Blogger Ate My BatRep

And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt.

Summary:

I suck at answering emails. Sorry. Will do better.

Got a game vs. Deathwing. New Player. Will be dangerous soon. I won. His list needs work, and I screwed up a rule about Skimmers.

I'm sick. Tired. Need sleep.

Nighty night.

Vacations Are Exhausting

All day motorcycle classes on Thursday/Friday, transitioning into overnight bachelor party for one of my best friend's last night/this morning, transitioning into a spontaneous road/camping trip to Eastern Washington tonight/tomorrow/Monday.

So... yeah. Been busy. Wanted to tell you jerks I haven't forgotten about ya. That and, what with NOVA coverage, I'm sure you guys have better things to read than my Loganwing guide. It will get finished though, promise.

Cheers.

Logan Hybrid Mech

Watching Stelek go through his "1001 Arabian Lists" exercise while he gets ready for the NOVA has been interesting, to say the least. It's like getting a Yes the Truth Hurts brain dump over a couple of weeks.

Needless to say, watching other people build lists gets me interested in building my own. This list was itching in my brain and I had to throw it in a spreadsheet to see how I could make it fit. This borrows shamelessly from many of Stelek's concepts, but I don't think he's put anything quite like this together (could be wrong though... the guy writes a ton of lists).

Logan

Wolf Scouts x 5, Meltagun
Wolf Scouts x 5, Meltagun

-Wolf Guard x 10, Terminator x 2 w/Cyclone Launchers, 2 w/Combimeltas (go with Grey Hunters), 1 w/Combimelta & Wolf Claw (goes with Wolf Scouts), 5 w/Stormbolters
-Wolf Guard x 10, Terminator x 2 w/Cyclone Launchers, 2 w/Combimeltas (go with Grey Hunters), 1 w/Combimelta & Wolf Claw (goes with Wolf Scouts), 5 w/Stormbolters
-Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback (Heavy Bolter)
-Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback (Heavy Bolter)
-Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback (Heavy Bolter)
-Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback (Heavy Bolter)

Longfangs x 4, Multimelta x 4, Pack Leader, Drop Pod
Longfangs x 4, Missile Launcher x 4, Pack Leader, Razorback w/Heavy Bolters
Longfangs x 4, Missile Launcher x 4, Pack Leader, Razorback w/Heavy Bolters

So, after the Wolf Guard units split up you have seven dudes left in each squad, five in power armor with Stormbolters and two Terminators with Stormbolters and Cyclones. 14 Stormbolter shots plus 4 Frag templates is a frightening amount of mid-range anti-infantry. You have two of those units to hang back, shoot a bunch into midfield (and of course still be potent anti-mech) and then claim home-court objectives/quarters).

And of course for this list I hopped on the Heavy Bolter bandwagon. Hey, if you can't beat the Grey Knights, try and be like them but a little crappier, amirite?

Anyways, I think it's got potential. Your thoughts?

C&C welcome. Hopefully now I can get some sleep, lol.

Tournament Theory Deep Dive - "Total War" Mission, Playtesting

Hey guys.

My gaming club, the Dead Body Crew, is trying to put together a kind of tournament scenario library for use in local tournaments. The first missions which will be inducted into this library will be the NOVA missions, for reasons which are obvious to most.

Side Note:  I think there are a variety of ways to build missions/scenarios which are balanced and interesting. What I think is REALLY challenging is coming up with a fourth deployment type which is balanced and yet substantively different from the three standard deployments. Maybe it's not something to even mess with. Bad deployment types are a terrifically unbalancing element, and I have seen some really terrible ones out there. Food for thought.
End side note.

Space Marine Video Game... FML

No challenge intended.

 Well, I have a lot of things I need to do today.

But I just played through the Demo (available on X-Box Live for Download).

Still No Loganwing Guide...

...I'm not dead. I've just been really busy. All day today running around to appointments, classes, etc. Got home, made my meals for tomorrow and threw together my gaming stuff. Going to try a variation of "Logan's Wolfpack" tomorrow. I will be at classes all day tomorrow (I'm getting my Motorcycle Endorsement) but tomorrow evening am going to throw some dice.

Expect to hear more on Wednesday night, I will have no time till then.

Recovering From the Weekend, Building Wolf Scouts

Busy weekend, but I'm back home. I'm debating whether engaging further on Frontline Gamer's points is going to lead to bad feelings or increased understanding. I feel like SinSynn and my long-running debate actually made us better buds. But Frontline seems to have a bit of a different personality. Perhaps he can say more as to whether he wants to hear me more fully explain my points or just move on (we've followed each other's blogs, so we may have other topics to discuss in the future).

In other news, I have assembled my third Wolf Scout squad. I like the way the squad turned out, it looks very dynamic with some good poses.

Logan's Wolfpack - 2000 Points

I'm sorry that I haven't published Part 4 of the Loganwing Guide yet. It's a long section (as I'm sure you understand) and I just haven't had the time to bang it out. I'm going to be at my parent's house tonight and won't have access to the interwebz (the computer is in the room that my baby sleeps in while we visit).

In the meantime, I wanted to present you with an army that I have had lurking in the recesses of my mind. It has been... one could say... stalking me?

Like a wolf, in the shadows.

Painting Night...

...just working on some the Death Korps of Krieg tonight while watching Avatar the Last Airbender with my kiddo.

Pretty decent show for a Nickelodeon.

Anyways, I'm working on the "Troops" update to the Loganwing article series. Should be up soonish. Thanks for all the encouraging comments and feedback, I'm glad people are finding it interesting.

Guide to Building a Loganwing - Part 3, Elites

Ok, well the Space Wolves have some excellent Elites choices to compliment a Loganwing style army. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Me too. This codex is built with so many good options that it letting a manic list builder like me have it is like giving a tweaker access to a Nyquil factory. This is, more than anything I think, why Space Wolves see so much tournament success. The codex is APPEALING to the kind of analytical people who like to play this game at the highest competitive levels. It's not that these same people couldn't take, for example, Blood Angels or Guard, it's just that the Space Wolves have the best written Codex for those who like to build intricate lists. A lot of this has to do with Wolf Guard and the way that unit works, but we'll save them for the Troops section since this is a Loganwing series.

Only YOU Can Prevent Spousal Abuse...

...by not playing your wife in any game ever. She just beat my ASS at Risk. I mean, it was brutal. Sheesh.

If only my ten year old hadn't broken our non-aggression agreement, I could have had her...

Curses!

No Ard Boyz...

...this year.

Today I helped my bestest nerd buddy move out of state, and tomorrow we are meeting up with our midwife for her annual picnic to celebrate all the baby's she's helped bring into this world (including my youngest, and another on the way in November).

I will admit, I was feeling bummed, but this post by SandWyrm cheered me up a bit. It's all about keeping it in perspective.

Ard Boyz used to be my "goal." Now it's the NOVA. Even if I can't make it this year, it will still be the long-term goal, not GW's half-arsed excuse for real competition.

Grats to all those who did well today and good luck to those playing tomorrow. Gonna go read with my lady now.

Guide to Building a Loganwing - Part 2, HQ

So my general plan is to go through each of the sections of the force org chart and discuss the units that *I* feel could/should be included in a Loganwing, and discuss their relative merits. The decisions you make in one part of the Force Org have significant impacts on the rest of the build. Everything in a Loganwing (and in any army really) should work together with each piece playing its part. Let's start with HQ, shall we?

HEADQUARTERS:
 
Oh boy, HQ!

Space Wolves can take up to four of them. You are already sinking a lot of points into HQ just by taking Logan, but the Wolves are an army that can, in my view, get away with having a few really "meaty" characters in their army. Let's talk about some other heroes who might want to bask in Logan's glory:

Wolf Lord
I can really only see one use for a Wolf Lord in a Logan army, and that's putting him on a Thunderwolf and using him as a counter-assault badass. Saga of the Warrior Born, Runic Armor, Storm Shield and a Wolf Claw. Rawr. I have played with this guy and he lives up to all expectations. Pro tip: the bonus attacks last until the next player's assault phase, so it's especially important with the Wolf Lord NOT to have him defeat his enemy's on your turn. Instead, you want him to beat them up a bit, get some bonus attacks, use those bonus attacks on the next turn to wipe them out, and then charge into another combat. He can roll around with a Fenrisien Wolf pack escort, a Thunderwolf Cavalry escort, or a hybrid (Thunderwolf Cav with a couple of "wargear" Wolves as ablative wounds. If you want a fast choppy element to your army, this is one way to go.

If you are looking for a foot-slogging character to drop in with Logan, Arjac is just a plain better choice. We'll talk about him too. 

Rune Priest
The Wolves get, hands down, one of the best psykers in the game. While not a "killer," the Rune Priest does what I feel psykers OUGHT to do, which is to provide excellent support to their army. The Rune Priest also provides one of the best psychic defenses in the game as well, making him a double threat.

Most psychic powers are only effective against "troops in the open." Many armies can get away with not having defenses against these powers because they have enough transports to keep their troops from being targets, at least for the first portion of the game. Not so with Loganwing. You are out there in front of god and everyone, which means some psykers will really give you a bad day. For that reason alone having a Rune Priest is generally advisable. I am not going to say it's a "must have" (my goal here is not to tell you the "one" way to do a Loganwing, but instead to give you some tools and thoughts I have gathered over time), but if you get a Rune Priest, you will find him useful as a defensive tool.

The other big thing that the Rune Priest brings to the table, in my view, is his movement control abilities. Murderous Hurricane and Tempest's Wrath provide good tools for slowing your opponent down. An example of Murderous Hurricane as a tool is to bring Logan's unit within 12" of a Land Raider (right at like 11.5") and actually separate off the Rune Priest so he is a solo unit at the end of the movement phase. You can them use your Multimeltas to pop the Land Raider, and then case Murderous Hurricane on the Assault Terminators inside. The terminators will be rolling difficult terrain in the movement phase and another difficult terrain check in the assault phase. Chances are that they are going to fail to assault your unit if you do it right. This tool works wonders with Ork Boyz, Tyranid swarms, and pretty much anything that you want either slowed down or taking lots of dangerous terrain checks. It can even force dangerous terrain checks for vehicles and walkers, so if you have no other targets don't be afraid to his even Land Raiders with Murderous Hurricane. Remember that the only way to target a unit that you are blowing out of a transport is to separate out the Rune Priest at the end of the Movement phase. Remember also that this is a risky proposition, but may be worth it in certain circumstances. Just another tool in your toolbox.


Njal Stormcaller
This guy does everything that a Rune Priest does, but better. Access to all of the powers plus the ability to cast two per turn make him the ultimate Swiss Army knife. Plus his 3+ Rune Weapon tends to turn enemy psykers into huge wastes of points (Lol Grey Knights?). Having used him in a tournament setting, I can attest that he is one of the few "uber psykers" that can actually be worth his points.

Since the Space Wolves FAQ, he is slightly less powerful, as some of his best special powers do not function at all if you are going second. That is really too bad, and for that reason I don't feel Njal really works well with a Loganbomb list (which often wants to go second). We will talk more about that later.

But make no mistake, he is a pricey character and with him and Logan you are already over a quarter of your army into two characters. Better make sure you know what you're going to do with them. He is still only two wounds and will still die like a Hooch if you put him in the wrong place. Keep him safe but in a good position to use his powers and you can get your points worth.

Wolf Guard Battle Leader
If I don't like a Wolf Lord on foot, why would I like a Wolf Guard Battle Leader? Well, simply put, because they can do something that's relatively unique, which is to grant any unit they attach to Stealth. Yes, a WGBL with Saga of the Hunter grants Stealth to his unit. He can also take two Fenrisien Wolves. Now if his unit is in cover, everyone in the unit effectively has a Storm Shield against low AP weapons. This also means that Fenrisien Wolves have that same wonderful 3++ save and that Logan can suck up Lascannon shots against a 3++ cover save, which helps him to absorb more of those shots so his unit can survive.

Giving a WGBL a Frost Blade can be a worthwhile investment as well. He and Logan are both going to be striking at I5, and he will have 5 attacks during the first round of combat (6 if Logan pops his "feat"). This means that if, for example the unit is charged by something striking at I4 or less, that unit will take between eleven and thirteen attacks which are hitting on 3's in most cases, rerolling misses, and wounding on 3's. That will gut units like TH/SS Terminators before they ever swing.

Additionally, giving him a Frost Blade allows him to, if you so desire, attach to a Wolf Scout unit and go chopping through your enemy's backfield. Options are good to have and against Tau for example, that is a nice one to have.

So we've got some pretty nice tools in the HQ section, all of which do more than just add choppy to the army, they each provide support and synergy which help the army as a whole to operate more effectively. Any of the above could be valid choices, it all depends upon how you want to build the list.

I intended to get into Elites during this post, but it's going to have to wait until next time. This series might take a while, as I am data dumping a lot of experience playing this army in 5th. I hope that it is helpful to someone out there.

Are Nikephoros' Metrics Worthless?

Some people think so but I actually think they have value. Go read the link (to the left, which obviously some people missed), and then come back.

I think Nurglich's main points are entirely valid, and he has written up something that had been bouncing around in my brain stem for some time, with a few minor variations.

Sucker Punch...

...is a really interesting movie. The World War I scenes with the German Zombies made me want to build a 40k terrain board inspired by it. And seeing some real "Death Korps of Krieg" style dudes was cool too. Kind of a bittersweet ending (which I predicted from about ten minutes into the movie) but still quite good.

I am working on Part II of my Loganwing guide, hope to have it up tomorrow evening.

Later on homies.

Guide to Building a Loganwing - Part 1, Overview and Logan Himself

So, I recently "re-caught" the Loganwing bug, as I decided to take my Space Wolves to a GT in Montana. Good times were had by all, and I walked away with 4 wins and a loss. I ended up with 3rd place - it was a win/loss format and I got beaten by the only undefeated player. I had the highest total battle points though by a wide margin. Anyways, the point is that I did very well with my Loganwing. I also only lost one game at the Seattle GT which had draw-able missions (going 3-1-1, again only losing to the undefeated tournament winner). Again, Loganwing did quite well for me.

In both of these cases, I asked myself the tough question - did my army let me down or did I let my army down? Both are really the same thing because at the end of the day you ARE your army and your army is YOU. Nobody decides what selections you take but you, and nobody dictates the choices you make with the units you bring but you.

Yes It's Gaming Night, And the Feeling's Right...

...well since my Deathwatch session is canceled this week, I get to go roll some dice instead.

Last time I got the chance to go gaming, I was pretty disappointed by the turnout. I did get a game in, but only after some searching. (It was a good game too, Dante!).

Learning to Ride a Motorcycle and Hanging Curtains...

...yeah.

Hey, not every weekend can be 40k weekend, amirite? Especially so soon after an epic road trip, got to give it a breather.

I have been painting on some Death Korps of Krieg models, I'll photo them when I'm done.

Ta ta for now.

Painting Death Korps of Krieg

Painting up a few models for a buddy. What cool models!

I've put off painting them up for like a month and a half (for good reasons, but still), but now I'm sorry I did. These are such pretty pieces of resin, and they are a lot of fun to paint.

Sons of the Golden Ka List Revamp - More Razorbacks, Less Cheating

So, Nardy, Gmort and Gx1080 have all "helpfully" pointed out that my Librarian Dreadnoughts cannot actually take Magna-grapples and Extra Armor.

"Shrug." I think that's a strange call for GW to make, personally, but who am I to argue with "the man." My first read was that you gave up the stuff listed under "Wargear" but that you could still take the options (to be fair I'm fairly certain I got that from some early lists that Stelek put out where he had the same interpretation). It's clear as day in the FAQ, so no use arguing with it, amirite?

Uh Oh... Purgatus' Creative Juices Are Flowin'

You know what happens next. I decide to start a new army.

GODDAMIT!

FINISH YOUR ARMIES! STOP GETTING NEW IDEAS!

Yes, well, my Grey Knights are completely built and within a solid "push" of being fully painted if I ever wanted to take them to a tourney or sell them.