8th Edition - First Impressions of Chaos (or a small subset thereof)

Got round two of 8th edition in, and at my comrade's request I brought the chaos!  We tried out 1500 again.

World Eaters (Battalion Detachment)
Chaos Lord in Terminator Armor (Power Axe, combi-bolter)
Warpsmith
5 Chaos Terminators (axes, combi-bolters)
Hellbrute (Reaper autocannon, power flail)
10 Berserkers (power maul on leader)
-Rhino
10 Berserkers (power maul on leader)
-Rhino
10 Cultists (heavy stubber)
2 Heldrakes (flamers)

Imperial Scum (Battalion Detachment)
Creed(!)
Command Squad
2 Commissars
Vindicare Assassin
5 Terminators (Assault Cannon)
20 Conscripts
20 Conscripts
20 Conscripts
10 Militarum Tempestus Scions (4 meltaguns)
2 Hellhounds (hull multi-meltas)
Leman Russ (Nova cannon, 3x heavy bolters)
Leman Russ (Battle cannon, lascannon, 2x heavy bolters)

Scenario - 
Try to take the other guy's objective in his DZ - 3 points per objective; 1 point for first blood, 1 point for slaying the warlord, and Linebreaker (wind up in the other guy's DZ)

Short Version
I managed to cross the field, but just didn't have the attacks and bodies to counter it.  Heldrakes ended up with first-turn charges, burning the command squad to death (largely for first blood) and charging hellhounds (because everything else was screened).  One of the helldrakes ended up getting a good angle on a commissar and smoked it as well.

I held off on turn 1 teleportation assaults, mostly because he had more units and could react to whatever I did.  Maybe that wasn't the best call - but the Hellbrute managed to handle the terminators (turns out that seven attacks with solid AP and 2 damage per swing is kinda painful for terminators).  Seriously though, terminators with rapid fire 2 combi-bolters (or storm bolters) can put out an absurd number of shots.

Also - the definition of hilarity is charging with Rhinos (...be sure it's not something that'll murder it with overwatch, mind you).  The enemy has to waste time breaking off, and you get extra distance.

End Result
We called it around turn 4 - I was down to cultists, warpsmith, and the Hellbrute, while he still had a conscript blob and a half, and some beat-up tanks.  I wasn't going to make it across the field, and chances were good he'd be able to shoot me off my own objective.

Lessons -

1) Murdering Characters is Important - 
Some characters offer nastier buffs than others - plenty of guys offer re-rolls on 1's (or re-rolls in general), but others offer much more significant buffs - like commissars making sure that if you do fail morale, you lose only one guy.

So, there are two ways to kill characters at range without tons of guns, given the whole "may not shoot characters unless they're the closest target" restriction -

i) Snipers
If they can see it, they can shoot it.

ii) Fast units
Some units (IE - Helldrakes, or perhaps something like a Coldstar Commander) have the speed to get around screens.  It depends on the type of screen (are they hiding out of LoS, or behind a unit?), but if you've got the speed to get around it and make sure the character is the closest...suddenly it's a legal target.

2) Transport Charges!
Remember that your transports can charge.  It's a potential extra 2d6 of movement, and on the bright side your transport does get to get a few (hilariously ineffectual) attacks in.  But there are a few caveats -

i) Beware overwatch
You are going to give the opponent a chance to take overwatch shots.  Be especially mindful of folks with S5+ auto-hitting weapons - even moreso if you've taken hits on the way in.

ii) Beware of the other guy's ability to punch you
Charging other tanks is one thing.  Charging a bunch of shooty troops probably won't kill you either.  But, you may not want to charge things like Dreadnoughts or monstrous melee creatures.

iii) Beware of the target's friends
So, some folks have large armies - and while your charge target may break off, you may be very close to other folks with guns.  Who will then shoot you.

3) Quantity is its own quality (sometimes)
i) Screens
Having a heap of bodies is useful as a screen, if nothing else - plenty of folks have the ability to drop troops on your head, but they also have to be 9" away.  If you've got enough bodies, you've got board control from deep strikes, and an expendable charge screen.

ii) Filling in Force Org charts
Also if the bodies are cheap enough, you can get into a Battalion Detachment easily - chances are you'll have a few buff HQs you want to take.  +3 CP can be quite useful.

iii) Buffs
Most blobs of bodies can seriously benefit from buffs. (assuming the other guy doesn't snipe your HQs) Examples include -
-Conscript Blobs - Commissars get around morale issues, and guard orders like First Rank Fire! Second Rank Fire! get absolutely ridiculously with 20+ guns benefiting from said orders.
-Pox Walkers - add Typhus (+1S, +1T) for durability and a Noxious Blightbringer (roll 2d6 for the advance and take the higher) and suddenly they turn into a more dangerous screen.

Addendum - most of the armies now have access to large quantities of body - if they aren't explicitly part of your faction (IE - Space Marines) then you've probably got a faction keyword in common with them (IE-- IMPERIUM)

4) Army Size - pros/cons
The more units you have, the less likely you are to have first turn.  However, you've also got the ability to react to the other guy - drop some less-crucial units first, let them make decisions, and then once the other side deploys fully...you get to react to that.

5) Math-hammer got different
This will be a follow-on post, but there are some new dimensions to math in this game - giving everything T and W values (and sometimes a degrading statline) provides for a much finer gradient of durability.

Back to it in 8th - First Impressions of 'nids, Templar and Guard

So I'm a minute behind folks, but I had to open up some time and dig the old guard out. Well, except for the celebratory Tyrannofex and Tervigon models.  My old buddy and I got together and threw down.  Lists were below -

Tyranids - Battalion Detachment
Tervigon
Tyranid Prime (whip/sword, devourer)
Broodlord
3 Hive Guard (impaler cannons)
3 Venomthropes
20 Termagants (10 devourer, 10 fleshborer)
20 Termagants (10 devourer, 9 fleshborder)
7 Genestealers
Tyrannofex (fleshborer hive)
2x Carnifexes (each w/ 2x Deathspitters, mace tail)

Imperial Forces - Battalion, Superheavy Detachments
Chaplain Grimaldus
IG Commander
2 Commissars
Infantry Squad (Grenade launcher, heavy bolter)
50 Conscripts
Crusader Squad (10 Initiates, 10 neophytes, flamer, powerfist, power sword)
Leman Russ (battle cannon, lascannon, 2 heavy bolters)
Baneblade (additional 4x lascannon, 4x twin heavy bolter)

Scenario - Retrieval

Short Version -
I should've brought more big guns, maybe skipped an HQ choice - turns out that Baneblades HURT.  The Venomthropes bought me a couple turns of defense versus shooting, but I didn't bring enough long-range shooting to cripple it.  By the end of turn 3, I was sitting on one objective, and he handily had two, between the Baneblade and the tattered remains of the Crusader squad.

Impressions on 8th
Overall, I'm a fan.  The rules got streamlined, but thanks to the myriad org charts in the main book (and the faction keywords) you still have some solid freedom in how you build your forces.  Command Points are pretty useful - we both burned through the bulk of ours in three turns, but part of that is getting used to them.

Scenarios with the alternating deployment are going to take some getting used to - horde armies will generally NOT have first turn unelss they can seize.

Tyranid Impressions
Tervigon - it pretty much needs to go along with a couple blobs of termagants.  Replenishing a heap of 'em is nice, and re-rolls to 1's on shooting mean that you end up with about a 60% hit rate, which is great alongside devourers.  That, and The Horror is HILARIOUS, especially alongisde venomthropes.

Tyranid Prime - cheapest synapse HQ choice.  It's the buff HQ for warriors, which I didn't take.

Broodlord - he's disgusting in combat, he gives 'stealers a +1 in melee (effectively bumping them to WS 2+) and is a psyker.

Hive Guard - bring impaler cannons.  S8, AP-2, and 1D3 damage without needing LOS?  Give 'em synapse support, sit back, and start knocking wounds off vehicles.

Venomthropes - MVPs.  -1 to hit at range is huge.  Expect them to draw fire, but a minimum-sized brood WILL absorb some fire.  I think these are going to be in most 'nid lists.  I suppose they'd be ok in melee, assuming they lived long enough to get there.

Termagants - They're cheap, and need to be brought in bulk.  Devourers are a solid upgrade if you're gonna bring a large group; otherwise they're basically chumps with pistols.  I'd go for either a large group with some guns hidden in it.  I'd think about taking them as a tiny MSU for a troops tax, but rippers are cheaper.

Genestealers - they're still nasty, and they're cheap.  However, I didn't bring enough of them to make a difference this time out.

Tyrannofex - fleshborer hives are hilarious, and would be even more hilarious if I ever had a good chance to stand still and fire it twice.

Carnifexes - These guys aren't super-durable - but they have some options.  I think you're either going pure melee (and deciding whether crushing claws are worth the penalty to hit), volume of fire (grab devourers or deathspitters; the big difference is AP and a point of strength), or big gun + little guns.

Black Templar Impressions
Grimaldus - this guy (and chaplains in general) are pretty nasty with re-rolls to hit; Grim gives Black Templars extra attacks on 6s.  Also, gives 'em LD9, which is pretty useful for guys that are running across the field.

Crusader Blobs - These guys can crank out some attacks, what with chainswords/combat blades and pistols.  They can take a heavy weapon or power weapon, but with 1 base attack (and the fact they're probably moving) I'm not sure if I'd use this option.  Not sure what special I'd choose, they're all nasty.  They do need some good leadership, though - and Grimaldus provides that.  You can always go for the smaller squads and take a heavy and special, too.

Imperial Guard Impressions
IG Commander - command squads got a re-work; now if you want orders (and a cheap HQ) it's just one dude running around yelling at guardsmen and telling them to be a little more useful.  See also: sniper bait.

Commissars - their big trick is making sure that your guys don't run - mostly by shooting one of them in the morale phase.  You get one per elite slot.

Infantry Squads - so, now you're stuck with 10 guys with a special and heavy.  It simplifies things from the army-building side, but you're less durable.  They're cheap, and probably exist to sit on an objective with heavy weapons.

Conscripts - oh, they're gonna die by the fistful.  And a commissar is going to shoot one of 'em a turn.  Then again, these guys exist to fire off great heaps of lasgun shots.  The larger squads are also unlikely to ever grab cover.  Also, seriously? GET A COMMISSAR.  Because otherwise you're gonna remove fistfuls of these guys every turn if they're between the enemy and an objective.

Leman Russ - big guns, hard to kill - harder if it stays at long range.  Battle cannons are one of the many former blast weapons that now fire a random number of shots that hurt.  It makes them nasty against larger targets...

Baneblade - OUCH.  So, the main gun is a 3-damage gun that fires 2d3 shots a turn.  What used to be a pie plate of doom is now a humongous anti-tank weapon.  The demolisher cannon is its little brother - and you can still buy sponsons.  The tank puts out a TON of shits, especially since what used to be twin-linked is now just more shots.  That being said, note that the tank does NOT have a rule that lets it move and shoot heavy weapons without penalty.  BUT, if you get it into melee, it can disengage with penalty, shoot at things in melee, or just hit them with tank treads at like S9 or so.

As a former super-heavy, note that it has a heap of wounds, but after you've done a little more than a dozen wounds to it, it drops from BS4+ to BS5+, at which point it's kinda sad.

Next Steps for 'nids
1) Get more venomthropes
2) test Trygons - choosing when to arrive from reserves is awesome
3) test warriors - synapse is extra important for shooters, since instinctive behavior cuts down your options for shooting/charging
4) Exocrines are gonna be fun

Swarmlord & Friends: Abbreviated After Action

I apologize, as there would've been pictures had I had any brainpower left after dealing with a day of epic-level stupidity at work. I just have no words to describe it adequately; someone talking about training suggested a mentorship for letting the new guys learn 'the why behind the what.' I have to say that knowing the 'why' is kind of like being the protagonist in one of Lovecraft's shorts: the knowledge brings only pain and insanity.

So. That aside, here was the situation:

'Nids
Swarmlord + 3 Whip-packing Guard
3 Hive Guard
3 Hive Guard
Deathleaper
10 Termagants
11 Termagants
Tervigon w/ Onslaught, Catalyst
Tervigon w/ Onslaught, Catalyst
8 Genestealers w/ Poison
Trygon w/ Furious Charge
Trygon w/ Furious Charge

Vs

Imperial Guard
Co. Command w/ Meltas, Vox, Chimera (laser/flamer)
Co. Command w/ Vox
Chimera Melta Vets
Infantry Platoon
'toon command, vox
20 guys w/ 2 Lascannons, Commissar, couple power weapons, vox
30 guys w/ commissar, 3 autocannons, some power weapons, vox
Special Weapons Squad w/ flamers
Heavy Weapons Team w/ missile launchers
Hellhound w/ hull MM
Hellhound w/ hull MM
Leman Russ w/ Sponson bolters, pintle stubber, lascannon
Leman Russ w/ Sponson bolters, pintle stubber, lascannon
Leman Russ Demolisher w/ hull flamer

Scenario
Capture and Control, Pitched Battle Deployment

The Battle in Brief
IG won the first go. He deployed an objective in a corner, screened by his footbound infantry. Russes in central deployment, with melta-vets and a hellhound on either flank. I put my objective across from his, and hung on the side across from him. Hive Guard on one side and in the middle; and a fairly even split of assets past that. I failed to seize.

Turns 1 and 2
I have to admit that off the bat, he had some awesome shooting and I couldn't roll a save worth a crap. I lost two hive guard, a couple wounds off the Swarmlord, and took some damage here and there. Notably, the Hive Guard had to Onslaught into position in the middle, flub their shooting horribly, and lose two of them to counter-fire from a hellhound, the demolisher, and melta. I only really suppress ONE of the bloody hellhounds...ouch.

But, come my turn two, Swarmlord's still around...and I get everything. The Genestealers appear on the correct flank (the one with assault targets as opposed to the flank waaaay out there with nothing to hit) and promptly grab themselves a 20-man + commissar squad (Deathleaper had penalized the Commissar's leadership and at least tried to work that angle...). Punchline: due to a Trygon scattering to an inch of that squad, he couldn't pile in for crap. Ouch.

Insult to injury: he gets a hellhound and a chimera hull flamer into termagants; kills a whopping 4 out of 10, between rolling a heap of 1's with the hellhound and the other squad makes some awesome feel no pain rolls.

Turns 3 and 4
Sadly, he'd committed his melta assets too early to harming the Swarmlord and one flank's hive guard. I managed to take those out in the previous turns, so he had about a turn before the Trygons went to town on me. He managed to shoot the crap out of them, but kill neither. His commissar takes out another genestealer, and they hold on turn 3. Punchline: he holds out as the last man on HIS turn, staring at four genestealers (...yes, he killed the other four in the squad) and a Trygon that are Not Amused.

The other Trygon ate itself a russ, and grabbed a position for the assault on his objective.

My turn 3 gets gruesome; his stuff starts dying. Deathleaper popped out behind the Vendetta, hit a shot, and wrecked it. Thank you, flesh hooks. The special weapons team managed to flub their morale check, and my original 11 termagants had more or less made it across the field.

By his turn four, he's got a stunned hellhound looking at a hungry Tervigon, a pinned squad of flamers looking at an advancing group of Termagants, a lone missile launcher looking at 8 angry termagants, my objective firmly in hand, and the four genestealers, two tervigons, and Swarmlord looking at his objective hungrily. I have two hive guard left; one of them survived a heap of shots only to go down to an exploding hellhound.

As the store was planning to close, we called it at the end of my turn four. I had two Trygons into a 30-man squad suffering from Paroxysm, and four genestealers had cleaned his other command squad off his objective and were contesting it (might have had it after pile-in moves). Deathleaper had pegged his other Russ and tear off the cannon.

Thoughts on the New (to me) Units
Swarmlord and Buddies
Frankly, 3 tyrant guard are pretty much essential; against gun-heavy lists if they want him dead, you'll need all the protection you can get (and Catalyst). He made it to turn two by the skin of his teeth, and then they had more immediate threats. My opponent DID target him explicitly to try to screw up my reserves plan.

Against Guard, honestly, a bunch of S6 preferred-enemy insta-gib attacks that force re-rolls on invulnerable saves is just a little bit of overkill in assault.

Deathleaper
This is the first time I've fielded him, and I can see the merit. Admittedly, all he really did was make one guard squad Ld8 stubborn instead of Ld9. I think I might have played him conservatively, but the thing is that assaulting the 20-30 man squads is not gonna work, and the missile team can insta-gib him. Threatening rear shots on vehicles is reasonably nasty, but I think it's just a matter of target selection this time around.

Onslaught on Tervigons
Catalyst will still be my go-to power. I went with catalyst for two reasons:
1) get Swarmlord into position while still being able to use his powers
2) extra range on Hive Guard

I feel justified on number two as I've got all of two shooty units, and I need to get as much use as possible out of them. If I can get another turn of shooting out of them because of extra movement (or making up for a craptastic Difficult Terrain roll) then it's worth it. In this army, the Swarmlord is probably gonna get Catalyst, so that leaves an Onslaught to hand out.

Trygons
Getting them in early helps, and getting them in with as many threats as possible helps. Coming in on a 3+ helps, and the genestealers are also a credible threat, especially if the enemy's close to the flanks. Still, if I get them in early, they'll do damage. The enemy gets...one turn...to drop them.

Genestealers
Frankly, the Swarmlord makes them work a little better. I get the reserves bonus (well, it's mandatory under Alien Cunning) but I also get a re-roll on the side they arrive. Since there's normally a 66% chance of making it in on the desired side, Swarmlord bumps that up to 88%.

Poison is useful for boosting lethality, pure and simple. 'Stealers have S4 and I6; S4 is really the place to be for poison outside of S6 (as S4 + poison on 4+ translates to 75% chance to wound per hit against most infantry) and you don't really NEED I7. You do get a slight perk as it gives you another chance to see a rend on toughness-based targets. It translates to about a 25% chance to score a rend per hit if you get the re-roll.

Bottom line, though, with the Swarmlord the outflank becomes a serious consideration, because your enemy has to assume that you WILL get them on the correct side more often than not. The 'stealers force your enemy to avoid keeping stationary vehicles close to the edge (...not necessarily an issue unless it's a gun platform) and make sure everyone's got terrain in the way. It doesn't make them an auto-include in the army, but I think a unit CAN be a performer.

Overall
Honestly, both me and my opponent were a little out of practice, so there's that to factor in. The play was not top form, and the dice were a bit wonky (average on the long run, but some wild swings on the individual rolls, like my early 3+ save fails and inability to fail later on).

I think the Swarmlord works okish with this setup. I do miss having three groups of hive guard for the ability to split fire (both incoming and outgoing). I think Deathleaper is much nastier when I'm screwing over psykers. I think the Swarmlord IS a bit hit-or-miss, as sometimes that kind of melee killing power is overkill.

Certainly, Trygons + Genestealers can throw someone on the back foot, and if the enemy commits assets too early, well, they get hurt.

Other experiences with the Swarmlord?

Special thanks to Chumbalaya for recommending genestealers on that count...

Eldar 1850 (Bizarro) against Assaulty Guard

Well, I'd intended to take pictures of this battle. I'd also intended to bring the camera, but realized about halfway to the FLGS that the camrea was in my room. Too late, now. The previous night I'd decided on trying some wonky stuff with the Eldar. I present to you my newly-christened 'Bizarro' Eldar list. The 'bizarro' tag's going to denote doing stuff I haven't really considered before. Why? Educational potential. Part of the game is experimenting; if we don't try new things we'll never learn stuff. Without furthoer bloviation:

Bizarro Eldar: Jain Zar edition, 1850
HQ
Jain Zar [190]
Eldrad [210]
Elites
5 Fire Dragons [80]
Wave Serpent w/ TL Lance, Shuriken Cannon [145]
5 Fire Dragons [80]
Wave Serpent w/ TL Lance, Shuriken Cannon [145]
7 Harlequins; All w/ Kisses but for Power Weapon Troupe Leader, and a Shadowseer [200]
Troops
5 Dire Avengers [60]
5 Dire Avengers [60]
5 Dire Avengers [60]
Wave Serpent w/ TL Lance, Shuriken Cannon [145]
Fast Attack
Vyper w/ 2x Shuriken Cannon [60]
Vyper w/ 2x Shuriken Cannon [60]
Heavy Support
Falcon w/ Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon, Holo-field [175]
Falcon w/ Scatter Laser, Shuriken Cannon, Holo-field [175]
Total: 1845

Assaulty Guard
HQ
Co. Command Squad w/ Straken, 2x Bodyguards, 3 Meltaguns
-Chimera w/ Dozer Blades, Multi-laser, heavy flamer
Priest w/ Eviscerator (attached to Straken)
Elites
8/9 man Psyker Battle Squad
Troops
Platoon 1
Platoon Command w/ Vox
30 Guardsman; 2 meltaguns, 3 power weapons, Commissar w/ Power Weapon
Platoon 2
Platoon Command w/ Vox
30 Guardsman; 2 meltaguns, 3 power weapons, Commissar w/ Power Weapon
Fast Attack
Hellhound w/ Smoke, Hull multi-melta
Hellhound w/ Smoke, Hull multi-melta
Heavy Support
Leman Russ w/ Hull Lascannon, HB Sponsons
Leman Russ w/ Hull Lascannon, HB Sponsons
LR Demolisher w/ Hull Heavy Flamer
(Or something like that, thereabouts)

The Setup
Table Quarters
Mission: Capture and Control
Random Game Length

Decoding the Amazing Hi-Res Battle Captures
(Or, Sorry I Forgot My Camera, Guys)
Grey is building area terrain or rocks; the black circles are taller rocks and the black lines are buildings, some of which have windows/roofs.

Deployment

Deployment for the Guard player takes time; he sets up about 80 infantry. The big green blobs are infantry; P1/P2 are Platoon Command, the AG1-2 are Assault Guard 30-man units. The Olive-Drab thinks marked LR or D are the Russes or the Demolisher, respectively. The 'HH' are Hellhounds, and the C is Straken's Chug.

That little H in the bottom? That's the Harlequin squad and Jain Zar. All the other Eldar are in reserve.

Blue X marks the objective spot.

Guard have first turn; Eldar don't really seize the initiative (or care to).

Turn 1

Guard go first; they advance a bit. Mmm, speedy little hellhounds. No one sees the clowns as they sort of shuffle to the side a bit.

Turn 2

Guard advance more. Guard fail to see the angry space clowns.

Eldar roll for reserves. Eldar recieve:
-Both Falcons (Blue DA, Blue DAE is Eldrad's)
-A Vyper (...the V. You had to ask?)
-Both Fire Dragon Serpents (purple FD)

The clowns do the shuffle. The Vyper pumps six Shuriken Cannon shots into the Hellhound, and...stun it. The Falcons open up on the lighter Guard armor. A Hellhound explodes violently, and Straken's ride rattles around a bit. Lances fail to do much to Russes; maybe they shake one.

Turn 3

Guard respond angrily; after the smoke clears one Fire Dragon squad is now minus a ride and two members. The tenacious Vyper that had parked on the Hellhound's butt gets stunned and immobilized. More advancing occurs.

Harlequins start positioning to launch a charge in the next turn or so, and get towards cover. Return fire does little; the Hellhound is once again stunned and loses its multi-melta. A second Vyper arrived and failed to contribute much. Falcons fail, probably because one was stunned and the other can't see better than a '3' to damage AV12. The remaining Fire Dragon's Wave Serpent advances, and looks menacing in preparation to kick out meltagunners.

Turn 4

The Imperial Guard advance again. The Russes do some shooting and immobilize the not-so-menacing-now Wave Serpent. Straken's Chug advances and fires ineffectually at Falcons.

One Fire Dragon squad gets out of its Wave Serpent home and advances on the nearest-to-it Russ. It stuns it, and thanks to the movement earlier only one meltabomb sticks, which shakes it. Ooo-RAH! The other squad finally nukes the Hellhound. Vypers twiddle their thumbs and are briefly glad they're not THAT scary to Russes. Straken's Russ explodes when a Falcon's pulse laser finds its target. Straken's squad shrinks a bit. Stupid Fearless-granting Straken.

Harlequins ponder assaulting the large doomed squad, but Jain stubs her toe on terrain and gets a whopping '3' on Move Through Cover. Harlequins backpedal a bit.

Turn 5

The guard advance more, readying themselves for a run at my home objective. The Psykers finally get a power off, and they Weaken Resolve my Fire Dragons just before said dragons get lit up by lasguns. The Russes manage to shake the non-Eldrad Falcon on their turn. The Russes fail to do anything spectacular with large cannons.

The Eldar turn...
That LAST FREAKING WAVE SERPENT arrives, and tank-shocks into the guys near my home objective. The Falcon (without Eldrad) does likewise, and proceeds to be Death or Glory'ed into oblivion. Whoops. In my eagerness, I also forget to use Eldrad's powers. Fail for me.

The Fire Dragons get on a hilltop, draw a bead on a Russ at the edge of their 12", and manage to explode it...one inch radius. Ah well. That's been par for the course for the explosions here.

The recently-disembarked Dire Avengers pass their pinning test, and gun down Straken's whole squad. So long, preacher-man.

A Vyper makes a run towards their objective, hoping to contest it somehow.

The Harlequins and Jain make it to assault, and massacre half the squad in exchange for a wound on Jain, and a dead Harlequin. I missed about 3 Harliquin attacks and 1 Jain attack on that batch, so apparently Eldrad WAS kind of watching over me. Go figure. Insult to injury comes when the guard squad tries to break, only to have a Commissar pop a sarge and instruct two remaining sergeants and a dog solider that THEY ARE STAYING HERE.

Then, I err, and let my Dire Avengers assault Straken. They killed him. Three wounds, three failed saves. Their Crowning Moment of Awesome was induced by me screwing up and forgetting they ought not have been able to do that. Shame on me, as it truly WAS an honest mistake at the time. Probably would have gotten them killed next turn.

However, there is no turn 6; there's a '1' for the 'Continue, Y/N?' roll.

End Results:
1 Objective to 1 Objective
Tie On Objectives

Victory Points:
Guard Kills:
1 Fire Dragon Squad
1 Wave Serpent
1 Damaged Wave Serpent
1 Damaged Vyper
1 Falcon
Total: 503

Eldar Kills:
LRBT w/ Las, HB Sponsons
2 Hellhounds
1 Chimera w/ Dozer Blade
1/2 Straken's Squad
1/2 Large Assaulty Guard Squad
1 Priest w/ Eviscerator
Total: 777

End Result: Eldar Moral Victory

Final Thoughts
As usual, why do Eldar have suicide troops? Dying species, need for Fire Dragons, high mortality rate of fire dragons...you get the idea.

Props go to the surviving Fire Dragons; a Russ at 12" is long odds. Props go to the Dire Avengers who WOULD have killed Straken, given the chance. By far it's the coolest thing I've ever done illegaly in a game. We all screw up; this was apparently my time to do so. I'm just glade it wasn't a game-changing foul-up.

Had he brought another Guard scoring unit, I might've had more trouble, as I managed to handle one large assaulty squad. Two is a bit...much. It would've made the game more interesting.

Tank Shocks have some more use than I'd given them credit for. I'll have to add that to my repertoire. I think I'm a bit of a latecomer to that realization, but it's never too early to learn.

Footslogging Harlies aren't so bad. The Troupe Leader is certainly worth it, as the power weapon helped out. He killed 5 on his own on the charge. Mmm, furious charge S4 vs. T3 opponents.

The Phoenix Lords need invulnerable saves something fierce. Jain's a butcher, and preferable for her plasma grenades/banshee mask. None of the others really have something they can offer to that end. I might run Fuegan in this build, just for the hell of it since I'm cobbling one together.

I have the faint urge to get more Phoenix Lords, or to model more. I think my Prince Yriel scratchbuild is in danger of becoming Jain on a permanent basis. This is fine, as it's more like Princess Yriel (based on a Banshee Exarch body, y'know. I got some of the army from a guy who converted them to be female, so I might as well run with it).

I'm not sure Eldrad was 100% necessary. On the other hand, this army wanted a couple Guides, a Doom, and could use Fortune as well. I wonder if that's an army-building requirement with an eye towards psychic powers, or Eldrad just IS that useful. New flash, Eldrad is useful. Man, I hope that's not really a news flash for Eldar players. Just, once I get close to a 3-power Farseer, I might as well drop the extra 30-40 points and get three powers in a turn and all five powers.

I still feel short on anti-tank power. The DA Serpent was meant to add an extra lance and scoring unit to the army. Lances are still not necessarily enough, and even guided Pulse Lasers fall a bit short when it comes to, y'know, stopping AV14.

Vypers aren't so bad when they're not such a priority. Then again, I still have to get rear shots, and was handed one of those, so yeah. Still, they're not bad. I think they might've done more good than the Fire Prism would have.

Comments, feedback, cries of 'cheater' welcome.

Guard, For the Hell of It

I've been kicking it around, and I think this is how I'd roll guard if I were going to roll them. This is as much about having fun with them as it is killing stuff, as I think I've made compromises on effectiveness. But, what the hell. This is one of those potential long-term lists that's on a burner somewhere, money and time and inclination pending.

Guard Melee Special Fun Sauce 1850
HQ
Company Command Squad [195]
-Straken
-2x Meltagun
-Astropath
Chimera w/ Multi-laser, hull heavy flamer [55]

2x Priests w/ Eviscerators [120]

Elite
Psyker Battle Squad, 8 Psykers [100]
Chimera w/ Multi-laser, hull heavy flamer [55]

Psyker Battle Squad, 8 Psykers [100]
Chimera w/ Multi-laser, hull heavy flamer [55]

Rambo [65]

Troops
Platoon 1
'toon command w/ Vox [35]

Squad 1 [120]
-Power Weapon for Sarge
-Commissar w/ Power Weapon
-Meltagun
-Vox

Squad 2 [70]
-Power Weapon
-Meltagun

Squad 3 [70]
-Power Weapon
-Meltagun

Platoon 2
'toon command w/ Vox [35]

Squad 1 [120]
-Power Weapon for Sarge
-Commissar w/ Power Weapon
-Meltagun
-Vox

Squad 2 [70]
-Power Weapon
-Meltagun

Squad 3 [70]
-Power Weapon-Meltagun

Squad 4 [65]
-Autocannon
-Vox

Squad 5 [65]
-Autocannon
-Vox

Fast Attack
Vendetta w/ Heavy Bolter Sponsons [140]

Vendetta w/ Heavy Bolter Sponsons [140]

3 Sentinels w/ Autocannons [105]

Total: 1850

It's a draft. It's mostly a case of "Man, that looks cool to do." So, two melee mobs, meltaguns in 'em, priests, and they go 'front towards enemy'. Two autocannon squads sit in back, likely with a 'toon command. Straken and the other 'toon command can provide order support for the advancing boys.

Psykers, vendettas, sentinels and autocannon boys do their best to knock you out of your transport. And once you're out...say hello to a 32-man guard squad in melee, or if all else fails, that's a crap-ton of dice from 'First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire'. Maybe Straken WON'T have to do it all himself.

Rambo's in there because I want to model him. Same with Straken. The rest flows from there, and Vendettas and Sentinels are just fun models. I'm almost tempted to cut out the Chimeras for the psykers just to throw in more tanks elsewhere, but at this point I'm looking at troops and such.

The other thought is to trade off the psyker battle squads for a DH Inquisitorial Retinue, and then there's about 143 points to spend. A part of me would throw in an assassin just because it'd complement Rambo (Hey, Callidus means it's a his 'n' hers deal, right? Right.)

Anyway, critique/feedback welcome, but I'm more looking into what would be fun/cool to do, or neat models. I know there are probably more effective ways to roll it, like melta-vets, but...it's GUARD! And ASSAULT! And Ride of the Valkyries in the background! Come on.

Guard Conversion Brainstorms

Ok...well, the pictures ended up heftier than I'd hoped, but what the hell. I've been brainstorming and getting the itch to go Guard. I've been kicking around a few ideas for a conversion-heavy army, and here they are:

Gears of War series: Locust

The Locust in Gears of War are, I think, a fine human-wave type army. I would personally suggest that the Gears would be better done as a Plague Marine oriented army, since Gears just refuse to die from small arms fire. Just repeated flesh wounds, y'know?

The Locust, though, might be done with the Catachan range. The real trick would be mottling up the bodies enough, as Locust tend to be pale, hairless, and have what are almost scales. If you want to do heavy weapon teams you can do two regular guys, or roll with Boomers for the heavy weapons. I mean, the Boomer is essentially a one-man heavy weapon team, and the Boomer would be fine as a two-wound creature.

For Locust Comissars, you could go with the priest types. Vets could be done up to look like Theron Guards. Skorge, boss of game two, could easily do justice for Iron-Hand Straken's statline, as Skorge cuts a tank in half.

Tanks would be up in the air for conversions, but the Locust seem to prefer some kind of mind-control type of helmets on creatures in lieu of something like a gas-belching tank. I think Sentinels, for example, would do well as Reavers on the ground. Other tanks could be done as
other types of creatures, and while the Brumak sort of suggests a Russ, it more suggests a Titan.

I would probably default to the Tyranid range to modify into tanks. The good old Carnifex kit and a heap of scything talons would probably do it. Tap into some Guard bits for the guns and graft a guy onto it...and it's all good. Consider a square base for determining the facings and such, and I think it could be something worth investigating.

The Helghast out of Killzone 1-2

I can't say I'm the one that came up with the idea first, as there are at least a few folks out doing it: go check out Itkovian's Not Yet Done for a look.

The Helghast aren't that intensive to pull off, as the minimum is a head swap. However, swapping up the guns and adding in coats will do the trick nicely, I think. I like them just because the Helghast are basically human-wave types with a super-man complex, as, y'know, they colonized a crap planet, dealt with the radiation, and turned out pretty nasty for it.

Adeptus Mechanicus

What can I say? I've been an AdMech fan since I can remember. I imagine they'd have access to most of the Guard's type of hardware, but it might look different. You get an excuse to throw down a rust-red paint job on everything, though I think they would be a nearly fully-mechanized guard army. Melta-vets in Chimeras, and just pick the rest of your tanks.

I think the AdMech army could get as heavily or lightly converted as you want. On a basic level? Tech-priest converted for company command, and Cadians or Kasrkin painted in Admech colors, tanks in rust-red, cogs for icons, and all that.

Or, you could go all-out and scratch-design vehicles, and pull in a variety of ranges.


Other more minor ideas

-Chaos Guard (as lavish as you want; go check out 7+ to Hit for some renegade guard pics.)

-Adeptus Arbites (boys in blue mobilize!)

Mech Eldar v2 test, and Warp Spiders

I got in a couple more tests of Mech Eldar v2.2. One round was against Jon's Guard, and the other Xardian's foot Chaos.

Vs Guard
Table Quarters, Dawn of War. (Whoops. Braindeath in memories.)

He got first turn, so...I promptly held everything in reserve. Most of it came in on round two; the rest on round three.

He was running a Manticore, a pair of two-Russ squads (one with heavy bolters, one with hull heavy flamers), some melta vets in Chimeras, Bastonne with melta-vets in a Vendetta, objective-sitter vets, and Company Command in a Chimera.

Losing all my bright lances in the space of two turns was a bit of a downer, let me tell you.

At the end of a bloody brawl, I'd thrown Yriel's Wave Serpent at the far objective and cleaned his troops mostly off it, but he'd gotten a couple of dismounted vet squads towards mine and finally slammed enough ordnance onto it, and polished 'em off with an assault.

Had it ended in turn 5, I would've eked out the win. Yriel did EXACTLY what he's meant to do; he hopped out of a Wave Serpent, moved up, drew everyone around him, and promptly detonated the Eye of Wrath. Too bad he missed one, and the Brother-Captain with a hood cut him in half with a Nemesis Force Weapon. I did manage to clear his troops off the objective, and had a Wave Serpent in position to score, except...the Brother-Captain blew it up, and the Avengers promptly pinned themselves when they spilled out the back.

Thoughts on Guard
...I hate the Manticore. It cranks out a LOT of pie. Saving Grace is that it gets four shots.

Immobilized results when Russ squads move through terrain are highly amusing when it's not your tank killing itself.

Hull Heavy Flamers on guard tanks are priceless when you need to defend yourself. My Warp Spiders survived a bit longer because of that. Infantry WILL get to your lines.

Move Move Move! cost me the game, in part, because a couple Vet squads got a guaranteed 6" run off it. Highly annoying.

the Brother-Captain is an interesting choice for the psychic hood. Cheaper, gives you a gun worth shooting and a slight surprise in assault, but is just one wound.

Versus Chaos on Foot
Xardian's army. A sorcerer w/ wings. A 10-man plague marine squad w/ fist and plasma; 3 12-man CSM squads w/ Fist, Chaos Glory (1 w/ 2x flamers, 2 w/ 2x melta). 10-man Fist/Lascannon/GLory babysitters. Daemons, and 2 4-man termie squads (3x combi-plas, one fist/heavy flamer). Havocs w/ 2x autocannons, 2x missile.

Table Quarters, Kill Points.

In the end, I won 3-2. He killed a unit of Fire Dragons and the Warp Spiders; I killed both Termie Squads and one of the units. He immobilized a Wave Serpent and a Falcon, but didn't finish 'em off.

I owe him a cookie, though, for trying a ballzy deep strike and not killing the termies. apparently the cookie strategem. They did immobilize a Wave Seprent, but out of the line of fire of the Havocs.

Yriel and the dead Fire Dragons get the cookie of honor. The Fire Dragons that survived the game hit the nearby termies 6 times...and killed three of them with some fierce 1's on the shooting. Yriel proceeded to move over and stab that last one in the face. Yriel proceeded to wander over to a nearby CSM squad, assault, and kill them all with the Eye of Wrath. Then he dodged lascannon fire.

The other Fire Dragons went down swinging. They claimed 3 termies with shooting, and killed the last one in assault. Apparently one of them got pissed off and slammed a meltabomb into the Termie's face. They then dropped a handful of Plague Marines.

I would've splatted the Plague Marines if they hadn't made so many #$*#ing cover saves. They apparently learned to dodge krak missile, pulse lasers, and bright lances.

Oh, and the Warp Spiders? Came in turn 2, forced a lot of wounds on the Havocs...didn't drop any heavy weapons. They proceeded to get caught in assault by Daemons and the HQ, pass a ld6 test, and then flub their hit 'n' run. Good job, guys.

On Chaos
I think when Xardian moves it over to two havoc squads, it'll be nastier. The problem his army has is range; the Havocs are it and the Termies tend to get splatted after getting one volley off.

On the Warp Spiders
Acetone and E-bay it is. Against infantry, they're not bad. They can dump scads of wounds onto them, and then get into melee.

Against vehicles, though? AP- is a big problem. S6 is decent enough vs. AV10-11, but in two rounds of shooting against the rear of a Chimera they managed to stun and shake it several times, knock off the multi-laser and immobilize it.

They would've died in game 1 had Jon chosen to fire on them much, or advance and torch 'em if he'd had hull heavy flamers on them in lieu of heavy bolters.

I want to like them; I really do. They just don't do enough for me.

Pain and Batreps

Today, I actually got a triple-header in with my Hybridized Eldar against Jon's Imperial Guard.

His list was something like...
Command Squad w/ Autocannon in HB/Multi-laser Chimera
2 Vet Squads w/ camo cloaks, 3x sniper rifles, and heavy weapon (one las, one missile)
2-3 Vet Squads w/ Melta in Chimeras w/ Grenadiers
Vendetta
Leman Russ
Leman Russ
Leman Russ Squad
>Executioner w/ Plasma Cannon Sponsons, Knight-Commander Pask
>Ablative-tank Leman Russ w/ Lascannon

Game one...lasts one turn. He scouts up the Vendetta, nukes a Wave Serpent with the meltaguns and nuke a Fire Prism with the lascannons. The Wraithguard...get nuked to the last Guard on turn one.

We agree that it's pretty much over at that point.

Round two...much closer. I got a technical win because I had one Wraithguard left on my objective. Objective two had a last lucky Dire Avenger on it surrounded by vets; they'd made a run to it since we went into turn 7. The far objective had my Rangers...well, run off it after repeated tank shocks, but there was a bleeding turretless RUSS near it on the ground floor, so....there you go. I should've bit it, lost a turn of shooting, and moved everyone onto the second floor and AWAY from tank-shocks.

The game was just plain bloody, though a lot of tanks survived. However...

Pask in an Executioner is nasty. Pask lets you get +1 to armor penetration rolls, and re-roll wounds on MCs. The Executioner is thus a bit more accurate, but it can nail light armor, MCs, and ANY infantry. I mean, you're looking at a hella expensive tank, and taking an ablative tank helps since most volleys outside of a Fire Dragon round of shooting won't actually do enough damage to pen multiple shots, so you get to pawn off hits to the other russ. Plus, with camo netting and other crap? Disgusting, since then 1/2 the unit's in cover if you do it right and getting saves.

I expect to see this one again from Jon, since it's just plain nasty.

Still, technical win from luck, a bit.

Next, Sean's Orks. It's a departure from the normal...
Warboss on Bike w/ Claw, Cybork Body
5 Nob Bikers (vanilla)
10 Warbikers w/ PK
3 Trukk mobs w/ PK (one shoota, one slugga, one 'ard boyz)
1 Battlewagon w/ half-dozen Mega-Armor Nobz, ZZap! Gun
Looted Wagon
20-strong Shoota Mob w/ Rokkits on home objective
3 Killa Kanz
1 Deff Dread

The short version? Capture the flag, table quarters, I go first.

Bloody.
As.
Hell.

Warbikers drive up the middle with a Trukk behind; the Battlewagon and a Trukk take a flank, and two trukks move on the other flanks with the Kans/Dread moving up behind 'em as a 'finisher' of sorts.

He advances up the flank, and there's just too much to handle. I Mind War the warboss to death with Eldrad (and deal a severe morale blow to the Ork player in the process). One Wave Serpent moves in to block off the Nob Bikerz with shots from Dire Avengers hoping to stop the doomed Bikers. No avail.

So, I fight off wave one with some losses...Avatar, on my left flank, will KO the bikers, then a mob of Orks, and finally succumb to the second trukk mob that comes his way. He'll get the Warbikers into assault with the Wraithguard in the middle, and just short of a Trukk mob. I'll beat down the few bikers in there, then the Wraithguard get slammed by the Mega-Nobz that nuked one Fire Prism. Things will go downhill from there, as eventually he brings the remnants of a Boyz squad and the remnants of his Mega-Nobz (as the exploding fire prism KILLED on, amazingly, and the Wraithguard...shoot down a couple of them.).

Other highlights toward the end include...
-The Rangers actually killed a Deff Dread via immobilizing it, and blew the arm off another. Go little guys, go.
-Eldrad survived a couple assault phases with a Nob and Meganob, and then schooled the Deff Dread that got in there.
-The Wraithlord...flamed several Boyz, then couldn't kill off the 3 left before the PK nob killed it.
-I can do everything BUT kill the #$*(@#ing Battlewagon, but that's what I get for just having regular pens and not AP1 (though he didn't much like the Wraithguard guns...)

In the end...I lost; contested objective on my end by a Trukk that the Rangers couldn't stop. I have them, an immobilized Fire Prism, Eldrad, and a Wave Serpent full of Avengers.

He has a couple empty trukks, a couple Kill Kanz, and his 20-mob.

Veteran Squads, Doctrines, Platoons

As a lot of folks are figuring out, the vet guard squads are a hell of a troops choice. You can kit 'em out in a variety of ways, and there are the doctrines as well. At least the 'doctrines' are a nod to the old codex.

Forward Sentries
Squad gets camo cloaks and defensive grenades. If the squad's going to sit and shoot, they might as well take this and be a pain in the ass. Throw them a heavy weapon, and perhaps a special or two, and you've got a squad that'll be a pain to dislodge unless you ignore cover with your shots. A BS4 Lascannon in a squad, and a plasma gun or two at best is kind of disgusting.

Demolitions
Everyone in the squad gets meltabombs, and someone gets a demolition charge. At this point you've kind of decided that you don't want the squad to live. You've probably given them meltaguns, or flamers, because you want short-ranged weapons to get the demo charge off. I mean, you're going to try to out-and-out obliterate something with the demo charge, and a couple of flamers will help it out and keep the squad cheap.

However, the meltabombs...not as useful. You already have frags and kraks. Meltabombs are more of a consolation prize. If you're going to make the squad use 'em, they're on an anti-armor mission. So, you're hopefully bringing those meltaguns. Thing is, you're firing meltaguns at a target. If that doesn't nuke it, you're shooting meltaguns at it again. Then, you have to assault the target to slap meltabombs to it. Well, believe me when I say it's hard to get assault support in there outside of non-open-topped, non-Land-Raider vehicles. You have to roll up, and wait a turn before you pile out and assault it. Now, if you've got meltaguns, you want to roll up and shoot those. It's just not going to work out well.

Grenadiers
Everyone gets a carapace armor, and thus a 4+ save. It's annoying, to be sure. It makes a squad more liable to survive their Chimera going Kaboom, but it DOES add 30 points to the price tag. It's almost half again the cost of the squad; the guys go from ~7 a head to 10 a head. I think the biggest benefit is that your enemy must devote more shooting to the squad. Most troops carry AP5 guns, and suddenly the average tactical squad or dire avenger unit can't just evaporate a squad caught in the open.

Doctrines Summary
Camo cloaks for staying in place and getting a BS4 heavy weapon.
Demolitions...only if you really want that demo charge, and to REALLY write off that squad.
Grenadiers...perhaps if mechanized. Perhaps.

The role of the vets
If mechanized, vets serve best as a meltagun delivery system. 100 points for three BS4 meltaguns? Yes, please. I think we've all covered just how nasty and versatile a triple-melta vet squad is in a Chimera with multi-laser/heavy flamer. That's also a bit why you probably won't see so many 2 flamer/heavy flamer vets. The Chimeras can bring the heavy flamers, and you ARE kind of wasting BS4 on template weapons.

If standing still? Forward Scouts and a heavy weapon, perhaps plasma weapons to taste. Or, maybe take a flamer or two since they're cheap and it gives you a little counter-push. 120 gets you 10 vets, camo cloaks, an autocannon, and two flamers.

On Platoons
Platoons will get you heavy weapons cheaper. You must take a single command squad at 30 points (and perhaps a Chimera or heavy weapon). There's really no point in kitting out the 5 guys in the command squad with much, since there aren't many bodies to soak wounds or guard that heavy weapon team, and it's ld8 unless you've got a Commissar.

The Platoon Command Squad (1)
Cheap. 30 points for 5 guys; one gives orders. The Platoon Commander has a 6" command radius, and three orders (and it can give one a turn).

'First Rank Fire! Second Rank, FIRE!' gets lasguns another shot. Most useful if you're dealing with combined squads. Move up, flame something and crank a lotta shots; hope you kill it.

INCOMING! lets you go to ground immediately for +2 to the cover save instead of +1. Squad is now annoyingly durable, and...not shooting. Situational at best. If you can combine it with a commander's 'Get Back in the Fight!' then it helps a bit.

'Move! Move! Move!' is a run move that lets you take the highest off 3d6. This one's useful for grabbing objectives.

So, with these orders in mind...you've got to keep the command squad close to the platoons if you want to use them much at all. However, these orders are neat, but not THAT essential. They're all pretty situational, and it really means you can hide the command squad if you want. They'll get you a Chimera you can use to add fire and counter-attack with a flamer.

The Infantry Squad (2-5)
They're BS3 pads for heavy weapons. You have to bring two of them in a platoon minimum, but can get up to 5 per troops slot. Their job is to bring a heavy weapon, and with BS3, you have to keep in mind that volume of shots is your friend. Autocannons and heavy bolters are 10 points a head, so you can crank out shots and have a few stick. I'd take the autocannon for the range and its ability to engage just about anything shy of AV14. That means that Infantry Squads cost 60; 65 if you want a flamer in there as a 'just in case' thing.

Infantry squads can also mount up in Chimeras, and fire the heavy weapon out of the top. This is 115 for a multi-laser and autocannon, or move up and fire a heavy flamer. However, a 'stunned' result means neither the APC nor the squad get to shoot, but it lets you spam armor and score with it.

Infantry squads may also use the 'Combined Squad' special rule, which means you can throw any number of platoons together as a single unit. The pro? 'Bring it down' is more efficient; one order can twin-link multiple heavy weapons. The con? The enemy has fewer targets, and a successful assault can nail a LOT of guard in place. However, 35 gets them a commissar (and Ld9 Stubborn). If you could give that Commissar a powerfist, this would be more disgusting, but his potential S3 power weapon is......yeah, impressive. Sure.

The Heavy Weapon Squad (0-5)
In short? Skip it. 60 points for three models with 2 wounds, T3, and a 5+ save. This means in cover against handy-dandy S6+ weapons, there's a 50-50 shot you'll lose a heavy weapon. 90 points gets you 3 autocannons that are fragile. OR, 120 gets you two well-protected autocannons.

Special Weapon Squad (0-2)
35 points for 6 guys; three get special weapons. The job's simple: deliver special weapons. They can get flamers, sniper rifles, grenade launchers, meltaguns, plasma guns, or demo charges. Some uses that take their BS3 into consideration involve....

-50 points for 3 flamers
-65 for 3 meltaguns
-95 for 3 demo charges

Now, the special weapons squad can't take a transport, but the infantry squads CAN. However...these guys are vying for the job Vets have. Vets deliver more accurate meltaguns for 35 points more. Demo Charges might not hurt the chimera, but you MUST bring that Chimera in very close to the target. Flamers can be brought in Chiemras as well, but a squad of these in an infantry platoon can make a counter-push, I suppose. However, it's not hard to break this squad, since it's 3 guys with Ld7.

Conscripts (0-1)
80 points for 20 WS2, BS2, Ld5 guys. Can go up to 50; each person is 4pts. For 50 points you can slap Chenkov into a Platoon Command Squad, and then drop 75 to give your conscripts 'Send In the Next Wave!' where you can sack the squad and bring in a new one. Per the entry, the conscripts move on from the controller's board edge, which probably precludes a bunch of crazy shit like giving them outflank with Creed.

Unless they're close enough to Chenkov to get Stubborn AND pass Ld5 tests for losing combat, conscripts are just a speed bump.

The Use of the Infantry Platoon
A minimal platoon costs 130, with two infantry squads and the command squad. This can net you three Chimera, or two heavy weapons in the squad. For my part? I don't think that much aside from the Infantry Squad are worth it, as they're small, vulnerable, or not that effective. I suppose if you really wanted to deal with the fragility and space, you could spam heavy weapon teams with autocannons, but you best be prepared to watch them run off the board in short order. Or, slap them in Chimeras and hope you don't see a lot of 'shaken' results.

On Guard Fast Attack

Now that I've faced more Imperial Guard stuff, I've had more time to reflect on the units.

The Hellhounds
In essence, the guard can get stuff that's roughly equivalent to the Space Marine's Multi-melta/Heavy Flamer landspeeder. Now, why is the speeder actually something we want? The marine speeder mounts one of the best anti-tank weapons (the multi-melta) and a superb anti-infantry weapon (the heavy flamer).

Additionally, the landspeeder can use its speed to get into position. It can move 12" and fire one of the guns. Now, immoblizing a speeder hurts because the flamer's all but useless. Still, the melta's an issue.

So, after some thought....no, the Hellhound family CAN get this. It's also on a 12/12/10 chassis that, admittedly, doesn't get the simmer bonus of hopping over things.

So, we've got three types of guns on the chassis.

The Hellhound: the big advantage here is that the flamer can project. It's effectively a heavy flamer that can reach out a bit. It can also take a hull-mounted multi-melta. Now, an immobilized result is inconvenient, but the Hound at least creates a death-zone around it with the flamer for infantry.

The Devil Dog: At first glance, the melta cannon looks a bit 'eh'. It's a multi-melta blast, which means "Oh, I rolled a '12' on the scatter' and wasted the shot. When you get down to it, it hits on the 'hit' 33% of the time, and will probably hit around 50% of the time anyway when you deal with scattering.

However, if you fire it at something OTHER than a vehicle...it's basically an S8 plasma cannon. It nukes armored infantry; power armor is no protection. It'll insta-gib T4 folks as a bonus. It'll never Get Hot. However, there's still the cover save to deal with.

Then, you can compliment it with a heavy flamer, and you've a more expensive, but still disgustingly capable tank.

The Banewolf: S1, AP3, wound-on-2+ flamer? It's the death of expensive units like marines, terminators, and Wraithguard. The real question you have to ask with the Banewolf is whether or not you want that extra punch over the heavy flamer.

Overall
It's a tough choice among the three. The Hellhound has the most range of the group, so suffers the least from an immobilized result. The Devil Dog has the most disgusting ranged weapon and the best range on it, since its melta cannon pulls extra duty as a plasma-cannon stand-in. The Banewolf packs the most deadly flamer, but you only get that extra oomph against certain targets. It burns regular infantry just as well, but only really makes its points back against marines and terminators.

Ultimately, some of it will come down to the overall army composition.

The Valkyrie family
More, the Vendetta. A Vendetta with heavy bolters is going to scare anything on the field, and for 10 more points, the heavy bolters aren't that bad. They ARE wasted against most armor, but if you're hunting AV10/11 (like Rhinos, Predator flanks, Chimera flanks, and so on...) it's more pain to bring.

The Vendetta, though, really seems to shine as a hunter of monstrous creatures. Given the height and angle of the Vendetta's guns, there's really nowhere to hide. A single Vendetta should get 2-3 hits a turn, and since those'll wound on a 2+ most of the time, well...that's 2-3 wounds off an MC. Soften it up and finish it with a Vendetta, or put two on one and watch it die. Add in the heavy bolters and they might knock off a wound more.

For 140 points, it's not a bad transport. I'm somewhat tempted to do a Guard list with inquisitorial allies to justify running Vendettas and Valks.

I haven't seen a Valkyrie in action as much. At best they'll be swift infantry hunters, with a milti-laser and pair of the S4, AP6 large blast missile pods. They get to move 12", crank all their shots off, AND carry a squad.

Then again, the Guard can get a LOT of capabilities in their slots, and versatility Even a short look says we can get infantry hunting, tank-hunting, or both in any given fast attack slot.

Hybridized Vs Mech Guard

...or, the dice do some terrible things to Jon.

I played the Hybridized Eldar v1 .

His list looked about like...

Command Squad
>Creed
>Astropath
>Grenade launcher or two
>Carapace Armor
Chimera w/ multi-laser, heavy flamer

DH Inquisitor, Psychic Hood, 3 Mystics

10 vets w/ camo cloaks, 3x sniper rifles
10 vets w/ camo cloaks, 3x sniper rifles
10 vets w/ 3x meltaguns, carapace armor (I think), multilaser/heavy flamer chimera
10 vets w/ 3x meltaguns, carapace armor (I think), multilaser/heavy flamer chimera
10 vets w/ 3x meltaguns, meltabombs, demo charge
Vendetta
Vendetta w/ Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Banewolf w/ Multi-melta
Leman Russ
Leman Russ w/ Lascannon

I believe that was it for 1850.

Game's table quarters, seize ground. Objective in my quadrant near middle, objective in his quadrant, objective in middle, objective in an adjacent quadrant.

His plan starts out with the vet snipers on the table, the inquisitor in a building out of LOS*, and everything in reserve. In part, this is because I've got a LOT of anti-tank and he has crap for cover, and I've got first turn.

*I'll later make an ass out of myself, pick up the terrain, and tip the forge-world conversion inquisitor out onto the table, thinking 'oh, there's just maybe a sniper in there.' Go me...

I kill...maybe one, two guys? Freaking camo-cloaks. I'm given a lesson of what it's like to try to dislodge Rangers with gunfire. Just doesn't fly well. In addition, Eldrad gets off...no psychic powers on turn one.

Then his dice proceed to flip him the bird. Turn two...I've seen this song. He gets...a Russ, and a Banewolf, and a Chimera in. My wraithguard take one look at the wolf, and decide it has to die. It gets 12" in, and turns into a burning cover save for a Russ.

Past that...well, I somehow managed to blow apart any vehicle I scored a penetrating hit on (aside from the Vendetta hauling vets; I blew off a lascannon and stunned it, so it flew up and threatened my army. Wraithguard got Guide, and blew it to hell.). It had to be gakking demoralizing...Vendetta shows up, and bags the one Fire Prism I lost for the game. The other Vendetta showed up and nuked the Wraithlord to death, since Mr. Big 'n' Tall can't really hide for shit against a Valk.

In the end, I won when it should've been a tie, as Jon brain-farted and didn't last-minute contest with the command squad. Wraithguard firmly controlled both of my objectives (as my Rangers managed to break and pretty much run straight off the table, even though they had more than half the squad left). Avatar's doing a pretty convincing job of contesting his non-home objective, and he's got snipers I've yet to dislodge.

Lessons
-Sometimes when the dice say 'BOHICA' there's not a lot you can do. I'm just kind of waiting for my turn on the other end, but when one guy has hot dice and the other has cold dice, there's only so much you can do

-Creed in a mech list isn't BAD, but probably not worth his points. The command radius was nice, but I think it's something that could've been achieved cheaper

-"For the honor of Cadia!" CAN be used to hold something in place, like an Avatar. 10 fearless bodies against someone that isn't cranking out a lot of attacks means he's going nowhere. Could buy you time.

-Camo-cloak troops are a PAIN IN THE ASS. In retrospect, though, I think bringing a heavy weapon to compliment the sniper rifles (or in place of) would've worked out better.

-Vendettas are MURDER on monstrous creatures. I'm not sure there's really ANY kind of way to get a save against lascannons firing on you from 10-12" above the board, especially with Wraithlords.

-I think if I'm going with massed outflanking, I'd probably just go double command squad and double astropath JUST to be sure, though that doesn't prevent a horde of 1's on turn 2

-Vendettas/Valks are immune to the above, since their speed (and RANGE on the Vendetta...) mean it can always engage, and get troops there.

-If the enemy has something worth hitting with a Banewolf (IE, Terminators, Wraithguard...anything like that) either multiples come, or it all gets nuked. I think I'd've worried about it more if it'd been a Russ, since a Banewolf with a multi-melta is just on-par with a Russ in terms of points

-The Russ is still capable against lots of things...I think the Vanilla Russ, with perhaps heavy bolter sponsons, is capable of engaging AV10-12/13 vehicles, infantry, AND monstrous creatures alike. (Other than Wraithlords, but come on, T8 makes them the exception to so much...)

Thoughts on Jon's Army
I would worry more...

-If Kell got dumped for more breathing room...I mean, the guy's almost a vet squad in and of himself. He could put a Vet Squad over in the other Vendetta.

-Heavy weapons in the camo-cloak vets. BS4 autocannons or lascannons would be a bitch to dislodge.

-A third Russ (in lieu of the Banewolf) would be nasty. I think Banewolves need to come in multiples or not at all. I think that goes for the Hellhound spot in general. They're just too potentially nasty to really leave alive.

Hybridized Eldar Vs New Guard

I brought my Hybrid Eldar v1 list to fight my buddy's growing Imperial Guard army.

Hybrid Eldar v1
Eldrad
10 Wraithguard, Spiritseer w/ Conceal
10 Avengers in Shuricannon/Bright Lance wave serpent
10 Avengers in Shuricannon/Bright Lance wave serpent
8 Rangers
Wraithlord w/ Bright Lance, missile launcher
2 Fire Prisms w/ Shuriken Cannons

His looked something like...
Command Squad w/ Lascannon, Astropath
Allied DH Inquisitor lord w/ Hood, 2 Mystics, Several Warriors w/ flamers and a grenade launcher, some Acolytes?
Full Psyker Battle Squad in Multilaser/Heavy Flamer Chimera
3 Vet Squads w/ 3 meltaguns, Multilaser/Heavy Flamer Chimera
Vet squad w/ 3 meltaguns
Devil Dog
Vendetta w/ Heavy Bolter 'sponsons' (really the side doors, but who's counting? It's a damn cool model)
2-strong Gryphon Mortar Battery
Leman Russ w/ Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Lascannon
Leman Russ Demolisher w/ Lascannon, heavy bolter sponsons

Lots of armor...and it's a bit of a 'what he had completed.'

I'll start off by saying the dice played quite a role in this one...

I went first in Pitched Battle/Seize Ground. He had an objective in the middle of his DZ in cover; there was one about 6' out of my DZ towards the middle, and one just out of my DZ on my left flank.

End of the game looked like:
Avatar w/ 1 wound remaining; presiding over Dead Russ
Avengers on middle objective
Depleted Wraithguard on his 'home' objective.
Mortars and Inquisitor hiding out in far corner
Serpent w/ Guys in it
Serpent blocking Dire Avengers on middle objective.
Vet Squad on objective on my flank

Highlights include...
His ability to pass two psychic tests with Runes of Warding
His ability to land a lot of stuff on-target and my inability to pass Fortuned 3+ saves and 5+ saves...
His utter inability to make a psychic hood test...out of ~13 psychic powers that went off, he quashed...one.

Lessons on the guard?

Devil Dog
Devil Dog = not that useful, but the underbelly had 'Hellhound of suck' on it, so that's probably a hint that he bought a cursed unit. The Devil Dog, as he suspected, just isn't that hot. It got one shot off, got stunned, tank-shocked, then got immobilized. It DID help run my Pathfinders off the board.

Vendetta
PAIN. Three twin-linked lascannons on the flank is pretty nasty, as is the squad. Might've hurt more if I hadn't been Eldar skimmers with 12/12/10. Either way, it came on and nuked a Fire Prism. The Wraithlord shot it down (well, immobilized it) and it did some harm...well, ok, his dice deserted the hell out of him and he managed to kill a Dire Avenger with a lascannon, and that's it. Still took me some time to kill it.

Gryphons
Accurate...though against a mechanized build, they don't do much. Early on, I was over-correcting my mistake yesterday with Eldrad and had the Wraithguard (w/ Eldrad), Avatar and Wraithlord all slammed together, and this cost me. Still, past that...they were negilgible. They were annoying, they sat over in the side, and they shelled me. They ALSO accounted for a good number of Wraithguard, but mostly because of my inability to pass 3+ re-rollable armor saves.

Cover also totally harms them, and in truth, a squad of them is unlikely to actually do as much damage to smaller units because they barrage OFF the first shot, and with the scatter...you might bracket the whole squad. It runs into the problem of barraging Battle Cannon shots into stuff. You're likely to overkill.

Vet Squads
About what I expected out of them...though he split 'em up. I figure together, they're nasty tank-smashers, though maybe I'll have to re-think my whole stance about relying on Chimeras for Heavy Flamers, since dead chimeras don't torch much. Or, get the infantry-gibbing from somewhere else.

Psyker Battle Squad
Damn if they aren't annoying. Weaken Resolve...doesn't do much against a Mech army. Surprise, surprise. The Blast Template....pain in the ass. He hid them on turn one, and got about two or three good Soulstorms off. S9, BS3, APd6 large blast shots are kind of frightening, even on vehicles, and they accounted for some Wraithguards and some wounds off the Avatar on some high-AP shots.

I think that a squad of 9 in a chimera is a solid build-out. Granted, Perils tests can totaly screw them, but that's not something to rely on. They managed to get 2-3 shots off even with Runes of Warding up...5, 2, 2,. Two turns in a row. HIGHLY ANNOYING, but then his luck turned and by the time I blew 'em out of the Chimera, there was an Overseer and a Battle Squad. They actually got closed to getting the tie; pulled folks off the objective with an assault, but they managed to consolidate back onto it.

Overall
Guard can get some nasty precise outflanks with the Valkyries.

Normally, I'm not much of a believer in outflanking. There's a 66% chance you'll come in on the side you want, and the enemy has to be on the right side to be effective. However, Valks and Astropaths can negate some of this. First, the fething Valks are Fast Skimmers. That there is a pretty decent range; they can break out a 12" move and normally kick out troops, or up to 24" and shove troops out the back.

Astropaths, though...+1 to reserves, and re-rolls on outflanking, so suddenly it's a 76% chance of getting in on the right side in a hurry. This works out a little better with the Valk since it's on a bloody 5" tall stand. Now, you can do some cool stuff to the base (Check out Jon's blog at http://www.debonairetoast.blogspot.com/ The Valk will get there sooner or later.)

Beyond that, the dice had a crap-ton to do with it, but sometimes them's the breaks. I was just on the right side of it this time around.

Guard Conversion Thoughts

Like so many folks, I'm kicking around the whole Imperial Guard thing.

Though, I'm more into making it a modeling project. Now, one of the issues with Guard is that there are a LOT of Guardsmen. I'm looking at running predominantly mech, so I'm looking at 50-60 guardsmen. (at least 3 chimera-mounted vet squads, and a platoon or two).

One of the major modelling issues, then, would be how to diferentiate the guard? I'm thinking more in terms of head-swaps. Thankfully, Pig Iron (by way of the Warstore) sells like 20 heads for about $5. So, modding the squads won't put me back that much.

So, here are some of the ideas...

The Replica Army
From F.E.A.R, this theme lets me get some mech in there. Head-swaps galore. I'm thinking of the guy in the lower middle. It's a bunch of drones with guns, semi-workable ballistic skill, and so on and so forth.

http://fear.wikia.com/wiki/File:Replica_Soldiers.jpg

I've also got options for Sentinels and heavy weapon folks. The Replica Heavy can serve as a one-man, two-wound heavy weapon guy, and the REV battle armor (if I could ever find a way to do it) would be a good Sentinel.

http://fear.wikia.com/wiki/File:Other_Replica_Forces.jpg

In keeping with game fluff, I'd be leading it with a Primaris Psyker, because Paxton Fettel rolls like that. Plus, I'd probably roll with Combat Psykers just to simulate the effects of all the lovely phantasmagoria the game's a trademark of.

The Helghast
The infamous space-nazis of the Killzone series are a good Guard stand-in. I'd need gas masks, but the real modding issue would be the vehicles. Most Helghast stuff is hover-tech; we see big hovertanks and hover APCs. I'd be doing a lot of modding, but the foot soldiers have lots of versatility.

Examples of the infantry:
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/2223/helghast.jpg

Vehicles:
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/Killzone/images/thumb/b/b9/Apc.JPG/180px-Apc.JPG
http://nationofhelgan.weebly.com/uploads/1/2/5/5/1255618/8017657.jpg

The Combine
If we're talking about hordes of drones and nutters, the Combine out of Half-Life 2 is a solid contender. Hordes of re-programmed trans-humans with crappy aim, light arms, and armor support.

Troopers:
http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/File:HL2Combinesoldier.jpg

The real cons come with doing any vehicles. ALL of the vehicles outside of the APC and the Hunter helo are pretty damn alien. There's not a good analog to the Russ; the Strider is a fourty-foot-tall tripod with a chin-mounted gatling gun and a disintegration ray. The real question would be finding the correct GW components to do it.

It would look damn cool if I could pull it off.

The Strider:
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/half-life/en/images/a/a7/HL2Strider.jpg
The Hunter: (little Striders...almost sentinel-sized)
http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/File:Hunter_model.jpg

NOTE: I'll come back and try to slap the pics in.

The Hammer of the Emperor

Like so many other people, I now have a copy of the brand new Imperial Guard Codex. It's a nice piece of work and all that, as the latest codices have been.

I'm going to start by sharing thoughts on the newer, shinier units that are getting a lot of press.

Psyker Battle Squad
I think a lot of folks are seeing this one and drooling. The ability I've seen the most drool over is 'Weaken Resolve', where one squad within 36" and LOS gets their leadership reduced by the number of psykers in the squad, to a minimum of 2. This lasts until the end of the turn.

The other ability is Soulstorm, an S = to psykers in the unit, AP d6, Large Blast single-shot attack. Also nasty, but not likely to kill more than a few folks under the template. However, at BS3 with a large squad, it can possibly damage vehicles.

So, what're the cons of this unit?

Well, 'Weaken Resolve' doesn't do a lot to a vehicle. Second, you pretty much have to max out the squad, which means it really costs 110 points. Not bad...Then add 55 points to that for a Chimera. Make it a Chimera with a turret multilaser and hull heavy bolter, because it's not going to move at all.

Leadership 9 is a sliiight balancing factor, as it means they're not the top psykers. Really, though, if you're mechanized the unit's that THAT big of a deal.

Considering the elites section, though, it's about the only thing worth pulling in from it. Bottom line? Psyker Battle Squad is nasty on troops, but not so much on vehicles. If and when you do spill them out, they're as durable as the average guardsman. They also fall prey to all the other 'screw with psyker' abilities, like psychic hoods.

The Valkyrie
It's a damned fine kit.

Too bad the tabletop performance won't match it. It's an AV12/12/10 vehicle on a 5" stand, aloft. It's NOT going to hide.

Basic loadout is a multi-laser and a couple of one-shot krak missiles that get the Ordnance special rule. It can pick up heavy bolters for 10 points, and then you get a vehicle that can move 6" and crank out a good 9 BS3 anti-infantry shots.

The real unique offering that the Valk has is the 'Grav Chute Insertion.' It can move flat-out and drop troops at any point during that move. They roll 2d6 + Scatter, and if it's not a hit, they scatter and take dangerous terrain tests.

What does this mean? You can pay 100+ points to give any squad the provisional ability to deep strike, with the extra risk that you might lose the transport and that they'll take dangerous terrain tests.

The weapons that benefit from such 'precision' insertion are by nature short-ranged, like meltaguns, flamers and plasma weapons. For 100 points, you can get a vet squad with triple meltaguns, triple flamers, or 2 flamers/heavy flamer. It's cheap enough that you won't miss it, and it's got some firepower.

Anything else in a Valk is really not worth it, considering that a Chimera is half the price, much easier to hide, and so on. And, out of the box, the Chimera can actually crank out more shots. The best way to actually get FIREPOWER out of a Valk is to get sponson heavy bolters, and the Hellfire missiles are just icing on the cake. Or, you ca really try to turn the Valk into an infantry hunter by paying another 30 points for a pair of multiple rocket pods, that fire at S4, AP6, large blast.

Then you're paying 140 points for a transport that can hunt infantry. I mean, I freely admit that it's cool, but I'm not so sure about its utility.

The Vendetta is neat, as it turns the Valk into a tank-buster. Three twin-linked BS3 lascannons on a skimmer for 130 is fairly nasty, but doesn't solve any of the durability issues.

Understand I'm hitting the 'durability' issue from the POV of someone who's run a half-dozen grav tanks in a good number of games in the past couple of months. AV12 does not last. Even the Energy Field special rule for Wave Serpents isn't going to keep you alive.

The Leman Russes
Damn if we're not spoiled for choices, here. We can get:
-The good ol' Battlecannon
-Heavy 4 twin-linked autocannon
-Vanquisher rounds (S8, AP2, 72" shot, roll 2d6 for penetration)
-Nova Cannon (S6, AP4, Large Blast, No Cover SaveS)
-Demolisher Cannon (24", S10, AP2 Ordnance)
-Punisher (Heavy 20, S5, AP-)
-Executioner Plasma Cannon (3 plasma cannon shots)

And for sponsons? We can get heavy bolters, heavy flamers, multi-meltas, OR plasma cannons.

We can also seriously jack up the price for a Russ to 200 easy. The base is 150 for 14/13/10, though the Demolisher, punisher and Executioner go up to AV11 rears.

What's the real moral of the story? The Russ wants to be at range. It will die in assault.

The Russ is also slow. Lumbering Behemoth means it can move 6" and pop the turret and one other main weapon, but it also means that 'cruising' speed is 6+d6 instead of 12". With that, there's pretty much no reason to ever really want to move a Russ, but if you do, move it 6" and fire a couple of guns.

Out of the guns, a couple catch my eye...
The Battle Cannon is a good, cheap (...comparatively) general-purpose gun. Given that there's lots of cover out there and that vehicles are plentiful, I'd think about just tacking heavy bolters onto it for a price tag of 170.

Similarly, if I took the Exterminator, I'd go with heavy bolters. Sit there, crank out a lot of anti-infantry shots, hunt light armor in a pinch. Still, the Exterminator makes you look at Hydras (AV12/10/10, but a pair of twin-linked 72" autocannons for 75...), and if you really want to nuke infantry, you look at Hellhounds.

The Vanquisher...is interesting. It's a nasty way to get long-range anti-tank fire out there. Most I'd do to it is probably slap a lascannon on the front and let it cost 170. S8, AP2, 2d6 penetration is pretty nasty, and the only thing that'd make it better is AP1. Still, it's something worth mentioning.

The Eradicator is purely anti-infantry. Nova Cannon, sponson heavy bolters, and a 180pt price tag mean you can make unmounted infantry qual in fear. Of course, you do spit to vehicles, but it can kill the infantry.

The Demolisher...demolishes things. It's the short-ranged Russ, or the keep-away-from-me Russ. It falls down against cover, but nukes vehicles and anything out in the open. It IS a bit short-ranged, though. It means the Demolisher wants to move, but wait...moving is not the Russ' strong point. The only defensive weapon a Russ can get is a pintle heavy stubber. (Technically it can get a storm bolter for the same price, but S4, AP5, 2 shots to 24" vs. S4, AP6, three shots to 36"? Not a choice at all). The Demolisher gets to trundle forth, fire some anti-infantry shots, and hope it gets a shot off with the big gun. And, like the other Russes, it CRIES if it gets a 'weapon destroyed' result.

The Punisher gets a cookie for looking badass, but not necessarily being badass. 180 base. Everyone drools over Heavy 20, but S5 is only so-so and AP- means it's unsuited for taking out vehicles. The Big Gun is also only effective to 24", which means again that it might have to close in. Add in the requisite heavy bolters and heavy stubber and the tank costs about 210.

Then again, are you willing to pay 210 to drop 32 dice off one vehicle? It's dead sexay against smaller, more elite folks relying on armor saves (because the 16 hits and ~10 wounds means more when it kills 3-5 space marines) than sheer numbers. Though if it gets people in the open...yes, laugh like a maniac.

The Executioner LOOKS the coolest, but also costs 230 to kit out with 5 plasma cannons. I suspect I'm going to try taking a couple of these in a larger force, but it's more of a 'cool' factor than effective, but if you were relying on FNP or a good T5-6, well, sorry. Sucked to be you. Ultimately I think the cost will be a killer for the Executioner.

Camo Net Tricks
For 20 points and Chimeras, you can get your Russ's AV14 ass a 3+ cover save. Is it bullshit? Yes. Will people still do it? Yes. What do you do? Pop the Chimeras or meltagun his ass.

Russ Summary
Gut says that the vanilla Russ is a solid choice for cost. The basic battle cannon is decent against armor, MCs and troops alike. The Heavy Bolters it can pack are more firepower, and for 170? Not bad. I'm not sure about the real utility of pintle heavy flamers or multi-meltas. Flamers REALLY need a move to get into position, and you get to fire one. Multi-meltas are neat, but short-ranged and very dedicated in their role. Plasma Cannons are cool, but at 40 a pop, well...don't expect to see them too often.

Deathstrike Missile Launcher
Why are you taking an ICBM launcher in a regular game? It is exceedingly cool if it goes off, but for the points, you could have a REAL threat that has to be dealt with.

Hydra Flak Tank
I kinda like these guys. 72" range, two twin-linked autocannons, and a middle finger to cover saves? Solid anti-light-tank/skimmer, and 75 a head? Keep your flanks covered and it's all good.

Ordnance Battery
Immediately add 15 to the price you see, because all of these are open-topped. Or, alternatively, commit to Camo Netting + Chimeras for cover saves.

On to the guns...

Basilisk? 36-240 inch range. That's a fairly hefty minimum. I'll have to check the rules, but if the Ordnance Barrage rules don't let me shoot in that minimum directly, then the Basilisk stays at home. Otherwise, it's an S9, AP3 ordnance shot. More effective at KOing vehicles, but at least it makes even power armor folk grab cover.

Medusa? 36", S10, AP2 ordnance shot. Nothing subtle there; it's a lighter alternative to a Demolisher russ. At 135, though, you're trading a lot of armor for the points. Also gets access to 48", S10 AP1 2d6 penetration small blast. With BS3, that's a lot iffier.

Colossus? Damn near the price of a russ. 24-240 range, but it's S6, AP3, Large Blast, middle finger to cover. In other words, if you're in the open and you're infantry, it'll pulp you.

Griffon? The accurate one of the bunch. Can't fire directly, but it's a 12-48" shot. The accuracy comes from the ability to re-roll the scatter dice. The shot itself is only S6, AP4.


On Vehicle Squads
I'm going to have to read over the 'firing a shit-ton of ordnance from the same unit' to see how that works, but I believe the gist of the rules involves the first shot hitting, then the second and/or third shots scatter off it.

The other note? Yes, you CAN get 9 Russes in an army (at a cost of 1350 minimum, assuming no sponsons and only the basic 150pt model). BUT, they can only engage 3 targets a turn. Additionally, with smaller targets and the like? You might not get the hits you really want. Against vehicles, it's going to be difficult to get more than one direct ordnance hit.

Against infantry? Smaller units will only eat one ordnance hit.

Honestly, I'm thinking in terms of 3 Russes being plenty for an army anyway, since with sponsons it's a good 500-600 points.

With other choices, a vehicle squad isn't necessarily so firepower-inefficient. 3 sentinels? That's 3 multi-lasers or 3 autocannons at a target, all BS3. Not so terrible, since you're looking at 3 autocannon hits or 4-5 multi-laser hits. Hellhounds? Still not bad, since you still have to wound 'em. Might get dicy for the Banehounds, but that's life.

Thoughts on Guard

My Mech Eldar V1.2 got a shot at some Guardsmen today. To be honest, this is about the first time I've played Guard.

His list was something like...
HQ Section (Don't really remember the gear; wasn't important)
7-8 Ogyrn on foot
8 Ratling Snipers
Infantry Platoon
-Heavy Weapon Team
-a couple of squads w/ autocannons and/or lascannons
A couple Veteran Teams; 2 with lascannons
1 Veteran Squad in Chimera w/ power weapon, meltaguns
Squad of 3 Scout Sentinels w/ Multilasers, Camo Nets
2 Leman Russes (not as a squad) w/ Camo Nets

Spearhead, Capture & Control.

Well, I went second and set up most everything in cover. It was a hell of a first turn, with one wave Serpent getting immobilized while the other exploded. A Battle Cannon shot scattered on my Seer Council, KO'ing half of them.

Not a hell of a beginning, for me.

He ended up bringing the Chimera of Vets around the corner, along with the Ogryn behind it. I stopped that advance by killing the Ogryn and popping the Chimera, and tying up the Veterans with Fire Dragons, of all things.

He made an attempt on my objective by stalking Sentinels at it, 'til the other Fire Dragons exploded all three in one round of shooting. I had to pull back, as I'd only barely KO'ed those fething snipers, which were taking shots on my objective. I ended up with a Wave Serpent full of Avengers on mine, and his was buried under platoons.

Tactical draw, moral victory to him.

Thoughts on Guard
Ogryn STILL aren't that scary, despite the buff. Three T5 wounds over a 5+ save is nasty, but Doom + 2 Destructors + a Bladestorm = 5-6 dead Ogryn, a failed ld check, and Ogryn running off the table. He DID get them moving with the 'MOVE MOVE MOVE!' order, but part of his assumption (the guy's a vet, but has played...2 games of 5th, now, I think...) was forgetting about the Run rule and that he wasn't going to get to assault the Seer Council with the Ogryn.

Ratlings are annoying as piss, mostly because of power-armor like saves. I may very well include snipers if/when I ever do a Guard Army just so I can draw fire with them. I had to slaughter them because they were going to be taking pot-shots on my objectives.

Sentinels were, for their points, pretty impressive. 35 points isn't a lot, but a squad of 3 at 105 cranks out a good 9 scatter laser shots. I don't think it's a bad little unit, and it definitely makes me want to get them as a 'splurge.' Camo netting would be cool, but there's an easy temptation to make the Sentinels too costly for the AV10 open-topped vehicle they are. At best, autocannons for 5 points; then a squad's 120.

The Russ, similarly, is probably best cheap. 150 base, and a little bit for camo netting. You can cram a LOT of guns onto a russ; there's the turret gun and the hull mount. Sponsons start at 10 for heavy bolters, 20 for multi-meltas, and 40 for plasma cannons. The Russ is pretty much a gun turret.

Since I'd run mechanized, I've already pretty much figured out my basic troop units. For 100 points, I get 10 vets with three BS4 meltaguns. For another 55, I get a Chimera with a turret multi-laser and a hull heavy flamer. That way I've got a troop unit that can handle damn near anything it runs into; a 6" advance and S6 shots, or a 6" advance and burnination. I can fire out of my vehicle with meltaguns, or get out and burn something. For a total of 155, it's not a bad building block. Three of those run me 465, and if I back them up with the Sentinels, I've got an armored advance that's all of 620 points for more. Maybe a couple Hellhound variants...Then the rest on an infantry platoon or two sitting at home and sniping, a command section, and some heavy weapons on tanks.