From the Warp

So, I put myself up as a pundit for the FtW blogger group. Strange thing to do for someone who doesn't play pick up games and doesn't actually play that much at all. But hey ho, I'm not usually short of an opinion. So here it is:

The Space Wolf codex represents the latest and greatest in 40k Codex books from GW.The Tyranids codex is right around the corner and Blood Angels shortly after that.What do you think of the direction GW is taking with the new Codex books?

Somewhat understandably, SM are the largest selling faction in 40K. They (SM) are the best of the best and have the best tank, the best wargear, best basic troop profile and so on and so on. All designed to hook the 14year old boy and allow him to have the coolest army. Even the structure of the army in terms of FOC is easier to grasp (and therefore build a legal if not usable army) to enable the less experienced player to get started with their super army. And Termies are deliberately engineered by GW to be the pinnacle infantry of the entire game. Fair enough.

So that’s where any discussion like this begins. The SM have to have the shiniest and newest of everything all the time. Any respite in the release of SM stuff can only happen if the void is filled by their spiky brethren; who, let’s face it, are just another flavour of SM.

So a lot of people who want to play an interesting or challenging game or exercise their tactical acumen will use a different army (there are a few to choose from). But either through misty eyed nostalgia or just the desire to use everything they have (I still have my RTB 01 Blood Angels) there is a need for SM with a bit of character.

This has led to the SM Chapter specific codices. Some may see these as an attempt to make humanity’s finest power armoured super men even tougher but let’s say that the game designers know what they are doing and these codices are balanced. In this case, the Chapter codices become an attempt to provide some depth and character to what is otherwise simply an army composed of all of the very best stuff that the 40K universe can produce.

The “new and shiney” phenomenon is hardly unique to 40K. Some years ago games companies began issuing updating existing games instead of just launching new ones. So, just as there is the scramble to have the newest in 40k, so it is for new cars and computers and so on. Does your wife ever stop buying shoes ? It’s a thing we have to live with. I do get the impression that E-bay is full of yesterday’s must have armies.

So the new Space Wolf and Blood Angel codices do serve a purpose. However, what GW give us is as close to makes no difference a SM codex in between every other codex. Since I returned to the table top we’ve had SM, CSM and SW on the one hand and Orks and IG on the other, with Nid’s in the new year.

If this is what keeps GW afloat than so be it. But it would be much less frustrating for people who play 2nd and 3rd edition armies if their codices were revisited, even if only to revise the points cost (downwards !) perhaps in the form of an errata sheet. It is quite easy to develop the feeling that if you don’t play SM, then GW don’t care about you. Blaster and Shredder armed DE warriors, for instance, no longer appear to be available on the GW web site, denying the DE a troop slot template weapon. Not exactly helpful for DE players.

There are lots of threads out there in all the usual places (dakka, warseer et al) pointing out that points costs are coming down and that this means that to build the army you want you will spend more money on toy soldiers because you can afford it in terms of points. No brainer for GW.

So SM will continue to be constantly refreshed whilst the rest of us languish in some GW pending tray until they feel like a little capital investment. And we will be tempted to increase the size of our armies as time passes. These will happen, like death and taxes, no point in complaining.

One possible result of all this, once more of the codices have been revisited and their unit points costs reduced, might be that the points totals for pick up games tend to fall. Perhaps individuals who do not have the resources (cash for youngsters and students and/or building/painting time for us oldies) will just run smaller armies.

Another way it might change could be bigger tables to play on. Perhaps a 6’ by 6’ table will become more common, just to give players the space to play on. We’ve all seen the publicity pictures of Apoc tables; it does a certain appeal. And 40k is a fun game, not a simulation. But if the playing area is too small for your and your opponent’s armies then it’s not going to be much fun. If you’ve carefully crafted an army list that relies on a certain amount of manoeuvre space (Fritz), and you loose half of your capability in the first turn, not to the other guy’s brilliantly executed alpha strike, but to having no space on 6’ by 4’ table for the two enormous armies, then it’ll kill that day’s game for someone who was looking forward to exercising his tactical acumen.

Diseny's Incredible Journey

An e-mither from my wife; from Oct 09

Meet the wiliest of all coyotes:
Hit by a car at 75mph, embedded in the fender, rode for 600 miles and SURVIVED!
When a brother and sister struck a coyote at 75mph they assumed they had killed the animal and drove on.
They didn't realize this was the toughest creature ever to survive a hit-and-run.
Eight hours, two fuel stops, and 600 miles later they found the wild animal embedded in their front fender - and very much alive.
Daniel and Tevyn East were driving at night along Interstate 80 near the Nevada-Utah border when they noticed a pack of coyotes near the roadside (on October 12, 2009).
When one of the animals ran in front of the car, the impact sounded fatal so the siblings thought there no point in stopping.
'Right off the bat, we knew it was bad,' Daniel explained. 'We thought the story was over.'
After the incident around 1am, they continued their 600 mile drive to North San Juan - even stopping for fuel at least twice.
But it was only when they finally reached their destination at 9am did they take time to examine what damage they may have sustained.
At first it looked as though it was going to be quite gruesome.
'Daniel saw fur and the body inside the grill,'
Tevyn East said. 'I was trying to keep some distance.
Our assumption was it was part of the coyote - it didn't register it was the whole animal.'
Daniel East got a broom to try and pry the remains out of the bumper and got the shock of his life.
'It flinched,' Tevyn East said. 'It was a huge surprise - he got a little freaked out.'
'We knew it was bad': Tevyn East, who was in the car when it hit the coyote, bends down to take a look at the fur poking through the fender

Fur Pete's sake: What Mr. East spotted as he bent down to inspect the damage to his car - the body of the coyote poking out through the radiator
Wily coyote: The animal's head can be seen as rescuers took apart the front fender to save it after it was struck by the car at 75mph
As the animal struggled, wildlife protection officials put a loop around its neck to prevent it from further injuring itself
The front of the car is completely taken apart as the coyote begins to wriggle free
And voila! Tricky the toughest coyote ever rests in a cage after its ordeal - which it survived with just some scrapes to its paw

Link of the Day.

Deployment:

http://www.yesthetruthhurts.com/2009/11/discussion-deployment-101.html

Some nice ideas here. As the campaign escalates in 1000 point chunks, I suspect that these ideas (and reserves) will become more important.

FRPG - The tomb of Ankha Rattalla

w/e 23/24 Jan 10. Jake's House.

The rear party have things to contend with, this will be mostly written up before the game, as it requires only a policy desicion or two from your HedgeLord. But it might involve a change of scenery....

The action team have their mission; to secure the artifact before the baddies get it. I suspect that even if you write this in three foot high letters on a lorry and park it outside the window, you won't be able to remain focussed on the mission objective. You're all rubbish.

Escalation Pointy Eared Interlopers

Strike Force Elui reconnaissance in force (Craftworld Eldar) 1003 points

Farseer doom, fortune, mindwar
5 warlocks enhance, conceal, 3x destructor
Wave Serpent tank, skimmer, TL scatter lasers, TL catapults

Dire Avengers (9)
Dire Avengers Exarch power weapon, shimmer shield
Wave Serpent tank skimmer, TL scatter lasers, TL catapults

Rangers (5) infiltrate, move through cover, stealth

Striking Scorpions (8)
Striking Scorpion Exarch shadow strike, stalker

Sacred Guard detachment (Craftworld Eldar) 1007 points

Farseer doom, fortune, guide
4 warlocks 4 spiritseers, conceal, enhance, 2x destructor

Dire Avengers (6)
Dire Avengers Exarch blade storm, twin catapults

Rangers (5) infiltrate, move through cover, stealth

Dark Reapers (4)
Dark Reaper Exarch fast shot, tempest launcher

Wraithlord flamers, wraithsword, scatter laser

Wraithlord flamers, missile launcher

Kabal of the Broken Teaspoon (Dark Eldar) 976 points

Dracon Agoniser, Poisoned blades, Hell mask, Shadow field, Haywire grenades
Incubi (8 & Incubi master)
Raider Dark Lance, torture amp.

Warriors (8 & Sybarite)
Raider Dark Lance
Warriors (8 & Sybarite)
Raider Dark Lance
Warriors (8 & Sybarite)
Raider Dark Lance
Ravager Dark lance & 2x Disintegrators

Progress

Base coated the remaining personnel for the Tigers (too many flamers !). Did more work on the DE Wytches.

When Mrs Z goes climbing in the week, that'll give me a clear evening with Radcliffe and Macaroonie to get a bit further. Always assuming that it isn't the one night of the week that I'm in Kent.

Escalation Forces of the Imperium

Ordo Hereticus Expeditionary Force (Witch Hunters) 1000 points

Lady Inquisitrix Hammer of the witches, Word of the Emperor, Bionics, Carapace armour, Liber heresies, Psychic hood, Purity seals, Plasma pistols, Power stake.
Acolyte
Warrior (Guardsman Grenade launcher)
Warrior (Crusader Power sword, Suppression shield)
Chirurgeon
Familiar

Inquisitor Scourging, Carapace armour, Hexagrammic wards, Psychic hood, Inferno pistol, Power stake.
Warrior (Guardsman Flamer)
Warrior (Crusader Power sword, Suppression shield)
Sage
Chirurgeon

Death Cult Assassins (2) fearless, infiltrate, power weapon

Sisters Repentia (9) Eviscerator
Repentia Mistress Neural whips

Inquisitorial Storm Troopers (5) 3x Hellgun, melta, plasma

Imperial Guard Platoon

2lt Hammer Bolt pistol, power weapon
Platoon Cmd Squad 3x Grenade launchers, platoon standard

Squad Alpha (Sgt & 9) flamer

Squad Beta (Sgt & 9) plasma

Special Weapon Squad Gamma (6) 3x Sniper rifle

2nd Line Regt Devos IV PDF (5ed IG) 1000 points

Primaris Psyker
Lord Commissar

Psyker Battle Squad (4 & Overseer)

Design Platoon
Platoon Cmd Squad Platoon Standard, Missile Launcher
2lt Foche Power fist

1st Squad (Sgt & 9)
2nd Squad (Sgt & 9)
3rd Squad (3x Las cannon)
4th Squad (3x Heavy Bolter)

Accident Platoon
Platoon Cmd Squad Platoon Standard, Missile Launcher
2lt Ney Power fist

1st Squad (Sgt & 9)
2nd Squad (Sgt & 9) 10 bolters
3rd Squad (3x Las cannon)

Destroyer tank hunter tank, Laser destroyer, pintle storm bolter

Kursk Coy, 2nd Bn, Kado 540th Advance Party (5ed IG) 1001 points

Coy Cmd Squad Regtl Standard, plasma
Maj Chekov Refractor field, plasma pistol, power sword

3rd Platoon Cmd Squad 2x flamer
Lt Lenin

1st Squad (Sgt & 9) melta
2nd Squad (Sgt & 9) flamer
3rd Squad (Sgt & 9) melta
4th Squad (Sgt & 9) flamer
A-T Support Squad (att 333rd ASL) 3x Las cannon

4th Platoon Cmd Squad melta
Lt Marx

1st Squad (Sgt & 9) melta
2nd Squad (Sgt & 9) flamer
3rd Squad (Sgt & 9) melta
4th Squad (Sgt & 9) flamer

333rd Armageddon Steel Legion Armoured Sentinel Det (1x Plasma cannon, 2x Las cannon)