death Company, but then the entire squad would suffer a blast from a battle cannon... None would survive. Though I am not sure what the AP on a battle cannon is... 2 or 3. Actually if it was 3, Dante would have lived... Oh well, something to look into.

SO, this devastating blow crippled our flank. Without Dante and Corbs offering their assault support, my Dreads were merely scary. We assaulted with all that we could, and actually quagmired that side for the rest of the game... stopping their advance. So I suppose the losses were not in vain, because that quagmire allowed the Blood Angels troops to claim 2 objectives and put us in position to win or tie the game.

In the end, it came down to us holding 3 objectives and contesting 1. They held 2. But they took an Apocalypse rule that allowed them to double the value of one of their objectives, giving them a tie! Thus ended the game.

Highlights:
James taking down a super heavy by delivering the last shot with a multi melta.
My speeder exploding Black Matts Land Raider that was moving up to assault our objective, AND killing a terminator inside. This also left a bad ass squad of Chaos scum open, and they were cut down.
Bobby taking the title "Tank Hunter" by ignoring the game, objectives and strategy and going for transports instead of important units...(He fired on an empty immobilised rhino instead of an active defiler with a battle cannon just for the tank kill.)
The Chaos Combo of Lash and Battle Cannons to cut down Dante, Corbulo, Honor Guard and Death Company. This pretty much saved the game for the Chaos side... those losses took 90 percent of our assaulty teeth away on the right flank...
Culexis Assasin scaring the crap out of half the Chaos Army.

Low Lights:
Forcing dangerous terrain checks with Lash.
One of our team members basically disappering for the whole game.
James infiltrating Shreik into their back lines, and losing him on the first shot fired at him.
Bobby placing Gaunt right at the front of our lines, and losing him to the first shot fired at him...because he forgot to use his Camo Cloak.
My Baal Pred immobilizing itself turn one on terrain...

Over all, great game! And really with the exception of the issue mentioned above, and a few scattered arguements between James and every one, this was the most tame and good natured Apoc game I have played. Great job guys!

Warhammer 40k: James!




Here is your Ultramarine dude!

Warhammer 40k Blood Angels: Tourny Report Toywiz Conflict GT

Last weekend I went to a GT at Toywiz in Nanuet, NY. First off, I have to say congratulations to the staff at ToyWiz in putting on a fantastic tournament. It was well run, efficient and fun! This was a Grand Tournament, with 5 games being played over 2 days. The pairings for the first round were based on army list, which was a great feature of the GT. That would leave power gamers playing against power games in the first round instead of pounding on noobs. Another great feature about this is that it gives guys with army lists that are NOT built to destroy the world still able to have a chance at winning. So, pretty much any one has a chance to win! Finally, the tournament gave points, or penalties for army lists. At the GW GT guys can show up with their super nidzilla lists, or double ork warboss nob bike armies and table every one and win the whole thing. Here, there are 20 points up for grabs for having a good, balanced list. Of the possible 20, I scored 11. The guy who won best general only scored 1... (nidzilla) I was in contention to win the entire thing though. In addition to the army list points, there are a total of 20 possible painting points. I was the only one to score all 20 points. Between 20 points for both comp and painting, plus 20 points for sportsmanship, there are 60 points up for grabs that the GW power gamers dont usually worry about, which allowed guys like me a serious chance at placing. Now to the games.

Game 1:
The games were fast paced, and soem guys dont appreciate my making videos, so I only have a little bit if vid. I did make a nice video for game one. The mission was loot counters, and there were 3. I had the pleasure of placing 2 of the three. I placed them both near each other, and would completely ignore the third which was on the other side of the table. From the start of the game, I would be in place to control one, and challenge another.

My opponent had a drop pod ravenguard force. He ended up dropping two pods on an objective on the far side of the table, and two pods on the right side objective. So after a couple of turns, he held two pretty strongly. But I was able to come onto the table all in the middle, on top of an objective. That enabled me to focus every thing on the right side, and take that objective, then deny him the left at the end. I ran a dread, speeder, bike and dante at the right side and destroyed every thing, including his pods. Then i held it with an assault squad in a rhino. Having secured that objective, I focused on the left side.

He flanked in with Shreik and an assault squad and chaplain, but they had fist. Only shreik and krak grenades could hurt the dread. He rolled poorly and the dread would kill them all granting me an objective point for killing Shreik. Wrapping up the game, I tank shocked two rhinos through his squads... causing TWO of them to fail morale and fall back... This tank shock left one of my rhinos directly on top of the objective and his guys out of scoring range... At the end, I won maximum points. I killed his commander earning 1 point, held all of the objectives, winning the game, and beat him in kill points and table corners scoring two more bonus points. In Anthony's defense, I think that my army should probably have been in the upper tier. It is more of a sleeper army. No one really knows about the power of the Dante/Corbs/Furioso combo. Well Anthony found out! He made some serious tactical errors though. First of all, he deployed his marines out of their pods, on MY side of the table, this allowed me to come on with all of my AP2 shots, and waste them all. Also, he needs to give his jump forces a fist. Going up against my Furioso with no way to kill it except for Shreik really hurt him... especially when my dread targeted the commander first and squashed him.

Game 2:
This game would be a drastic turn around for my fortunes. The mission was to have the highest costing unit on either deployment zones. So the guy with the most expensive squad on both edges of the table won. Sadly, My army is made up to NOT surrender lots of victory points, and instead spreads points around to most efficiently use my squads. Therefore thereby meaning, my squads are cheap. My most expensive was 210 points, a tactical squad. The next was Dante at 200, then a paultry 165 and less for all the rest. My opponent had 4 squads that were more expensive then my highest, and one of them was a 3 unit speeder squad. No way in hell I was going to be able to knock that out... :( So I did what I could. I split my forces to match his deployment. I sent some rock hard forces at his right side where two of his expensive squads were, and the rest went for the other two on the left. As I thought, his speeders would escape my attack on the left... and suprisingly, he overwhelmed me on the right. I failed to knock out his point squad there and that squad would move to hold onto his table edge outscoring Dante. His speeders wheeled around to mine, and outscored my Tactical squad. That ended it! He won the game, and scored some bonus points. I got 5 points for the loss plus a bonus. Crap mission. Cool in that it gave the advantage to armies that wouldnt normally have had a chance, but sucky in that it wasnt me who had the advantage.

Game 3:
Kill Points... vehicles, tanks, monstrous creatures, commanders count for DOUBLE kill points... gulp. Basicly I had to run him off the table. I was not successful. At the end of the game he had easily double my kill points. Rhinos counting as 2 kill points, as well as my tanks and mostly every thing else really kicked me in the ass. Really though, our armies were very similar. He had transports, tanks and every thing I had. He just got the drop on me and ran over me. Good game Stephen! (A member from our brother club at Brothers Grim)

Game 4:
I came back with a vengance. After two serious losses, I would need two big wins to have a chance. In this game, I played a chaos army, and in a tight fight ended up with the win. I didnt make any video and honestly the game was so fast that I dont remember the turn by turn... But this set me up for a big finish...

Game 5:
I got to play my buddy Greg from Brothers Grim! Last time we met, I gave him a lesson on Assault. There isnt much he can do when his assaulty army comes up against a BETTER assaulty army... But this game was different! He refined his list, added some fire power and put the screws to me. It was a loot counter mission, and we ended up in a battle for one counter that I placed in the middle of the board. After a huge blood fest, the game came out tied. Shreik came on flank marching, and forced me to split Dante off to intercept him. After, of course, he took out my assault squads enroute to kill his dudes on the left side. The game came down to one last tactical marine contesting the objective in the middle of the board... that gave him the tie! Great game man. If we had to end it was best to end on that note.

The only thing I can say negatively about Greg was that he COST ME 3RD PLACE! I would have had 3rd overall if I scored 5 more battle points. His one little survivor cost me. You will pay my friend... :) I went on to finish 6th over all. Not a bad showing.


On to the rest of the tournament. LOOT! There were two painting awards. Players choice and Best Army. I was a contender for both. A word on players choice... this award is not really about which army is the favorite at the tournament. It pretty much comes down to how many friends you bring. I only brought 2. I know for a fact that I scored 8 of the 30 votes that were entered, not including guys that might have voted for me that I didnt see. Sadly though, about half of the guys in the tournament were from a single club... the local club. Not surprisingly, a member of their club won players choice. His army was great to give him props... but after seeing the numbers of guys from him club... I knew I wouldnt have a chance. He had the best army from his club. Morale of the story... bring more friends. :)

But Best Army was a different story! This award was based on both Composition points and painting points. I would beat the kid who won players choice by a single point! I beat him in painting by 3 points, but he outscored me in comp by 2. Victory Jawaballs!

Well, car is finished being worked on, so time to go. I will add more to this later.

Scenic Resin Bases by Jawaballs Productions Kustom Kastings






Announcing new Scenic Resin Bases by Jawaballs Productions! I use scenic resin bases for all of my models. They look good and I always get lots of compliments. It is quick to finish an entire army with them and they look awesome! Nothing brings unity to an army better then having a consistently themed and finished bases. These are pictures of the prototype set that I have developed. I painted 5 with a grey granite finish, and 5 with a sandstone finish.

There are many more styles of bases in production including cobblestone, brick, techno deck, crystaline, and more. They will be available in basic infantry size, large "Terminator" size bases, and huge "Dreadnought" size. Also, I am developing an e-store to make purchasing them much easier. For now, if you are interested in purchasing resin bases from Jawaballs Productions, simply email me for pricing and we will work out a package deal until I get up and running. More to come and thanks for your support!

Warhammer 40k Blood Angels: The Conflict at Toy Wiz, Nanuet NY



Ok, I just got home from the Conflict GT and my brain is fried and I have already mistyped aboout 30 times so I am not going to bother with a batrep now. I will leave you with the small token illustrated by the plaque in the pic though. My little collection grows! :) I will do videos and batrep tomorrow. JB

Warhammer 40k Blood Angels: Tactica 2, Mission: Loot Counters



Last time I briefly talked about army selection. Choosing the right army for you is a huge part of the game, and you havn't even started playing yet! So now what the heck do you do when you get on the table? As you set up, the first thing you need to do is roll the dice to see what mission and deployment you are going to play. In the 5th edition rule book there are 3 missions and 3 deployment options. I will discuss them now.



Loot Counters:
This mission is my favorite and placing those counters is the key to the game. You need to subtly set up your opponent and get him to help you arrange the loot the way you want them. You will usually have 5 counters. Ideally, you want 3 of them to be arranged in a triangle with no two being more then 24 inches apart, and the other ones to be on the other side of the board. See the illustration. If you only have 4 or 4, you still want at least a triangle shape arrangement of 3. The others dont matter. You need to roll the die to see who places first. If you win, you place counter 1, twelve inches from the edge, in a terrain piece. That is going to be your base and you need to try to get it. The first person to place will get to place 3 counters, which is actually a great advantage. This will let you create your triangle no matter where your opponent places his. Since there are sooo many variables in how they will be placed, we will focus on the fact that you were able to get your triangle set up, and the two other counters are on the other side of the table as shown. In most games, you can get something like this pretty easily. If you can, you want to take LAST TURN. Let your opponent go first.

What do you do now that you have the loot the way you want it? Here is what I do. I place my 10 man tactical squad on Loot 1 in cover. I arrange my Lascannon so that he is actually out of cover on the table with the best angle on the table. Be sure that no matter what, as this squad takes casualties, the last man standing is on that counter. From this point I set my attack. The two counters on the right are basicly out of play, and my opponent can have them. I am not going to waste resources and split my force trying to take 24 square feet of table, when I only need to take 12 square feet to win. Most opponents will usually split their forces, sending some to take the two on the right, while sending others to try to take the 3in my triangle... Let them, the ones taking the 2 will be basicly useless and out of the game. Note, I did not say forget about thsoe two for the whole game... Try to save a fast moving vehicle for later.

Now for the rest of your forces. I place my Tactical squad, then the rest of my troops around that point. I roll my Vindicator right into cover with the Tacticals. As you can see in the illustration, the vindicator will have complete fireing range on 2 and 3. Also, I placed loot 3 intentionally in open space. Let your opponents go for it! The Vindicator should make short work of them. I will deploy my Baal Pred to the right of Loot 1, with the attack bike and speeder supporting it. My troop Rhinos will be deployed to the left. They are going to make a sweeping angle to the right, fanning out into a 3 pronged formation and claiming the objectives. I will roll the rhinos right up onto the objectives, and keep the squad inside. But I dont move them out until turn 3 or so. My Rhinos are fast enough to make it where ever I want by turn 5 so no need to expose them to fire yet.

In the meantime, My DC in their Rhino, Dante and the two Dreads are going to deploy somewhere in between my Baal and my Troops, in the left corner and march. The DC Rhino is going to lead the charge and I am going to do my best to keep the dreads and Dante within 12" of it. The DC Rhino is going to roll up to Loot 2 and Dante and the dreads are going to head that way as well, sweeping over loot 3 on the way. They are the spear tip, hammer and anvil. With my hard ass assaulters moving up to clear out whatever feeble forces my opponent has put there to try to take 2 and 3, supported by the Baal, Speeder and Attack Bike, my Troop Rhinos should easily make it to their locations with at least one rhino intact.

So, all has gone well. After 4 turns of furious fighting, my assaulters have done their job and taken Loot 2 and 3. My Rhinos have moved into position and are either sitting functional on counters, or destroyed with troops using them as cover and holding objectives. I should have at least one rhino still functional... and hopefully at least one Death Company, and or Corbulo alive. By the end of turn 4, you want to plan for the game to end on 5. Get your DC and Corbs into an operational rhino, and get that rhino lined up for an 18" move to loot 5. I know I know, there is a lot that can go wrong here, but the plan is to move your Rhino with the DC to contest Loot 5, and if you are lucky, you can move your Baal and/or speeder or attack bike to contest Loot 4. If you were successful, you shouldnt have to do any of that since you should be firmly in control of 3 loot counters to your opponents 2.

On turn 5 you move out your contesters. Send whatever you have to get within range of your opponents counters. Tank Shock or Ram if you have to. Also, use whatever you have left, Dreads, Troops, Rhinos to form rings around the ones you own to stop your opponent from being able to do the same to you. It should be obvious where he will come from if at all, and you should be able to use your Rhinos and Dreads to protect the vulnerable counters. All you have to do is get them arranged so your opponent cannot get within 3 of the counter... Remember, he cannot get within 1 of you...

Hopefully at the end of turn 5, you own 3, and are contesting at least one of his. The game will be yours if it ends on a 1 or 2, AND you will be in good shape for turn 6 if it goes. He will have to not only have focus on trying to take your objectives, but now he has to try to retake his.

What happens if your opponent trys to set up and take your three just as you have? Good question... I am confident in my Blood Angels to be able to handle it. Your opponent will be gunshy from the Vindi and will get his stuff away. Rely on that to open up your 3 objectives. It is mandatory to get that Vindi within range of all 3, and use the Baal also. They both should be able to fire on Loot 1, 2, and 3 the entire game. If your Vindi gets knocked out fast, (and it probably will) no worries, it did its psychological job and helped you control the table. If it did not get destroyed and your opponent is foolish enough to try to take Loot 2 or 3... punish him.

Do these tactics work with other armies? Yes. You do need certain units though. A hard hitting and scary tank (Prism Cannon, Russ) to hold Loot 1 with a tough as nails troops squad supporting it and claiming. Fast moving troops to be able to get to the other objectives, and rock hard elite units to do the fighting, and clear out your opponents. (They dont have to survive, just win.) Finally you need something fast to contest. Obviously this works best for Eldar, Blood Angels and Drop Pods, but every army should have units that can fill these roles, though maybe not as well.

So, I hope that made some sense and you can use it to win! I will no doubt edit it once I have more time. JB

Warhammer 40k Blood Angels: The challenge has been laid.



I leveled the challenge. After battling through every army in his way, Dante has finally set his sights on Fritz's Saim-Hann. The battle will be going down at the club in two weeks... IF he chooses to accept the challenge. We meet again at last... The circle is now complete... When we last met I was but the learner, now I am the master...

Warhammer 40k Blood Angels: Battle Report Blood Angels vs Dark Angels Take Two

I played Ted again this week. Last week I played his Ravenwing and beat them quite convincingly. He revamped his list and wanted a rematch. So I obliged.

1750 points
Dawn of War
5 Loot Counters


Blood Angels: Standard Mechanized Force

Dark Angels: Librarian terminator armor, two terminator squads, Azriel, bike squad, attack bike, two dreadnoughts, two 10 man tacs in drop pods.

We deployed loot, he placed one on his side, then I placed one 12 inches from my edge, but within 24 of the one he placed. He placed another in an opposite corner, an I placed one right in between the first two making a triangle. He placed the last on the other side of the table. Those two would be ignored the whole game.

My plan was to take and hold the three counters in the triangle. Ted won the die roll and gave me the honour of going first. I deployed my tactical squad on an objective in cover, and placed Dante next to them. He resereved every thing.

Turn 1:
I reserved nothing so every thing came on. I rolled my vindicator up into the terrain that my Tac was on, defending that objective and aquireing fire lanes that cover the other two I intend to hold. I deployed my rhinos on the extreme left edge to make a flank run then slant in towards the two other objetives. Every thing else I placed fairly tight in on the left.

His dreads came on, he put one on the left side and one on the right. He also had his speeder come on. The speeder fired on and destroyed my lead rhino... I forgot to pop smoke... That assault squad would disembark and run for cover, effectively out of the fight.

Turn 2:
I move my speeder into range to fire on his, but fail to hurt it. The rest of my forces advance, the rhinos moving up with the Death Company taking the lead. Objective 3 was on the other side of some ruins guarded by a Dreadnought with Melta. I moved my DC rhino up 18" and butted up against the ruins.

On his turn, all he had come in was a Terminator squad with Librarian. He deep striked them into difficult terrain next to the bulk of my squads. He rolled two 1's for dangerous terrain! What poor luck, but it got worse for him... He shot at my Baal with the librarian template but failed to hurt it. He put a wound on my Attack Bike with his speeder.

Turn 3:
I move my DC rhino right up on top of the objective being guarded by his Dread, and keep the unit inside. I move my speeder up again to take a shot at his, and fail to hur it. I unloaded on his terminators, with Vindiator, meltas, Baal, tactical... but only kill one. They however would fail leadership and fall back... This would lead to a travesty for him.

On his turn, Azriel with his terminators came in, deep striked, and scattered on top of his the falling back terminator squad... He rolled on the mishap table... and the result was unit destroyed. They materialized mixed in with a bunch of gravel and dirt and gun casings... Sorry Ted. He shot at my DC Rhino with his dread and imobilized it on top of the objective. His attack bike came in flank march, and popped my Vindicator from behind! Dante hates seeing his armour destroyed... His dread assaulted my DC rhino but failed to damage it.

Turn 4:
Dante moved out and melted the attack bike with his Perdition Pistol. Retribution. My rhinos moved up to claim the two other objectives. The DC Disembarked, while my speeder shot at his, and missed... I shoot up his terminator squad and kill them all with ferocious melta and lascannon shots. In the assault, my DC and a Furioso charged his dread, the DC went first and that would be all I needed. One rend got through, and I destroyed it.

On his turn, his drop pods finally came in. He droped one onto a far objective, and the other next to my squads on objectives. He popped a rhino with Assault Cannon fire, then destroyed the squad inside with rapid bolter fire, taking away one of my objectives! He wanted to make a game of it!

At the end of turn 4, I held 2 objectives, he held 1. 2 were up for grabs.

Turn 5:
I would finally nail his pesky speeder which would pretty much seal the game since he could not contest any more objectives... My assault squad jumped into his imobilized DC rhino to keep the objective. The DC actually would jump into the recently vacated assault squad rhino to prep to contest his objectives if the game goes turn 6. I shoot up his tactical squad, then assault it with Dante, only 2 survive and they break, but Dante keeps them locked in.

With very little left, he does the best he can. Dante will finish up with his tactical squad and he is unable to do any thing more. The game will end on a roll of 1 or 2, and I rolled a 1. Final score Blood Angels 2 and Dark Angels 1. Had the game gone on to 6, I had a rhino ready to contest his held objective if needed, and was also moving a squad up to reclaim my third.

Summary:
His army was much stronger this time with more options, but losing his commander and a whole squad of terminators hurt very much. For my side, the MVP was probably the Death Company assaulting his Dread and taking it down. The fast moving Rhinos again did their jobs at taking and holding objectives. Had I been playing more wise, I would have moved my Baal infront of my last Rhino that got popped while it was on an objective. For loot counter missions, I feel it might be better to get every thing on the table and go for it. It is relieving to not have to worry about kill points, so I can be more aggressive with my Rhinos. Going second is still key though, unless you get the big drop on your opponent, and are able to take out his fast moving stuff, he will always have the chance to steal the game or a tie at the end by moving and contesting. Also, always prepare for game to end turn 5. Especially if you roll a 1 five out of six times like me. :)

Warhammer 40k Blood Angels: Tactica 1, army list


Hmmm, Tactics... where to begin??? I have been meaning to do some posts on tactics lately, but wanted to wait until I had a decent idea of what the hell I was talking about before I started shooting off my mouth... In this day and age it would be nice if more people did the world this courtesy. :) But I have been on a winning streak with my Blood Angels lately so I wanted to discuss a few tactics that seem to be working for me.

First of all, army list is key. We all love those toys and want to get as many of our beloved models on the table as possible. But we have to just settle on the fact that some units just are not practical. An army of cobbled together, expensive units with no synergy will get owned and you will not have fun. We all want to win no matter what people say. This brings me to selecting the right units for your force, which will be the focus of my first tactic post.

First of all, avoid point sinks! The new Space Marine codex is FULL of point sink units. Sternguard Vets are one huge example. Plopping them on the table inside a Land Raider Redeemer is an extreme example that can be ruined by a single 50 point attack bike. Avoid building your army around that one kick ass unit inside that one kick ass transport. In my opinion, rather then taking that 600 point+ combo, it would be better to pick up say... three tactical squads. In some cases, it is quantity, not quality that matters.

But if you are going to go, go strong! If you want to play your Sternguard, commit to them. Take the commander that makes them all scoring units, take as many Sternguard as you can get on the table, and get em in Rhinos. (more on the value of the rhino in another post) If you want Land Raiders, play two. Vindicators? Play three! At least take more then one tank if you are going to take a tank at all. I play my Vindicator and Baal Pred together. They make a great team, especially when supported by an attack bike and speeder. This forces my opponent to make choices. Putting just one tank on the table is probably a waste of points. People will single out that lone vindicator and pop it like a virgin on prom night. This is especially sucky if that tank was your lone anti tank unit...

The same goes for transports. Taking just one rhino will probably result in that one rhino getting whacked by turn two every game. People will see it and think there is something special inside, (and there probably is) and zone in on it. If you are going to go transports, go multiple. Make your opponent make choices and if one goes down, you will not feel the loss so strongly.

5th edition has sort of turned the focus of 40k towards lots of troops choices. In the past you saw armies taking just two small tactical squads and loading up on Veterans and elites. I personally feel this shift is a good thing. My army has evolved from two to four troop choices. But seriously, there is something to be said for 40 space marines with bolters and plasma guns who have zoomed up to an objective in a rhino and deployed in cover. That little tactic will run you around 900 points and force your opponent to have to deal with 4 tough little nuts to crack. Again this sort of gets me back to my, "If you are gona go, go strong" mind set. Go with the 4 ten man tacticals in Rhinos, hell add two more in drop pods. Attach a cheap but solid commander some place, and spend the rest on a few speeders with Multi Melta and Heavy Flamer and you are well on your way to winning games without even putting a real thought into strategy. Some people find just 10 space marines in cover hard to kill, try 60.

Summary: Put some real thought into your army list. Do some research and make decisions before you put a lot of time into modeling an army that you are going to be unhappy with down the road. Take units that compliment each other and avoid taking hugely expensive point hog units as the core of your army. Sure a squad of 10 assault terminators lead by a chaplain and commander will tear things up... but what happens when they are stranded on one half of the table with nothing left to kill?? It is good to take multiples of things. 1 Speeder is nice but 3 are better. One Rhino is a lascannon magnet, 4 are a bewilderment and confusing. Your opponent will hesitate and not know which one to shoot. Make your opponent make decisions. Taking just one Vindicator makes his choice easy and will probably result in the throwing away of 125 points. Taking 3 will make him panic. Play that up and go with it!

More to come on choosing an army list in the next post.

Warhammer 40k Blood Angels: Death Company Rhino





Warhammer 40k Blood Angels: Rules Discussions, Assault Packs and Difficult Terrain



Ok, this topic has come up a few times at the club, but not yet in a game for me. I thought I would bring it up here and see what you all have to say.

The question is:

Do models equipped with a jump pack need to make a dangerous terrain test when choosing to move out of difficult terrain as normal infantry?

My answer:
NO. The use of a jump pack is optional. Models equipped with a jump pack may choose to move as normal infantry instead, thus not having to make a Dangerous Terrain check.

First of all, I have called the Games Workshop hot line twice, and asked the same question, and after the guys gave me their answers, then spent a moment (at my request) looking up page numbers to support their answer, referred to page 52 of the rule book. "Jump infantry can use their jump packs (or equivalent) and move up to 12" in the Movement phase. This is optional and they can choose to move as normal infantry if they wish." It then goes on to say "When using jump packs, they can move over all other models and all terrain freely. However, if a moving jump infantry model begins or ends its move in difficult terrain, it must take a dangerous terrain test." Their answer both times was that a Jump Infantry model may choose to move as a Normal Infantry model. Thus, rolling 2d6 to move through difficult terrain and taking the higher of the two, and NOT rolling for Dangerous Terrain.

Games Workshop Answer:
NO

Now, there is always some one who will say that you can call the GW hot line 10 times and get 10 different answers. Usually those are the guys who are proven wrong every time the number is called, and usually it is the same guy being proven wrong...:)

But guys involved in the discussion have repeatedly quoted the second part of that quote I just made. "However, if a moving jump infantry model begins or ends its move in difficult terrain, it must take a dangerous terrain test." They claim that this rule forces Jump Infantry to make a test to leave Difficult Terrain even though they are moving as normal infantry because they are still classified as Jump Infantry. Moving as normal infantry does not change their classification, they say.


So, lets put this into game terms. Lord Dante who normally can only move 6" uses his jump pack to move 12" and lands on the edge of a broken rubble terrain piece. He has to make a Dangerous Terrain test for ending his turn on Difficult Terrain after using his Jump Pack to move 12", and rolls a 4. He is fine. An enemy model is located about 5" away from the edge of that terrain piece in open space. Dante fires his pistol and misses. In the assault phase, he rolls 3d6 for difficult terrain to charge, but the highest is a 3 and he cannot move at all because he cannot reach his target. Pretty straight up.

Next turn, Dante decides to attempt to move as normal infantry (6" max) instead of flying out of the terrain through the use of his Jump Pack. He rolls 3d6 again, (Independent Characters roll 3d6 for Difficult Terrain) and scores a 6, so he can then move 6 inches out of the terrain. Since he decided to NOT engage his jump pack, and instead walked out of the rubble, he does not need to make a Dangerous Terrain test, just as normal infantry need not make a Dangerous Terrain test when leaving Difficult Terrain.

Thoughts? Support? Rebuttal?

Warhammer 40k Blood Angels: Mechanized Blood Angels 1750 point list





So here is my new army list.

Mechanized Blood Angels 1750

HQ:
Commander Dante 200
Brother Curbolo 100


Troops

Assault Squad One: 140
Power Sword 15
Rhino -
Extra Armor 15

Assault Squad Two: 140
Power Fist 25
Rhino -
Extra Armor 15

Assault Squad Three: 140
Power Fist 25
Rhino -

Tactical Squad One: 115
+5 Marines 75
Lascannon 20


Elite:

Death Company
Death Company x4 -
Rhino 40
Extra Amor 15

Furioso Dreadnought 100
Death Company 25
Heavy Flamer 5

Furioso Dreadnought 100
Heavy Flamer 5
Death Company 25



Fast Attack

Land Speeder 65
Multi Melta -
Heavy Flamer 10
Missles 10

Attack Bike 50
Multi Melta -


Heavy Support:

Vindicator 125

Baal Predator 100
Heavy Bolter Sponsons 25
Extra Armor 15
Storm Bolter 10

Total 1750


This list has been created to take advantage of the 5th edition missions. Allow me to explain how.

First of all, Dante and Corbulo are a MUST HAVE. I have tried playing without one of them and the list is just no where near as effective. Dante costs 200 points, but is honestly better then a 10 man Tactical squad, which is the equivalent point cost. Dante has a Jump Pack, melta gun, master crafted power weapon, Iron Halo, artificer armor and a 6 WS and 5 BS. This makes him a machine! He is a tank killer and can take down whole squads of infantry alone. But also, he grants every Blood Angel model within 12" Preferred Enemy, AND every enemy within 6" is at -1 WS and BS. I move him up using the rhinos as cover, and I keep him as close to my dreads as possible.

Corbulo is equally as valuable. I attach him to the Death Company, and he deploys within their rhino where he can affect surrounding units with his powers. I move the rhino up with my Furioso Dreads. If they start their assault within 12" of Corbulos Rhino, they get Furious Charge which grants them a +1 initiative. This is SOOO invaluable when getting the drop on other dreadnoughts and squads with power fists. When it comes time to deploy the death company, I seperate him from them. This is simply accomplished by making sure he is more then 2" away from the DC when they leave the rhino. When the DC go into assault, Corbulo does NOT join them. That allows him to remain outside of Close Combat where he can still use his Exsanguinator. This allows him to negate 1 wound per turn with some restrictions.

Ideally, I want to keep Dante, Corbulo, the DC and the Dreads all close to each other for they are my assaulty force. I do not let them go far from my edge, since my opponents usually are forced to come at me and instead I try to keep them back, or let them take mid range objectives, and intercept opponents attack forces.

Before I go on, let me talk about tactics. My friend Fritz over at The Way of Saim-Hann and I have been working on tactics to not only win 5th edition, but more importantly, to beat the new Marine Codex. Instead of giving into the temptation to follow what it seems the new Codex designers want, we are doing the opposite. The new Codex seems to be centered on creating armies with overwhelming, elite force. Ironclad Dreads, SternGuard Vets, commanders that grant EVERY unit extra attacks and make elites scoring units etc. Most of the new Codex armies you see lately are built around one or two Land Raider Redeemers, Ironclad Dreads and lots of Veterans who meet you in the middle and tear you appart. It used to be that this was what the Blood Angels were good at, the best at in fact. No marine army could stand toe to toe with the Blood Angels in close combat or in an "In your face" attack. Now the new Codex has given every marine army that same ability, for cheaper.

So, I abandoned that tactic. Yes, I keep my furioso dreads and dante, but I went mechanized. The real threat of my army is NOT Dante and the Death Company, it is in my speed. I have 4 Rhinos and a Baal Predator on the table that can move up to 18". This is an utter surprise to any one who has not faced the Blood Angels. This means that I am able to move my transports up onto objectives, tank shock the enemy infantry off them, and contest or even claim them. This is the threat of my army, and this is how I have won every game I played since I started my new tactics. There is a lot more to it then that, and that is for another post. In the meantime, back to my list.

My troops are highly mobile and fast moving. I have three 5 man assault squads in rhinos. One has a power sword, two have fists. I decided to drop their jump packs, and by the BA codex, I can remove their packs and assign them a rhino instead. When I had them with jump packs, they were simply getting torn up. A 5 man squad cannot stand against withering gunfire, and are even picked apart by random pistol shots. It doesnt take much to reduce their numbers. Couple that with having to jump into terrain to get cover saves, thus forcing Dangerous Terrain checks and the jump packs simply are not an advantage any more. Now I move my rhino 18 inches, tank shocking if I can, and popping smoke. The squad stays inside. If the transport gets knocked out, fine. They get out and use it as cover. If it is ignored, perfect, next turn I will move it another 12-18" and get it behind terrain or onto an objective. Now I have a squad, sitting on an objective, inside an armored box. Get the picture? If some one wants to get me off that objective, they have to pop my rhino first, then kill the marines inside, who are still marines after all.

I also have a 10 man tactical squad with a Lascannon. They always deploy at the reat ASAP and set up their gun with the best lanes of fire possible. People fear Lascannons, and a 10 man marine squad in cover requires a LOT of firepower to take down.

I already touched on the Furioso Dreads. But I didnt mention that they are Death Company Furioso Dreads. This means that they get an extra d3 attacks in close combat... Yup thats right! When they charge they can get 7 attacks, add to that Dante's death mask and preferred enemy and Corublo's Furious Charge and they are getting 7 str 10 attacks, at initiative 5, usually hitting on 3's and rerolling misses. When used together, very little in the 40k universe can stand up to their charge. They also have Heavy Flamers and Meltaguns. So before they assault they have a chance to completely kill the squad with shooting alone! Their drawback? They need to be close to Brother Corbulo, or else they will move and attack the nearest enemy unit. That means they will move out into open terrain even if there is nothing close enough for them to attack... But thats ok, I keep Corbs close bye in his Rhino. OR I deploy the dreads where there are lots of things for them to stomp.

I have two fast attack options. I use a Land Speeder with Heavy Flamer, Multi Melta AND Typhoon Missle Launcher. This unit has lots of functions. The missles have a 4' range, so I can sit back and lend fire support. The Multi Melta gets 2d6 to roll against armor from 12" away, so I can move it 12", then fire 12" more at a tank, giving it a 2 foot threat range with a good chance at destroying any tank in the game. The heavy flamer makes meat of infantry. So another function is to move up in support of my assaulters, or my rhinos moving to take objectives. It gets cover from the tanks, then jumps ahead at the last minute and flames a squad on an objective that my men are trying to take. Or it clears out enemy transports/tanks that might be in the way. It is also good at supporting my armor in the same capacity. It moves out with the Rhino and Vindicator lending its anti infantry support to them. This allows me to move my tanks out without infantry support.

I use an attack bike with Multi Melta. Same story. It has great range like the speeder, but is TINY. I almost always move it up with the tanks, and hide it behind them. People forget it is there. Or I deploy it behind terrain and never touch it... seriously, I love the look of shock on some ones face when they move their beloved tanks to flank my troops, only to get an attack bike rammed up their butts. Once the game is under control, it can go out on its own and pop drop pods for kill points, or single out commanders who have lost their squads but escaped. You might escape my Furioso, but you wont get out of range of my Bike.

Versatility is the name of the game with this list. The Fast Attack options are invaluable.

Lastly, I have two tanks that I always deploy together. The Baal Predator with Heavy Bolters, Assault Cannon and Storm bolter and the Vindicator. The Predator, moving as a fast vehicle, can move 6" and fire ALL of its guns. That makes it a terror to enemy infantry. It can move out from behind cover, or behind the Vindicator and unleash hell. And the Vindicator is... well, a Vindicator! People know and fear its gun. I try to move that into cover and fire as much as I can. It rarely lasts more then a turn or two, but thats ok, it is cheap and every shot at that is one shot not at my Baal Pred, which is the more dangerous of the two tanks. but people have to kill it. It is great against Ork Nob squads, tanks, or any other hard, elite targets. And I do not fear using it in close quarters... I was pressed in the assault once, and had a large Templar Command squad about to tear me a new one in my own base, when I ordered the vindicator to fire point blank. The shot landed dead on, and destroyed the entire squad, including their chaplain and emperors champion. The Baal has another function. Being a fast vehicle (on a roll of 4+ of course) it has a surprising 18" movement. This allows me to move up and contest objectives at the last minute. Also, its armor value 13 front, coupled with the 18" move, means it can ram anything with a Str 10 shot! So if its guns are knocked out, it still can take out Land Raiders...

So there you go. A combination of fast moving tactics, fire power, and brutally efficient assault has turned my army from an average 4th edition redheaded step child, into a fearsome 5th edition spoiler. The true test will be a large tournament I have coming up in a couple weeks. If I stick to my tactics, and play my game, I should do well. The best part is that I am playing a fluffy army. Instead of some of these Ork armies who cheese out two Warboss/nob bike squads, (why would two Ork Warbosses join forces, they would kill each other first) I play a Blood Angels army that is purely blood angels. Fast, Furioso, and Dante. That means that I can score composition points at tournaments where they matter... Cant say the same for the Orks...

Warhammer 40k Blood Angels: Battle Report, Blood Angels vs Ravenwing.







Blood Angels vs Ravenwing
Blood Angel Force:
Standard Mechanized list

Ravenwing:
Master of the chapter, chaplain, bike squads x3, speeders x5, attack bikes x3, etc.

I got to play my second game in two days last night and took on a Ravenwing opponent from the club. The mission was kill points and deployment was Dawn of War.

I won the die roll and gave my opponent the honor of first deployment and turn. He deployed most of his forces, keeping a squad of bikes in reserve for flank march. I held my entire force in reserve much to his surprise..

Turn 1:
My opponent brings in any forces NOT in reserve. He also performed his scout moves and then moved his forces up creating a crescent shape attack ring on the back right third of my deployment zone for when my forces come on.

Turn 2:
On his turn, my opponent rolled for reserves, and the rest of his force came on. He flank marched a bike squad into the left on my deployment zone.

On my turn, I would roll terribly for my reserves, and only a few units would come on the table. I sent in a Dread alone on the left to engage the many enemy squads there. On my right I move in my Baal, Speeder and a Rhino with a squad inside, supported by Dante. The baal shoots at a bike squad killing one and the speeder fires on an enemy speeder, failing to hurt it. Dante decended apon a lone attack bike that got caught close to my edge, and put him to the Axe of Mortalis. The dread lined up his target with his heavy flamer and melta killing half of them. In the assault, he would charge and kill all but one and they only had grenades with which to fight back... they all missed. The end of turn two had me ahead with one kill point.

Turn 3:
My opponent opened up with devastating melta shots from a bike squad and speeder. He knocked out my speeder and baal! Great rolling on his part. However, Dante could not allow this afrontery to go unanswered... In his assault turn my dread would finish squashing the bike squad then massacre into cover from the volley of multimelta shots sure to come his way if he was caught in the open. Samiel, his commander, would fire a plasma cannon but it got hot and he suffered a wound.

On my turn, all but my Vindi and DC came on. Dante moved to deliver retribution on the bike squad that felled my Baal. The rest of my forces moved in to my back right to set up a defensive position with good fire lanes. I had the lead in kill points and my opponent was going to have to brave my guns to get to me. My Furioso on the left killed an attack bike that got too close with his flamer and melta and the rest of my shots were unable to hurt his speeders. The furioso would go on to become the MVP of the game, again. In my assault, Dante charged the squad of bikes, killing all but one. Those unfortunate souls were the only unit in range for me to come to grips with.

Turn 4:
This was a desperate turn for my opponent. He needed kills. He attempted to move around the terrain to get shots at my rhinos with his speeders. He also moved a whole squad of speeders a full turbo boost to prep them for their assault run on my vulnerable flank. (they ended up very close to my MVP dread...:) Samiel moved up to fire on my tactical squad but failed to wound. The only shooting success he had this turn was exploding one of my Rhinos. Dante, in assault with a lone biker, noticed the explosion with chagrin. He painted that rhino himself... Add one speeder to the list of things to vaporize. He finished off the biker then moved closer to the speeder with his massacre...

On my turn, every thing was on. My vindicator moved up and fired on bikers, killing a few. My MVP moved on the squad of speeders fireing its flamer and melta, but they made their cover saves. Dante charged the speeder, killing it with his Perdition Pistol. Samiel would suffer a LOT of melta shots this turn, but made his invul saves. My attack bike killed an enemy speeder. My rhinos took up defensive positions behind terrain and broken hulls. They would spend the rest of the game holding their position. In the assault, my MVP charged the squad of speeders, he needed 6s to hit, and got two, Ripping the gun off one and stunning another.

Turn 5:
At this point the game was out of reach for the Ravenwing. They could only fight for pride. Samiel, frightened by the vicious melta shots and imposing dreadnought, fell back out of range. The remainder of his bike squadron moved up and fired on my furioso, imobilizing it. He would fire shots at my Vindicator and immobilize that as well. He moved an attack bike up on my MVP, and missed with the point blank multi melta shot...

On my turn Dante jumped up to repel the assault. He would not be able to get into the fight this turn, but would mop up turn 6 if needed. The vindicator blasted a point blank shot at the bikers, killing half. My tactical squad fired on the bikers as well and killed them all save the Chaplain. The MVP furioso turned on the attack bike who strayed too close, and wounded it. He would stomp on it in the assault and earn his third kill point of the day.

So at the end of turn 5 the kill point tally was weighted heavily in my favor. My opponent had only a chaplain, samiel, and squad of speeders left. He rolled the dice and the result was a 6 so the game would go on to turn 6 which he played out for fun.

Turn 6:
With little left to do, the chaplain and samiel moved up and fired at my tactical squad and attack bike. The speeders moved to support this final thrust, but only had 2 guns left to shoot... The commanders assaulted with samiel missing his attacks and the chaplain killing a few marines.

On my turn I counter charged. The marines would hold against the chaplain, while Dante and the DC charged Samiel. My furioso charged the squad of speeders again, and managed to destroy one. Samiel and the chaplain would both be put to the sword.

The Ravenwing suffered a great loss this day, perhaps never to recover. Dante continued his march through the Battle for Salvation ranks, calling out his former ally, the Saim-Hann warhost and I went on to talk smack at every table in the room. Fritz, I'm coming for you. If James and his Ultramarines fall under my blade on the way, so be it. Sooner or later, you will have to face your former pupil. Obi-Wan has taught me well.

Warhammer 40k blood angels, battle report: Blood Angels vs Eldar




So today I got to play against Black Matt, The Warmaster. This showdown has been a long time coming, and he decided to not play his Chaos for some reason... I would show no mercy. Xenos Scum.

1750 point battle
Blood Angels vs Eldar
Kill Points
12" Deployment

Blood Angels:
My new Mechanized list using 3 assault squads in rhinos, DC in rhino with Corbs, Vindi, Baal, Attack Bike, speeder, Dante, 2 DC Furiosos, Tactical Squad with Lascannon.

Eldar:
2 Dire Avenger squads in Serps, Falcon, Eldrad, Guardians, 3 walkers, wraithguard with warlock, Wraithlord, Banshees


Deployment:
I won the roll and passed first turn to Matt. He deployed his forces along his 12" zone, hiding his transports behind cover and putting his foot sloggers in the middle. I chose to reserve every thing.

Turn 1:
Matt moves his units out, quickly running his Wraithguard, Lord, Eldrad and Banshees to take cover and hold the middle of the table. His tanks moved up the left side 24. End turn 1.

Turn 2:
Matt moves his foot sloggers into range to assault my edge from cover, and lined his three tanks up on my edge to block my deployment in that third of the board. On my turn, only 1 furioso, my speeder and a rhino with an assault squad come on the table... The Furioso moves into cover and pops smoke while the speeder moves to shoot at a Vyper. The Rhino stalled.

Turn 3:
Matt moves one of his tanks to be able to fire on my Furioso, leaving a hole in the middle of them for me to deploy reserves into... He fires on my Furioso but fails to break its cover, and also fires at my Speeder and imobilizes it. It comes to land in a crater. He moves his Wraithlord up to assault my Furioso. On his assault, he assaults my Dread, but is not ready for the 6 attacks that I was able to land FIRST since the lord had to move through terrain. The Wraithlord would not get to take as wing.

On my turn, all but two rhinos come in for me. I move every thing into the right of my board except for the other dread and the attack bike. They move into the middle of his tanks. In shooting, I will destroy his vyper, most of his wraithguard, and some banshees. In my assault, I explode his Serpent with my dread, killing 4 of the passengers in the process. My attack bike is unable to get to a tank due to bad rolling on difficult terrain. My Death Company come on and assault the Wraithguard with corbulo supporting them.

End of turn 3 I have 3 kill points, he has 0

Turn 4:
Matt tries to sneak up Eldrad for sneaky mind tricks. He will fire on my Tactical Squad and kill 1, he will fire his Wraithcannons at my Vindi and knock off its cannon. His Dire Avengerse kill my attack bike and his other tanks run away from my Furioso in the left, that threat has fallen. On his assault he cant do much. He moves in his remaining banshees to assault Corbs and the DC. I win the combat but he makes leadership. Corbs takes a wound.

On my turn, I rush two rhinos up on his Guardian squad but am not in range to tank shock. My furioso on the left flames the Dire Avengers killing them all. I lined up a whole world of hurt for Eldrad, prepping him for a confrontation with Dante, but he dies to the very first shot... a melta blast from my dread. Stupid anticlimatic xenos scum. The game is pretty much under control at this point. Corbulo and my DC wipe up his Banshees and Wraithguard to end the assault.

Kill Points for me: 6 Matt:1

Turn 5:
Matt would fire at my dread on the left and miss. He would then fire on Dante with 6 missle shots... yikes... They are strength eight and would instant kill him. 3 get through and I make his saves.. a 3, a 5 and a 1. Dante takes a wound and is killed. But at this point he doesnt have much left on the table. He moves up and unloads some Dire Avengers on my Tactical squad trying to kill them, but fails to kill a single marine.

On my turn I disembark my two squads the moved up to deal with the guardians. One goes after the three walkers with its fist and the other will stay for the guardians. The two rhinos attempt to tank shock the guardians and ram the walkers... The first one is immobilized on the terrain, and the second one fails to hurt the walker. Bah. he Dire Avengers are cut down in a hail of bolter rounds and flame. My furiso charged their transport and hurt it. The other one just moved back to the corner of the table and popped smoke. The assault marines assaulted the walkers and beat them in close combat but walkers dont fail morale... The other assaulters needed to roll a 2 on 2d6 to assault the guardians... leave it to me to roll Snake Eyes... The Guardians will live yet another turn...

At this point, the game is heavily weighted in my favor. Matt has 2 kill points and I stopped counting at 6. I roll a die, and fail to end the game turn 5.

Turn 6 is quick as there is not much left for mat to shoot or be shot at. We pretty much go right to his assault and he charged his guardians into my assault marines. I won that combat and his guardians broke then were put to the blade. My other squad in assault with the walkers immobilized the last two standing but failed to destroy them. It didnt matter though, all they had to do was stop the guns. Matt fired a couple of desperate shots at my Dread trying to pop it, but missed again.

On my shooty phase I had very little to do. I just tied up some loose ends and prepped for the end of the game. I assaulted his Falcon with my Death Company and knocked its guns off and STILL was not able to take down his walkers with my fist.

This would be the last round. Matt rolled a 3 to end the game. He had 2 kill points and a tank and 2 broken walkers left on the table.

Hero of the game for me? My Furioso Dreads. They survived a huge salvo of shots from Brightlances, then took the charge of a Wraithlord. Matt was NOT ready for the Death Company Furioso attacks. That is why I keep them in the list. Few guys encounter them, and when I play at tournaments, they are always shocked to be assaulted by them... I charged a wave serp with 7 Furioso attacks... 5 of them penetrated... explode.

The Vindi and Baal Pred played their usual roles by controlling the battle field and killing hard units.

Corbulo was a factor. He saved one of my DC with his Sanguinator.

Flop of the game? Eldrad. My reserving every thing nulified the tactical advantage of his redeploy ability. In Matt's defense, he rarely plays his Eldar and forgot to use his powers a lot. (Though I DID let him use them every time after he forgot) :) Eldrad moved up to try to mind war Dante, and ended up getting vaporized by a melta shot. He definitely did NOT earn his points. But realy, neither did Dante. He was too far away from, or not on the table during any assaults so no one got his preferred enemy. Then he died from a salvo of missle shots.

This Eldar list was just not fit to take on my Blood Angels. Perhaps the rematch will see me taking on his vaulted Chaos list...

Warhamme 40k Blood Angels: Upgraded Baal Predator





After stepping up my game and painting some sweet hand painted images on my rhinos, I took a look at my Baal Pred and realized that now it just looks flat... so I had to upgrade it. First thing I did was pick up the Forgeworld Reinforced Extra Armor bits. I love Forgeworld. :) I only wish they gave the Blood Angels some more love. SO I trimmed and soaked the bits, but the first problem I ran into was that I didnt wash them enough. Its difficult to add more pieces to a painted tank because you are glueing plastic onto paint and the join will only ever be as strong as that layer of paint holding it to the plastic. In the case of the forgeworld bits, some of them were misshaped (one thing I hate about forgeworld) so I had to actually break them here and there to get them to lay flat when I glued them. But before trying to glue them on, I primed them black, only I had forgot to scrub them enough and some of the pieces still had that residue and did not take the paint. If you dont scrub forgeworld models before priming them, the paint does not hold because they use a residue to help get them out of the molds and dont clean them. They need to be scrubbed with a toothbrush and soapy water.

Ok, so pieces glued, then scrubbed with a toothbrush, I painted them black then gave them my usual Mechrite, blood, blazing, and firery treatment. I felt that the original paint job needed more pop when compared to my newer tanks. The new center piece though is the great Cherub I found in a WHFB box set. This little baby is holding a dagger and a long parchment and wearing a death mask. In his chest you can see a couple of cogs. Its a beautiful bit and sooo appropriate for not only the angels of death, but for mechanized Blood Angels! I was saving it for a Land Raider that I am working on, but thought that this tank would get a LOT more love so I used it. I also have a nice Empire Lance Pennant that a buddy from the club gave me, (thanks Sylvester) it is a large flag with three flowing lanyards. I'm painting it in the tri stripe 2nd company standard design and will use it on this tank as well. So there you go! Baal Predator revamp. :)


EDIT:

I added two more pics. One is a hand painted Blood Angels wing on one side, the other is a stylized Baal Prime fire dragon! Now this tank is a real predator!