tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61875868018879226722024-03-14T03:48:47.873-07:00Talons Alight - Warhammer 40k Ravenwing Tournament ChroniclesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-73092642010743199262017-01-31T11:31:00.002-08:002017-01-31T11:31:59.433-08:00The Problems with Balancing 40K<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Problems with Balancing 40K</span></div>
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I consider game design a hobby of mine, and 40k and how it works is one of my favorite points of discussions. I don’t seem alone in that regard, because I see discussions and theories of how to “fix” 40k very often online. Rather than offer my own thoughts on balancing it (which I have done in pieces before) I want to talk about why 40k is so difficult to balance and why the community is the least qualified group of people to do it.<br /><br />First, let’s talk about balancing techniques. Speaking broadly, there’s two ways to balance a game: incrementally and in bulk. Incremental balancing is releasing relatively frequent patches or FAQs to change the game, which you see in online games like League of Legends or in the FAQs for the X Wing Miniatures game. Bulk balancing is releasing large, infrequent updates at once like in Warhammer or Warmachine. From a pure balance perspective, incremental balancing is superior. It allows for smaller tweaks that (hopefully) won’t massively upset game balance. Unfortunately, frequent updates like this require a large amount of data to work with, and put more strain on the players to adapt to their strategies. Online games can store data from every single game being played all the time, while X Wing has an official competitive circuit to receive data from, Warhammer lacks both of these. Also, imagine if Warhammer updated every week, with small changes to statlines for units that are too predominant or weak. As a player it would be both frustrating and expensive to need to change out your models or buy new ones every few weeks based on changes. X Wing already has a problem with this, where significant changes may be made to cards with the FAQs, but players with the older printed cards won't necessarily know about these updates. 40k games are too long, the hobby is too expensive, and there isn’t enough reliable data for incremental buffs to be a good way to balance the game.<br /><br />The problems with bulk balancing are the ones you see already, even if you hadn’t noticed. In 4th edition 40k melee was very powerful. In 5th edition it was nerfed a bit, but alpha strikes became incredibly powerful. 6th and 7th over compensated, making both alpha strikes and melee very weak, and we’ve been in that state of the game for a few years (as we were with 4th and 5th as well). For people who are willing to look deeper, GW actually has a pretty good track record for trying to compensate for overpowered/underpowered strategies, they are mostly hamstrung by the necessity of bulk balancing for their games. In addition to the exampls above, Space Marines lacked a way to deal with monstrous creatures while Tau couldn’t handle death stars. The solutions were grav weapons and the Hunter Contingent, which both accomplished their goal, although grav did so too well.<br /><br />The last problem with balancing 40k is that leaving it up to the players is almost always a terrible idea. Games like League of Legends and X Wing balance around top-tier play while 40k, lacking an official competitive circuit, doesn’t really have the data to see what the top players are using except through independent tournament results. If you’re asking why balancing around what all players want rather than the top-end is bad, the answer is that it punishes low-skill cap, armies much harder, while leaving incredibly powerful but hard to master armies untouched. For example, in reddit discussions you very often see complaints about Tau being wildly overpowered, but Daemons are almost never even mentioned as a top army. This is because Tau are fantastic at sweeping low-to-average skill players, while daemons are difficult to master, but Daemons almost always out-perform Tau in competitive events. Nerfing Tau based on the wishes of lower-skill players would only hurt the diversity of competitive events, while probably not changing much on the bottom-end anyways.<br /><br />To elucidate with a real-life example: I went to an event awhile ago where the TO arbitrarily banned all formations, superheavies, and gargantuan creatures. He was then very confused about the number of daemon and tau players at the event. When I told him he had buffed both of those armies, he said he had only removed things, and I had to explain to him that removing things that countered both of those armies made them much stronger. Stomps meant there were few ways to deal with daemons’ rerollable 2+ invulnerable, while tau don’t lose much from lack of formations.<br /><br />I hope this article gives you some thoughts on why balancing the game isn’t as easy as it sounds, and why most players aren’t qualified to be doing so. As always, you know I advocate casual play as centering around fun for both players, so don’t let the competitive meta dictate what you play with, but consider the ramifications before you arbitrarily change the rules of the game.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-23553389642457681212017-01-26T08:54:00.001-08:002017-01-26T08:54:29.617-08:00Advice for New Tournament Players<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Advice for New Tournament Players</span></div>
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<i>New to the 40k tournament scene? Here's some of the basics</i></div>
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First, an apology. Life has gotten quite busy and it's been over a week since my last post. I will try to get one article out a week, but the time of 2-3 a week is definitely over for the foreseeable future. Luckily, tournaments are picking up again and I can do tournament reports in addition to my normal articles. My first one will be this weekend and I've gone back to my old staple of White Scars and Ravenwing. Anyways, if you're looking to get into competitive 40k for the new year, or on the fence and not sure what to expect, here's an introduction.</div>
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<b>Player attitudes are no worse, usually better</b></div>
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This is a common misconception in my area, and I've addressed it a few times here in the blog, but I want it to be clear for new people entering the competitive 40k scene. Most of the worst "competitive" players are just really bad players. They'll be jerks in both tournament and casual games. Otherwise, tournament players tend to be a good group. I've made as many friends from tournaments as I have at my local club, and many of them are more than happy to talk to a new player. If you're looking to improve, ask the guys you play against what they thought of how you played, mistakes you made, and where you can improve. You'll be very surprised with how many of them have good advice to offer.</div>
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<b>You don't need a "top-tier" list</b></div>
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Here's another common misconception, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's perpetuated by the same jerks mentioned above. You don't need to show up with the list that won LVO last year to do well. I've said before that what makes a lot of those lists top-tier is their lack of both good and bad match ups. They are almost completely player-skill dependent, and as a new player you don't want that. Bring a list that has clear win conditions and has units you're comfortable with. You will almost definitely have to make some concessions and drop units/equipment you like to make the list better, but you don't need to drop everything and grab whatever the most meta list is at the moment for a chance of performing well.</div>
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<b>Understand the missions and format</b></div>
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I'm consistently amazed by the number of people who show up to tournaments with no idea how the missions work. It's impossible to make a good list for a format without understanding the format, and it's pretty difficult to win a mission when you don't know what the goals are. Before you make your list, sit down and read the missions and format, and check if there's any FAQ parts relevant to you. You don't need to memorize the entire ITC FAQ, but you don't want to be caught with your pants down when you find out electrodisplacement stops you from charging, or some similar problem.</div>
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<b>Have fun</b></div>
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It feels pretty cliche to mention this, but I think some people forget our hobby is for fun. Whether you're going there to try to win the whole thing, or hoping to make some new friends, competitive play doesn't necessarily preclude having fun, and you will have a much better time if you keep a positive attitude and don't take it too seriously.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-43623350791114180302017-01-15T09:17:00.000-08:002017-01-15T09:17:25.997-08:00The Thought Process Behind "Casual Tactics" is Fundamentally Flawed<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Thought Process Behind "Casual Tactics" is Fundamentally Flawed</span></div>
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<i>This is a topic I’ve skirted around a few times before and I’d like to directly address it. More than most of my articles, I encourage discussion and questions about this.</i></div>
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I’ve received a few requests to cover “casual tactics” on my blog. This vague, and to me contradictory, request has come up enough that I want to address it and explain why it’s both unnecessary and conflicting with my philosophy about the game.<br />
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The best way to tackle this is to unpack what people might be asking for when they request “casual tactics”. I’m yet to have anyone be able to qualify that or explain it well, so I’m going to address a few different meanings that request may have. Before we go on, anyone reading this should understand my philosophy about casual vs. competitive play. Casual games are ones where the primary goal is for BOTH players to have fun. Competitive games are ones where the primary goal is to win. Those goals aren’t mutually exclusive, and there are plenty of other goals you can have such as improving as a player.. The terms “casual” and “competitive” get thrown around without qualification a bit too much in this community, so I want to apply a hard-and-fast test you can apply to any game. If the game is at an event where the goal of each player is to win, such as a tournament, or if the game is practice for such an event, it is competitive. Anything else is casual, because in anything besides that the goal of both players should be to have fun. The lack of definition is probably why so many people give me this vague request without elaborating. Hopefully that already sheds some light on why I don’t think “casual tactics” are necessary.<br />
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The first and most obvious meaning for “casual tactics” is people might be asking me to discuss tactics for units that aren’t very popular. I more or less already do that, as I am of the opinion that being a good player and knowing your army means far more than the relative strength of your list. My entire Deathwing tactics series covers units that aren’t popular in the current competitive meta, while I often give the benefit of the doubt to units that are mostly seen as bad, such as the Dark Talon.. For those units I do say are really bad, if you want to run them anyways do it. The units that I think are terrible are often ones without a purpose, with rules and weapons that don’t mesh or are even contradictory. I can’t and don’t want to tell you how to play your fluffy units and games, but I’ll tell you how “less than top-tier” units can be used, which I think qualifies as “casual”.<br />
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The next definition might be people asking for general tactics, ones that apply to any army, in any game. I’ve already explained before, there are very few “general” tactics in 40k. If anything, I’m often afraid writing “general” tactics are more damaging than helpful. I’ve seen too many players play their army exactly the same way, every mission, every game. Roll the same psychic power tables, same warlord trait tables, same deployment. There is no better way to shoot yourself in the foot, and lack of flexibility in either a player or a list is the biggest weakness you can have in 40k. While there are “general tips” some people could use, such as spreading troops out to avoid blast templates and how to position your models to keep opponents away from an objective, these are usually things that can be learned in-game, especially by asking someone after a game if they noticed things like that. I feel like the potential benefit of “general” tactics is too small to the potential harm of people rotely playing my advice and failing miserably due to lack of ability to adapt. Being more adaptable is almost always the first piece of advice I have for players struggling to win games, and the best way to learn the game is to just play it.<br />
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Finally, some people might just be turned off by the fact I always say my advice is for competitive play. To me this is a bit silly, because unit tactics and list analysis can be applied to both casual and competitive games. The only thing that differentiates a casual and competitive game is your mindset. You can still play the game well and use your units to the fullest in a casual game, as long as you do so in a way that doesn’t impede your opponent’s ability to have fun. I even go out of my way to specify that most of my tactics apply to casual games, so I hope this last definition is the least common.<br />
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Big wall of text there guys. Sorry, but this was something I wanted to explain and be able to point to it when I get these requests. If you guys want to discuss this, or have questions or complaints about this, please speak up, this isn’t a topic I want to have to address frequently. If you have a request for casual tactics, feel free to ask me what you’re specifically looking for, and we’ll figure out how I can best cover it, or if it needs to be covered.<br />
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<i>The new year is starting up, and I don’t have anything lined up for articles. If you have a request, please let me know. I’m still open to doing list reviews on the blog, or feel free to PM me if you’d like review in private.</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-42836918163150536092017-01-12T08:21:00.000-08:002017-01-12T08:21:10.110-08:00Greenwing Tactics Part 3: Formations<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Greenwing Tactics Part 3: Formations</span></div>
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<i>I’ve decided to skip vehicles and go right to the formations below. I couldn’t really find enough to talk about other than a generally tactica for the vehicles, as Dark Angels don’t really bring much when it comes to tanks.</i></div>
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<b>The Lion’s Blade Detachment</b><br />Our Decurion/Gladius. It’s a bit different from the normal Space Marines one, trading doctrines for full BS overwatch, which means giving up better offense for better defense. That lack of flexibility means that if you’re going to bring this to a tournament, you better take a full battle company for the free transports. There really isn’t much of a purpose to this detachment without the free transports, but it works perfectly well with them, and the Lion’s Blade is a powerful detachment for those looking to take the Greenwing to a tournament.<br /><br /><b>Battle Demi Company</b><br />Like the normal Space Marines, we give everyone objective secured, but we give up their extra doctrine for better overwatch. Unfortunately, this is completely replaced by the benefits of the Lion’s Blade, and this formation alone is a bit inflexible due to lack of fast attack options. It’s still a good formation, but it’s completely overshadowed by the benefits of taking two of them.<br />I left dreadnoughts out of the elites section so I’ll add a quick mention here. Like regular marine dreadnoughts, they’re in a bad place thanks to the bad state of walkers. However, with obsec and a free drop pod, they get a bit better. I’d give them an assault cannon to make use of that extra BS overwatch and drop them on a backline objective.<br /><br /><b>Deathwing Redemption Force</b><br />It’s bad, even worse here because of how expensive it is. See my <a href="http://talonsalight.blogspot.com/2016/12/deathwing-tactics-part-1-rules-and.html">Deathwing Tactics</a> for details.<br /><br /><b>Ravenwing Attack, Support, and Silence Squadrons</b><br />If you need a little extra kick, the attack squadron isn’t bad, probably the second best auxiliary option for the Lion’s Blade. For further analysis of these three, see my <a href="http://talonsalight.blogspot.com/2016/07/ravenwing-army-breakdown-part-4.html">Ravenwing Tactics</a>.<br /><br /><b>The Hammer of Caliban</b><br />I really hope I’m not the only one who read this and asked “What were they thinking?” This formation is incredibly restrictive and forces you to squad a land raider with a unit of other vehicles, and take a techmarine. I guess a little extra BS and Monster/Tank Hunters is nice, but there is no situation where I’d ever want my land raider squadded with any of those vehicles. Land raiders are transport vehicles, and two of the other options have 48” range on their main guns. The last one is a vindicator which needs to move slowly, in addition to being significantly worse than the other two options. The weirdest thing about this formation to me is that Dark Angels aren’t known for doing any strange/special things with their vehicles, so something like the Space Marines Armored Company or even just “take a squad of one or two vehicles” would have been both better and made more sense fluff-wise. Short story, never take this. It isn’t even fluffy.<br /><br /><b>10th Company Support</b><br />This auxiliary option is probably the single best choice between both the Lion’s Blade and the Gladius (I’d say best of any marine decurion, but stupid Fists had to go and get Thunderfire Cannons as an aux). It’s dirt cheap, gives the scouts a pretty useful benefit (BS4 Overwatch) and lets you complete a Lion’s Blade easily. Unless you’re taking a Ravenwing Attack Squadron, take this. It gives you plenty of other points to play with for other units while letting you take a Lion’s Blade for a powerful base of obsec, difficult to charge units.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>That wraps it up for Greenwing Tactics. Hope you guys enjoyed it, and thanks to /u/Redbaron67 for requesting it.</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-78394392661159738112017-01-08T08:30:00.002-08:002017-01-08T08:30:20.855-08:00Greenwing Tactics Part 2: Elite and HQ<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Greenwing Tactics Part 2: Elite and HQ</span></div>
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<i>Part two of the greenwing tactics as requested by /u/Redbaron67. This is where the Dark Angels set themselves apart from other chapters.</i></div>
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<b>Company Veterans Squad</b><br />The first unique Dark Angels unit doesn’t make the Greenwing look very good. For 4 points more than regular marines you get a squad of 5-10 with veteran statlines and the option for every model to take a shield, ranged weapon, or melee weapon. Additionally they can always take a heavy weapon and can take one special weapon for every five models. I normally don’t go into that much detail about what options a unit has, but I feel like I need to in this case because these guys are so bad and so rarely seen. With just a marine statline you don’t want to be kitting them out with too much equipment and they aren’t required in any formation, just an option for the demi-company. If you really want to max out your MSU and take them as part of a demi-company, give them all combi-meltas and a drop pod and have a decent chance to roast a tank turn 1 with a unit that’s slightly cheaper than sternguard veterans but a bit less accurate.<br /><br /><div>
<b>Dark Angels Command Squad</b><br />Pretty much the better version of Company Veterans, the Greenwing command squad can take every single melee, ranged, and special weapon available to us, as well as storm shields, an apothecary, standard bearer, and a company champion. Like the Company Veterans, they’re still just marines, so don’t go overboard with the upgrades for them. Luckily, one of our standards is the sacred standard, which grants counter-attack and relentless. Give all five of them grav guns and the standard for a relatively cheap, obsec suicide pod squad that’s a pain in the ass to charge in the Lion’s Blade. The apothecary is optional but not a waste of points, and the champion is identical to a standard marines champion but has a sword with +1S, which I’d like to imagine is a tiny nod to Dark Angels being expert swordsmen.<br /><br /><b>Company Master</b><br />Lacking the option for a bike is damning for a character who’s only real purpose is melee combat. While you’d otherwise want to skip the Company Master, he is unfortunately required as part of the Lion’s Blade Battle Company. If you aren’t going to just keep him at his base cost and stick him with his tax-unit pals, an assault squad, he can serve as an ok but kind of expensive buffer to a command squad. Give him a combi-grav or auspex and The Eye of the Unseen and drop him with a grav-gun command squad for a now slightly tougher suicide pod squad. If you want to be fluffy and make them a little better in melee, give him a relic blade and take a champion in the squad (or a power fist somewhere). Still, skip this guy unless you need him for the Battle Company.<br /><br /><b>Chaplain</b><br />Can’t take relics, but unlike a Company Master he can take a bike. He’s required for a Battle Company, but also unlike the Company Master that’s not a bad thing. I would either keep him cheap and toss him with a drop pod assault squad, or put him on a bike if you’re taking any allies on bikes *cough* black knights *cough*. If you aren’t taking a Battle Company he’s still a decent choice, but remember Greenwing don’t have a lot of good melee options, so he’s best buffing Ravenwing or allies.<br /><br /><b>Ezekiel</b><br />Zeke is awesome, and unlike other chapters’ librarians he doesn’t need to bring a whole entourage with him to be taken in our Decurion. I praised this guy a bit in my Deathwing entry but he can really shine with the Greenwing. His warlord trait is pretty bad, but you’ll have at least two other HQ’s in a Battle Company and his other abilities are excellent. A better statline than your average librarian, ML3, and a +1 attack aura for everyone around him, for a lower price that Tigirius before you even consider the two boot-lickers Tiggy has to bring with him. He’s not a must-take but Zeke can do everything from buffing a command squad to helping your dudes hold the line, and makes your whole army a lot of flexible. He’s almost never a bad choice for any type of Greenwing army.<br /><br /><b>Librarian and Interrogator Chaplain</b><br />This article is running a bit long and I want to get to this last entry, but I shouldn’t leave these guys out. Both of them can be taken in a Lion’s Blade but don’t have a lot to offer the Greenwing. One level 2 psyker isn’t enough to reliably do the psychic things you’ll need, while Interrogator Chaplains are big melee buffers which Greenwing don’t need.<br /><b><br />Azrael</b><br />He’s got a personal banner on his back, personal helmet bearer, and costs almost as much as a Land Raider. For that you get a pretty good statline (although no Eternal Warrior is worrying) an ok melee weapon and a couple special rules. Army-wide leadership 10 is useful, and no one will say no to +1 to seize. Picking his warlord trait and the 4+ invulnerable save for his squad are both powerful but situational tools, especially for someone as expensive as him. Azrael certainly isn’t bad, but for his price tag and potential to dying to a random lascannon shot, make sure you have a purpose for him before including him.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>If you’re wondering where Dreadnoughts and the tanks are, those will be covered in the next article before I wrap it all up with a discussion of the Lion’s Blade Detachment and it’s formations.</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-41057099947350751832017-01-04T08:33:00.004-08:002017-01-04T08:38:23.494-08:00Greenwing Tactics Part 1: Troops, Heavy Support, and Fast Attack<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Greenwing Tactics Part 1: Troops, Heavy Support, and Fast Attack</span></div>
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<i>Hope everyone had happy holidays! In a pretty interesting stroke of luck for me, the runner up for the painting contest, /u/Redbaron67 requested a Greenwing tactics series</i>. </div>
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I’m going to work my way up with this one, starting with their basic choices and moving up to formations and detachments. Unlike with the Deathwing, I don’t have a disclaimer about competitive play for these guys. Dark Angels have some funky options but as a whole work quite well in the competitive scene and a few of their options are flat out better than other chapters.<br />
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The only special rule worth mentioning here is Grim Resolve, which is our version of Chapter Tactics (but is not actually called that) and gives all Dark Angels Stubborn and overwatch at BS 2 (or full BS in our Lion’s Blade Detachment).<br />
<b><br />Dark Angels Tactical Squad</b><br />
Identical to codex marines except losing chapter tactics for Grim Resolve. Against some armies that extra BS on overwatch is killer, and I think the best way to run them, especially in a Lion’s Blade, is keeping them cheap with bolters. Most of the heavy lifting in a Dark Angels list is going to be done by whoever you’ve supplemented your Greenwing, so leave your tactical marines cheap to go sit on objectives and never run away. If you want to give them a weapon upgrade, grav cannons and heavy bolters synergize nicely with the extra overwatch BS. Without doctrines to buff our BS, I wouldn’t recommend relying on melta-pod squads to kill vehicles, but having one or two of them as an early distraction isn’t a bad idea. I’d recommend drop pods or razorbacks for their transports if you’ve kept them cheap.<br />
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<b>Dark Angels Scout Squad</b><br />
If there’s Greenwing in your list, I expect to always see these guys. They’re the cheapest troops for a CAD, and they’re the cheapest auxiliary for the Lion’s Blade. Like the tactical squads, keep them cheap and give them bolters to take advantage of the extra couple hits you get on overwatch.<br />
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<b>Dark Angels Assault Squad</b><br />
With no other option for fast attack in a Lion’s Blade, these guys are the biggest tax on a battle company formation. They don’t benefit much from Grim Resolve and kitting them out for combat is a waste of points. Just give them flamers and a drop pod and roast some backline units or sit on an objective.<br />
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<b>Dark Angels Devastator Squad</b><br />
BS 2 or 4 overwatch with grav cannons is amazing. You’ll need two of these units for a battle company and Grim Resolve probably benefits devastators more than any chapter tactics except White Scars. I put them in rhinos with two grav cannons apiece and park them on objectives and dare my opponent to charge them. Remember they’re still just marines though, so don’t get too crazy with them. If your opponent has a lot of shooting make sure to get in his face with other units first so he doesn’t blow your gun-toting green guys off the board. Heavy bolters are also a decent choice if you don’t want them to be too expensive. I’d stray away from other weapon options though.<br />
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<b>Dedicated Transports</b><br />
Nothing to say here, other than including them for the sake of completeness. I’ve explained in each unit entry which transport I think is best for them, and if you’re taking a Lion’s Blade you’ll have a lot of them kicking around.<br />
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The clear winners here are Tactical and Devastator Squads. Both of them get a pretty big boost from Grim Resolve, and they can be kept cheap and still be a nuisance, unlike those of many other chapters. If you're looking to make use of Greenwing, those two are a good place to start.</div>
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<i>This first part felt a little empty but I didn’t want to also try to cram elite and HQ choices in here. Those will be for next week and those are where Dark Angels start to get a little different.</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-69598598387567744012016-12-20T08:18:00.002-08:002016-12-20T08:18:34.772-08:00Deathwing Tactics Part 3: Elites and Transports<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Deathwing Tactics Part 3: Elites and Transports</span></div>
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<i>The final part of my Deathwing tactics, where we look at Deathwing Terminators themselves. Thanks again for /u/Merendino for requesting this.</i></div>
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Before I analyze individual units, let me briefly talk about why terminators are so weak right now. The game as a whole has become much more deadly, and there is an abundance of low AP weapons, meaning that often the only defensive difference between a terminator and a scout is the terminator’s weak invulnerable save. Melee has also become unreliable, making the terminator’s weak ranged weapons and powerful melee weapons less of a benefit. Deep Striking is not very reliable, and terminators are slow, so they need to be placed well. Finally, in the age of formations most terminator formations aren’t very good, while their elite slot in a CAD is crowded. The Deathwing detachment alleviates a number of these problems and gives slightly better shooting, making Deathwing the only choice I’d go for if I wanted to use terminators in a tournament.<br /><br /><div>
<b>Deathwing Terminators</b><br />Thanks to the flexibility that the Deathwing Strike Force provides, regular Deathwing Terminators are probably the worst choice among the terminator-armored Dark Angels. The ability to mix and-matched loadouts is nice, but the Command Squad does the same and has the same weapon options, while the Deathwing Knights are better in melee against anything without a 2+ armor save. Unless you’re really loading up on terminators, leave these guys at home.<br /><br /><b>Deathwing Command Squad</b><br />The most flexible option, a Deathwing Command Squad should be part of any Deathwing army unless you’re just grabbing a squad or two of knights. The Command Squad has all of the same strengths and weaknesses of regular terminators, with the added bonuses of being able to take a very cheap apothecary and champion. It can be tempting to load them out to take on any threat, but mixed-weapons squads aren’t usually particularly useful, especially when they’re this expensive. I personally like to give them the champion and apothecary upgrades, grab an assault or plasma cannon, then grab 2-3 thunder hammer/storm shields and maybe a chain fist, for a squad that’s able to go toe-to-toe with most monstrous creatures.The banner is usually skippable, but it’s not a bad option, especially if you throw a character in there.<br /><b><br />Deathwing Knights</b><br />I have definitely saved the best for last. These guys are the closest thing to good terminator units in the current competitive meta. They’re tough, crank up the toughness of characters who join them, and with just the addition of a chaplain have a good chance of bringing down a wraithknight in one turn of combat. Their bonus to toughness helps alleviate one of all terminator’s biggest issues, although they are still lacking in speed. Of all the Deathwing, they may benefit the most from footslogging, especially if you add Sammael for both Hit and Run and Rapid Manoeuvre. I’ve toyed with the idea of building a deathstar around these guys and while it remains untested, an Interrogator Chaplain, Sammael, and a Librarius Conclave could definitely bring the pain and be pretty tough as well.<br /><br /><b>Transports</b><br />Deep Striking works just fine for a Command Squad most of the time, especially in the Strike Force, while Knights can Deep Strike or walk, depending on the opponent’s army. Regardless of their loadout, treat Deathwing Terminators like melee units, because that’s where they excel, so keep them out of flying transports. Land Raiders are expensive but not an awful option, especially if you can protect them for a turn or two, while most superheavy transports aren’t assault vehicles. The Spartan Assault tank is worth a look for people who don’t mind spending a few extra points for a much tougher delivery vehicle.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Hope you guys enjoyed this tactica, and as always toss me any questions you have. A big thanks to /u/Merendino for requesting this as his reward for the painting competition.</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-58002999805335206842016-12-14T08:58:00.001-08:002016-12-14T08:58:40.617-08:00Deathwing Tactics Part 2: HQ<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Deathwing Tactics Part 2: HQ</span></div>
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<i>Part 2 of my Deathwing tactics, as requested by the painting contest winner /u/Merendino.</i></div>
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The Deathwing have a number of pretty good options for their HQ choices. The most important decision is usually how to equip them and whether to put them with Deathwing Knights or a Command Squad.<br /><br /><div>
<b>Belial</b><br />If you played Deathwing in 6th edition or earlier you already own this guy, and while he is no longer mandatory to get those sweet troop choice terminators, he received a number of buff in this codex to make up for it. Like a lot of Dark Angels named characters, he got one of our worst warlord traits, but otherwise he has a lot of utility as both a beatstick and support character. Flawless deep striking makes him ideal for any Deathwing squad, as well as cramming into other imperial armies, and re-rolling hits in a challenge makes him relatively scary in combat. He’s a good choice, but his biggest flaw is that he’s always going to be stuck with that useless warlord trait and need to have another character come along to be warlord and hope to get Rapid Manoeuvre to make up for how slow terminators are. If you put him with Deathwing Knights, definitely give him a shield/hammer. It makes him much tougher to kill and combos well with the Knight Master striking at I4 but AP3. In a command squad his sword is fine to take advantage of his high initiative and the champion’s AP2 weapon.<br /><br /><b>Interrogator Chaplain</b><br />Probably the outright best choice for Deathwing, the Interrogator Chaplain has almost the statline of a Company Master, buffs his entire unit in melee, can take all of the good toys, and isn’t stuck with a bad warlord trait. Take the Mace of Redemption and a storm shield and he becomes an expensive but excellent force multiplier for Deathwing Knights. He can work ok with a Command Squad, but his potential is probably wasted there compared to with a unit of knights. There isn’t much else to say about him, just take him unless you have a very specific use for another character.<br /><br /><b>Librarian</b><br />A lot of the utility a Librarian gains while on a bike is unfortunately lost in terminator armor. The extra speed and point of toughness make a huge difference for the squishiest of the Deathwing, and the Interrogator Chaplain’s melee buffs are far more useful with terminators than with Black Knights. That being said, the Librarian is probably better suited to go with a Command Squad than Belial or an Interrogator Chaplain. Grab the Eye of the Unseen to buff both their melee and whatever ranged weapon you have in the unit, and the Librarian will benefit a lot from the Feel No Pain the apothecary provides. Like Belial, still a good choice for the Deathwing, but lacks the balls-out awesomeness of the Chaplain. Also can roll for his warlord trait which is big.<br /><br /><b>Ezekiel</b><br />Not in terminator armor, but Ezekiel is a decent choice to go with Deathwing who are footslogging or in a transport. Like the other named characters, Ezekiel is stuck with a crappy warlord trait, but his buff to attacks, good statline, and level 3 mastery make him worth more the more points you put into a unit. If you’re going to have another character to buff the unit (probably an Interrogator Chaplain) and hopefully get a more useful warlord trait, than Ezekiel is good for buffing the unit with things like rerollable saves or +1 toughness. I just wouldn’t take him unless you’ve already invested a fair amount in the unit.<br /><br /><b>Azrael and Asmodai</b><br />These are two other characters with the Deathwing rule that could potentially be used for a footslogging unit. Unfortunately, both of them end up being a lot of wasted points. Azrael’s 4+ invuln is wasted on Deathwing Knights and only a minor buff to a command squad, and while picking his warlord trait is good, Sammael is both cheaper and gives his unit Hit and Run as well if you need Rapid Manoeuvre. Asmodai is just generally overcosted and loses a lot of the options regular Interrogator Chaplains have, making neither of these guys very good options for Deathwing.<br /><br />So the Interrogator Chaplain comes out as a clear winner thanks to melee buffs being far more important for the Deathwing, but Librarians, Belial, and Ezekiel all have their uses within a Deathwing army as well.<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>Next week I’ll wrap this up by going over the actual unit options for the Deathwing.</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-19165274154596509222016-12-10T07:21:00.003-08:002016-12-10T09:51:56.152-08:00Deathwing Tactics Part 1: Rules and Detachments<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Deathwing Tactics Part 1: Rules and Detachments</span></div>
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<i>The prizes for the painting contest were that each of the winners got to request an article for the blog. Appropriately, /u/Merendino used his first-place Deathwing to request a Deathwing Tactics article. These next couple articles come courtesy of him.</i></div>
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I’m going to write these articles in the reverse order of how I wrote the Ravenwing tactics, starting with special rules and detachments and then moving to individual units. It’s worth noting that terminators as a whole are in a bad place, being slow, expensive melee units reliant on low toughness and a good armor save. However, a number of the bonuses Deathwing have help push them above other terminators, if not to tournament-playability then at least to useful units.<br />
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<b>Deathwing</b><br />
The titular rule actually provides very little to Deathwing terminators and Dark Angel special characters. Fearless is fairly redundant with their Ld 9/10 and Stubborn, and Hatred(CSM) doesn’t make up for the fact you’re going to want Hatred on their melee units anyways.<br />
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<b>Split Fire</b><br />
Both Deathwing Terminator and Command Squads get this rule, and it is excellent. Terminators have some pretty good ranged weapon choices, and being able to shoot them and then charge a different unit is great. It also combos well with the next rule.<br />
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<b>Vengeful Strike</b><br />
Another extra rule we got to justify the higher price tag on Deathwing terminators, twin linked ranged weapons on the turn you Deep Strike is good. It’s nothing amazing but it helps make that expensive heavy weapon worth it.<br />
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<b>Deathwing Redemption Force</b><br />
Our unique formation, and the only way to get Deathwing into a Lion’s Blade Detachment, this formation is not very good. When compared to the Deathwing Strike Force below, you are taking a mandatory two units of Deathwing terminators and giving up two HQ slots. In return, you get Preferred Enemy(CSM), can run and shoot or shoot and run on the turn you Deep Strike, and pick a turn before the game starts that all models in the Redemption Force will arrive. The second rule is shared by the Strike Force, the first rule is pretty useless (all you’re getting is rerolls to-wound of one and reroll hits of one after the turn you deep strike) and the third rule is patently worse than the Strike Force version. Unless you’re going for a fluffy army there is no reason to take this formation over a Strike Force.<br />
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<b>Deathwing Strike Force</b><br />
This, along with the Ravenwing Strike Force, was GW’s way of letting us play our old pure-terminator and pure-bike armies from the 6th edition codex. While you technically can’t do that with the Deathwing Strike Force thanks to all units starting in reserve, it’s a decent detachment and piles more rules onto the Deathwing to help make them useful. 1-3 HQ and 2-12 Elite choices, all must be terminators or venerable dreadnoughts. Seems appropriate, and puts it head and shoulders above the Redemption Force already by letting us take more of our best terminator units (HQ’s) and doesn’t make us pay a tax of basic terminators. For the rules, we get the run/shoot or shoot/run from the Redemption Force to make sure we don’t eat templates the following turn, re-roll warlord traits, and if our army also includes a Ravenwing Attack Squadron or Ravenwing Strike Force, each terminator unit can choose to pass or fail it’s reserve roll. While that last part may seem like a bit of a restriction, remember it’s impossible to run this detachment alone without tabling yourself, and Ravenwing bikes are all equipped with teleport homers. The synergy is both fluffy and crunchy, and makes this detachment head-and-shoulders above the Redemption Force.<br />
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<b>Combined Arms/Allied Detachment</b><br />
While this is still an option, I would almost always take the Deathwing Strike Force. The only time I would want to take Deathwing terminators in a CAD would be to start them on the board in a land raider or other transport. However, land raiders, like terminators themselves, aren’t in the best place right now and aren’t a great investment for carting around an expensive unit. Barring that situation, keep them in their specialty detachment.<br />
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With a pile of special rules, and a detachment that lets you take a bunch of the best units tax-free, Deathwing terminators definitely stand out above other faction’s terminators. While they share most of the weaknesses of other terminators, the extra buffs make them more capable offensively and a bit less vulnerable when Deep Striking. The Deathwing Strike Force is a clear winner in terms of how to get them into your list. <br />
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<i>Next week, we’ll go over individual Deathwing units.</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-13163477546837721922016-12-07T07:13:00.001-08:002016-12-07T07:19:47.365-08:00November Painting Contest Results<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">November Painting Contest Results</span></div>
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Thanks to everyone who participated in this awesome contest! We unfortunately didn't make our goal for entries, but I still have prizes for the winner and runner-up. But you guys are probably more interested in seeing those:</div>
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Runner-Up, /u/Redbaron67's Dark Talon:</div>
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<i>This was the first entry to the competition, and set a high standard for everyone else. The extra work on the masonry is what put this above the competition and into second place. You can see the full gallery <a href="http://imgur.com/a/EOboF"><span style="color: #134f5c;">here.</span></a></i></div>
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First Place, /u/Merendino's Terminators and Land Raider:<br />
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<i>I got a few beautiful terminator entries, but it was the icon on the land raider that sold this one for me. The extra conversion work on the gunner was also something I really liked. You can see the full gallery <a href="http://imgur.com/a/G2VLy"><span style="color: #134f5c;">here.</span></a></i></div>
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I hope everyone who participated had fun working on their entries, and congratulations to our two winners. While we didn't reach our entry goal to get a free copy of Deathwing as the grand prize, I do have some smaller prizes to give out to our winners. I enjoyed doing this and may revisit this idea in a few months, probably with a lower goal for entries for a grand prize. Thanks for reading!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-80609247428337795582016-12-01T13:18:00.001-08:002016-12-01T13:20:25.063-08:00All Lists Do Not Have to be "All-Comers"<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">All Lists Do Not Have to be "All-Comers"</span></div>
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<i>There’s a lot of common misconceptions about tournament lists that I’d like to take some time to talk about.</i></div>
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I have a lot of people who ask me for tournament advice get upset when I tell them about their list’s bad matchups. People seem to be holding onto this notion that just about any list can and should be capable of taking on any potential list you will play at a tournament. I’d like to talk about why this is impossible, impractical, and not a bad thing. Before I continue, I’d like to include a disclaimer: There is no unwinnable game. Even the worst matchups can be won if you’re just a flat out better player than the other guy, but a lot of what I say is going to be based around the assumption the players are close to the same skill level, unless otherwise specified.<br />
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First, there <i>are</i> “all-comers” lists in the current competitive meta. Lists that still have a decent chance to win in their worst matchups. These are the S-tier lists, Eldar Scatterbikes, Battle Company, and Incursion. There’s some variations on these but the ones you see sweeping a lot of tournaments are all lists that have pretty much entirely good to bad matchups, with no terrible ones.<br />
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If that’s true, why ever play another army? Shouldn’t we all just play those lists until something comes in to smash up the meta (hello, 5th edition). No, we shouldn’t. One thing about those S-tier lists is that they are pretty hard to pilot. Plenty of people have seen their local powergamer running one of those “netlists” and crushing some hapless newbie, but a lot of those guys don’t put up good (or consistent) results in tournaments. The reason you see those kinds of lists dominating tournaments is because those are the top players playing the top lists. S-Tier lists have an incredibly high skill ceiling, and when combined with no truly bad matchups, in the hands of a great player they will win.<br />
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This isn’t to say less-skilled players can’t do good things with those lists, but they will need practice and will find themselves struggling to max out their wins. So if you don’t want to run an S-Tier list, or are new to the tournament scene and don’t want to try to get your feet wet with an army that’s hard to pilot, you want what I usually call a Spoiler List. While these lists are ideal for newer or less skilled players, there have been great examples of spoiler lists performing well and even winning large events, such as Sean Nayden’s infamous Tyranids list.<br />
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Spoiler lists operate on the principle of “win big, or not at all”. Instead of trying to make these lists capable of taking on any enemy army, you make them very good against certain armies, while understanding that your bad matchups are pretty much always going to be a loss (barring amazing dice or a bad opponent). These lists often operate on the concept of taking a lot of a very good unit, or bringing only one type of unit to deny a lot of your opponent’s threats. Two good examples are my NOVA list and the list I played against last tournament with 5 riptides and 2 knights. My ravenwing list was incredibly resilient to shooting attacks that didn’t ignore cover meaning a lot of my opponent’s shooting would be wasted on them. However, the low model count meant I had a weakness to being drowned in bodies, so armies like Incursion or Battle Company gave me a hard time. Meanwhile, that riptide/knight list obviously shrugged off most shooting, and was capable of quickly removing units that threatened the knights and riptides, but was susceptible to being bogged down and swept by many smaller melee units, like my Orks.<br />
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Spoiler lists are great if you have a good idea of what kind of armies you will be facing going into a tournament, and also let you get into tournaments with a list that has a solid “comfort zone” of armies they will beat reliably. If you want to try a spoiler list, either pick a certain type of army you’d like to beat (probably one of those S-Tier lists) or pick a type of unit you’d like to take a lot of. Vehicles may not be the best, but an all-tank Imperial Guard army would certainly give some armies a hard time, or building a dark eldar list specifically designed to mess up daemons (usually with some eldar/corsairs allied in). I’ve seen both of these armies used well and put up good tournament results thanks to maxing out their wins.<br />
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<i>I hope this gives you guys a little insight on list building and why it’s ok to bring lists that aren’t S-Tier. Painting Competition closes December 6th by the way. Send me those entries on reddit or by email!</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-31976770893803850902016-11-25T07:10:00.001-08:002016-11-25T07:11:02.931-08:00The Myth of Bad Armies<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Myth of Bad Armies</span></div>
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<i>I think a lot of people were expecting this after my last post.</i></div>
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Reactions to my last post were mixed.<br />
<img height="131" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/TgsQckKg6IVJa1q-1AC-pMM3x7BPcmm-7iacGi0QYnXwrP1MpmGEAdAiEmLGNQy0mklZH-cVvocMehrw2My5r1OLFsZfn98K1Q7HrJPcgi1BEeCl-h54Gk995X1zOPWpvKFmCxtX" width="400" /><br />
I was surprised to see so many people actually upset that I was claiming Orks aren’t as bad as everyone has said. But before I go on with the meat of this post I want to step down from my soapbox for a second. I know I speak from a pedestal when I write this blog, partly because that’s how these kind of blogs work, but also because I like to think my tournament results have given me a bit of a position of authority. But I’m someone who enjoys the game, just like everyone else, and some of the more spiteful comments I received in the last week or were pretty hurtful not just to me but also to the people I play with. I don’t understand why some people took my post as some kind of personal attack, but I certainly received a lot of personal attacks back, questioning my integrity as a player, saying I cheated, or claiming I only beat bad players. Rather than respond to all of those individually, I want to remind everyone that insisting your own army is bad competitively, and insulting someone who put up good results with it serves absolutely no purpose. It doesn’t make you a better player, it doesn’t make anyone else care that you think your army is bad, it won’t make GW update them, and it ends up just making me and maybe some other people reading it feel bad. If my post was that big a blow to your pride that you felt the need to personally attack me and others, you might need to re-examine what you take pride in.<br />
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Alright. Back up to the soapbox. In a more constructive manner, let’s discuss WHY so many people think Orks and other armies are bad, and how we as players can look at them. This will be strictly in a competitive sense, but I’m going to address casual play at the end.<br />
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<b>Out With the Old</b><br />
I’d bet the most common problem for people who claim that armies like Orks or Dark Eldar are bad is that they’re upset the old staple units have fallen out of favor. Trukks, Boyz, Nob Bikers, Raiders and Venoms are all formerly powerful units that just don’t work well competitively anymore. The thing is, this happens to every army. While it’s more obvious when these units are advertised as the core units of the army, like in the above examples, it’s not restricted to them. Almost every week on reddit I see people asking “Why are terminators bad?” “What happened to terminators?” “How do we fix terminators?” Terminators are a unit in several competitive codices that have fallen by the wayside thanks to meta shifts, just like those units in “bad” codices. Orks have plenty of good units right out of their codex like Lootas, Warbosses, Deffkoptas, Warbikes, and even Grotz for troops, these just aren’t the units that have traditionally been their strong point.<br />
<b><br />Best Buds</b><br />
Another problem of people clinging to old styles of play is those who refuse to use allies. There is no reason to shoot yourself in the foot like this when making a competitive army. CSM and Dark Eldar are armies who both have very good battle brothers who they can bring plenty to the table for. If you want to continue playing your old favorite army in today’s competitive environment, sometimes the best way to do that is to just bring some friends. I’ll also quickly address people who say using FW or supplements is somehow wrong in tournament play: This is an old mindset that has no place in the current state of competitive play.<br />
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<b>The Bandwagon</b><br />
One last problem I notice is the often perpetuating cycle of “bad armies.” People say the army is bad, so no one brings them to tournaments. Then people point to the fact they aren’t popular in tournaments as a reason that they’re bad/not popular. 40k already has a massive copy-cat problem where people try to pick up the S-tier armies because they believe it’s the only way to win, and discouraging innovation by believing only the popular armies are good ones perpetuates this problem. <br />
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You can take any army to a tournament and do well, as long as you’re willing to make concessions to change up your old style of play, maybe by adding allies or getting rid of your favorite units that aren’t as good as they used to, but don’t let the myth that your army is bad discourage you.<br />
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So what about casual play? This is going to be the hardest for a lot of people to grasp I think, but casual play is casual. If you’re having trouble winning with your army in casual games, no matter what army it is, one of two things is happening. Either your opponent is not bringing an appropriate list to play with you, or you are a poor player or have a poor attitude. Casual games are about both players having fun, and if one of you isn’t, both of you have failed. Standing there complaining about your codex will not change that situation, because if your codex gets buffed the next day and you start sweeping all of your casual games, then your opponent won’t be having fun. Most people already ask their opponent if it’s ok to bring someone like a Superheavy to a casual game, or to play a unique mission. There should be no problem saying “hey, I want to bring a big horde of Ork boyz, please bring an army or pick a mission that will be fun for both of us.” It’s on the two of you to create a situation where both of you have fun no matter what armies you want to play, and if your opponents are otherwise good players, maybe it’s time to look at yourself and ask if it’s your own attitude that’s stopping you from having fun, not your codex.<br />
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<i>Alright, that got pretty heavy. Back to business as usual next week. Don’t forget to send me those entries for the Dark Angels painting competition! It ends December 6th!</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-80354429981336484272016-11-21T06:38:00.001-08:002016-11-21T06:52:16.635-08:00November 19th, Elliscon Tournament. First Place!Format: ITC<br />
Number of Players: 18<br />
Rounds 3<br />
Placing: 1st<br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></span>This was the first solo tournament I've ever won, and I couldn't be happier with my results. The list performed well, and I beat a lot of good opponents (everyone I beat went 2-1). According to one of my teammates there were people walking around asking how the Orks were winning any games, and one person thought I was kidding when I said I won the whole thing. Matchups are below, along with some ideas for you guys if you're going to a tournament.</div>
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<b>List:</b><br />
<i>Orks Combined Arms Detachment</i><br />
Zhadsnark (Warlord)<br />
Painboy, Bike<br />
Mek<br />
Mek<br />
5 Warbikers, Nob, Power Klaw<br />
4 Warbikers, Nob, Power Klaw<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
5 Lootas<br />
5 Lootas<br />
Buzzgob's Big Mek Stompa, Klaw, Kannon<br />
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<i>Orks Combined Arms Detachment</i><br />
Warboss, Bike, Klaw, Lucky Stikk<br />
Warboss, Bike, Headwoppa's Killchoppa<br />
Mek<br />
Mek<br />
11 Grotz<br />
10 Grotz<br />
10 Grotz<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
5 Tankbustas<br />
Void Shield Generator, 2 Extra Shields</div>
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Game 1: Eldar</div>
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He was running all of the wraith formations and had a bunch of wraithguard, wraithblades, a wraithknight, two wraithlords, and a wraithseer and spiritseer. I let him go first and waste a turn coming towards me thanks to his short ranges, then counter-charged him. The wraithknight died to the stompa in CC, but by the bottom of 3 all he had left was the knight and a unit of wraithguard anyways.</div>
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11-0 Win</div>
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Game 2: White Scars Battle Company</div>
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This was a tough game against a very good player. I benefited a lot from the mission being The Relic, and the Stompa was able to control the center-field. He couldn't touch it so he was forced to try to get around me. We ended up trading deployment zones and I was able to snag the relic at the end and leapfrog him in maelstroms by killing all of his guys in the back.</div>
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10-1 Win</div>
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Game 3: 5 Riptides, 2 Knights</div>
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The mission was kill points, which meant I pretty much auto-won the Maelstrom, but had to table him to win the Eternal War. And that I did. I locked the riptides down with bikes, shot the knights to death, then swept in with the stompa to finish off the riptides.</div>
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10-2 Win</div>
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I couldn't be happier to win my first tournament with my Orks. I played against very good players and threw a lot of people for a loop. Also, I went with two members of my club and a member of another Boston club who played for us at this tournament. We set ourselves some team goals (8 wins, 90 battle points) which ended up being a great idea and added an extra layer to the competition. We met all of our goals and our honorary member finished 2nd with his Daemons and one of my other teammates finished 3rd with his Tau. Anyone going to a tournament with some friends, I recommend you try setting these kind of team goals for yourselves to add some extra fun and stat-keeping to the tournament. I don't talk about my club much but it gave me a reason to be proud of the group I play with, so congrats to Korey, Dylan and Dave as well.</div>
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<i>Later this week I think I'm going to discuss the common misconceptions of "bad armies" and talk about how we can all be more productive in that regard. As always, feel free to ask me questions about the list or anything else.</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-42289064739525419312016-11-17T08:13:00.002-08:002016-11-17T08:20:59.313-08:00 Casual vs. Competitive Play and Player Attitudes and Expectations<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Casual vs. Competitive Play and Player Attitudes and Expectations</span></div>
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<i>In addition to being an avid tournament player, I also help run my local club and often have to help new players learn the game. I wanted to use that experience to talk about competitive vs. casual play.</i></div>
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To start with, let’s define competitive and casual play. For this article, “competitive” play is going to be tournaments, competitive events, and games specifically agreed on to be practice for those. Everything else will be “casual” play. Those are pretty broad but that’s often how I see them loosely defined elsewhere. Both of these types of games and the difference between a good and bad experience in either of them depend on managing the expectations and attitudes of both (or more) players involved.<br />
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For competitive play, expectations are very easy to define. Both players are trying to win, and you shouldn’t go to a tournament without the understanding you might get a bad matchup or play against a very good player who kicks your ass six ways to sunday. I don’t like the kind of shaming I sometimes see towards competitive players for taking a list that’s “too cheesy” or “uses unfluffy units” for a tournament. The goal is to win, and it’s fair for anyone going to an event to bring the best they can.</div>
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Player attitudes are the tougher part to manage in competitive, because you may get an opponent who’s rude, tries to cheat, plays horribly slowly, or throws a temper tantrum. Luckily, this is what TO’s are for and the best way to mitigate how bad an experience a crappy opponent can give you is to call a TO over and let them know what’s going on. For the most part, your experience at a tournament is going to be governed by your own attitude and the luck of the draw on which opponents you get.</div>
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Defining expectations for casual games is where I think a lot of players fail and end up with a bad experience. Some people like to just play with whatever models are on their shelf, or even only what’s painted. They throw together a list and use it. Other players, like myself, can’t help but make sure their list is a “good” list. I often use bad units (I LOVE Vanguard Veterans) but will equip them and support them within the list to make sure they have a job to do and can hopefully do it. This is a difficult expectation to manage because both players are building what is, in their opinion, a “casual” list. The only real way to manage this is to ask the second group of players to tone down their lists, or maybe help their opponent write a list if their opponent wants to bring a better army. Also, try a scenario that puts that person at a disadvantage (with their consent of course) to make both the game and matchup more interesting.</div>
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Attitudes are easy to manage in casual games. If a player is consistently difficult to play with for any reason, just don’t play with them. The benefit of casual games (and tabletop games in general, usually) is that you always have a choice about who to play with and when. If you feel like you need to play with someone with a bad attitude, talk to them. I’ve had plenty of bad games with otherwise good guys because they were having a bad day.</div>
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So what happens when these two cross over? Usually nothing special actually. A lot of competitive players will fall into that second category of casual play, and may need to be given a disadvantage to ensure a fun game. Trying out a new army or radically different list is a great handicap. Also, as a casual player playing with your more competitively-minded friends, don’t immediately point to their attitude and list as a reason for a tough game. I see a lot of people with the belief that tournament players all have a “Win at All Costs” mentality that means they’ll always stomp you in an unfun way. I think this often comes from those competitive players just being better players, and the casual player looking for an excuse. If you felt the game wasn't fun, talk to them. Maybe they can tone down their list, or point out a few places where you could've just played better to make the game closer.</div>
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Finally, let me quickly address “That Guy”. I think when most people talk about having a bad experience with a competitive player, they played against those people who bring an overly competitive list and/or attitude to a casual game. Even when you were clear the game was casual, they brought a top-placing tournament list they pulled off the internet, and act like a jerk or talk down to you all game. For the most part, there is nothing you can do about this kind of person except not play with them. In my experience, these are often middle/lower-tier tournament players who need an ego boost by smacking around people’s fluffy armies. The very good tournament players who I’ve encountered have all been friendly and enjoyable people to play with, and are usually just as capable of fun casual play as competitive play. If you have “That Guy” in your group, refuse to play with them until they tone it down. There doesn’t have to be a line between competitive and casual players.</div>
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<i>Sorry that ended up being a bit long. Hope you guys liked this departure from tactics/list analysis. Let me know if there’s a topic you’d like to see me cover next.</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-86157640170243770532016-11-14T07:06:00.002-08:002016-11-14T07:06:54.536-08:00The Most Important Part of List Building: Win Conditions<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Most Important Part of List Building: Win Conditions</span></div>
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<i>Win conditions are something I see very few players consider when list-building. I thought I’d write some guidelines to developing these.</i></div>
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Win conditions are a fairly abstract but incredibly important part of list building. They are the reason a list can’t be properly critiqued without knowing what kind of missions it will be used in, and far too many players completely ignore them. Defining them can be tricky, but for the purpose of this article I’m going to define them simply as “the things you need to do to win”. For the most part this means “how you are going to score points and stop your opponent from doing so”.<br />
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Your win conditions should be flexible, but when building a list you usually won’t know your opponents and it's fine to have general win conditions. The best thing you can do is think about what your units force your opponent’s units to do. I see far too many people play out games in their head where they just say “my units kill his units”. The game rarely works that way, and good opponents will never leave their valuable units where they can get killed easily. Instead, think about how your opponent will react to your units. If you have a wraithknight, your opponent will either have to avoid the area of the board it’s in, or dedicate a lot of firepower to killing it. That means your wraithknight establishes board control for you. If you have a drop pod alpha strike, your opponent will probably hold some units in reserve or change his deployment to protect valuable units, giving your other units space and time to move.<br />
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<b>For some concrete examples:</b><br />
My Ravenwing NOVA list revolved around establishing board control with my large squad of black knights, while having durable, utilitarian units that could threaten any unit and be anywhere on the board I needed them to. In pretty much every game, my win conditions revolved around cleaving through my opponent’s scoring units while avoiding or quickly killing deathstars/superheavies. This worked because NOVA’s allowed me to choose to score at the end, and my units were fast enough that they didn’t need to worrying about scoring until the last couple turns.<br />
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My Ork ITC list combines a bunch of threatening individual units with a “centerpiece” unit and a few throwaway units. The stompa gives me a huge swathe of board control, while the bikes can threaten most tougher units. The deffkoptas, grotz, and lootas can be placed just about anywhere, to score objectives, screen for other units, or tie up enemies. This list works because it has three distinct types of units my opponent has to try to deal with, and each of them support each other. The stompa is difficult to kill, and my bikes are capable of killing most things that actually threaten it. Meanwhile, my opponent has a lot of smaller units they have to deal with if they choose to ignore/avoid the stompa.<br />
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Understanding your win conditions is important because they’re how you win bad matchups, or ensure you can win 50-50 ones. Most games it won’t matter how much stuff you kill if your opponent scores more points than you at the end of the game. It also allows you to take on armies you haven't encountered before. You may not know what everything in their army does, but if you keep in mind your general win conditions, you’ll be able to play the mission your way and work around the enemy units you’re not familiar with. When making your list, don’t worry about which of your units kill what type of enemy units, but what they do to help you win the game (which very well could be killing enemies that threaten your important units).</div>
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The hardest part of considering your win conditions is often being honest with yourself. Two squads of space marine scouts are never going to hold objectives if your opponent wants to kill them, and a squad of deathwatch marines aren't going to kill all of your opponent's vital units. Always treat your opponent like he's going to play smart, and think about what you need to do to win the mission, or stop him from doing so.</div>
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<i>Sorry if that was a bit abstract, if you have questions or even want to show me your army list for feedback, please feel free to do so. Have a great week guys.</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-77186216677761299622016-11-10T08:35:00.003-08:002016-11-10T08:35:50.095-08:00List Building Example: Analyzing a List (Part 2)<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">List Building Example: Analyzing a List (Part 2)</span></div>
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<i>It’s been a hectic week and I didn’t get the chance to sit down and write the article I was planning. Instead, I’m going to do a list analysis on my friend Kyle’s Eldar/Corsairs list.</i></div>
<br /><i>Corsairs Raiding Fleet:<br />Sky Burners:</i><br />Hornet, Pulse Lasers, Shroud<br />Lynx, Shroud<br />Void Dreamer, ML3, Jetpack<br />Jetbikes, Shuriken Catapults<br /><br /><i>Command Crew:</i><br />Prince, Bike, Shadow Field, Mask of Secrets, Master Crafted Void Saber<br /><i><br />Eldar Combined Arms Detachment:</i><br />Jetseer<br />Jetseer<br />5 wraithguard, D-Scythes<br />3 Scatterbikes+Warlock<br />3 Scatterbikes+Warlock<br />Skathach Wraithknight, 2x Hellstorm, 1 Scatter Laser<br /><i><br />Dark Eldar Allied Detachment:</i><br />Archon, Webway Portal<br />Kabalite Warriors<br /><br />This list uses a mix of generalist, gimmicky, and niche units to make an all-comers list that can take on a lot of different threats. The biggest issue this list faces is that it can be difficult to pilot, knowing when to hold things in reserve and when to start them on the board. It also has a low model count, meaning every unit lost is a big blow, especially when not every unit can take on any threat.<br /><br />Let’s start with the obvious generalist units. Scatterbikes are one of the best units in the game. They fill a troops tax, are incredibly fast, relatively tough, and can threaten a wide variety of targets. There’s not much more that I can say about them or Jetseers other than that they are powerful and versatile units.<br /><br />This list was made for ITC format games, so the Skathach Wraithknight leapfrogs the regular one in power in my opinion. The choice for the hellstorm templates over the melta was made because the lynx and hornet bring plenty of quality shooting that the melta cannons normally would, and the army otherwise lacks ignores cover except from psychic powers.<br /><br /><div>
The Archon and Wraithguard are an interesting gimmick unit. If you don’t know how this unit works, the Archon allows his unit to deep strike without scatter. That means he’s going to reliably get 3 or more templates from his wraithguard on any unit that requires removal, which will kill just about anything. The gimmick, of course, requires relying on a reserve roll which is unreliable, but even including the cost of the Kabalite warriors, this unit isn’t too expensive and can help play mind-games with his opponent.<br /><br />The hornet is a nice niche unit that adds a few more high-strength shots to the army while being able to deep strike pretty reliably and getting a rerollable invulnerable save on the turn it does. It’s cheap, so not much more to say about it.<br /><br />The Lynx is a powerful generalist unit capable of laying down A LOT of D, either 3 twin-linked shots or one large blast. The option to use the blast is huge in ITC where invisibility only reduces it’s BS. Additionally, it’s pretty vulnerable, being a vehicle and not a superheavy, but being in the sky burners detachment lets it deep strike (with rerollable reserve and reduced scatter) which gives it a way to protect it without losing too much firepower.<br /><br />The Void Dreamer, Prince, and Shuriken Bikes are all gimmick units that don’t really need separate explanations. The Shuriken bikes are cheap and can be a major annoyance thanks to their ability to move after shooting and then again in the assault phase. The prince can tank a unit’s leadership, threaten weak backline units with his power weapon, and tie up units with his 2+ invulnerable save (potentially rerollable with fortune). Ultimately, the prince won’t stand up to real melee units or focused firepower thanks to his low toughness, but he’s a decent bully unit. The Void Dreamer is adaptable, but slow and squishy, making him sometimes useless when he can’t get to where he needs to be to use his power.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Next week we’ll be back on schedule with a post about win conditions. If you have questions about the list analysis I’ll be happy to answer those as well.</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-34624869455044363092016-11-05T07:58:00.003-07:002016-11-05T07:59:09.423-07:00Dark Angels Painting Contest Update<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Dark Angels Painting Contest Update</span></div>
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<i>Deathwing's release date has been pushed back, so I'm going to give you guys some extra time on this.</i></div>
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Hey guys! Now that Space Hulk: Deathwing has a solid release date on December 9th, I've decided to push the end-date for the <span style="color: #45818e;"><a href="http://talonsalight.blogspot.com/2016/10/november-painting-contestgiveaway.html"><span style="color: #45818e;">Dark Angels painting competition/giveaway</span></a> </span>back as well. The final date for entries is now Tuesday, December 6th. That means all entries must be in by midnight, EST on that day. If we get a dozen entries, the winner will receive a copy of Space Hulk: Deathwing!</div>
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To reiterate the rules:</div>
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<ul>
<li>3-6 models painted in Dark Angels or Successor Chapter colors. Alternatively, a single large model such as a Land Raider is acceptable</li>
<li>Any 40k models are fine (Forgeworld is ok, but not models specific to 30k), Characters, Vehicles, etc. but must be at least minimum-sized units (3 bikers, 5 tactical marines)</li>
<li>Must include before, process, and after pictures (3-4 pictures total is plenty)</li>
<li>All submissions must include a few lines (2 sentences to 2 paragraphs or so) explaining who these guys are and what makes them cool</li>
<li>Display boards/scenes are not necessary but may be worth bonus/tiebreaker points</li>
<li>All submissions must be in by Midnight EST Tuesday, December 6th. I will announce the winner December 7th and post the winner along with runner-ups on the blog</li>
<li>The winner will receive a copy of Space Hulk: Deathwing for PC if we meet the criteria!</li>
<li>Feel free to contact me if you have questions</li>
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<i>Good luck everyone!</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-50071218334246120412016-11-03T06:52:00.000-07:002016-11-03T07:01:06.763-07:00The Value of Community Discussion<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Value of Community Discussion</span></div>
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<i><i>Thousands of years ago, when the Emperor still walked, Horus was loyal, and Ferrus Manus was a head taller, I started this blog with the intention of de-mystifying the competitive Warhammer 40k scene and letting more people have access to army lists and discussion of matches. Today I want to directly discuss that original goal.</i></i><br />
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Over the past few months I’ve gotten the chance to watch my readership and support for this blog grow, and it’s been awesome. As much as I love watching the numbers go up, and knowing you guys are reading, the best part to me is when people take the time to speak to me, tell me how much they like the blog and how it’s helped them. But I’m only one person, and as much as I love talking about the game I have my own biases and faults and no one can get the whole perspective from only me. I certainly wouldn’t be where I am if not for the help of at least a half dozen other people sticking their hands in my lists or helping me practice. The point of this long-winded intro is that today I want to talk about how everyone can join in discussions and add their points constructively.<br />
<b><br />There is No “Best List”</b><br />
Yesterday a member of one of my groups was talking about building an Iron Hands death star. I spent a good ten minutes explaining its weaknesses, what lists beat the tar out of it, and what missions are practically auto-lose for death stars. I concluded with saying “but it’s a good list. A guy running it beat me and placed top 24 at NOVA.” There are a lot of good army lists out there right now but understanding your weaknesses is just as important as understanding your strengths.<br />
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<b>You Don’t Have to be a Good Player to Share</b><br />
I know places like reddit have a lot of “lurkers” who are happy to just read and never contribute. That’s perfectly fine, but remember you may have never played in a tournament and your life and still have good ideas. Don’t be afraid to share ideas for lists, units, or combos that you think are innovative, even if they don’t work for you. Some lists have a higher skill cap than others, and what an inexperienced player loses with, an experienced player may be able to do great things with.<br />
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<b>The Meta is Not Static</b><br />
More so than ever, the Warhammer 40k competitive meta is very fluid. New strategies and armies rise to popularity because they can beat other popular lists and new supplements allow new ways to play old armies. A player who understands what’s currently strong and the weaknesses of those strong armies is capable of coming up with something that can shift the meta a bit. Like the above point, good analysis can come from anyone, not just a top player bringing an offbeat list.<br />
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<b>Criticism Requires Explanation</b><br />
There is nothing more harmful to discussion than blindly repeating things you’ve seen elsewhere. I see it less in the warhammer community than elsewhere, but there’s still an unfortunately large number of people happy to swing into discussions and say “X is bad” or “never play Eldar without scatterbikes”. These kinds of comments are incredibly damaging because they do nothing to help the person posting understand WHY it’s bad, while also propagating themselves. That person is now encouraged to repeat the same, because they’ve been told something is bad without understanding why either. If you don’t understand WHY something isn’t good or popular, take the time to think about it before telling other people.<br />
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<i>These points were a little abstract, and I’m not sure I got all of my information across, but I hope to see more people partaking in better discussions. Also, if you ever need help with a list or just to discuss the game, feel free to contact me.</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-72146906120655385462016-10-31T08:19:00.000-07:002016-10-31T08:33:36.032-07:00List Building Strategy: Analyzing a List<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">List Building Strategy: Analyzing a List</span></div>
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<i>As a follow-up to <a href="http://talonsalight.blogspot.com/2016/09/play-your-game.html"><span style="color: #45818e;">Play Your Game</span></a> and <a href="http://talonsalight.blogspot.com/2016/10/list-building-strategy-analyzing-your.html"><span style="color: #45818e;">Analyzing Your Units</span></a>, I decided to take a list and explain how and why it works.</i></div>
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An easy and obvious example, I figured we could breakdown the army I took to NOVA this year.<br />
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<i>Ravenwing Strike Force:</i><br />
Librarian, Bike, Eye of the Unseen, Auspex<br />
6 Black Knights<br />
6 Black Knights<br />
6-Man Command Squad, Banner, Apothecary, Grenade Launcher<br />
Darkshroud<br />
<i><br />White Scars Librarius Conclave:</i><br />
Level 2 Librarian, Bike, Hunter's Eye, Sword<br />
Level 2 Librarian, Bike, Axe<br />
Level 2 Librarian, Bike, Sword<br />
Level 2 Librarian, Bike, Axe<br />
<i><br />White Scars Combined Arms Detachment:</i><br />
Chaplain, Bike, Auspex<br />
3 Bikers<br />
3 Bikers, 2 Grav guns, combi-grav<br />
Attack Bike, Multi-Melta<br />
Attack Bike, Multi-Melta<br />
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What’s interesting about this list, compared to the original version which used an inquisistar, is that there are no gimmick units here. This list has very few chances to “go big” and get everything I need (psychic powers, perfect match-up, etc) but also a lot more room to outplay opponents and few situations where most of the army is useless, which is a very real problem for any gimmick unit.<br />
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The black knights are the core of this list, and going by my own definitions they are a generalist unit. They’re survivable against most shooting, have excellent shooting, scout, hit and run, can bully weak melee units, and can be taken with no tax units thanks to the Ravenwing Strike Force. Like scatterbikes in an Eldar list, these guys form a core for the army that other units can be added around, or can support other units. In this case, other units will be added around them.<br />
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The librarians are also a generalist unit, and the most important thing about them is their adaptability. Depending on the matchup I can look for invisibility or veil of time if I need defense, or things like psychic shriek or technomancy for offense. Identifying what psychic powers are needed and when to use them is the most important part about learning to use this army, but librarians can plug the holes that black knights are missing like melee defense or quantity shooting.<br />
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The first niche unit of this list is the darkshroud, and it is a powerful unit. It folds like wet paper in melee and has a mostly useless gun, but it is nearly invulnerable to shooting that doesn’t ignore cover, is incredibly fast, and provides a bubble of defense for my army. When my list is completely relying on the black knights, the support for them that the darkshroud provides is worth the points (and it doesn’t take up a contested force org slot or require a tax).<br />
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The regular bikes fill a strange niche. The White Scars Combined Arms Detachment does not actually need to be in this list. I could easily take more black knights. However, in NOVA you give up 2 secondary points every game if you have no troops units. These regular bikes help prevent this and also give me a source of objective secured that are fairly durable. Generally I keep them far away or hold them in reserve so they can show up once the black knights are stuck in.<br />
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The attack bikes fill a similar role to the regular bikes. They exist to give me units that can be thrown away to screen for charges, suicidally grab objectives, or be held in reserve to stop my opponent from dropping cheap units into my deployment zone. The multi-meltas occasionally help out against vehicles as well.<br />
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Finally, the chaplain boosts my black knights in melee. While this sounds like a utilitarian option, black knights are at their weakest in melee, and taking a unit who improves their melee isn’t necessarily a boost I will always want or need. However, I already have 5 librarians in the list and the chaplain’s built-in invulnerable save is helpful against things like baleflamers or some melee weapons.<br />
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<i>I hope this list breakdown makes sense. I may do another later in the week with my friend’s Eldar army because it has more examples of different kinds of units. As always, let me know if you have any questions, and don’t forget about the <a href="http://talonsalight.blogspot.com/2016/10/november-painting-contestgiveaway.html"><span style="color: #45818e;">painting competition.</span></a></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-7856629557052149402016-10-28T12:42:00.000-07:002016-10-28T14:59:02.344-07:00November Painting Contest/Giveaway<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">November Painting Contest/Giveaway</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<i>This blog has grown so much and so fast that I can't help but want to thank you guys.</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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I really enjoy writing this blog, and from what I can tell, you guys really enjoy reading it! With the holidays coming up and to celebrate the recent strides the blog has taken, I'd like to hold a reader painting contest. Over the first 3 weeks of November, send to me (either on the blog or by reddit message), your best painted 3-6 Dark Angels (or successor chapter) models. If you've got a display board, or action scene to go with them feel free to use those, but I plan to judge the models strictly on the paint and coolness factor (conversions, basing, etc) with display being tiebreaker/bonus points.</div>
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Now here's the sticker: the winner will get a copy of <i>Space Hulk: Deathwing</i> for PC within a few days of it coming out IF we get entries from at least a dozen different people.</div>
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So to summarize:</div>
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<ul>
<li>3-6 models painted in Dark Angels or Successor Chapter colors. Alternatively, a single large model such as a Land Raider is acceptable</li>
<li>Any 40k models are fine (Forgeworld is ok, but not models specific to 30k), Characters, Vehicles, etc. but must be at least minimum-sized units (3 bikers, 5 tactical marines)</li>
<li>Must include before, process, and after pictures (3-4 pictures total is plenty)</li>
<li>All submissions must include a few lines (2 sentences to 2 paragraphs or so) explaining who these guys are and what makes them cool</li>
<li>Display boards/scenes are not necessary but may be worth bonus/tiebreaker points</li>
<li>All submissions must be in by Midnight EST Thursday, November 17th. I will announce the winner November 18th and post the winner along with runner-ups on the blog</li>
<li>The winner will receive a copy of <i>Space Hulk: Deathwing</i> for PC if we meet the criteria!</li>
<li>Feel free to contact me if you have questions</li>
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This is my thanks to you guys for making the blog so popular. I hope you'll continue reading and I can't wait to see your entries!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-29728466442432546052016-10-25T12:04:00.000-07:002016-10-25T18:19:45.217-07:00Talons Alight Fall ITC Tier List<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Fall ITC Tier List</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>This is a follow up to my post about a <span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a href="http://talonsalight.blogspot.com/2016/09/tournament-unit-tier-list.html">new kind of tier list</a>.</span> My own take at a tier list for ITC tournaments.</i></div>
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A few disclaimers about how this list works. I mostly wrote this list myself, with some collaboration with members of my club. This list is based off of units, formations, and detachments rather than codices, ordered by faction. I will give a rough explanation of each tier but not every unit in it. I judge each unit/formation/detachment based on its points cost (including how difficult it is to include in an army list), strengths, and (when applicable) other similar options. Also note I have not included Genestealer Cults as they are relatively new.<br />
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<b>S Tier:</b><br />
<i>Battle Company<br /><br />Scatterbikes, Skathach Wraithknight <br /><br />Daemonic Incursion</i><br />
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Probably no surprises here. These are all the cores of army lists that currently dominate the meta and have been strong in both ITC and NOVA. The Skathach leapfrogs the regular Wraithknight in ITC thanks to the hellstorm template not being ignored by invisibility.<br />
<b><br />A Tier:</b><br />
<i>Librarius Conclave, Drop Pods, War Convocation, Culexus Assassin<br /><br />Warp Spiders, Jetseer, Wraithknight, Warp Hunter, Riptide Wing, Decurion<br /><br />Fateweaver, Screamers, Fleshhounds, Lord of Change, Renegade Wyverns<br /><br />Void Shield Generator</i><br />
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Probably not many surprises here either. These are all incredibly powerful units, formations, and detachments, including two that are more than the sum of their parts. Otherwise these are units that fill in all the gaps for those meta-defining armies but are no-brainers to take on their own as well. Lots of Eldar here, to no one’s surprise.<br />
<b><br />B Tier:</b><br />
<i>Skyhammer Annihilation Force, Tigirius, Grav Centurions, Black Knights, Darkshroud Thunderwolf Cavalry, Company of the Great Wolf, Nemesis Dreadknight, Imperial Wyverns, Psykana Division, Pask (Punisher Tank), Tech Priest Dominus, Kastalan Robots, Inquisitor Coteaz, Imperial Knights (Castigator, Warden, Paladin, Crusader), Callidus Assassin<br /><br />Swooping Hawks, Vaul’s Wrath Battery, Wraithguard, Lynx, Corsair Raiding Party, Void Dreamer, Stormsurge, Marker Drones, Drone-Net, Canoptek Harvest, Necron Destroyer Cult, Necron Wraiths, Flyrant, Zhadsnark, Buzzgob’s Kustom Stompa<br /><br />D-Thirster, Burning Skyhost, Herald of Tzeentch, Murderhost, Renegade Medusa Battery, Cyclopia Cabal</i><br />
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This is probably going to always be my most populated part of the list. These are all the units you see sneaking into top-tier lists because they are strong or work very well with other top units. A couple of these units suffer from the state of the rest of their codex and could very well be A-tier if they were easier to take (Wyverns, Flyrants), while others are often crowded out by better options (Swooping Hawks, Corsairs). This is where we start to see the strength of all of the options Imperial armies have as well, as there are tons of units that work well and can be great when taken in the proper list. The two units I was on the fence about placing here were Thunderwolf Cavalry and the Cyclopia Cabal, but the weakness of stars in ITC compared to NOVA knocked them down from A-Tier.<br />
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<b>C Tier:</b><br />
<i>Space Marine Scouts, Space Marine Bikes, Azrael, Wulfen, Ironwolves, Brother-Captain Sternn, Deathwatch Veterans, Vulture Gunship, Tempestus Scions, Kataphron Destroyers, Xenos Inquisitor, St. Celestine<br /><br />Corpsethief Claw, Firebase Support Cadre, Optimized Stealth Cadre, Necron Immortals, Ghost Ark, Warboss<br /><br />Daemonic Tetrad, Pink Horrors, Nurglings, Warpflame Host, Furies, Black Crusade Detachment</i><br />
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The bottom competitive tier, this is mostly units you see filling a tax and do so because they’re cheap. Also I’ve included a few options that I think are decent units that don’t see a lot of use due to their price tag (Tetrad), the unpopularity of their army (Warbosses, Vultures, Corpsethief), or are relatively new (Black Crusade, Deathwatch).<br />
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<i>What do you guys think? I would especially appreciate feedback about the format and how it could be improved. Also note that this is a “living document” that I may update based on suggestions for the new couple weeks.</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-4444432366627092632016-10-23T07:45:00.003-07:002016-10-23T07:46:29.321-07:00First Tournament with the Orks. October 22, Game Castle, NHFormat: NOVA Missions, ITC FAQ<br />
Number of Players: 14<br />
Rounds 3<br />
Placing: 4th<br />
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I consider this a pretty big success for my first run with the Orks. Of the top-tier lists I have my hardest matchup against Eldar and my best matchup against Space Marines, with a 50-50 or so against Daemons depends on their army comp. Thus I played against 2 daemons players and none of the 3 marines players there.<br />
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<b>List:</b><br />
<i>Orks Combined Arms Detachment</i><br />
Zhadsnark (Warlord)<br />
Painboy, Bike<br />
Mek<br />
Mek<br />
4 Warbikers, Nob, Power Klaw<br />
4 Warbikers, Nob, Power Klaw<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
5 Lootas<br />
5 Lootas<br />
Buzzgob's Big Mek Stompa, Klaw, Kannon, 1 Supa Rokkit<br />
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<i>Orks Combined Arms Detachment</i><br />
Warboss, Bike, Klaw, Lucky Stikk<br />
Warboss, Bike, Headwoppa's Killchoppa<br />
Mek<br />
Mek<br />
10 Grotz<br />
10 Grotz<br />
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10 Grotz<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
Deffkopta, Rokkits<br />
5 Tankbustas<br />
Void Shield Generator, 2 Extra Shields</div>
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Game 1: Khorne Daemonkin</div>
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KDK are one of my tougher matchups from daemons because they're fearless, and this guy had Skarbrand and 2 D-thirsters. Luckily he split up the bloodthirsters and I was able to shoot one with the lootas, tankbustas, and stompa, while zhadsnark and a squad of bikes brought the other one down before it could swing. In a hilariously lucky roll I killed his heldrake with the lifta-droppa.</div>
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25-6 Win</div>
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Game 2: Imperial Knights</div>
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Oh boy. 5 knights. Going into melee with them with the stompa would probably be a mutual kill so I put everything under the void shield and made him come to me. I killed 3 knights on turn 2 at the cost of a few deffkoptas and a bike squad, and zhadsnark and his unit got a mutual kill with the 4th on turn 3, leave a single one to run to my backfield and grab an objective. The score didn't reflect it but I won this game pretty handily. </div>
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17-13 Win</div>
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Game 3: Tzeentch Daemons</div>
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I'm really sick of every tzeentch player getting that stupid +1 invuln warlord trait. I wanted to go second to make him come to me, but he won the roll-off and had me go first. I definitely clumped my units up a bit too much early and made it easy for him to hit extra units with the beam and novas. This was a close game and it ended with his dthirster getting a mutual kill with my stompa so I couldn't contest the relic. Had I contested the relic the last turn we would have tied and rolled over to victory points, which I would have won.</div>
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22-12 Loss</div>
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I'm really happy with how the army performed. I dodged both my worst and best matchups at this tournament but I got 3 good games that made me think a lot instead of having easy wins. I expect to run this list or a similar one for the next few tournaments I go to.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-8535660573930701302016-10-19T09:11:00.002-07:002016-10-19T09:56:50.599-07:00List Building Strategy: Analyzing Your Units and Avoiding Pitfalls<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">List Building Strategy: Analyzing Your Units and Avoiding Pitfalls</span></div>
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<i>This is essentially a follow-up to Play Your Game, and I’m going to discuss how to analyze different units when list-building.</i></div>
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I’ve had a few requests to expand on the list-building advice in <a href="http://talonsalight.blogspot.com/2016/09/play-your-game.html"><span style="color: #45818e;">Play Your Game</span></a><span style="color: #76a5af;">,</span> so I thought I could do a breakdown on different roles units fill. If you haven’t, you should definitely go and read that first. Think of these as guidelines for analyzing the units in your codex and figuring out if you want them in your list. A lot of this advice requires good self-analysis, and as always the best way to make a list is to build it and then ask for feedback, but this should help you get an idea of what units do when constructing the list in the first place.<br />
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Generalist units are any unit capable of threatening multiple enemy unit types, and are a surprisingly difficult unit to include in a list. Usually, the more targets a unit is capable of threatening, the higher a premium you pay for the unit. When including a unit that should be able to threaten several different targets, make sure that unit is serving an actual purpose in your army, and you’re ok with the usually steep price associated. Scatterbikes are a powerful generalist unit because they have weapons that can threaten anything, are fast, durable, and fill a troops slot. Sternguard veterans are an example of a bad generalist because their guns aren’t particularly good at killing anything (even though they can threaten a lot of targets), they’re slow (drop pod is pretty much required), and take up either an elites slot or require one of several very chunky formations. The middle ground would be Deathwatch veteran teams. They’re still slow and just a squishy marine statline like sternguard, but are troops choices and can take frag cannons which don’t just threaten a lot of targets, they can also reliably kill most enemy units.<br />
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When deciding whether or not to include a generalist unit, you need to ask yourself if you actually need it. Unless they’re incredibly powerful and utilitarian (like scatterbikes), you’ll usually be better served by a more niche unit. In the example of deathwatch, they’ll work well if you’re running a death star and want a unit you can drop into your opponent’s deployment zone to remove backline units that your star can’t touch. Those backline units may be anything from riptides to thunderfire cannons to pink horrors, so a generalist unit is a good pick.<br />
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Niche units are ones that fill a specific role, and/or threaten only a single enemy unit type, usually without any form of support. Marker drones are an example of a good niche unit. Marker drones are only as useful as the army they support, but the markerlights they throw down are a core part of almost every tau army. Assault centurions are an example of a terrible niche unit. They’re expensive, slow, don’t have many attacks, lack an invulnerable save, and have ranged weapons that won’t hurt the things they want to charge. For an ok niche unit example, we’ll use grotz. Grotz don’t do anything and die to a stiff breeze (or their own runtherd when they fail morale), but they’re cheap as chips and fill a troops tax, making them perfectly acceptable backfield objective holders.<br />
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When deciding to include a niche unit in your army, you need to ask yourself two questions. First, how good is this unit at doing its job? Grotz are great at hiding on backfield objectives, so if you need a troops tax that can do that, you’ve got your answer. Second, is this job even needed? Do you really need a space marine command squad in a drop pod with meltaguns when your local meta includes no heavy vehicles? Marker drones are in every tau list because every tau list needs markerlights, but not every army needs to be able to threaten every potential enemy unit.<br />
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Lastly, I’m going to touch on a slightly obscure topic, gimmick units. Gimmick units can act like a generalist or niche unit and require support from the rest of your army. The most important trait of a gimmick unit is the chance of it crashing and burning. A good gimmick unit is most popular deathstars. They usually rely on psychic powers and/or the unholy conglomeration of a dozen special characters, but they find their way into many top-tier lists. A bad gimmick unit is assault units in a flying transport (we’ve all at least thought about it). They rely on reserve rolls, at the absolute best won’t be in combat until turn 3, and will take a lot of damage if the flyer gets destroyed. Finally, a decent gimmick unit that can serve a purpose is a skyhammer annihilation force. With proper support, dropping eight grav cannons on your opponent turn one is amazing and threatens most enemy units. When used poorly or not properly supported, the assault marines will manage to be even more useless than they already were and the devastators won’t kill enough to make back their points.<br />
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There aren’t a lot of hard and fast rules to gimmick units when list-making. Usually you should start getting wary as soon as a single unit is sucking up a large amount of points or you’re bringing a lot of other units just to support it. Make sure it can give you a high enough return on investment for the points and resources it sucks up. If you can’t decide, more than anything else you should try the list out. If the gimmick consistently fails, go back to the drawing board.<br />
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<i>I hope this was a good follow-up to the original post. If there’s any topics you guys would like discussed, you have a list you’d like me to review, or you have questions or comments, feel free to let me know. Also if you haven’t already, please switch off ad-block on this site to help support the blog!</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-46906690351459036002016-10-14T07:30:00.000-07:002016-10-14T08:33:57.612-07:00Roadblocks: Playing Against Fast Armies<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Roadblocks: Playing Against Fast Armies</span></div>
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<i>I get a lot of comments asking me how to play against fast armies. Rather than answer them one by one I decided to write a tactics discussion about it.</i></div>
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First, let’s define “fast” units. For the purpose of this discussion, “fast” units are anything that can consistently move at least 12” without sacrificing firepower, and at least 24” if it does. That would mean bikes, jetbikes, and fast vehicles all fall under this category. This specifically precludes units with inconsistent movement or one-use abilities like jetpack infantry or the dreadknight, as well as deepstriking units. Cavalry will be our one grey area, because while they technically don’t meet those parameters, with fleet they can shoot up the board quickly and are usually melee units, so I may occasionally mention cavalry units, but for the most part they will be left out.<br />
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I’m going to split this discussion into three parts, general advice, advice for fast armies vs. fast armies, and advice for static armies vs. fast armies. <br />
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As far as general advice goes, there’s two rules for playing against fast armies. First, always watch their ranges. Fast units have threat ranges with their guns or potential charge ranges that you can measure out (or use the average of, for random things like charge range). This seems like basic advice but very often I see people deploy where my black knights can hit them turn 1, then complain about my army being “too fast”. You may need to throw some other units in the way to prevent things like charges, but you should constantly be paying attention to their range. The second rule is to try to limit their movement options. If you’re able to surround a fast unit, you can either block off its movement completely or force it to give up shooting/charging to get away from you. You can also bait them out, especially when they need to score objectives every turn like in maelstrom. This sounds easier said than done but I’ll explain it more in the sections below.<br />
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Playing against a fast army as a fast army is usually incredibly challenging, and some of the most fun games of 40k I’ve ever had. The hardest part of this is constantly thinking one to two turns ahead. Depending on where you move, you need to guess where he will, and what units need to be there so you can get into threat range before he’s even moved there. Fast armies are typically capable of completely avoiding each other if they want, so the army that is able to force their opponent’s hand usually gains the advantage. This is also a time where going second can be a boon. Getting a minimum of one turn of your opponent having to expose himself to score objectives is incredibly powerful in this kind of matchup. <br />
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Mostly, pay attention to each army’s strengths. All fast armies are not alike, and when you're both fast, you need to take advantage of your other strong points. As an example, in a matchup of black knights vs. scatterbikes, the eldar have vastly higher range and are a bit faster, while the black knights are more survivable and will pulp the eldar at close range/melee. So the game becomes the black knights trying to corner the scatterbikes or bait them out, while the eldar try to pick off the black knights from afar. Additionally, there are few armies that are ALL fast units. Try to pick off the stragglers like backline objective holders or ranged units like the warp hunter that’s in almost every eldar list. At worst you’ll force those units to run away, and at best you might draw out some of his faster units to try to protect it.<br />
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As a player with a slow army, you need to consolidate your strength. Understand that unprotected or isolated units are going to get picked off quickly, and that there is no way you are going to spread out and catch your opponent. Instead, focus on one side of the board or a couple of objectives. Use screening units to protect your important things, especially long ranged units that can hit most of the board. Deploy redundant units if your opponent has a shorter-ranged fast army, so if he moves up to kill a unit there is a second or third unit nearby to threaten him. The biggest mistake I see in these kind of matchups is opponents being too scared to lose units so they split up their force and get picked apart. Hold your ground and pick your battles, you aren’t going to kill all of your opponent’s units and you probably won't hold every objective, but you can force him into compromised positions once in awhile and take enough ground to beat him at the end.<br />
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<i>As always, feel free to ask questions and clarifications here or in the reddit comments. Also, as I mentioned early, there will now be ads on the site! The money from the blog goes right back into the hobby, so please switch off any ad-block software you have while on the blog, and let me know if the ads are intrusive or distracting.</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6187586801887922672.post-46307488700415536642016-10-12T08:25:00.001-07:002016-10-12T08:31:57.668-07:00Need for Speed: The Importance of Speed in 40K<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Need for Speed: The Importance of Speed in 40K</span></div>
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<i>I’m going to try and tackle both the importance of speed in 40k and how it came around. As always, these are meant more for competitive play, but all of this is applicable to casual games as well.</i></div>
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After switching from NOVA to ITC format for tournament games recently, I saw how difficult a time both formats have trying to create a balanced game for slow armies. ITC uses maelstrom missions which are usually only ½ to ⅓ about scoring objectives and the rest about killing enemies or holding your own deployment zone, while NOVA allows players to choose to score their objectives each turn rather than have to score all of their points at the end. The normal 40k rulebook is far less forgiving. Many maelstrom cards involve taking a specific objective or a number of them, and the eternal war missions are all score at the end. Neither of these mission types are particularly good for slow armies.<br />
<br />
Before I continue, the point of this post is not to complain about the prevalence of fast armies, or even say the game hasn’t moved in a good direction. Fast units give players options, and a battle between two fast armies is usually much more interesting and challenging than two gunlines shooting each other across the board all game. Static armies like leafblower guard or skyhammer marines tend to be all about tabling you before they can do anything, and those kind of games tend to be over quickly with one player being crushed. I like speed, and I’m glad it’s one of the focal points of the game at the moment.<br />
<br />
Back in the days of 4th edition, speed was usually a tradeoff with survivability. Melee was more prominent, so it was far more dangerous to get up in your opponent’s face, and armor saves in general went a lot further than they do now. 5th edition made vehicles much tougher, so we saw the age of mechanized infantry, where the game was all about shuttling your troops around and trying to crack each other’s transports. The addition of jink and the nerfing of vehicle survivability and melee in 6th and 7th edition is how we got where we are today. Bikes can now bring their own cover save with them, while vehicles have a hard time finding one while parked in a forest. Meanwhile, getting up in your opponent’s face early is much less threatening when they’re usually lacking in strong melee units.<br />
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The result of these changes has been, predictably, a meta shift. Every army with strong, fast units like Eldar, Space Marines, and Daemons have hopped to the top. Other armies have fallen behind or adapted, finding new or old units that can work in the meta of speed daemons. Tyranids and Necrons spamming flyrants and wraiths, respectively, are both partially a product of this emphasis on speed. Meanwhile, armies like Imperial Guard and Chaos Space Marines (cue whining) have fallen behind, lacking reliable fast units. </div>
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Emphasis on speed, along with changes to psychic powers, has also led to the rise of deathstars. Wolfstars aren’t just good because they’re hard to kill and killy themselves, they’re also fast. They can shoot up the board, fight you, then break off all of their characters to score objectives. This is why slower death stars like lychstar, inquisistar or ghazghkullstar never really caught on. You also see fewer deathstars in ITC (besides invisibility nerfs), because emphasis isn't just placed on speed, but on having many fast units so you can score you maelstrom every turn which makes armies like Eldar, Daemons, and Space Marines even stronger.<br />
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There isn’t really a bottom line to this post, in terms of a message. Speed is one of the key tenets of the game at the moment and it’s interesting to take a look at how we got here. Changes to the rules or tournament formats could very well make a shift back to slower armies, but only time will tell with that.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I’ve also begun putting advertisements on the site. If you’re a regular reader, please turn off your ad-block. Right now you’ll just see a few blank boxes while I set up, but once they’re ready they’ll be an important part of helping to keep the blog running.</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03967817703149003735noreply@blogger.com0