WarpCon 2012

Long time no post. Will have the Moo4 and Gaelcon reports up soon but first I will be dealing with what I am bringing to WarpCon 2012.

So with WarpCon around the corner I have begun to build a Hybrid BA list which consists of Jumpers + Preds for those not in the loop of the Ol' 40K Lingo.

The list I am going to be bringing is as follows:

Librarian w/ Jump Pack, Unleash Rage, Shield [125]
Sanguinary Priest w/ Jump Pack, Power Weapon [90]
Sanguinary Priest w/ Jump Pack [75]
Sanguinary Guard w/ Chapter Banner, 2 Infernus Pistols, Power Fist [260]
10 Assault Marines w/ 2 Meltaguns, Power Fist [235]
10 Assault Marines w/ 2 Meltaguns, Power Fist [235]
5 Assault Marines w/ Meltagun [110]
Baal Predator w/ Twin-Linked Assault Cannons, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Dozer Blade [150]
Baal Predator w/ Twin-Linked Assault Cannons, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Dozer Blade [150]
Baal Predator w/ Twin-Linked Assault Cannons, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Dozer Blade [150]
Predator w/ Lascannon Sponsons [135]
Predator w/ Lascannon Sponsons [135]

So this list. It's A LOT more different to my usual "50-50" Ravens that I am so famous for playing :P . It requires much more thought as to what the units can and will do and the need to know where those units will end up in the next few turns. It's a big change for me as I'm so used to forcing the Ravens down my opponents throat and hoping for the best.

So far the list has suffered a Loss against Infantry Guard (No idea how to play against the list), Draw against Grey Knights, Win against Grey Knights and a Loss to Vanilla Marines. Mistakes were made and lessons learned throughout these games though which has really helped shape the list and myself into what it is now.

Now to the units and they're functions/performance.

First up the Sanguinary Guard. At first I was skeptical about using these guys as I knew from my 2 years BA laying experience that they were a fragile CC unit and one which requires Precision movements and assaults. For me they act as a clean up unit and tend to go after a unit which was previously assaulted by a block of Assault Marines. They are also great for taking out other small elite units like Grey Knights for example. I put the Power Weapon equipped priest with them so that when they charge and thanks to the banner they have 16 Master Crafter Power Weapon attacks at Strength 5 and Initiative 5 and another 5 Power Weapon attacks from the priest at Strength 5, Initiative 5 and Weapon Skill 5.  If that Isn't enough to eliminate their target their is a Power Fist with 4 attacks waiting to swing. This unit can also kill every vehicle in the game as they are equipped with Infernus Pistols : Str 8 AP1, Melta Range 6" Pistols. They are one of my favourite units in the list and really help my deal with Terminators as they statistically kill 3-4 Storm Shield equipped Terminators or 5-6 Regular Terminators.

Now to the Assault Marines. These 25 guys are the core of the army. One squad of 10 will almost always contain the Librarian and the Sanguinary Priest with no Power weapon. The two 10 man squads are typically the units which are the backbone of my assaults and will almost always be advancing up behind or near the Baal predators. The Librarians Unleash Rage combined with Furious Charge from the Priest makes a 10 man Assault Squad hit like a ton of bricks and at a higher Initiative step than most enemies in the game (I5). They are also very survivable with a 3+ Armour save followed by a 4++ Feel no Pain from the priest and a 5++ cover save from the Librarian if needed. The 5 man squad of Assault Marines will typically be the suicide squad that tries to take out a critical unit like a Land Raider or else they are my backyard objective holders that hide behind the Auto-Las Predators.

The Baal Predators. My absolute favourite unit of the army (this is without my own personal love for Jump Marines). They are an absolutely astounding unit in my eyes. With "Fast" and the "Scout" Universal Special Rules they are easily able to get great side armour shots on enemy armour if need. They are also pretty reliable at taking out armour as they are all fitted out with Twin-Linked Assault Cannons spitting out 4 strength 6 Rending shots each. This is along with th 6 Heavy bolter shots at strength 5 that they are alos putting out. These tanks are also capable of outflanking which can be great for hitting side armour of vehicles like the Imperial Guard Chimera or even the Manticore. The Baals are also kitted out with dozer blades so they are typically very reliable at crossing terrain without getting immobilized. Even when the Baals are missing their main guns as they have a very powerful ram attack that Ivan Sheehan wasn't very fond of at the weekend when I was playing his Grey Knights with 2 Baals wrecking a Psyfleman Dread and blowing an arm off of a second dread.

Onto the Auto-Las Predators. These are a fantastic tank for annihilating other Armour. At 135 points they are a cheap buy as they also come with "Fast" as standard allowing them to move 6" and still fire all of their guns to full effect unlike the equivalent Wolves/Templars/Vanilla Marines predators which have to stay stationary to fire all of their weaponry. These predators are typically at the back of the board firing away at the enemy while protecting an objective at the same time. And as they are always moving 6" at the very least makes them that bit harder to hit in Close Combat.

So, that ends my breakdown of my list for WarpCon 2012. Thoughts?

TownCon

So, back a week now from TownCon and thoroughly enjoyed myself. My jumper, not so much. Anyway I ended up taking my Twin-Raven list to TownCon and finished 10th out of 34 which i was pretty happy with, besides finishing 1 place behind skibb-bunny and fellow BA player Caolan, following on from BroCon where I also finished 1 place behind him. I'm determined to take his Best Blood Angels General from him.

So ended up with a total of I believe 78 points, 1 behind Caolan. Finished with 3 Wins, 1 Draw, 1 Loss.

Was quite happy with how it performed, even if the Terminators weren't great (again). That 1 Loss was once again a Grey Knight army this time Piloted by Ralph Risk and not the usual Floody. Ralph was also running Dual-Raven but unlike me had the Fire support to blow my Ravens out of the sky.

The draw was to David "Jiggy" McHugh and his Horde Orks with a Kan wall. Was a brilliant and bloody game which is the type I always look forward to in Tournaments.

The Wins were against 2 Skibb-Bunnies - Cian and Tadghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghgh "F" and also against Robert Brennan and his Guard.

I would have been better off taking the DoA list as it is more suited to the 2 mission games than the "Boost and hope for the best" Ravens.

Overall was quite happy and got 72 Rankings Points out of it so wasn't too bad.

DoA Mk. II Play Testing

Right, so i have been practicing away with my DoA list with every chance I can get now, between learning to place Devastators properly, getting a good spread of FnP and learning what units of mine can take others.

My list is:

Mephiston
Honour Guard w/ Jump Packs, 4 Plasma Guns
2 Sanguinary Priests w/ 1 Jump Pack
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
5 Man Scout Squad w/ Camo Cloaks, Sniper Rifles
5 Man Vanguard Squad w/ 2 Melta Bombs, Power Weapon, Power Fist
5 Man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers
5 Man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers
5 Man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers

So far I have played three games which have resulted in 3 Wins. Admittedly these had a primary objective of Kill Points but these were randomly rolled for, two of which were Conspiracy (TOWNCON!) missions.

First game was against Hugh "Black Templars!!!!" Murphy who's list was:

Emperors Champion, Suffer not the Witch (I think)
5 Terminators w/ Tank Hunters, 2 Cyclone Launchers, 2 Chainfists

5 Terminators w/ Tank Hunters, 2 Cyclone Launchers, 2 Chainfists

5 Initiates w/ Lascannon, Plasma Gun

5 Initiates w/ Lascannon, Plasma Gun

5 Initiates w/ Plasma Cannon, Plasma Gun

Predator w/ Lascannon Sponsons, Smokes, Extra Armour

Predator w/ Lascannon Sponsons, Smokes

2 Land Speeders w/ Typhoons

2 Land Speeders w/ Typhoons

3 Land Speeders w/ Typhoons, 2 Multi-Melta's

Ended up 8-7 to me in Kill Points and a 15-5

Next up was Ivan Sheehan and his "Grey Guard". We played 2 games, one today and one last week. 

His list is: 

Inquisitor w/ Rad Grenades, Hammer Hand

Inquisitor w/ Rad Grenades, Hammer Hand

5 Purifiers w/ 2 Psycannons, Demon Hammer, Razorback, Psybolts, Dozer Blade

5 Purifiers w/ 2 Psycannons, Demon Hammer, Razorback, Psybolts, Dozer Blade

Vindicare Assassin

5 Grey Knights w/ Psycannon, Razorback, Psybolts, Dozer Blade

5 Grey Knights w/ Psycannon, Razorback, Psybolts, Dozer Blade

5 Grey Knights w/ Psycannon, Razorback, Psybolts, Dozer Blade

5 Grey Knights w/ Psycannon, Razorback, Psybolts, Dozer Blade

Dreadnought w/ 2 x Auto Cannons, Psybolts

Dreadnought w/ 2 x Auto Cannons, Psybolts

Dreadnought w/ 2 x Auto Cannons, Psybolts

So the first game we played was Spearhead, Annihilation, Capture and Control. I won Primary and drew on secondary, no difference in VP's. 14-6  Win to me.

The second game we played was Dawn of War, Annihilation, Seize Ground ( 3 Objectives with set placement). I won Primary, lost secondary, no difference in VP's. 12-8 Win to me.

So that's 3 for 3 so far. Going well.

DoA-Ish Mk. II

So at Warpcon 2011 I brought a full DoA list which turned out to have too many bodies and not enough hitting power in combat or any ability at all to challenge terminators.

The list I brought to the best of my memory was this:

Librarian w/ Jump Pack
Librarian w/ Jump Pack
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Thunder Hammer, 2 Meltaguns
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Thunder Hammer, 2 Meltaguns
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Thunder Hammer, 2 Meltaguns
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
5 Man Vanguard Squad w/ Jump Packs, 4 Storm Shields, 2 Lightning Claws, Power Fist
2 Sanguinary Priests w/ Jump Packs, Combi-Melta's

I know this list is short in points but it's the best i can remember from it. It got 2 Wins and 3 Losses, so not the best.

So after Warpcon I decided to try out Ravens as they had just been released and have since been playing a double raven list as is detailed in my first post. And now a few weeks ago I was chatting to some of the lads in an attempt to get me back playing DoA, except this time with fire support and an anti-terminator squad.

The original list was this (as much as i can remember)

Librarian w/ Jump Pack
Librarian w/ Jump Pack
Honour Guard w/ Jump Packs, 4 Plasma Guns
2 Sanguinary Priests w/ 1 Jump Pack
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
5 Man Vanguard w/ 4 Meltabombs, Power Weapon
5 Man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers
5 Man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers

I then went about testing this list out after playing a few games with the above:

Librarian w/ Jump Pack
Librarian w/ Jump Pack
Honour Guard w/ Jump Packs, 3 Plasma Guns
2 Sanguinary Priests w/ 1 Jump Pack
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
5 Man Assault Squad w/ Meltagun
5 Man Vanguard w/ Jump Packs, 4 Meltabombs, Power Fist
5 Man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers
5 Man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers
5 Man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers

What I then discovered after playing this list against a friend of mine running Possessed of all things in his chaos list (which tabled the above list) that it had no combat punch. At all. The marines are fine against anything non-MEQ but when they do come up against MEQ or any half decent combat unit I.e Purifiers, Grey Hunters, then they just simply fall down. With this (as well as chatting to Merv from Touched by Greatness) I decided to put my favourite unit into the list as I now tend to deploy everything on the board is.......... Mephiston!

So now the list is:

Mephiston
Honour Guard w/ Jump Packs, 4 Plasma Guns
2 Sanguinary Priests w/ 1 Jump Pack
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
5 Man Scout Squad w/ Camo Cloaks, Sniper Rifles
5 Man Vanguard Squad w/ 2 Melta Bombs, Power Weapon, Power Fist
5 Man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers
5 Man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers
5 Man Devastator Squad w/ 4 Missile Launchers

So with Mephiston in I now have a unit that can take on other combat units as well as some more CC potential from the Vanguard. The scouts (my 2nd favourite unit in the 'Dex) will tend to hug cover with 2++ saves as wellas popping off the odd Missile Launcher shot. The Priest will also go here to try and best provide FnP to the Devs.

Thoughts?

40K Tournament Season 2011 List.

Hello all,

My first post on this here blog is to do with my current Blood Angel tournament list that I have been using to pretty good success at the 2011 Tournament season in Ireland.

The list is as follows:

Blood Angels 1750

Mephiston
5 Assault Terminators w/ 5 Thunder Hammers + Storm Shields
Furioso Dreadnought w/ Extra Armour, Blood Talons
Furioso Dreadnought w/ Extra Armour, Blood Talons
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
10 Man Assault Squad w/ Power Fist, 2 Meltaguns
5 Man Scout Squad w/ 5 Sniper Rifles, Camo Camo Cloaks, Melta Bomb
Storm Raven Gunship w/ Twin Linked Assault Cannons, Twin Linked Multi-Melta, Extra Armour
Storm Raven Gunship w/ Twin Linked Assault Cannons, Twin Linked Multi-Melta, Extra Armour

As I said above this list had a pretty good success rate which out of 3 Tournaments that I brought it to it has:

9 Wins
3 Losses
1 Draw

Those 3 Losses were to:

Richard Flood of the Warheads, Grey Knights
Richard Flood of the Warheads, Grey Knights
Richard Flood of the Warheads, Grey Knights

So as you can see there is a bit of a trend as to who I've lost to in Tournaments.

The list itself is hard hitting with units like Mephiston, Assault Terminators and the 2 Furioso's are all capable of killing other Elite units and/or Vehicles.

The list has been constantly criticized about the lack of scoring but from my experiences I have found that 25 scoring troops, of which 5 can have 2++ cover saves and all 25 of them can have Fearless that they can be reliable in taking and holding an objective.

Thanks for reading all and any comments/criticism is welcome!