Resurgence - and a return to fighting for the Greater Good

Rumors of my death and/or dismemberment have been somewhat exaggerated, though there was a break from the tabletop scene.  An old buddy of mine convinced me to come back in, so I looked at what I had, and decided "hey, space-commies in robots...with BIGGER robots?! SOLD!"  So I dusted off my old 5th Edition Tau, added some new stuff, and wandered back into the fray with 1500 points of mecha goodness.

The List - as a Standard Bit, none of those Formation Whatsits
HQ/Warlord Fellow
Coldstar Commander w/ 2x Shield Drones
Elites
3-man Crisis Suit Team w/ Plasma rifles & missile pods
Riptide w/ SMS, Burst Cannon,Skyfire-granting gear, 2x Shielded Missile Drones
Riptide w/ SMS, Ion Accelerator, SKyfire-granting gear, 2x Shielded Missile Drones
Troops
8-man fire warrior squad
6-man fire warrior squad w/ Devilfish packing SMS, Disruption Pods
Fast Attack
8-man Pathfinder squad
Piranha w/ Fusion Gun
Heavy Support
Hammerhead w/ Disruption Pods, Railgun w/ submunitions, twin-linked SMS
Hammerhead w/ Disruption Pods, Railgun w/ submunitions, twin-linked SMS

VERSUS
First Company deep-striking insanity formation, consisting of -
Terminator Captain
2x footslogging terminator shooty squads (1 assault cannon, 1 heavy flamer)
Land Raider Crusader w/ assaulty terminator squad
Stormraven, lugging assaulty terminator squad, Venerable Dread w/ Assault Cannon

Game Summary
Short version - I lost, about 9-13 VP in Maelstrom - the one where either of us can score the visible numbered objective cards.

Longer version - I elect to make him go first - no sense in me sitting around for a turn, twiddling my thumbs.

Opening - he gets everything but the Stormraven in on the first go.  His heavy flamer terminators make a bold decision and stick the landing - this ends with my Pathfinders being BBQ'ed.  Turns out being able to double-tap due to formation bonuses is helpful, and I'm reminded that most infantry really, really doesn't like fire. His other terminator squad manages a decent landing but does nothing spectacular.

Lots of gunfire happens - lots of saves happen.  His gutsy terminator squad ends up dying, while the other one walks to a ruined building and finds the '+1 to cover saves' objective, which is somewhat less than amusing for my AP2 shooting.

His Stormraven doesn't come in until turn 3 - which helps, but not as much as his ability to repeatedly make saves.  My Coldstar commander ends up taking potshots at it, ends up baiting Land Raider fire, laughing as his assault dice fail him, and even capturing an objective.  (Then dies horribly and forks over VP as my warlord.)  This is after my Pirahna runs around trying to cap objectives, and never actually shoots anything before developing a severe assault cannon allergy and dying in a fire.

Around turn 3 or 4, my Ion Accelerator Riptide loses a drone, box-cars his morale check, and promptly runs off the board.  His terminators eventually sweep in (very slowly and angrily) and kill my Fire Warriors, then the Dread immobilizes the 'fish, punches it to death, and eventually gets to the squishy squad inside, who are wholly unprepared to punch a dreadnought to death.  (Spoiler alert - Tau still don't really belong in assault...)

By the end of the game, he's got the Stormraven, a Dread, about 3-4 terminators, an empty Land Raider Crusader, and too many objectives.  I've got a Riptide (that's awfully close to his dread), both Hammerheads (who've jinked a crap-ton of shots), and

Logic behind my army
To be honest, it was "grab some stuff that used to work, add some new stuff."  So, here's what drove the choices, and how they felt after taking it -

Coldstar Commander
I thought - "Let's try out flyers, and have some fun with mobility!"
Now I think - "detaching the warlord from a squad and running him around the field seems like a great way to lose VP."  I'm not sure I'd want to pay that much for someone tooling around that ultimately is going to get shot to death.

3-Man Crisis Suit Team
I Thought - "Hey, these used to work, let's see if they still do. They're less expensive than I remember."
Now I think - "Hey, still decent."  They're plenty of gunfire for the points, but still need some protection from small arms.  And certainly from rending cannons and S8 AP3 missiles of death.  I can see trying to use these again.  Also, maybe they need some drones, or if I'm only gonna take one squad then the Commander hangs with them.

Riptides
I thought - "GIANT ROBOTS WITH BIG GUNS! WOO!"
I Think - "I'm gonna need to test these guys more to really get the most out of them."
-I like the SMS for the volume of fire - fusion blaster seems a bit close-ranged, and the plasma rifle trades the volume of fire for the AP.
-I like the volume of fire from the heavy-duty burst cannon, though that 18" range had drawbacks against someone who could see where it was deployed and then avoid it.  That being said, it can throw plenty of dice, and turning into a Heavy 12 assault cannon is hilarious.
-I can see leaning towards the Ion Accelerator - seems a LOT more versatile than the burst cannon and has more range - this gun can contribute the whole time.
-The drones are interesting for wounds and token dakka, but I wonder if I could get better versatility out of things like the FNP gear or a nova-charged 3++ save.
-I really, really hate rolling a 1 or 2 with the Nova Reactor.
-Overall, it's a chunk of points - not sure a pair of them was the way to go in 1500, but T6 and 2+/5++ with four wounds is not the easiest of takedowns.

Fire Warriors & Fish
I Thought - "Hey, it used to work."
I think - "Kinda wish I'd brought bubble wrap (read - Kroot)"
-Fire Warriors still have decent basic infantry weapons, and a Fish squad can do some objective work.
-That being said, given that assault is 2d6, having some cheap bubble wrap wouldn't have been a bad thing

Pathfinders
I Thought - Markerlights are awesome!
I think - they're probably still awesome, but having a single source in the army renders them vulnerable to, y'know, being prioritized and shot off the table.  I probably would've gotten one good turn out of 'em and that would've meant dead termies sooner.  Possibly two rounds, but who knows.

Piranha
I thought - "Hey, used to work, plus mobility for objectives is probably important"
I think - "Not so sure suicide-melta works, and I wish I'd brought that disruption pod."
-didn't shoot once; pretty sure the meltagun is more of a bluff now than a death-or-glory attack.
-Jinking is awesome.
-Not sure if I'll end up taking them again or not; we'll see.

Hammerheads
I Thought - "Hey, it used to work - plus huge guns."
I Think - "Probably not a bad thing still."
-...also, to be honest, I totally derp'ed out and thought they had BS3, because clearly I'm not literate enough to read my reference page. (Also, that 10-hour work day didn't help, but seriously, I could have RTFM...but it's funny now.)
-vehicles in general are tougher - but the versatility is still there.
-Not off the list yet - and jinking is hilarious.  That, and if I'd had markerlights, jinking isn't always as big a deal.

The Other Guy's List
-Setting up against all reserves is nasty - I'm used to having the luxury of reacting to the other guy, not vice-versa.
-He had excellent target priority - my Pathfinders got deleted ASAP, and then the Crisis Suits were next - thus depriving me of accuracy and then a ton of my AP2.

Up Next
-More blogging!
-A whole lot of learning - much of my habits are based out of 5th edition, so...yeah.  Gonna have to unlearn and relearn.
-Painting up the converted Riptides
-Looking into dusting off my Eldar
-Figuring out what to do with the ~25 terminators and heap of las/plas space bobs from my old Black Templar Termie-Spam Army (not really sure I want to go Deathwing; debating between converting them to Grey Knights and converting Dreadknights, OR doing up a first company list like the one I faced.)

A Wee Update: What's Next on the 40k Front

Here are my goals for the time being: I would like to put up at least a post a week in this blog. I enjoy blogging about the hobby (I make a pretense of being a teacher, and I enjoy spreading knowledge and discussing little plastic army men).

Current Army Project

Currently, I've been playing heavy with the Tyranids. Despite the utter curb-stomping of the previous game (sharp opponent + solid enemy army list + inability to roll well = DEATH) I enjoy the TMC/Venomthrope Stelek list.

I've got a Carnifex in the works on the bench (gotta convert the arms, then attach them) and I'm pondering ways to convert up Venomthropes. I like the idea of poison-cloud-bleching bugs, though I think I'm going to go for more of a walking smoke-belching factory than the floaty tentacle thing.

I also have the remainder of my Hive Tyrant's arm bits (wings/scything talons) to complete painting. Pictures will eventually be forthcoming, but at the moment I'm not sure I have access to a solid camera. I'll sort that when I sort it.

Up Next: Power Armor

A while back, I'd contemplated starting up a Space Wolf army, and a Blood Angel army, and so on and so forth. At this point, I've acquired a few boxes of Thousand Sons marines, most of the armor I need, and I have a fair amount of other stuff (then I got Indoctrinated* by Warmachine...).

I intend to make this a work of love with conversions, as I'm a big fan of the Thousand Sons sculpt and fluff. On the other hand, their rules...well, I'm just not feelin' the CSM book. I also like the idea of marine cavalry, and I have a number of Chaos Knights left over from when I thought about doing them as cheap bloodcrushers. I think I'll be using the K-sons as the Wolf Guard stand-ins, and it'd be an easy-to-ID one.

I also owe RayJ a thanks for convincing me on the tabletop that they're as solid as I'd thought. Not unbeatable by any means, but certainly contenders. That, and I dig the idea of death-seeking warriors and all things Space Wolf in general.

In Parting

I want to thank everyone for bearing with the decreased activity as of late. Some life stressors have finally died down or bowed out. I'd like a few thoughts on what everyone would generally like to see; I'll probably end up doing unit breakdowns and the occasional batrep. When I get inspired for neat conversions and such, they'll probably show up.

I'm aiming to get a couple matches in a month, as they tend to eat a Saturday morning without a hell of a lot of trouble.

*Points for you if you get the Mass Effect pun. Slaps for you if you don't.

On Space Wolves, Tyranids, a Game, and News in General

I managed to clear time for a good 2,000pt matchup with RayJ. As I am told a picture is worth a thousand words (and he brought the camera) I figured I would sum up the battle report with a picture.

My 'nid army was something like:

Tyrant w/ 2x TL Devourers

3 seperate Venomthropes

2 Tervigons with Catalyst

2x10 Devourer-gants

2 Harpies w/ TL Heavy Venom

2 Tyrannofex

RayJ's list, from memory, had something like:

Logan Grimnar

2 Rune Priests (Living Lightning each, and some other random power that had no impact)

2 Lone Wolves (Terminator Armor, Chainfist, Storm Shield. You were expecting?)

2 Wolf Guard Squads (Sarge in terminator armor with Cyclone missile launcher, powerfists?)

2 Grey Hunter Squads (double melta, and a Wolf Guard in the lead)

2 single Thunderwolf Units (Fist/Shield)

2 Long Fang Squads (3 missiles, 2 lascannons each).

The Scenario

The crater describes the end state of my army. It's been a long time since I've been tabled. We rolled up Kill Points and Table Quarters. I won the roll to go first, brain farted, and made the grave error of going second. His stuff set up with the four melee speed bumps up front, then the hunters and Wolf Guard behind, and finally the Long Fangs with a commanding view of the field.

I set up with an eye towards making sure his Thunderwolf Cav can't get a first-turn charge off. His shooting drops a Tervigon (which takes out a chunk of one of the Devourer-gant squads. Stupid 'Brood Primogenitor' rule). At that point I'm beginning to realize what my cover saves are going to look like.

So, I unload a whole lotta gunfire into his approaching stuff. I am for the t-wolves because of their speed; I probably have another turn before the Lone Wolves reach my line. I have a metric crap-ton of anti-personnel shooting.

I inflict one wound on one of the T-wolves.

Yep. Gonna be one of them games...I made a few mistakes here and there, but my utter inability to roll cover saves or inflict wounds on the other guy (I kid you not, I had a TYRANNOFEX die while sucking up an amazing total of 8-9 wounds. Inability to make both a 2+ and a 5+....).

The Lessons

Naturally, in retrospect I should've gone first. Tyranids have very little shooting that reaches out more than 24 inches, and Rupture Cannons aren't the most reliable things for killing infantry at range. (Besides, they were trying to force instant death armor saves on T-wolves, which seemed like a good idea at the time.). It's a plain nasty Space Wolf list, and while I always figured Long Fangs were nasty, I'm now very, very, very sure that I dislike them greatly. When you get down to it, most armies don't have good ways to kill infantry from over 24-36 inches (excpeting IG Russes in some cases).

On the bright side, RayJ was a fun opponent to play against (which seriously mitigated the fact that I'm still sore from what the dice did to me...) and it was nice to not play Imperial Guard. I'm not knocking IG, but when you play against it for a while, a change-up is nice.

Other Bits

On the other bright side, I found out I'm getting transferred out of the high-intensity soul-crushing office* at work in a few weeks. What does that mean for you, dear readers? (Assuming there are still some out there, I know I've not been prolific as of late).

Hopefully, it means articles more than once a month.

Anyone interested in taking a look at a gallery of 'nid pictures can find my Tyranids here. It's what I've been laboring on for the last year, though I must warn you that picture quality is not necessarily what the interweb slang would call 'uber.' I think it's more 'servicable' myself.

*Seriously am getting out of the nasty stuff, which is just in time. I seldom bring personal matters onto this blog, though work stress was starting to leech into everything else (including chronic tension headaches, which you get AWESOME meds for...) and it's a matter of either a) not having the time/urge/opportunity to blog at the same time, or b) not wanting to inflict a Grim, Dark, Bleak, Bitter-er than usual rant on the potential passer-by.

Minor Tweakage, and What's Coming

I want to thank my readers for the input. I've tweaked the font colors and layout slightly.

Now, I'm keeping the layout simple; I've just switched to a whiter font to up the contrast between text and background. I prefer simple because it makes it easier to navigate the page; it's just less distracting to the eye.

As for the articles themselves, I'm going to aim to keep the content fresh. I think a little intro isn't a bad thing; I could probably do a little better to write an intro paragraph on some of the articles.

Pictures, too, can be good. I'm going to try to get more batreps with actual pictures. I try to spruce up most articles with at least a little bit of picture love, just to keep it from being the wall of text to the face. I'll make sure most of them get at least a small picture up front, since I do think it makes it more pleasing to the eye.

Content-wise, I'm mostly pleased; I'll keep with the logic of my list-building and with the unit analysis. I'm personally trying to work up to an army-level understanding of things; I'm not 100% confident with slapping a whole list together but I'm pretty confident in my ability to figure out good uses for a unit. I think, though, this is one of the things keeping me from being an upper-tier general. (That, and the tendency to every now and then do something out of stupidity and/or inattention to detail. Whoops.) I'm also going to try to be less reactionary in general to other's posts, though I think some of that's from occasional burnout with work. Work is...somewhat stressful; I've had worse jobs but the demands go from reasonable to insane and back again with the drop of the hat. But, it's a job and a paycheck, and I'll take what I can get.

What's Up Ahead
I'm going to get a round or two in against new Tyranids come this weekend.

I'm also going to lay hands on the Tyranid 'dex this week, so you'll get some impressions on that.

Last question: should I get a spite for the dice gods e-mail? I think I'm probably going to cave and do it, just because it'll give me some fuel for writing.

Oh, and a 5k brawl with Boc at some point. I WILL EAT YOUR SPACE ELVES! Albeit, with a combined force of stuff.

Life Update

As pertains to blogging, at least.

Work's going to get a little crazier this month, and school's papers are starting to weigh in, so I'm anticipating blog posts might slow to a crawl. It'll get better after that, though, as I'll be graduated and 'educated.*'

*I'll have a piece of paper that says I'm smart. Considering how dumb some of my classmates are** and how most jobs will train you anyway, I'm not sure what it really proves.

**as in, one of them stood up and told the teacher he thought the test was crap, mostly because he didn't want to write an essay in a class that's all essay, because it takes the place of a thesis. No, he actually said "It's crap that I have to define the points. That's grade-school crap." Yes. The professor really WILL assume you know everything when he's the last course you have to pass before you get your master's. Isn't that a little condescending? "Hey, we both know I know it, so how's about you just let me not write it instead? I'll do the 'essay' in bullet points, too!" MORON.

Blog Pupatation

At least, I think pupatation is a word. Moving to larva, to pupa, to adult? Or am I pulling this out of a dark and smelly place? I do not know.

At any rate, I've made some changes after pondering some and being prompted to finally make some. Stelek had some good suggestions, and I'd meant to fix the whole stupid column-width thing I had going on.

These changes include:
-Comments moved to a popup
-Color Scheme Change
-variable width

The variable width is staying. I'm looking for angles on the color scheme change, and the comments-to-popup. I think I might keep the popups, as it allows a reader to look at the original post and/or pictures within, without having to move back and forth so much.

The color scheme...up for debate. I'm a guy that thinks in terms of the cooler colors, and while red might be more spiteful, I think blue/grey has a nice, cool feel to it that makes it tolerable to stare at.

EDIT: I decided the title border needed something other than black, and decided the top bar needed to not be blue.

Minor Tweakage

As a nod to some of the FTW sentiment about blog-rolls, I've added a roll to the side. Take a look at the stuff; it's interesting stuff. I follow people.

I'm also somewhat amazed I managed to rate the 'command squad' section of FTW. Apparently I generate some traffic? SCORE. I should pat myself on the back, or something?

Instead, I'm going to keep doing what I do? Which is write stuff... I do intend to crank up some thoughts on Eldar melee choices, and I think I'll add a little side-device for tactic articles I've written.

Apparently, some of them are worth the looks? I don't think I'm The Last Word in tactics, but I think I'm capable of figuring out (and perhaps more importantly) communicating some decent ideas on what they can do.

I would like to get more batreps up; I just need to remember to bring the camera and take some notes. It's work enough to keep track of stuff, but hat's off to those who do and edit video batreps.

I am also pondering adding some stuff about Dark Heresy (as I have recently begin GMing a session for some of my buddies, including Jon) though on the other hand, I think that might dilute the blog a bit. Side note: consider hot-shot clips for las guns taking head-shots at people that have something like 15 wounds. Apparently 1d10+4 damage to the head ISN'T ENOUGH.

Likely, though, I'll just keep to tactics.