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?

Steel Dragons

As previously mentioned, the Steel Dragons chapter is one that could be represented by Codex: Space Marines or Codex: Space Wolves. They each have their points going for them. Codex: Space Wolves covers a lot of things I'd like for the chapter: a Dreadnought HQ choice, cheap and versatile Devastator variants, Venerable Dreadnoughts in Elite, and Drop Pods all around.

Great, right?

They also have weird choices for troops where I'd prefer more standard Tactical Squads or Sniper Scouts. There's also the issue of Acute Senses and Counter Attack and many other extra bonuses that don't fit into my idea for the chapter. All in all, Codex: Space Wolves is a very characterful codex. . . . Too much of the wrong kind of character for this chapter. So we go with 'Nilla Marines.

After giving C:SM another more thorough look-through, I've come up with these choices as the most fitting for the army:

HQ:
Master of the Forge

Elite:
The 3 Dreadnought variants
Techmarines
Sternguard

Troops:
Scouts
Tactical Marines

Fast Attack:
Land Speeders

Heavy Support:
Devastators
Thunderfire Cannons
Predators
Whirlwinds
The 3 Dreadnought variants (if using MotF)

As you can see, I'm waffling a bit on the "no vehicles" concept. I've been moving closer to a "no transport" concept recently. The Steel Dragons pick their ground to stand on and stand fast.

I'd want to add some new units to add flavor to the army. In the HQ section I'd add the Imperator Dreadnought, Chapter Master of the Steel Dragons. It would be similar to the Space Wolves' Dreadnought HQ Bjorn the Fell Handed except some changes to make it more shooty. I'd also open up Devastators as Troop choices and give them Blood Angels pricing for heavy weapons.

Next, I'd add a new Heavy Support choice to replace Devastators moving to Troops. It would effectively be a Devastator Veteran Squad (Dragonguard Veteran Squad is my working title). Price them at 25 points a model and standard SM wargear and stat line. Increase BS to 5 and Ld to 9 (while keeping Attacks at 1--Sgt still gets 2). But give them all Relentless and the option for any model to replace their Boltgun as you can for Devastator squads at regular C:SM prices. So we'll put the base cost at 135 (the extra 10 is for the Sgt's extra attack) and just like any Vet Squad you can take another 5 up to a total of 10. Yes, that's a lot of mobile, accurate, and heavy-duty firepower, but at 40-60 points per heavy weapon it's also expensive. Maybe a little too expensive. Maybe.

But enough fandexing. I'll go work on some background fluff for the chapter.

No One Expects the Shiny Silver Inquisition!

Inspired by some trash talk at work, I've decided to start a blog covering my Warhammer 40,000 experience. I mostly have Sam to blame for this. I'm still relatively new to the game with only a half-dozen or so games under my belt. I have several armies in the works: Grey Knights, Sisters of Battle, some Inquisition elements for both, Blood Angels, and a custom Space Marines chapter.

My Grey Knights are what I've spent the most time and effort into painting. High cost-per-model means that painting up a full army is faster! Once I procure a camera, I will put up images. I'll mostly be running lists with 2 Land Raiders, a Dreadnought, 2-4 squads of Power Armor Grey Knights for troops, and a Grand Master with retinue as my HQ. Depending on the point-value of games I may add a couple squads of Grey Knight Terminators. I'm looking forward to the Grey Knights refresh rumored to be coming up early next year.

I actually started playing 40k collecting Sisters of Battle as my first army. It's a personalized order known as the Order of the Obsidian Rose. They have black power armor with deep purple robes. I'm still working on a winning strategy for them (it definitely involves a couple Exorcists!). I've got 4 ten-strong squads of Battle Sisters, a squad of Celestians, a squad of Dominions, and more Seraphim Sisters than I know what to do with (I love the Seraphim Sisters). I've also got plenty of Rhinos (every one with Forge World Sisters doors) and Immolators to move my Sisters around.

More recently, I decided to start an army of Blood Angels (my first attempt was with the Blood Sisters!). I haven't picked up too much for them beyond a captain, Sanguinary Priests, some Death Company models to use for Assault Marines. The plan is to run the army entirely by Jump Pack with some Tanks for fire support. I'm sure I'll get at least one Storm Raven once Games Workshop releases it. I grabbed a box of Sanguinary Guard (SG) for bits to customize my captain and Sanguinary Priests. I put together my Captain using the SG jump pack, legs, and arms. I used the regular captain torso with cape and took the banner off its backpack and glued it to the top of the SG Jump Pack. I've equipped him with a Power Fist and Infernus Pistol.

Finally, my custom Space Marine chapter is the Steel Dragons. The color scheme is predominately Boltgun Metal with Dwarf Bronze on their gauntlets, helmets, and and some other trim. Regal Blue is used on Backpacks and some trim as well. I'm still undecided on which codex to run them under. Ideally I'd run them as a regular Codex: Space Marines chapter, but with the theme I want to use, Space Wolves sound quite tempting. Here's the concept: the chapter has very little in the way of vehicles but have plenty of Dreadnoughts. They also have more Devastator Squads than usual. The primary tactic would be long range shooting; Assault Marines are rare in the chapter. Drop Pods would be the primary technique to deliver troops. More on them later.

On occasion I'll be posting the viewpoint of Lord-Inquisitor Gabriel Ashe of the Ordo Malleus. This will be mostly for battle reports or when I decide to write some fluff for my armies. Expect to hear from him in the coming weeks before my Grey Knights' first battle! Those traitor marines posing as White Scars are going to get a fight. . . .