To All the Tournaments Screwing with 40k Restrictions

Not that I have a dog in the fight, 'cause I truly don't. Just felt this meme to be of good use given the current anti-direction in 40k.

Warhammer 40k - Into the Darkness

He said it. . . . He had summed up—he had judged. ‘The horror!’ 

- Heart of Darkness, Joesph Conrad

If you haven't read it, I wholly recommend the Heart of Darkness. It's a quick short story that meditates on imperialism and godhead and seems to somehow fit the view of the current state of 40k. Kurtz is portrayed as a heretical figure, established as both a counterpoint and a testament to colonial imperialism. Not to roll poor Conrad over in his grave with the analogy, but 7th Ed 40k seems to hold much the same place in the dark hearts of many gamers.

Enough with the pedantic, quasi-intellectualism! My personal take on 40k7E is FINALLY! The wheel has turned and we are finally back to Basement 40k. Having only gotten in a handful of games, new 40k feels like we have reverted to a kitchen sink approach to the game while still retaining some of the formality and structure evolved from 3rd through 6th. 

Perhaps the biggest change for my gaming cohort is the inclusion of super heavies and the attendant gargantuan creatures in the main rulebook. This is a welcome respite in that now we can easily break out the big stuff without having to rely on ownership of myriad Forgeworld and Apocalypse books. You can take them or leave them, but when you decide to play them the rules are readily available.

I played a game recently with a Warhound armed with a plasma blastgun and a turbo laser destructor. At a bundle of points, he well ate into the 2k of my army and was totally worth his points at range. But then he was charged and tied up by a Chaos marine sorcerer and some spawn for two turns negating his massive guns and relegating him to Stomp attacks. Granted he had blown away a Transcendent C'Tan so there were no complaints from my side of the field.

Predictions being worth less than the digital ether they occupy, I would say that 40k7E is here to stay for a while. There is a level of refinement in the rules that I have not seen in the many years playing the game. Even the quality of the rule set far outstrips anything that GW has published and is one of the first sets that I feel are truly worth the investment. The lack of a "special" special edition is the one drawback in my estimation (I have both the 4th and 5th limited books) but honestly the three book set feels more quality than even previous special editions.

The core rules and a general move towards datasheets gives this edition more upgradability than any past. Our gaming cohort already played "unbound" armies depending on scenario so there is nothing new there. The addition of tac objectives cards really opens up a variety of play and I encourage people to generate and share their own unique tactical objectives. In a previous post, I shared a version of the core objective cards printable as Avery business cards and I think this is a great format in which to add your own objectives.

As gamers, we now have a common ruleset for fielding everything from the lowly grunt to heavy tanks to fliers to massive monsters cavorting across the canvas that is each of our games. Expand your mind and your tablespace to multi-table battles that range the depth and breadth of the 40k universe.

Clearly, I am a 40K7E enthusiast. Even with GW removing units from new codices, I encourage players to plumb their old books - use the units that GW saw fit to remove! The new guard book removed units wholesale yet including units from the old books (modified slightly with updated gear costs) grants an amazing level of flexibility in games that can be played. In my Basement 40k, spore pods are welcome; imperial armor encouraged; and forgotten xenotech a must if the game played is made that much more diverse.

Games Workshop has designed a game for everyone to play and I find myself diving head first into "the horror" that so long ago encouraged both my creativity and (meager) modelling skills.

Unreleased Tau Models

I was going through some old pictures from Games Day, 2008 and discovered some snaps of prototype and upcoming models. Most had since been released (specifically the AoBR set which was huge at this Games Day), but there were two Tau-related models that have yet to see the light of day. These are old news but I wanted to put a record of them on my blog before I delete the pictures.

This kroot shaper would have made an amazing edition to the kroot line. The pose is very dynamic and really gives a sense of how brutal the kroot fight in close combat.

This tau battlesuit pilot is clearly in a bad way - what with entrails hanging out the side and all. But he steadfastly refuses to give up a kill point. Too bad is likely we'll never see the model in person.

Here Kome the Kroot

When I started playing Tau back in 2005, I remember reading through the book thinking what's the deal with these ugly kroot models?! Their look was a complete reversal from that of the Tau - rather than the sleek helmeted lines of the firewarriors, the kroot presented an animalistic facade closer to feral creatures than a sentient life. Needless to say, I was not impressed and for a time refused to consider playing with kroot. However, as I dug into their background (inter-galactic mercenaries who seem to be "gaming" their allies for better guns), I really started to like the extra dimension that they added to the Tau Empire.

The clincher for me was the discovery of the Kroot Mercenaries PDF (ping me if you are looking for this). Kroot Mercenaries was a variant list that allowed kroot to be taken as allies to a number of forces or to be run as an army in its own right. Granted the list was almost impossible to play on its own given the distinct lack of effective anti-armor. But the variety of new kroot units (winged kroot, mounted kroot, kroot shaper council, etc.) made for some compelling conversion opportunities. In addition, the army list rules actually advanced the background by allowing kroot to have specific upgrades based on the general species that they had frequently dined on.

From there I was hooked. I made some ebay purchases, messed around with conversions, and tried some quick painting techniques (which failed miserably) to bring them up to table top standard. Unfortunately, as this hobby goes, I was soon distracted by yet another difficult army to play - the Daemonhunters (not Grey Knights). Soon I was whipping gun metal blue on my Miles Cerulean (Blue Knights) and cheesing out my allied Inquisitor list as best I could - jk.

I have sporadically played my Tau in the years since, but never got back hardcore into the little fish heads. After the Daemonhunters, the Vostroyan Firstborn proved to be sufficiently distracting that I had little time to put paint to anything else and being spoiled for choice in the current IG book has not lent itself to looking back to the Tau.

But of course the wheel turns and we turn with it. The new Tau codex has inexorably drawn me back to the blue guys and I have finally started getting the army up to a table top standard. The good news is that my painting skill (and patience) have increased in the intervening years such that I am better able to do justice (even in an assembly line fashion) to my little, plastic soldiers. Re-enter the kroot...

While my firewarriors definitely need some fresh paint, I have re-discovered my interest in the kroot for their gritty look and updated rules - so they are getting the first cleanup. The rules are an interesting question as a few minor tweaks have fundamentally changed how kroot operate. They lost 1 attack and 1 point of strength which has seriously diminished their close combat ability. Before the update, kroot could make a reasonable stand against space marines and now they are good for picking off a few stragglers in close combat (if they are lucky).

On the flipside, the individual kroot dropped 1 point in cost, gained an armor save (6+), and have access to a shaper that is 33% cheaper than before. Perhaps most importantly, the kroot can now take sniper rounds for 1 point each in addition to their regular kroot rifles.  Without this upgrade, I would argue that the kroot got worse from previous edition to the current - with the upgrade they simply take on a different role in the army.

For 7 points each (6 + 1 for sniper rounds), the kroot become dirt cheap, infiltrating snipers that are fully capable of sniping a heavy weapon or lobbing a volley of S4 firepower or even taking down a monstrous creature. They still act as a great buffer between the precious firewarriors and an oncoming assault horde and with the benefit of markerlights, ethereal powers, and leadership buffs kroot can put out a lot of hurt for a relatively nominal cost.

This post kind of rambled around for a bit when it was really just an excuse to show off the newly painted kroot in the first image. These guys were basecoated with a flat camo khaki from Home Depot, given some base colors (belly, carry-alls, and guns), washed with devlan mud, then punched up with high contrast orange. The orange is my Tau's sept color (sa'cea) so the kroot quills and war paint are meant to tie the army together a little better.

Games Workshop's Formerly Known as Prize Support

I posted this long-winded comment in response to a Brent BoLS post. I liked it so here is a re-post:

GW cutting the cord from indie conventions has turned out to be a boon for the hobby side of the tournament scene. Once upon a time, GW hosted Grand Tournaments which included requirements for Citadel model usage down to the very percentage of GW vs non-GW parts on a model. Many indie events adopted these requirements in order to ensure that GW prize support would not be compromised. People would agonize on forums and chat boards as to whether certain models were tournament "legal" based on the model composition and parts used. This in turn influenced the local gaming scene as few people wanted to pour time into an intricate conversion that could potentially be nixed for use in a tournament.

Having said that, how much truth there was in reality versus perception of model requirements is up to some debate. I don't remember anyone getting kicked out of an event due to a 75% non-GW model. Objectively this did influence the models used by gamers and very much limited the creativity seen in armies both at national and local events.

No longer laboring under the "yoke" of GW prize support, tournaments are free to allow any and every type of model manufacturer at 40k, Fantasy, and LoTR events. Creativity abounds and gone are the forum threads regarding "legal" models - other than the occasional WYSIWYG discussion. The only place where model composition matters is at GW stores and very few tournaments of note (at least in the US) are held at these stores.

Editorial comment: From a business model perspective, GW dropped the ball when they dropped prize support. I realize that this support was sunset in large part because GW had no effective enforcement avenue and that there were abuses of their largess. However, prize support was the only real carrot to enforce the stick of GW-only models - even if the stick was perhaps more perception than reality. Games Workshop has inadvertently opened the doors for other model manufacturers to fill their product void (greatcoat guard, alternate greater daemons, tank and APC variants, etc.) - and these are now all "tournament legal".

From a more mercenary perspective, I would have continued prize support along the more restrictive model requirements and made sure that any prize support was provided by an on-site Games Workshop employee. That employee would have adjudication in deciding whether a given event was in general compliance and describe remedies (punitive or otherwise) when an event was found wanting. This policy would have continued to foster a very stove piped model mentality which had reach both within local communities and at national events and at least provided a chokepoint for the entry of new model makers into the space.

Thankfully that was not the route GW chose - I like the event/tournament scene as it exists today!

Tau Sun Shark Rules Rundown

Here is a quick rules rundown of the Tau Sun Shark from the upcoming codex:
Armor/BS: 11, 10, 10, 3HP, BS3
160 points base
Weapons

• Pulse Bomb Generator - S5 AP5, Large Blast, Bomb
• Missile Pod - S7 AP4
• Networked Markerlight
• 2 Seeker missiles (S8 AP3)
• 2 Interceptor Drones

5 points more nets you a twin-linked missile pod - so really, why not? You can also select vehicle upgrades from the armory but I'm not sure dumping more points into such a fragile unit is worth it.

For me, the most interesting thing about this flyer are the interceptor drones. These guys are armed with twin-linked Ion Rifles (30" S7 AP4, rapid fire) and come with a bevy of special rules:

• Skyfire
• Interceptor
• Afterburners
• High speed deployment
• Supporting fire

First off, the ion rifles have an additional firing protocol which nets you a 30" S8 AP4, small blast at the expense of a Gets Hot! roll. Not too terrible when you consider the drones are only BS2 and twin-linked means you can re-roll the Gets Hot. 2 Strength 8 shots is enough to put paid to most side armor in the game.

Skyfire and interceptor should be fairly obvious - park these guys midfield and wait for a pot shot at your opponents Zooming flyer. Afterburners let these guys Turbo boost and High speed deployment allows the drones to disembark during the movement phase even if the flyer is in Zooming mode. Supporting fire is the new Tau special rule allowing fire support of friendly units in Overwatch.

What you end up with is a interesting flyer that can drop a decent strength large blast in the movement phase, disembark some fairly nasty little hornets, and still grab a shot at a different unit (with what appears to be a turret mount) with a decent, twin-linked, light armor killer. And did I mention the seeker missiles? Oh yeah and them too. Between the turret mount missile pod and the ability for seekers to reach out a touch anyone, anywhere it shouldn't matter which way the Shark ends up facing at the end of the movement phase.

The drones of course will make an easy target and likely get swatted pretty quickly. But with some judicious placement they could live long enough to do some damage to either a ground or air target.

Any thoughts on this interesting new unit? Would you consider running it?

As a footnote, the Razorshark has the same stat line but comes armed with:

Quad Ion Cannon - S7 AP4 4 shots

Burst cannon (S5 AP5 4 shots) or Missile pod for +5pts (S7 AP4 2 shots)

2 Seekers missiles

At 145 points, it's not a bad little Air to Air fighter but to me lacks the X factor of the drones. Still probably a better choice in the battle for air supremacy that has become 40k.

How are you going to build your 'shark kit? Are you even going to get one?

The Art of Empathy - Gamer Style

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups. In the business universe, this concept has been adapted into the Art of Empathy - a set of personality models used to assess and empathize with prospective clients as a way to ensure a successful business relationship. A personality model is simply a set of descriptors that combine to form a recognizable archetype. The Art of Empathy details a matrix of four personality models with the goal of identifying an individual's personality as a gradation between any two models in the matrix. Identifying a person's placement within this matrix allows the user to better empathize and support that person's needs within a business setting. 

This got me to thinking whether the same might hold true within a gamer setting - namely would it be possible to identify and empathize with an individual on the basis of where they would fall within a set of gamer archetypes. The ultimate goal with this concept is to create a better gaming environment by understanding your opponent in advance and tailoring your game direction and preconceptions to how your opponent understands the game.

The simple notion here is to identify the type of gamer based on this set of traits. The matrix is comprised of two sets of diametrically opposed traits. Someone who is strictly a Painter by definition cannot be a Player as he does not enjoy the play aspects of a miniature game and a strict Player has no desire to paint miniatures and is happy to play with any representation of game figures. A Formalist plays strictly within a game universe which means using only prescribed models and/or models developed specifically for a game system. In opposition, the Inventor takes pleasure in using whatever models/conversions as he sees fits, which could include models from other systems, extensive conversions to "count as" something else, etc. 

Having said all of that, very few gamers will fit neatly into any one of these four personality models. The gradient arrows in the graphic above represent a sliding scale of personality traits and I maintain that any gamer will exist within one of these gradients. For example, I find myself somewhere between the Inventor and the Player, with a general tendency toward the Inventor model. All of my miniature armies have some aspect of heavy conversion to them and I tend to use rules that show off these conversions to good effect. However, I still build lists that are intended to be effective in normal game play and do enjoy getting deep into the rules mechanics.

Where do you see yourself within this matrix? How about your friends? Would using this matrix to better understand how your opponent sees the game help you to adjust your perceptions and thereby have a better game? Did I miss the mark with these models? Are they nuanced enough to capture the type of gamer personalities that you have experienced?

As a footnote, the following are visual cues to identify a given type of gamer:

The Player

• Models painted to a basic standard (or unpainted)
• Proxied models that are being used to "play test" a unit or option
• Multiple units that are identical, or nearly so, to provide list redundancy

The Formalist

• Models painted within a specific theme including unit markings and identifiers
• Army lists that are self-limiting in order to represent a theme "in game"
• Will have a depth of models within a specific theme (i.e. every unit from a given army)

The Painter

• Will have one of many different models
• Will be painted to a very high standard
• Will actually not be at a gaming table to game (i.e. is probably just entered into a painting contest)

The Inventor

• Heavy use of conversions throughout the army
• May be using a ruleset that "plays as" the intended theme of the army
• Will have "counts as" options that are consistent throughout the entire army

Adepticon - Team Remote Presence

Remote Presence is sponsoring one of the top teams in the 40k gamerverse. Having gathered gamers from near the D.C. Metro area, this fearsome foursome could likely prove to be this season's solid middle performers!

In the run-up to the grand weekend here are a couple of pics of Lo Pan's DKoK army:

Here is a pic of the beginnings of a hoard. The basic team with be two 1k lists each comprising a twenty-five man infantry platoon.

A close-up shot of the heavy weapons team - looks like someone brought an air-guitar to a gun fight!

This was all Tim's idea - he loves DKoK!

Primaris Psyker with Force Axe

The 40k bug has been nibbling at my toes lately. Got in a couple of games yesterday with my Inquisition with allied Guard list. First game was against a straight CSM list - the spiky marines got tabled. Next game against the Sisters of Battle - let's just say the nuns with guns got revenge for their sisters' blood spilt by the Grey Knights!

A direct repercussion of these great games is a fully painted Primaris psyker (missing highlights but done enough). Although not much of a star in these two games he does tend to anchor a twenty man guard platoon pretty effectively. This Primaris is a mix of parts from various kits: legs and torso are Cadian, arms, axe, and head from WFB Empire Militia kit, a Necromunda laspistol, and the haft from the power maul on a Dark Angels upgrade sprue.

40k FAQs - Its a Rules Lockdown!

Just one week after NOVA and GW has decided to release a fairly major overhaul to their core rules. As a NOVA staffer I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I didn't have to ramp up on new FAQs in the wee hours prior to the start of NOVA. On the other hand, these FAQs actually answer a lot of questions and put paid to some of the gamier "tactics" that I saw at NOVA. Nonetheless, the updates are in and I figured I would post just a few thoughts on impacts to my favorite armies.

Look Out Sir - By requiring you to assign wounds to the model closest to the character who passed the LOS roll, GW designers have effectively nixed the wound allocation nonsense that has been so prevalent in nearly every game I have seen. This coupled with the change in status for Paladins (characters no longer) and Nobz (characters only when leading another group) will speed up gameplay immensely and frankly make for a more enjoyable experience (at least for me). When I first read the 6e rulebook, one of the changes I proposed for NOVA was requiring the removal of whole models from LOS rolls where possible to avoid this scenario. I think GW's solution is much more elegant than that I am quite happy with the new deal.

Leman Russ Tanks - Wow, major update to these guys. The Lumbering Behemoth rule is no more and Russes are officially classified as Heavy vehicles. The major downside is that they can move no more than 6" per turn and no Flat Out move. However, they always count as stationary when firing their weapons. The real loser in all of this is the base Leman Russ battle tank (LRBT), when firing Ordnance battle cannon reduces all other weapons to Snap Shots regardless if the vehicle moved or not. Probably not a big deal to most guard players as the base LRBT with heavy flamer is still a great option as a backup tank. The real winners here are the Exterminator, Executioner, and Punisher. I am going to ignore the Punisher as its just not something I run - if you love it feel free to post in the comments.

The Executioner fully stocked with plasma cannons however becomes an awesome mobile AP2 nightmare. I know that the plasma cannons will generate 2 overheats over the course of a six turn game but that is a risk I am willing to take. The Exterminator is a ridiculous generator of fire - heavy bolter sponsons and hull mount with a heavy stubber thrown in for good measure is a move and fire tank that puts down sixteen shots per turn - it should be called the Dakkanator! Honestly not a bad choice to throw at a lightly armed flyer if you don't have anything else to shoot at.

Disruption Pods and Target Locks - These last two are somewhat minor but Tau still hold a special place in my heart so I found them worth measuring. Unless I am missing something, a D-Pod Devilfish that moves now has a 3+ cover save from anything firing outside of 12". The Tau FAQ states that D-pods now give Shrouding, which increases any cover save by 2 points and as skimmers, Tau get a 5+ Jink cove save just for moving. By my math, that adds up to a 3+ save for just adding a 5 point upgrade to a Tau vehicle. A D-poded piranha can move flat-out (total move 30"), get a 2+ cover save, and still be able to launch seeker missiles (by virtue of markerlights).

Target locks were removed from the Infantry Armory but are back now. Always helpful to have on a broadside team and can even be useful for a markerlight equipped Shas'Ui in a firewarrior squad to be able to light up another target.

I know there is a lot more across all the codicies and main rulebook to note. These were just a few that I found interesting. Feel free to comment below on some of your favorite (or otherwise) rules updates.

_______ is the Best Army in 6e 40k

There are quite a few blog posts rolling around espousing the virtues of this army or that in 6e 40k - even though the majority have no firm grasp on the new rule set. Never one to miss a bandwagon opportunity, 23lines has decided to jump on board and tell everyone why all the armies are the best of the best - okay, maybe just one or two armies are the best of the best... well clearly the ones that I play are anyway.

Imperial Guard: With all blasts doing full strength against vehicles, IG clearly comes out ahead in the sheer volume of large, ordnance blasts that they can throw. Add to that the Vendetta which is, arguably, the best flyer currently in the game (AV 12, 3 TL Lascannons, and transport) and the guard come strapped with superior air power as well as ground support.

In response to those same flyers, a pure guard list has the best tools to taken down those Zooming monkeys. The hydra flak cannon and the aforementioned Vendetta are the obvious choices, but don't forget that guard orders let you easily twin link autocannon teams. With the new snap fire rules, these teams can even move and fire, hitting at the same BS required to hit a Zooming flyer anyway.

Guard also have a cheap, durable sniper team that can pick off high value targets with the new 'roll a 6, clip a sarge' special rule. 10 Ratlings at 10 points each hiding in cover are a great distraction unit that can be tough to shift. Plus if your opponent doesn't deal with them, you have a good chance of clipping a sanguinary priest or putting paid to the last wound on an independent character.

Oddly enough, the guard even have a ready-made 6e psyker. Although the Pskyer Battle Squad doesn't get a psychic boost in 6e (like they need it), the Primaris psyker get a much needed helping hand. At 70 points and some lackluster standard powers, this guy is a blank canvas upon which a general can paint using choices from something like four different psychic palettes (okay, that analogy got stretched a bit thin - apologies).

I am sure there are many, many, many good points that I am missing about why Imperial Guard are the best of the best of the best (Sir!) in 6e but you get the idea!

Coming soon... why the Tau are the best of the best of the best (Sir!) in 6e...

40k Sixth Edition - Allied Guard Cheat **DOUBLE REDACTED**

Final Edit: GW has apparently wised up to the non-HQ HQ trick. This blog entry has been rendered completely invalid now that the new IG FAQ has stated that priests and enginseers can't be taken as the mandatory HQ choice. I would argue that also applies to the HQ choice required to ally in guard to a primary list. Honestly, I am surprised that they left this loophole in the game for so long. I suppose it really only becomes relevant in the scenario outlined below because in a 'pure' guard list the other HQs are a lot more beneficial.


Oh well, I will leave this article up as a sign of my hubris and getting put in my place by 'The Man'. Also, it's still a little bit of a funny read!

So you want to bring some allied guard to the table, do ya?! Maybe you want some Vendetta action or some Hydra ground support to help swat pesky flyers out of the air. Maybe you just need some cheap melta infantry to deal with the plethora of land raiders that are soon to enter the game. But you really want that guard support without having to sacrifice a valuable HQ slot in your primary army. I mean what would Draigowing look like with Coteaz holding up the bridal gown train?! How do I max crisis suits if I only have one Shas'el in my list? Where's the love for the 2 lash princes that I need in all of my Chaos Marine lists?!

Well, wonder no more. The guard 'dex provides a convenient little loophole in the form of priests and enginseers... those nebulous little HQ choices that don't take up a slot on the force org:

"Priests/Enginseers do not use up any Force Organization chart selections, but are otherwise treated as separate HQ units."

So far I have found nothing in the 6e rulebook that requires an allied HQ to "use up any Force Organization chart selections" only that you must take 1 HQ choice from an allied army. Priests and enginseers are "treated as separate HQ units" and thus meet the criteria. So now you can have your plasma cake and eat it too!

In fact with the new bodyguard style rule (assuming that it can be used in close combat), the ministorum priest becomes an IC to be reckoned with. Or take that enginseer to support the inevitable allying of a battery of hydra flak cannons - keep those guns blasting away all game!

Of course, GW is likely to FAQ away this little loophole as it seems to fly in the face of their intention around the ally restrictions... but given their alacrity with FAQ turn times you should be able to get a good year out of this playstyle. Enjoy!

Edit: Alright I'll take a big erase on this blog entry. From the look of things the allied force org represents an entirely additional force org to your primary:

Assuming I am reading the above chart correctly, with an allied force you can now have a total of 3 HQ choices, 4 Elites, 8 Troops, 4 Fast Attack, and 4 Heavy Support. No need to play games with the non-HQ HQ selection from the guard codex... and here I thought I was being so clever!

In fact this makes allies even crazier. Now I can field a full complement of guard heavy support AND add in some Tau Broadsides just for grins. Or three manticores AND a squad of long fangs strapped with lascannons just because I feel like it! Or how about 9 leman russ battle tanks and a teleporting dreadknight for back-up?! Ok so that last combo alone is 1550 pts. But its still workable with a guard company command squad, an inquistor, a mounted melta vet squad, a penal legion squad, and a minimum GKSS squad with psycannon at 2000 points.

Conspicuous Absence - 40k Rulebook Pulled from GW Site

As has been widely reported, GW retailers have been instructed to pull the 40k 5e rulebook this week and that appears to have taken effect on the GW web store as well. At approximately 01:00 May 28, 2012 UTC, Games Workshop officially pulled the 5th edition Warhammer 40,000 from all international sites thus signaling the death knell of the edition that brought us true line of sight, wound allocation wonders, and occupying buildings as if they were vehicles (oh wait, no one ever played that last one so forget about it).

Of course, blogs and forums and the such have been aflame (and atwitter and afacebook) with rampant and tawdry rules rumors, wishlisting, grumblings, and fornications (ok, given the community the last may strictly speaking not be true - but one never can know really). So in the spirit of all of the above, I will add my own meanderings on the subject.

Anything that puts paid to gridlock 40k cannot be a bad thing. I am tired of vehicles exploding catastrophically only to have a bunch of muscly rambo types emerge virtually unscathed and completely unphased in order to wreak havoc with their melta-nonsense. And this assumes that the vehicle didn't take umpteen shots that managed to simply stun it until the one lucky die roll turned it to rubble.

Granted the rumors about random pieces of terrain able to take psychic tests to force me to play with an army two tables down doesn't exactly leave me with a warm fuzzy. I do take some offense at the notion of a rock-paper-scissors test to resolve the single champions close combat although this would give my platoon commander a chance against Marneus Calgar. Or what about the universal special rule - Spiky Bits... any model with a spike on their codpiece grants a 1+ weapon skill?! At any rate, my firewarriors have already begun sporting attachments worthy of Tetsuo the Ironman!

Regardless, 6e should be a lot of fun. I mean clearly Games Workshop is looking to provide a more streamlined set of rules to alleviate much of the confusion that currently reigns at tournaments. To me this is no more evidenced than by their ardent and undying support for the officially sanctioned tournament scene.

I do feel some anguish for all those rhinos and chimeras that will soon languish in foam whilst their speedier (and more expensive) flier brethren flit about the battlefield mincing anything that dares pop its head out of some psychically active piece of random terrain that just magically appeared from my wargamers backpack...

40k 6e Rumor Source Has Been Outed!

I figured that is was about time for 23Lines to jump on the rumor spec-ulation bandwagon. But rather than posting my own wishl... er secret source I figured I would post something dredged up by my man Lo Pan over at the SomethingAwful forums. Big thanks to Beer4TheBeerGod for this creatively formatted set of rumors:

So given all these rumors I figured it was finally time that I reveal the rumors that MY source has given me. The guy's totally trustworthy and has an inside line into the GW design studio. He said that given all the misinformation out there it was time to clarify what was going on with 6th edition. Now some of this stuff might be slightly off in order to protect my source's sources, but he's always been right in the past.

• A lot of the devs have been saying that 6th Edition will be a "throwback" edition, with a lot of elements from 2nd edition merged with some modern gameplay elements that we've seen from the last two decades of development.

• Now the phases are Movement, Action, and Recovery. Assaults and shooting will be done simultaneously in the action phase. Recovery phase is for doing morale checks.

• Units moving in the Movement phase have a standard value (no die rolling). Difficult terrain cuts your movement in half, but only for the portion of your movement that goes through that terrain.

• So the Action Phase is where the majority of the game takes place. The active player gets to allow each unit to perform a single action, like shoot or charge or use a psychic power. 

• Every unit affected by a given action will have a chance to respond to that action if they pass an initiative test. For example a unit being shot at could choose to return fire or take cover. A unit being assaulted could counter-charge, stand and shoot, or retreat to try and get out of assault range.

• Xeno and other armies will have a bonus to certain reactions. For example orks have terrible initiative and will routinely fail to stand and shoot or take cover, but have a bonus to initiative checks to do things like return fire or counter-assault. Different Space Marine chapters have bonuses and penalties. Good luck getting Black Templar to take cover!

• There is a major change with regards to armor and invulnerable saves. Armor save modifiers are back! Cover provides either a +1 or +2 bonus based on hard or soft cover (hello 2nd edition!) but can be ignored by template weapons like flamers. Weapons have modifiers based on strength and other factors. 

• Randomness has been incorporated into assault moves, but it's not that bad. Charge range is base movement + 1d6 to represent running at the enemy. 

• Another big change in assault: Fearless wounds are gone! Instead the opposing side gets a free attack for every point the fearless side lost by.

• Casualties are now handled differently. Wound allocation shenanigans are gone! Whole models must be removed as much as possible. Normally players dictate what models are removed except for certain circumstances like a Vindicare or other special effects. Wound balances are carried within the unit as opposed to a specific model, so no hiding a wound on a Nob and then conveniently forgetting about it later.

• To mitigate the effect of things like hidden power fists Independent characters can attack specific models in CC. 

• Units have another reason to fear flamers; assault weapons can now be fired from a vehicle regardless of how far they moved. This makes the Land Raider Redeemer pretty devastating.

• Some of the biggest changes have been to the philosophy being applied to this edition. GW is really trying to appeal to both the casual and competitive gamer. For the tournament player the rules set is really tight and streamlined. The mantra we've been hearing is "simple rules, complex gameplay." For the casual player GW put a LOT of effort into making an AWESOME campaign system with an amazing mission generator. Things like allies and purchasing strategic elements are part of the campaign system.

So yeah, that's what my exclusive insider GW source has told me. What have you guys heard from YOUR sources?

Most of this is just regurgitated pap from the "leaked" PDF playtest rulebook. However, if you look closely you will find an easter egg depicting the actual source of EVERY 40k 6e rumor floating around on the web right now! Post in the comments if you suss it out...

Tourney Style: Slow Play versus Playing Slow in 40k

As a tournament judge at the 2011 NOVA Open, I had the nearly unique opportunity to observe upwards of 800 games of 40k being played across 2 days with 200 players. The NOVA format this year was 2000  point lists playing 4 games per day over the course of two days. Granted, as one of five judges I was not able to dig too deeply into any specific game. Rather, the goal of a tournament judge is to passively monitor all games being played and (more importantly) to be a visible presence available to adjudicate any issues that should arise.


Having said all of that, here are a few of my observations regarding slow play and the notion of using a 2000 point list: 

• There isn't a huge difference in model counts from 1750 to 2000 points; a horde army is still a horde army at 1750 points
• Playing slow (as opposed to deliberate slowplay) seemed to be more of an issue with folks who didn't know their armies well
• Having to refer to a rulebook frequently slows everybody down; this includes pulling a judge into a pedestrian rules question that is part of the core game mechanics

We did actively monitor any tables that we considered deliberate slowplay to be a potential issue. We did have some complaints of playing slow that really did just turn out to be inadvertent (see above for reasons). However, I don't recall a single instance that we decided a player to be slow playing on purpose. We even went so far as to discuss this with a players' opponents after the game ended and still did not come away with a verdict of slowplay.

This issue really seems to be one of learning how your army works and getting your playing time down to 2 hours per game. As a foot guard player, I struggle even at the 1750 point level to get a 2 hour game in and have had to practice that aspect accordingly. At 1750, the core of my army does not change. It still consists of a 45 man infantry platoon, backed up by tanks and a company command squad on foot. Going to the 2000 point level just lets me add in a chimera mounted vet squad and take an additional tank in one of my squadrons.

I have seen very few instances where the composition of a horde/foot slogging army radically changes from 2000 to 1750 points. The same problems of having to move many little figures around the board are still present. If you can't get your play time down to 2 hours (and be sure to try with both 2k and 1750 lists - you'll find its almost the same time) then you may want to take a different army to a tournament.

My personal experience from the NOVA was not that the number of models on the board dictated speed of play, but rather the facility with which a player was able to decide movement and move those figures into position. Ability to use your army and play within the constraints of a tournament window is all part of tournament play. Like everything else in this hobby, there is a social contract that exists and if both players hold up their end, then tournament play can be competitive and fun for both sides.

Annuntio: Old Shatter Hands' Shameless Plug

Old Shatter Hands was interviewed for this week's 11th Company podcast (a most excellent podcast BTW). And in said podcast, Tim gives a shout-out to 23LINES (completely unsolicited, I swear)... hence the shameless plug!

Seriously, OSH and Jawa are plugging (pun fully intended) the Heroes of Armageddon charity army that they and a group of other painters are rabidly working on.

So check out the HoA link and drop a donation if you haven't already.

Annuntio: Support your Local Armageddon

In the ongoing fight to encourage and support the benefits of Armageddon (Negative Population Growth, less competition for resources, fodder for 24/7 cable news, etc.), 23LINES figured we'd drum up a little good will in the community and donate a Storm Raven to Old Shatter Hands over at Tau of War so that he could paint the thing pretty and provide it as part of the Heroes of Armageddon campaign to raise money for Doctors Without Borders.

Granted, the grin on Shatter Hands' face is really saying, "Oh great something else I have to paint.. when does this have to be done by?!" Meanwhile my wife caught me mid-sentence saying, "I'd never run Blood Angels gear in my Grey Knight list so get this thing off my hands right now!"

Seriously, this is a good cause. Check out Shatter's blog for a donation link.

Commutatus: Knight Titan gets his Head Shrunk

This will likely be the last blog entry of the unpainted Knight titan conversion. I finally decided to seriously cut down the sentinel cockpit head and recess the head further back into the torso.

I carved out part of the torso using a dremel and removed the entire upper "eye" section of the sentinel cockpit. These pictures don't really do it justice, but the head is much further recessed and doesn't have nearly the same hulking stance that the original model did.

Likewise, I added a green-stuff banner/tabard. My hope is that after doing some free hand paint work it will look like a banner and not a loincloth!

As a comparison, here is the original full cockpit model:

Indicium: Grey Knights - What Not to Run

I got in a game last night over at a friends house using the new Grey Knights codex. I had a list planned out, tweaked from the last game I played, and was ready to try out some new units. Upon arriving, however, I realized that I had forgotten the tray containing my dreadnoughts and land raider. D'oh.

Undaunted, I updated the list with some units that I wanted to try out. What I ultimately came up with is THE WORST LIST EVER! Okay, so not really but it sure wasn't good. For your reading pleasure:

Librarian w/various powers
Xenos inquisitor with conversion beamer

inq. warband w/8 psykers, 1 jokaero, 2 multimelta servitors

9 Purifiers w/2 psycannons, halberds, and a MC hammer; rhino
1 techmarine with rad and psychotroke grenades
1 callidus assassin

10 x terminators with 2 psycannons and a MC hammer
10 x grey knights (strike squad), 2 psycannons and a MC hammer; rhino

1 x dreadknight; naked
5 x purgation w/incinerator and rhino

That was it... let me tell you that list did not work. My friend played a strongly themed ultramarine list (Sicarius, 2 x tac squads, assault terms, etc.)

Needless to say I got crushed! The callidus waited until turn 4 to show up, the conversion beamer did absolutely nothing, and eight out of ten terminators were dead by turn two.

Needless to say, that is not a list I will be running again. Obviously, there were too many shiny toys in there to make it work right, but there were also some lessons. Callidus needs to have a GKGM to bring her in with psychic communion. The inquisitor with beamer is a cool concept but not worth the practical limitations of a small blast and range/strength mechanics. The purgation squad should have just been another GKSS squad and hunkered down on an objective for scoring. The techmarine is probably good... when you remember to actual bolster a piece of terrain!

Commutatus: Knight Titan - Conversion Tertia

Another thrilling update in the ongoing saga of the dreadknight titan conversion. I removed the hydraulics on the shoulders and added covering plates. I also bulked out the chainsword arms slightly by adding the ammo boxes from an assault cannon.

Just to break up the monotony of these titan posts, here is a pic of some robed marines sporting parts from the new PAGK kit. The knight on the left has a new storm bolter arm while the other marine has a new psycannon. These guys are part of the core of my GK strike force squads and are meant to be quick to convert and quick to paint. Ultimately, I am targeting four squads of ten, so to keep my attention span from flagging too much I went with the robed marines as being far simpler to paint. These guys will get a little more detail in terms of touch-up and shading but they don't get the same TLC that my metal GKT and PAGK (Purifiers) get.

And finally, a quick size comparison between the marines and the knight titan. As you can see, it is feasible that a grey knight without power armor could be piloting the titan... although he would be a bit cramped!