Saturday, June 19, 2010

Leaf blower

How I Learned to Love the Game and Hate the Leafblower
by Darkwynn

Right before Adepticon I was excited about getting a chance to see all my old friends such as Hod and Steve from the Wrecking Crew, Allen Hernandez, Chester, Alex (Redbeard), Sparks and many others. I had no idea what I was walking into...

Black Templar oh how I love thee



I have loved the Black Templar since the start of time.

Since I started Warhammer 40,000 I’ve played many armies. Starting from Eldar in the Rogue Trader days to the my latest Imperial Guard. The one army that I've always had a soft spot for are my Black Templars. I remember when they first came out and the Emperors Champion could challenge annoying powerfist sergeants and protecting himself from the other squad's members as the pair dueled to the death. They also had Sisters of Battle supporting the army that handled the range firepower. The editions have changed and so have my play styles and list over the years. Here is one of the latest versions I use for 1850 on the previous GT circuit.

1850 Pt. Army list

Emperor Champion
-Accept any challenge no matter the odds

Marshal
-Storm shield, thunder hammer, terminator honors

Terminator Assault Squad
x3 Lighting claws and 2x thunder hammers (I do switch this around at times to a 4:1 ratio)

Land Raider Crusader (transport for the Terminators)

Terminator Assault Squad
x3 Lighting claws and 2x thunder hammers (I do switch this around at times to a 4:1 ratio)

Land Raider Crusader (transport for the Terminators)

Crusader Squad
5 initiates 3 neophytes Melta gun power fist w/drop pod

Crusader Squad
5 initiates 3 neophytes Melta gun power fist w/drop pod

Crusader Squad
5 initiates 2 neophytes Melta gun power fist w/drop pod

Land Speeder with Multi Melta

Land Speeder with Multi Melta

Army Tactics
Deployment
This army has always been simple to play. It is unforgiving in a lot of ways and gives you a good all-comers list if you can understand it's weakness and know its strengths. I have two methods of deployment with the list. Usually it depends if I am going first or second. If I am going first I will deploy both my Land Raiders in the middle or on one side of the table to divide my opponent’s army. I run the Land Speeders behind the Land Raiders to provide protection till it’s time to hit key targets. The army has a problem as its sweet spot is in the range of 12 and 24 inches. Any army that has mobility can be pain in the butt for you to face and if they can stay 24 inches away there is a good chance they can win. You use the Land Raiders to cut off angles and the drop pods to box them in allowing your Terminators to come out and multiple assault bad guy units and just eat everything up with the reroll miss and reroll to wound lighting claws.

If I am going to go second I will usually reserve my whole army. Having the old edition of Drop pods combined with the reserving Land Raiders can limit the amount of damage my units can take and put them into key areas for counter assaults.

Unit Notes
The main hammer of the army is obvious the Terminators in the LRC which will have the Emperor's Champion in it sometimes or the Marshall depending what armies I am playing. The problem I have with these is you have roughly 1000 points invested into these 4 units (Terminators and LRC) and if one of these units breaks down or gets destroyed you take out a big piece of the hammer and a big portion of the army's hitting power. You have to be careful yet aggressive with these units which can be tough at times.

Emperor's Champion is a great troop killer instead of a character killer. He has no longer become a Slayer of Champions so use him to the best you can and get him in the meat grinder.

Marshall is great for the LD:10 to the whole army as I always have units break and he limits that a lot. With a Thunder Hammer he can assault bigger units such as Monstrous Creatures and tanks and has a chance of breaking them with STR:9 on the charge.

Crusader squads are cheap units to land in key areas to hit tanks, slow units down, put pressure or lead groups into the hammer.

Land Speeders are just there for some cheap mobility anti-tank which Black Templars have always lacked. Since they have lacked anti tank, I have never bothered going through the old 4th edition of las plas squads which they can do. Because if you are going to use the las plas setup in a game, why not play normal space marines?

~Here has what has worked for me over the 9 years of playing Black Templar. Tell me what has worked for you guys over that time and how the Black Templar’s are performing for you (or against you foul Xenos) in 5th edition.

Is there too much Melta out there?


Darkwynn here,

So, everyone has been talking about these net lists which makes your game ten times better if you take them. They are the hyper focused lists whose sole purpose is to spam a specific unit or weapon type with the more common ones being melta-spam and troop transports of late. But what happens when you go against a player who exploits those weaknesses because you have too much of that one good thing? What do you do when you don't have the right tools for the job?

I have seen the meta game slowly moving this way a lot over the last 2 years but now it’s just gone to the extreme due to meltaguns costing 5 points. New net lists now commonly spam a good number of 20+ Melta guns. But why? So you can get up close and blow that transport away or rush up with 5 squads to kill that one Land Raider in your opponent's list only to get assaulted afterward?

Quick Melta recap:
-Range of 12 inches or 24 inches if you are using Multi-Melta
-Str 8 AP1, half range 2d6 armor pen.
Pros
- Great for killing T4 characters without Eternal Warrior
- Destroying vehicles- esp. against AV13-14
Cons
- Short range of 12 inches
- Limited situations in which it benefits
- Have to be extremely close for the double pen bonus

Now you can't deny that Melta and vehicles are great in 5th edition, but you need to notice that you have other tools in your box besides the hammer. Everyone complained and said it was silly to take plasmaguns on Command squads for instance. Plasma has double the shots and if you are going to commit that unit to kill infantry or go after certain heavy armor units, it will be much more efficient than a unit of meltaguns.

Some of the most effective units that plasma is great for killing are monstrous creatures, Eternal Warrior characters, Feel-no-pain units, Eldar Avatars, models over toughness 5 and those multi-wound models over toughness 5. To put this into perspective: if you are going to get in position to try and take down any of those types of units with melta and it doesn't go well, chances are that your melta unit is going to die next turn. Now some people will say: “Well, that is why you have so many. You can commit two units to do the job, but why do that when I can do it with one?”

A good player will notice and take in consideration your limited range and your inherent weakness that you develop in an ultra focused list. There are great ways to deal with melta, especially when a lot of people are not taking extra armor on tanks because it’s too expensive right now or they have foot slogger units.

One of the best things I enjoy in a game is to stun or shake a transport then move around it so that it can't leave or the guys are unable to get out to shoot anyone else. Then the next turn, I can shake it again and focus on killing other items while delaying that unit from getting into the game. Another is when I notice you only have one or two long range hitting weapons and I am running 5 rhinos. I would rush my rhinos up as much as I can and then pop smoke when I am 12 to 15 inches away. That way if you do come out and try to blow up my rhinos, you’re not going to be effective and when you do, I am out on the next turn to kill you. What do you do if you are playing kill points in a tournament and the player has long range fire power and mobility but the only thing your marines have is Melta guns to the max? A smart player will just blow up your transports and focus on small units while running away and winning by just killing a few units, but you couldn't do anything because you could never get weapons close enough to do their jobs.

The big thing I am saying is that people need to realize when one piece of equipment or "super unit" is overused you can end up min-maxing yourself into a very tight corner and end up with a one-trick-pony army that can't handle multiple situations. So the next time you are making a list and you already know you have 9 Melta guns, ask yourself if you really need more than that. Also, remember every person plays differently and you really need to tune that list to your play style.

~So table top generals, tell me what your thoughts and feelings are on these new net lists. Also, do people think a balanced approach is something you always need to consider or is the ultra focused list the only way to go? Finally, the million dollar question: melta, plasma, or flamers?

Thoughts on Ard boyz

Darkwynn’s Corner


Ard Boy’z Finals


So Ard boyz is coming back around and I am going to head up to Chicago after winning first at the semi-finals in Texas. I look forward going back up there to see a lot of my friends and people from across the country. Which brings me into getting prepared for the finals, I have started to do testing as I foresee the finals being about 40% guard and 30% blood Angels with 10% space wolves and other armies sprinkled among the masses. The biggest threat will be guard for sure with their low cost units and high amount of vehicles that can get close to 18-20 vehicles on the board. This is a list I thought up that I think could hold its own against an Imperial Guard player and with a little luck make quick work out of him.

Blood Angels 2500 points
HQ
Librarian
Shield of Sanguinius
Sanguine Sword
Elite
Furioso Liberian
Shield of Sanguinius
Wings of Sanguinius

Honor Guard
Flamer x3 Blood Champion
Razorback with Heavy Flamer

Troops
Assault Squad x10
Melta Gun x2
Powerfist
Rhino
Assault Squad x10
Melta Gun x2
Powerfist
Rhino
Assault Squad x10
Melta Gun x2
Powerfist
Rhino
Assault Squad x10
Melta Gun x2
Powerfist
Rhino
Assault Squad x10
Melta Gun x2
Powerfist
Rhino

Fast Attack
Baal Predator
Baal Predator
Baal Predator
Heavy
Vindicator
Predator
Autocannon with Las cannon sponsons
Predator
Autocannon with Las cannon sponsons


The idea is if I go first against Guard is to push forward pop smoke and use the Predators and Vindicators to either shake or stun key targets. After that I should be in range to either assault or start breaking down the enemy. On top of that I will have Dreadnoughts in the area who will be able to cast Shield of Sanguinius to help give nearby vehicles a 5+ cover save. Hoping with a little bit of luck I can tear through Mech Ig with multiple assaults and then just keep pushing.

Now, this is what I am worried about… Marines. How do you handle super death star units such as Thunder Calvery Wolf lords with lots of dire wolves? How do you handle Loganwing? What about some Super HQ units you see out there such as Abanadon? If I see any of these types of armies I have to secure a multiple assault and overwhelm the unit by three or four times the amount that is needed. This is my concern with a list like this as there is no hard heavy hitting unit expect for hitting like a flood of water onto a unit.

So here are my thoughts for Ard boyz, want to know what other people are thinking and what are their concerns for the big event coming up right around the corner?