Mustering of the Kabal - Razorwing Base Complete!

Heya all, I just want to post the pic of the completed Razorwing base that I have been working on for the past few days from all the studying and work. In the end I went with Craftworld Ulthwee as my 'insult' piece and I decided to sculp more flames on the rear section of the Vyper. In the end I am quite happy with the results and now I can say that I did not take the easy way out with my Razorwing base whenever I field it.

New 40k Flyers - Some opinions too as well....

Heya, welcome back to the webway and today I just feel like posting some pics for the upcoming new models. The Necron and Ork Flyer looks amazing and damn I want to have those Ork Flyers for my Deathskull Orks!

The Marine Flyer on the other hand....Looks worse than the Stormraven, and I do not even know how that is even possible. But then GW always impressed me with some nonsensical stuff (like 2 wound FNP terminators for example).

Now I want my Voidraven!!!!!

Pics courtesy of Blood of Kittens Network.

Spicy Baron: Odd kung-fu tricks for the foreseeable future....

Heya and welcome back to the webway.


Today I just want to talk about the weird things I noticed with the odd style of deployment that could be incorporated into one of my rather odd idea that could work.

Just the other day when I was playing a 1750 pts game with my Dark Eldar against a Hybrid Deathwing-Dark Angels list using one of my more adorable testlists that I like to call the 'Cover Mania'.

The 1750 pts list consist of

Baron
1 Haemonculus with Liquifier gun
2 squads of 4 Blasterborn in Venoms with two splinter cannons
20 Hellions with Helliarch with Agoniser
5 Wracks with Liquifier Guns in Raider with flickerfield
3 squads of 5 Kabalite Warriors with 1 blaster in Raider with flickerfield
3 Ravagers with 3 Dark Lances and flickerfields

Since this is a fun game of sorts, I decided to try out a theory.

I reasoned that if I deploy them in a way that would allow everyone to get cover saves provided I had enough terrain/pseudo-terrain to get the hellions to get some cover saves, then I will not need to worry about an Alpha strike list or some mechspam-like lists. In the pic below, I managed to put that theory to the test and it worked.

In this picture, I managed to get my Hellions to get the cover saves they needed from the combination of hiding some of them in the terrain and also behind some of my vehicles while also covering my vehicles with their own massive profile. In return, due to the height of the hellions, I managed to get my vehicles cover saves as well. I managed to get the roll to start first here, but the formation is a one-purpose-fits-all deployment, as I am allowed to actually have enough numbers to soak up the shots if things goes badly for me (either due to them getting first turn or them seizing the initiative) and prevent the uncertainty of an all-reserve game which will feed my forces piece by piece.

This only gets better when my unit started to move.

This is a pic around my second turn. As you can see, some of my units turboboosted as they are unable to target stuff, and thus provided a much needed mobile cover for the hellions. At the same time, the rest of my forces are moving behind the wave, being protected by the hellions. As a result of the deployment of the hellions and also the facing of some of my things, I prevented some of the rhinos from getting cover saves. In this pic unfortunately the Ravagers are slower and thus their targets have to take cover saves, but at the same time, they could also be used to protect the rearguard as well.

My opponent unleashed quite a number of nasty whirlwind shots and also lots of high strength weapons at me, but my casualty in the second turn is just 6 hellions due to the cover saves that I can reap from all the turboboosting and Hellion-wall, while the hellions managed to get their cover raves from the various terrain and also buildings which allow me to get my much desired stealth cover saves.

In turn 3 the hellions dissappeared due to me being overconfident (Damn you Dark Angel scouts?!?!?! HOW YOU WIN COMBAT WITH ONE DEAD HELLION?!?!?!)  but the DA army is quite disoriented from the large amount of targets to kill. Unfortunately for the both of us, we are unable to finish our game and we are forced to stop at turn 4, but the game was very tight indeed as I still have the superior numbers while he is trying to get all the objectives (He managed to get two with one Deathwing squad and a 4 man Tac squad, with one of my warriors getting the other one) but I have enough dark lances and venoms to kill all of them.

This game actually made my 'Cover Mania' list very viable, and despite it being rather abusive it allows for an unseen durability in a Mech Dark Eldar list. In addition, it also provides a very formidable psychological profile as the horde of both vehicles and also the Hellions will force the opponents to struggle with what they want to kill. If they kill the Hellions, the other parts of the army will wreak havoc but if the vehicles are targetted the Hellions will do their nasty deed. If you put the Mathhammer and common sense into the picture you can see that you can't kill everything. Furthermore, iF this is done right, I could actually pop some vehicles and also allow the Hellions to multicharge everything they can reach including vehicles and allow for the protection of the hellions in CC with infantry units as they bust the rest of the mechanized armies apart.

Combined it with the speed of a Mech Dark Eldar army and you can see that the opponent will have very little time to react to the ensuing wave as they got two turns at best to counter everything they see. Combined this factors of durability, speed, Synergy and sensory overload, we could see that this is the strength of this army.

In a 2000 point army, I would put either a Razorwing or for anti-infantry problems or some Reavers for anti-infantry needs and/or also some other units that could further help in harassing the enemy. In essence, this list is meant to make a person have a real big headache, and preferably not me. So far my playtesting with lesser versions of the list is actually quite successful (with one of the lesser version of the list being reported right here) but this is the first time I actually tested the list upwards of 1500 points.

Of course the game would change pretty soon, but the tactics will not differ too much as cover saves for vehicles would still be there (unless we have 4th ed rules again or something happens to cover saves entirely now) and the formation would be a pioneer to hybrid lists. I have heard that some person by the name of Reecius on the internet is now trying a Dark Footdar list with Webway portals and Grots as portal bodyguards. Of course his list is somewhat on the other extreme of what I am planning (I am aiming for a hybrid lists with lots of disruption), but the fundamental ideas apply. Mech Dark Eldar will need to be downtoned a little and the pattern of GW's old ruleset changes of always nerfing whatever is the overwhelming craze for the game of that edition will definitely affect the Dark Eldar in ways we do not know.

I love my Archon and my Mech Dark Eldar, but if I am too attached to it I will not be able to expand as a player and thus I will need to step out of my comfort zones to further advance my skills. Besides, bringing something unexpected is always a good thing as people will be unfamiliar with the way to combat the list.  As of this moment of course, I am taking a sabbatical of sorts with real gaming but that does not mean that I am idle with my 40k theoretical thoughts. Besides this list is a result of a smaller sabbatical which allow me to see the game from an entirely different perspective (Amen Hallelujah Peanut Butter.....).

I will get another chance to test this out, either in 5th or 6th (?), and will see how this hybrid 'cover mania' list would evolve. See ya all later.

Mustering of the Kabal - Razorwing Base WIP

Heya all, just wanted to show a little of what I have spend a while doing during my sadly short breaks between assignments and studies. I am still not sure about the Biel-Tann wreck as I may change the scheme to something else.

My Razorwing base as it is is very barren and there is so much things I could have done to make it awesome. So with a Vyper that I somehow got in my bitz box, I went about making a downed Vyper.

I am aiming for a burning amber earth thing as it burns through the alien landscape which is flammable or something. In this regard I am successful.

However, the lighting for this flame is somewhat weird and will need some revision.

Realistic flames are always a joy to paint, as I do not need to use white in the mix.

Biel-Tann, Uthwee, or some other Craftworld? I am not sure.....more progress will come I guess.

Rumours, Rumours, Rumours.....Why I am not convinced by the chatter right now.

Heya all, and welcome back.

I have been a little out of the 40k scene for the past few weeks thanks to my university stuff and also Doctor Who (Love David Tennant as the 10th Doctor), but I do hear some murmurs and stuff from all the big bloggers and stuff about 6th edition and the codices that will follow with the 6th edition..

My reaction to the rumours is a very big 'MEH.....". From the reasonable rumours such as Chaos Marines having Cultists, to rumours that are just tripping on weed like Ultramarines being the Tau's babysitters, as it stands right now the rumours is too messed up to be taken seriously.

My opinion about the rumours is just a simple experience from my transition from 4th to 5th, and I will say that we will have four things;

1) Poor internet-netlisters will rage: Too bad Mech Guard, too bad Razorspam, they will be nerfed for obvious reasons. The Mech Eldar, SIGAFH, and Seer Council builds have been nerfed by the 5th edition rules during its initial inception. There are other builds of course, but these are on the top of my mind that are affected by the 5th edition transition phase from 4th edition to 5th edition.

2) Tricks will change: My transition from 4th to 5th taught me that stuff will change drastically enough that the game will change drastically. I remembered the time where a transport of almost any kind is a moving coffin, and with 5th it became all the rage. As a person who has played mechanized lists faithfully since 4th, I was lucky that my style of play became the rage, but also at the same time I am steering away from mechanized lists.

3) The fluff is just fluff: Some people rage when Draigo can kick Mortarion's ass, and Necrons now can weep. But then that saying, the story is there to entertain us not to be sold as a main commodity (if you want that go for Black Library or Fantasy Flight). The main appeal is the models and it will remain so.

That saying fluff can be twisted enough to let anything become the truth.

4) Be prepared to spend a lot more: Yeap, games could become bigger, or some units will be nerfed while others will be boosted. They want you to buy more stuff. Not to mention that GW loves to increase their prices.

With these in mind I am actually taking a happy break from 40k until I can see the real rules in my grubby hands, and while I am in my happy sabbatical I will buy more models to paint and model to allow myself the choice of having every option in the book (which means I will not be arsed to be severely affected by the nonsense that will be rule change. Not to mention that having a real-kabal would be bloody awesome.)

That and the Eldar codex.......the Eldar codex would be a cool addition to my Dark Eldar Kabal as mercenaries. I seriously want a Renegade Farseer in my Kabal's force (however unlikely the idea is in real fluff).

My one-year experience report with the Dark Eldar

Heya all, and welcome back to the webway.

I have been playing these guys for a year now, and I am now confident enough to talk about what works and what does not work for me as of this moment. The more I play with them the more I realized that my style is evolving to become a little more unusual. Thus I think it is best that I phrase the topic in the questions I asked myself in my mind.

Of course I do not need to say the obvious pros and cons of Dark Eldar as that is done to death throughout the internet and practical games. What I want to talk about are my thoughts to improve and cover some of the glaring weaknesses of my current gameplan.

1) How do I keep my tempo running?
 My current list is quite formidable if I were to face against balanced opponents, as my list has all the tools needed to dish out the pain. however, the more I play the more I noticed that my Dark Eldar tends to run out of steam around Turn 3, and I would need some way to push the tempo to at least Turn 4. But the solution for my army would be; a) I increase the firepower of the list to intensify the aggro-time of when I have the tempo or b) I lessen the tempo to have a more consistent and prolonged damage tempo.

So far, I prefer b) over a), and I will most likely throw in some tougher units that will be used to tie down elements that I am not fond of (Hydras, Psyriflemen) while the rest of my army does my magic. In addition, I am also looking at a one-two punch approach to my army, where I would be able to chain a combination or sequence that can take my opponent offguard. I am currently looking at the Beastmasters how they could help me with this approach without breaking the bank too much like those of the Hellionstar. I may even throw in a Grotesque unit in if they could work to my specification.

2)How do I kill gun platforms reliably?

My current approach needs some rearguard harassers that could enter in behind enemy lines and blast those pesky things apart. Scourges are becoming more and more attractive for me as they would fill this role admirably. They could help me against my Psyriflemen and Hydra problems. Reavers can be used to fill the role of a harasser, but I want something dead when I shoot at it, or at least have some effect on it.

I can also attempt to assault said boxes as well.

3)Is too much speed a bad thing?

As of this moment, my force is extremely mobile as befitting a Dark Eldar army, but sometimes I find that I overextend myself due to my need for speed. This could be rather nasty if my opponent downs enough of my stuff within the first few turns and causing my force to be sitting ducks. I will have to take the lessons from my slower armies to rein in upon my 'Reaver' tendencies, but otherwise I really enjoy the mobility and fluidity of the force.

4) Should I have more shooting, or more assaulting?

My current playstyle is primarily that of a shooting-Kabal force, with the main assault elements being two squads of wyches and an Archon to bear the close-combat punch. As of this moment, I find that I may need more assault elements into the army, but at the same time I want to maintain the shooting elements within my army as they are very effective (barring psyriflemen). I could use more wyches, but I want it to be less obvious when my entire force moves forward. Beastmasters are so far fitting into the theoretical role very well.

5) Should I have more or less guys?

So far, my army is evolving down the MSU route, but I do realize that I have a weakness with this approach. My most practical solution would be to pump up the Kabalites to full 10-men squads for objective grabbing, or I can take several Wrack squads to compensate for this department, as they have FNP.

6)Should I spend more on vehicle upgrades?

My answer here as of this moment is a rather shaky 'maybe'. Shock Prows and Torment Grenade Launchers could do wonders, and I have tested them out, but sometimes I like the very spartan approach of just slapping a flickerfield and be done with it. This would also solve the problem of those annoying blobs of infantry at times.


So my experience is telling me that my approach is slowly becoming a rather interesting mix of things that would allow my force to have more dimensions of engagement. The synergy of my army as of this moment is quite nice, but it does have its glaring weaknesses that I would need to change to allow for some ace up my sleeves. I would want to take mechanized and infantry blob lists by surprise while also allowing me to deal with hybrids as well.

The Other Games Store NOVA format Tournament 2k pts Dark Eldar

Vespera looked upon the vast expanse of the void, knowing that travelling back with almost a billion slaves in tow would be a perilous thing indeed. The void will always throw surprises at her without her even knowing. Perhaps it is the only thing that an Archon could never predict, for the slave trade have its share of slave liberations, slave piracy, or slave destruction. Everyone have something to gain from forced servitude, and Vespera will see to it that she will be the one who benefits from it all. Unfortunately for her, the bulk of slaves and the distance from the nearest Webway portal have forced her to travel much more slower. She have taken slaves on the magnitude of several million, but a billion? To make matters worse, she will have to allow the majority of her slaves to live long enough to be sold in the slave bazaars of Commoragh, and that means making pit stops throughout her route to gather supplies for her slaves to feed upon.

Without the certainty that she usually possess, she is forced to take things in strides.....

Heya all, I will be reporting soon about a tournament I entered the other day and suffice to say, it will be a big epic battle report with several battles.

The tournament rules for this tournament is the renowned NOVA format, a format only found in the US and I will be playing against a certain amount of opponents in games that incorporate three objectives within each round; kill points, objectives, and table quarters. The way the format goes is that, each round there will be a main objective, followed by secondary objectives and tertiary objectives as tiebreakers. The objectives will be rotated every round, it is encouraged to get as much of the objectives as possible in addition to the main objective. 

Here is the list that I have taken to the tournament

Archon with Agoniser, combat drugs, shadowfield, and haywire grenade
2 haemonculi with liquifier guns
3 squads of 3 Trueborns with blasters in Venom with two splinter cannons
1 squad of 7 wyches with haywire grenades and a hekatrix upgrade armed with an agoniser in a Raider with shock prow, torment grenade launcher and flickerfield
1 squad of 8 wyches with haywire grenades and a hekatrix upgrade armed with an agoniser in a Raider with shock prow and flickerfield
2 squads of 5 warriors with a blaster in a Venom with two splinter cannons
2 squad of 5 warriors with a blaster in a Raider with flickerfield
2 ravagers with 3 dark lances and flickerfield
1 Razorwing with two dark lancers, splinter cannon, 4 monoscythe missiles and flickerfield

I will warn you guys that my battle reports this time round is not as detailed as always as I am forced to keep myself to a 2 hour time limit and thus am unable to take enough pictures to describe the whole situation and only chose the pieces that are pivotal in the game. Funnily enough, in these battles I have a recurring circumstance that I am always getting hounded by all the armies that I have faced (both literally and metaphorically).