Learn to Play 40k, Newb: Monstrous Creatures

I'm still fairly new to this game, so I'm still learning things. When reading over the entry for the Swarmlord, I was a little underwhelmed by the wording on Bonesabres. Specifically that they aren't Power Weapons in effect as Bone Swords are. So I looked it up on the Internet to see if someone else noted the missing words. I was also suspicious of the lack of Rending Claws for Trygons and kin.

Fun Fact! I'm a newb. So Monstrous Creatures? Far scarier than I thought. They come with built in Super Rending rules. I was aware of the extra d6 against vehicles, but I managed to glaze over sentence immediately prior in the rulebook. Built into Monstrous Creatures rules:

Move Through Cover
Shoot 2 Weapons + Relentless
Can't Go to Ground
50% Cover Rule Like Vehicles
Ignore Armor in Assault
+d6 Armor Penetration

Scary.

Parasite of Mortrex: Special Tyranid Shrike Prime?

Looking at the fluff for the Parasite, it tells of a winged Tyranid the size of a Warrior. Since a Shrike is a winged Warrior and a Tyranid Prime is an HQ Warrior, surely it follows that the Parasite is a named variant of the Tyranid Shrike Prime. Sadly no such unit exists in the codex. So let's wishlist one up!

Tyranid Shrike Prime
WS6 - BS4 - S5 - T5 - W3 - I5 - A4 - Ld10 - Sv4+

The weapon choices will be the same as a regular Shrike, while the Biomorph choices will be identical to the regular Prime. Base cost 90. Instead of the Alpha Warrior special rule, it would get Alpha Shrike. Pretty straightforward. That took me 5 minutes. Come on, GW, keep up.

As an aside, the Parasite is pretty awesome sounding if you have a bunch of spare Ripper Swarms.

Grenades

So Bell of Lost Souls has new GK rumors.

Most of it sounds pretty cool, but I have to say a couple things. First, I imagine the conversation on Grenades went like this:

Writer: "Hey, all other SMs have Frag and Krak grenades. We should give the GKs them too."
Lead Editor: "You're right. You should add them to all the GK infantry."
Writer: "All of them? Really all of them?"
Lead Editor: "Yeah. It only sounds fair."
Writer: "Even the Term--"
Lead Editor: "Sure, whatever. Look, I've got work to do. Just make it happen."

Following this the writer adds Frag and Krak grenades to every non-tank entry Copy-Pasta style.

Second, if the rumors are true, Assassins are going to be extremely expensive or perhaps extremely underpriced. I could see +d3 attacks on a charge. I could see a Space Wolves style +2 attacks. +d6? Sounds a bit far fetched.

Thoughts on Nids

Wormsign?

I'm not a huge fan of the swarm army concept. It may be because I think of having to paint all those models. So my Sisters will be the most "swarm-like" army I'll field. One is good for me. However, like any 5th Edition codex, the Tyranids have quite a few options. Of course, you'll hear of the Nidzilla lists (which I'm pretty sure means you max out on Monstrous Creatures like Sillyfexes), but I was thinking about a Warrior list. Something along the lines of 3-4 broods of Warriors (number and size of the broods based on point level), a brood or two of Shrikes (Pretty Wings), and maybe some Raveners for kicks. Stick Boneswords on the Shrikes and they feel almost like Vanguard Vets with Power Swords.

This won't do against vehicles, so you do need a little help. Zoanthropes look amazing in this respect. Throw in a couple (but really, I mean 4) of them and, because I've seen how amazing the Mawloc model is, 2 Trygons. Make them Primes. Seriously. I'm not arguing with an 18", S5, AP5, Assault 12 attack. I think the 6" and 6 dice (and Synapse) are worth 40 points. Sure, BS is only 3, but it's 12 dice! You get 3+ to wound Marines and swarmy armies tend to get no armor save. And then they destroy stuff in assault. Extremely efficiently. For the HQ I'd probably go Tyranid Prime or two and stick him (or them) with Warriors.

The result is almost everything is Synapse, Ld10, and Shadow in the Warp, so they're a tough army to break. Anti-tank would do well against them with mostly T4 and 4+ saves, but that's what the Trygons and Zoanthropes would go for first. Zoanthropes, if you didn't know, have two main abilities (other than their 3+ invulnerable): Lance of Tank Popping and Blast of Marine Killing. Their main weakness is Grey Knight Psycannons or Incinerators. Anything AP5 or better that ignores invulnerables really.

Sample list I was playing around with in Army Builder comes in right at 2k:

HQ
2x Tyranid Prime (Boneswords, Deathspitter, Adrenal Glands)

Elite
2x 2-bug brood Zoanthropes

Troops
2x 5-bug brood Warriors (extra set Scything Talons, Adrenal Glands)
2x 5-bug brood Warriors (Deathspitter, Adrenal Glands)

Fast Attack
1x 5-bug brood Shrikes (Boneswords, Adrenal Glands)

Heavy Support
2x Trygon Prime (Adrenal Glands, Regeneration)

So basically I love super-resilient armies. When it comes down to it, running the Warrior list is probably a lot like running a Terminator Space Marines list. My two loves are Resilience and Mobility. I'll take an army you can pound on for 7 turns and not see it crack. But I'll also sacrifice all of that for one that can just zip around.

Five Land Raiders

So occasionally I go and theory-hammer out a list for shiggles. This time I was looking at my 5 Land Raiders. Two are sitting in a box unconstructed, while the other 3 I've used before. I have a Crusader, 2 standard Godhammers, and the 2 awaiting construction are Redeemers. You can field 3 LRs with a Brother-Captain HQ. To get more you need Inquisitors. All you need to do is give a 20 point Inquisitor a 6 point Retinue and you can take a Land Raider. Add two of those to a minimal GK force and you have 5 nicely kitted LRs in 1850.

Of course you can get silly and go for 7 LRs or change out PAGKs for ISTs and get more Mech out there. I pointed up 7 LRs with tons of extras added and 4 minimal squads of ISTs in Ordo Malleus Razorbacks and Rhinos for 2500 points.

Bone Terminator

Again, courtesy of Bolter and Chainsword

Here's the bone scheme (hastily) applied to a Terminator.

 .

Bone Scheme Concept Model

I spent some time tonight painting up a concept model to go with the painter scheme of the last post. I had put together an Assault Marine Sgt with Combat Shield before I finally decided to go with all Death Company kits, so I grabbed it and painted it up. Here is the result. Note that I haven't highlighted anything besides the Power Sword nor have I applied any washes except a little Devlan Mud on the soft armor to mute the bronze a bit.

Bleached Bone all over except belts, weapons, shoulders, soft armor, skulls, and wings

I haven't decided whether to keep the wings on the shield black or change them to bone

Dwarven Bronze was used for the shield back too

The feet are where some washes are most obviously needed

The hands and arms could use the definition too

Another Blood Angels Color Scheme

Courtesy of the Bolter & Chainsword Space Marine Painter

Here's a color scheme I'm thinking of for my Blood Angels. It's sort of an inverse of the Blood Ravens scheme.

A different variant:

And another.

Blue Angels Terminator

Here's a more complete version of yesterday's Terminator with views from 4 angles!

Blue Angels

Maybe I'll call a Squall Guppy "Fat Albert"

Okay, someone needs to tell me I'm crazy because I'm really starting to think that "Blue Angels" is going to be my Blood Angels chapter. Color scheme predominately blue and yellow. There will be some white/grey/silver bits. Yes, I'm talking about those Blue Angels since I'm down here in Pensacola, FL. Yes, I've already been informed I'm a big nerd.

The above picture is a really quick concept paint on an AoBR Terminator. Regal Blue base coat, Enchanted Blue on top of that, and Golden Yellow for the Aquila and Power Fist. Mithril Silver on the Crux Terminatus and Bleached Bone on the bones. I haven't done the Storm Bolter arm. I was thinking of doing the helmet Golden Yellow as well.

Sisters of Battle VS Greyanids

Om Nom Nom

If you're only interested in hearing the result of my Sisters v. the Tyranid menace, the above picture sums it up nicely. For the details, read on.

New New Grey Knights Rumors

I'm working on a Battle Report from Saturday's game of my Sisters v. Nids, but Blogger ate an hour of work, so it'll be up tomorrow. In the mean time, Bell of Lost Souls has some new rumors up for Grey Knights.

Of particular interest to me is the "Dreadknight" that has been cropping up in recent rumors. It sounds pretty awesome. Monstrous Creature with "lots of wounds". I'm going to go out on a limb and guess 3-4. It isn't too far-fetched for them to have a Monstrous Creature "walker" when you consider the Witchhunters have Karamazov. Sam and I talked about it and we agree that GW should just use a 3-Up Terminator for the model. Regardless, I want to run 3 already.

It sounds like the progression of Grey Knights will likely run like this:

PAGK (3+ saves, standard stat line, possibly all Power Weapons) Roughly 20 points per model.
GK Terminator (2+/5++ saves, standard stat line, definitely all Power Weapons) Roughly 40 points per model.
GK Paladin (2+/4++ saves, extra wound) I'm going to guess at roughly 70-80 points per model.

All of these can apparently be Troops although you will need a Special Character for the Paladins at a minimum. Regular Terminators might not require one! So far there sounds to be a lot of really interesting choices if even half the rumors are true. I know I'm taking some salt on the "gattling psycannon."

Sanguinary Priest Conversion, Part 3

I procured a box of regular Terminators this evening and constructed one of my Sanguinary Priests in Terminator Armor. I used the same procedure to remove the Storm Bolter but this time I've added one of the back icons for a Sgt onto his hand. I nicked a bitty chalice off a Death Company Bolter and added it to the belt. The blood drop and wing I added to the knee is also from the Death Company kit. Finally I gave him one of the heads from the Sanguinary Guard kit. My other one is set up similarly, but I'm waiting on a Sgt Power Sword I've ordered. The shoulders are waiting on Forge World BA shoulder pads.

Blood Angels Successor Chapter

So I'm trying to decide what color scheme to go with for my Blood Angels. It will be primarily red, of course. And I don't do halves or quarters on colors with my armies. I've decided that it will be a Successor Chapter with some Inquisition ties (a shock, you say?). I also need a name for the Chapter.

My initial list is 1850 points and is as follows:

HQ
Captain with Power Fist, Infernus Pistol, and Jump Pack OR Librarian Epistolary with Jump Pack (Captain results in 10 free points, Libby fills up the points exactly at 1850)

Elite
2x 5-man Lightning Claw Terminators
1x 2 Sanginary Priests in Terminator Armor

Troops
1x 10-man Assault Squad with 2 Hand Flamers and Sgt with Power Sword
2x 10-man Assault Squad with 2 Meltaguns

Heavy Support
2x Stormraven with TL Multimelta, TL Lascannon, Hurricane Bolter sponsons

Progress on construction of said models is looking pretty good (since it'll be a few months until Squall Guppies are released). Nothing much is painted or primed; I'm still putting them together. Completed models are Captain, Librarian, all 10 Terminators, the 3 Assault Marine Sgts, the 4 Meltagun AMs (as previously showcased), and I'm working on the last 12 AMs (one of which is the other Hand Flamer model). I still haven't completely decided on how to handle the Sanguinary Priests.

I have mentioned before that I'm using Death Company boxes for all of my AMs. I also had gotten a Sanguinary Guard kit to style up my Captain (which barely uses the SM Captain kit). As you can see, I kept the Capt torso and banner, but replaced most of the rest with Sanguinary Guard bits. I removed the generic bit on top of the banner with the nifty BA wings and chalice piece from the top of their banner.

Since I had all the extra bits, I decided to also use legs, heads, and shoulder pads to spruce up my Sgts so they will definitely stand out. In case I want to run several 5-man squads, there is a "secondary" Sgt in the back half of the large squads that simply use Death Company kits with no Sanguinary Guard bits. Only the Sgt depicted below has a Power Sword. Those other Sgts all use the same Jump Pack, torsos, Chain Swords, and Bolt Pistols as the second two.

Finally, the Librarian is a Sanguinary Guard. I won't be using any in my army, so it'll look unique. The current plan is to paint it up with typical Librarian colors but with a white death mask (both on the head and knee) with the crest/crown/whatever silver. The wings will be black while the top bit on top of them silver as well. I may make the very upper edge gold.

I'm almost afraid to paint my Blood Angels since some of the models' details are really nice and I don't want to botch them with a bad paint job!

Assault Marine Meltagun Conversion, Part 2

I've finished the 4 Meltaguns I plan on making for my Blood Angels.

And here are the complete models (sans shoulder pads).

 

Update: (11DEC) The models with shoulder pads and closeups of each.

Assault Marine Meltagun Conversion

More conversions! This time I was working on a way to make Meltaguns from my existing kits. I have 6 boxes of Death Company to make my Blood Angel Assault Marines, and I decided to equip some with Meltaguns. Problem: the boxes come with Bolters and Infernus Pistols, but it does not come with Meltaguns. Solution: Hack the tip off of the Bolter and the Clip, replacing them with the barrel of the Infernus Pistol and what looks like a cartridge off the side of the IP. Result:

The top two in the picture are simply examples of an unmodified IP and Bolter, while the bottom is the result. The bonus is that I now have Blood Angels styles on my Meltaguns!

And I also put together my second squad of Lightning Claw Terminators while waiting in queue for World of Warcraft:

Sanguinary Priest Conversion, Part 2

So I decided to surgically destroy modify one of my AoBR Terminator Stormbolters. No more Stormbolter.

Here's the prototype with empty hand and Sgt's Power Sword.

And here's one squad of my Lightning Claw Terminators. The second squad is that pile of bits you can see behind the prototype in the above pictures. I've decided only the Sgt will have the heraldry shield. You'll also notice the right shoulderpad is missing. I'm going to wait for my Forge World Blood Angels Shoulder Pads to come in for that (but I need to order them first!).

Sanguinary Priest Conversion

So I'm thinking of running a Blood Angels list with Assault Terminators and attached Sanguinary Priest in Terminator Armor. This means there must be a model converted to be in Terminator Armor but only wielding a Power Sword (with Chalice). No Stormbolter. Here's my first prototype:

That's an Assault on Black Reach Terminator with his Stormbolter traded out for a Grey Knight Terminator Nemesis Force Sword. I'm not too fond of the AoBR model quality, so I may end up getting a box of regular Terminators to do the final model. The Power Fist in this case would be explained away as decorative. Another option I was considering is to use a Terminator Sgt Power Sword and cutting the Stormbolter off of a hand.

Shiny Silver Inquisition VS Grey Scars

Tzeentch being the Lord of Change or whatever decided he'd change his mind again. The Shiny Silver Inquisition vs. Grey Scars showdown was a go! Warning: This will be long.

Wow. Just Wow.

So. Blood of Kitten's final Grey Knight rumor reveal. Looks like Ork Nobz Mk II (Thanks for the comparison, Yak at Warseer). Either TastyTaste is right thus cementing his record, or this will make him look like a fool. All the rumors combined looks really far out there, but if he's right . . . it's going to make for a truly interesting codex.

Of House Rules and Grey Knights

Psychic Hoods, Assault Cannons, Teleport Homers, Storm Shields, Smoke Launchers. These are some of the things the Daemon (and Witch!) Hunters have still sticking back in 3rd Edition rules.

Of particular interest is the Teleport Homer. The way it is described in the codex refers to an old Deep Strike rule involving templates. One argument is that they can do nothing at all now because templates aren't used. For some reason this draws out a deep-seated anger in me. I have a very hard time arguing against it because I become irrational. Grey Knights are now one of the oldest codices (if not the oldest codex)  in 40k right now and is widely regarded as over-costed. I ask what harm it causes in a friendly game to allow an old codex to use updated rules from a similar army--in this case Grey Knights to use the new Space Marine Teleport Homers.

Now the first follow-up argument is, of course, "What about the Psychic Hood? You're just going to cherry-pick the updates you want and keep the old stuff like unlimited range hoods and cheap Extra Armor." I would much rather sacrifice those few things that do get a benefit from the age of the rules in order to get the rest of them updated that broke or were improved with new editions. Some of the changes are really obvious too. The Imperial Armour books from Forge World give some good ones: Sisters Rhinos are identical to the newest Space Marine Rhinos, IA Land Raiders pay the new standard price for Extra Armor, Hector Rex (IA 7) gets a 3+ invulnerable save Storm Shield. Teleport Homers are almost identical in the latest codices to the old Daemonhunters one it just no longer references a template and gives the 6" bubble.

I've decided what causes me so much rage in these arguments. Fairness. When confronted with a situation like the Teleport Homer, my instinct is to say, "Well, obviously the game has evolved and here's a clear example of how the designers have fixed the old rules to work with the system now." I do not expect the response to be, "I know, right? It sucks to be using the old codex now since it means you can't use a tactic that was intended for your army. One day they'll update the rules so you aren't shafted anymore."

A tournament is one thing. Telling someone they're playing an overpriced army then gleefully telling them you won't apply some common decency with an obvious house-rule fix for a friendly game is a bit on the rude side.

Yes, the rant is over now. Thank you for your time.

Blood of Kittens Delivers

Blood of Kittens has delivered on their promise of GK rumors. The removal of Fearless would make me sad. If they do make Nemesis Force Weapons into S4 Force Weapons I'll be . . . not quite sad or disappointed, but I still like the S6 attacks. However if even the troops have Force Weapons (and therefore Power Weapons) it will be an interesting change that would more than make up for the lack of S6. I'm on the fence there. Penitent Engines?! That may fall under the 10% miss rate they had last time.

New Grey Knights Rumors

Bell of Lost Souls has a new rumor post concerning the Grey Knights. It sounds pretty tame. More of the same regarding GK Terms as Troops choices/minimizing Inquisitorial units. I've heard the talk of the Squall Guppy Storm Raven being a Fast Attack slot, but I really don't think it will. I could really see it in Heavy Support just like with the Blood Angels and Land Raiders being Terminator Dedicated Transports.

Hypothetical Force Organization Chart options:

HQ
GK Hero
Inquisitor Lord
Other Special Characters

Elite
Terminators -- possibly different styles like regular Space Marines:
-- Standard Terminators: like we have now with NFW and Storm Bolter/special weapon
-- Close Combat Terminators: options for Thunder Hammer/NFW and Storm Shield
Librarian Dreadnought
Chaplain Dreadnought
Chaplain
Inquisitor

Troops
Power Armor Grey Knights (at least give them grenades)
Terminators (possibly unlocked with special character)

Fast Attack
I don't like the Teleport PAGKs as Fast Attack slots because 5th Edition treats them as non-scoring. I'm not a fan of just giving them Jump Packs either. I'd prefer Jet Bikes, but. . . . I think the reason people like the idea of the Storm Raven in Fast Attack is because they can't think of anything else to put in the slot.

Heavy Support
Storm Raven
Dreadnought
Land Raiders
Purgation Squad

Really I just want the new codex so we can stop guessing. And no more arguments over Teleport Homers and Storm Shields. And I'd like some sort of transport for my Troops.

And then there's this from Blood of Kittens.

Delay of Game

Next weekend's showdown between the Shiny Silver Inquisition and the Grey Scars? Postponed. I blame Tzeentch.

Progress!

Pebbles added for some basing. The toes are red from all the skulls it steps on. Squishy brains.

This force plus two Land Raiders is what is going up against the Grey Scars next weekend. Several (okay, most) models were purchased from a friend of Sam's who was getting rid of his GKs in anticipation of new plastics when the codex gets updated. The center Terminator is the Grand Master which is converted from a Terminator Chaplain. So there's the Grand Master with retinue of 4 Terminators, 4 squads of 5 Power Armor Grey Knights, and my Dreadnought. The Troops have a special weapon each: 2 Incinerators, 2 Psycannons. With the 2 Godhammer-Pattern Land Raiders added in it brings me to 1849 points. We'll see how it goes next week, but I expect good things. Mainly it's because I'm crazy.

Now that I've gotten a sizable army painted up for my Grey Knights, I'll probably get back to my Sisters. . . .

. . . This hobby is going to keep me busy for a while.

I Have Seen the Enemy

And it thankfully fights amongst itself.

Yes, that's the Citadel Realm of Battle Gameboard. I went up to the local game store this afternoon (mainly to remind myself how to play since it's been 4? months since I last played) and watched two players face off with Chaos v. Chaos: one with Daemons, one with Space Marines. It went on to turn 7 where finally the Daemons were tabled, but not without taking out a large chunk of the CSMs. The gameboard alone made the game look much nicer than the old terrain-pieces-on-plywood style I was used to seeing there.

In related news, only one week from now, the Shiny Silver Inquisition will go up against the Grey Scars chapter of Space Marines. The Grey Knights must destroy the heretics. FYI: The Grey Scars are grey because they've been corrupted by the Warp. Also they're unpainted. But mainly it's the corruption.

Adeptus Mechanicus

The new Land Raider Achilles from Forge World inspires an interesting concept: running an Adeptus Mechanicus army with Codex: Space Marines. The HQ choice is obvious: Master of the Forge. Him and his retinue of Servitors can ride in the Achilles pattern Land Raider as a Heavy Support choice. The other two Heavies could be Thunderfire Cannons. Three Thunderfires ain't nothing to sneeze at. More Land Raiders would also be a nice addition. Dreadnoughts as desired in Elites and Heavy. Token tac squads for Troops. Land Speeders make sense for Fast Attack. The more vehicles the better. If you're feeling especially ornery, take all three Heavy slots as Achilles, MotF in one and a Techmarine each in the other two.

I'd argue for adding a special character that allows Servitor squads (we can't just leave it as a single 10 point Servitor in a squad, though) in Troops. Use Techmarines as sergeants for them (making it 4 Servitors + Techmarine in a squad). Even leaving the Techmarines as Elites would work (just not all that well). Allow Razorbacks as transports for them.

But seriously, where are the Ad Mech shoulder pads, GW? I guess we'll have to settle for raiding the bitz shops for them off of the LR Crusader sprues. That gets you torsos too! I'd still like to see some Ad Mech marine kits from Forge World, though. Grumble grumble.

News From the Shiny Front

My Grey Knight Dreadnought from Forge World. A little more work is needed to finish it up, but I've got a little bit better lighting now.

A Psycannon Upgrade for my Land Raiders. It can replace the default Heavy Bolter or Assault Cannon.

A Sister Dialogus my wife painted for me. She has far more patience for painting scribbles than I do.

Step Two

Step 1: Camera. . . Check!
Step 2: Good Lighting. . . Ch. . . hmm.

As you can see, I'm working with sub-optimal lighting here. Why? I'm just using the light on my ceiling fan (which isn't all that bright to begin with). So I suppose my next step is to get a lamp or two (to reduce shadows, perhaps?).

I Can Haz Camera?