lunes, 28 de diciembre de 2015

Inquisition review



When you ask people about the actual codex of the Inquisition they will generally agree that it's one of the worst armies in the game. It's a lie. All of it. Inquisition is the hardest of armies, capable of utterly destroying even the hardest eldar. The thing is that not everyone can play them. It took me months to really get out everything that this army could do, and I'm still improving my techniques with them. So I'll do a unit by unit review:

Inquisitor Coteaz: One of the most used units of the Inquisition in other armies, Coteaz is quite nice, as you get an inquisitor with 2+ armor save, a daemon hammer, that allows you and your enemy to repeat the seize initiatives roll and a level two psyker that intercepts with his unit at 12" for just 100 points! Nice in large inquisition armies for the initiative thing and great if you know your enemy will deep strike if fitted in a heavy armed squad.


Inquisitor Karamazov: Inquisitor Karamazov is badass, he has lots of great things like orbital bombardment every turn, rad grenades, even a multi melta! But you won't be taking him a lot, as he is 200 points and as you'll be seeing through this review, inquisitors were made to be cheap. Even though Karamazov can be fun to play and has some nasty rules, also is a good option for a hard warlord, so for friendly games (in which inquisition exceed as they have lots of weird and fun configurations) it can be considered taking.
Ordo Malleus Inquisitor: At a first glance we have a pretty bad character in here, almost all of its profile is 3, except WS, BS and I that are 4. The thing is that it's only 25 points, and you get three wounds and attacks (be careful though because at toughness three its very easy to instat kill him). Inquisition is the only army who can spam HQ. Power Armour and maybe even power swords could be considered for that, but Ordo Malleus isn't the one made for mobs, it's the one made for your warlord, as you can get him terminator armour for durability. Also he has the psy cannon with psybolt ammunition for extra attack and can be turned into a psyker. You can also give him the Grimoire of True Names to face demons, as it's great for that ridiculous price. All this said be careful, as you don't want him to get to pricey, this is the Inquisition and the most expensive thing we have are Jokaeros!
Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor: You may still be wondering if you can really beat eldars with inquisition or if it was a joke, but it isn't. This fellas are mini-cullexus that you can mob to wreck eldars, demons or other psychic heavy armies. For 25 points you get a Null Rod, which stops your unit from being targeted by psychic powers. This can save you from an eldar storm or a Tzeentch thingie. Also a psyocculum and a condemnor boltgun can cause some problems. All this said for me this is the worst type of inquisitor, and usually I just take a couple or none at all (a couple? Isn't that a lot for a HQ? No, it isn't, I usually take between ten and twenty five).
Ordo Xenos Inquisitor: Now we are talking! This is the best inquisitor, with access to Needle Pistol and Scythian venom talons, this guys can be very strong, being able to kill a carnifex if taken in groups (at least three for this, though two could also do in the charge). But the thing that makes them so good, the thing that makes inquisition so good, are rad grenades. In their codex entry it says that it lowers toughness by one each time that an inquisitor charges or is charged. BUT IT DOES NOT SPECIFY TO A MINIMUM OF ONE!!!!!! This means that if four inquisitors charge as different units a mob of 30 guardsmen, even if one dies because of defensive fire, all of the guardsmen will be vaporized. An inquisitor with rad grenades is 40 points. You can field 25 at 1000 points. And THIS is probably the most broken unit in all the game. Not eldar bikes, not tau firepower, but ordo xenos inquisitors with rad grenades. Also note that you can get them into a land raider or a drop pod to get them to the enemy, really into any armies of the imperium vehicle, so it's actually easy to charge with them and, because they're different units, you can only kill one at defensive fire! Don't abuse of this though, people don't usually like it and will try to show you every rule that exists to tell you that you can't do that (I once spent fifteen minutes telling one guy that I had just vaporized his wolfstar with ten ridiculous inquisitors and that there wasn't a rule that could save him).
Inquisitorial henchmen warband: The other (optional) part of our army will be composed by a picturesque combination of three to twelve figures, which I'll analyze one by one:
• Acolytes: At four points, acolytes are great mobs and cannon fodder, but have some available options that make them interesting: The carapace armour could be considered for elite acolytes, but doubles the price of them, and another guy is better than a better save; the power armor is unaffordable, as it makes your acolyte more expensive than a normal marine, though it can be turned to a 2+ with some jokaeros, a option you should take into consideration. From the Acolyte Weapons take the boltgun for shooty mobs or the hot-shot lasgun for marine slayers (seriously, with this they're nine points, so four teams of five are just 180 points. And you can take teams of three with melta guns, which is a great vehicle killer combined with some transports (also good with plasma guns).
At last every one of them can take melta bombs, so you can have twelve in a unit, which will even vaporize a land raider.
• Arco-flagellants: Though they pack some decent punch they are too fragile for 15 points, so either cover them with e acolyte mob or crusader barrier or don't waste points in them.
• Crusaders: For 15 points you get a power sword and a storm shield, which usually cost 15 points EACH (without a guy), so good option for close combat anti-marine or anti-anti-marine. Also probably the best option to accompany your warlord.
• Daemonhost: For 10 points you get a fella with radom powers that have some good abilities. The cool thing is that you can get a unit of false deamons that can end up doing more damage than a real one, having a similar cost, a 5++ and instead of mark they have cool powers!
• Death Cult Assasin: Two power swords with initiative 6, two attacks and WS 5, assassins are great combined with crusaders for durability.
• Jokaero Weaponsmith: At 35 points they are the most expensive henchmen available, even more expensive than an inquisitor, but they have some improvements that are great for you units (get at least two so you don't get stuck with the first option). Also they are the little brothers of obliterators, as they can choose between lascannons, multi-meltas and heavy flamers each turn. To have five firing from the top of a chimera or two with three servitors usually works well.
• Ministorum Priest: This guy is the other way to improve your units, and works great with basically every close combat configuration, though you'll end using always the first or third hymn.
• Mystic: A good way to get your deep striking units where you want if placed in a chimera and run forward, but useless otherwise.
• Psyker: At 18 points you have a psyker and two acolytes, which are a unit in their own and thus a level one psyker. Easy to hide, you can get ten of this groups at just 180 points, with the corresponding warp charges, so great for psyker spamming and invoking.
•Servitors: At last but not least, we have the servitors, which should always be taken in groups of three to take 10 points multi-meltas or heavy bolters! Though mindlock sucks, the great number of them you can have compensates.
You can also take dedicated transports for your Inquisitorial henchmen warbands (rhino, razorback, chimera, valkyrie and the three GW variants of land raider) but I won't talk about them in here as they have nothing special with the exception that the chimera doesn't have the lasgun array but has five fire points and that a land raider crusader with psybolt ammunition is great.


At last, don't worry to take inquisitorial detachments, as the warlord traits from the rulebook are better in general.


With this I hope that you consider taking Inquisition as it's a more versatile army than you could think and has lots of surprises for your enemies!

domingo, 27 de diciembre de 2015

Betrayal at Calth review



I finally got BaC, and I'm pretty happy with it so I decided to do an article.


The first great thing about it is the price, so lets make some maths: The Cataphractii terminators from Forge World are 35£, and their weapons 13£ (and this option gives you just fists, bolters and a power sword, while the box gives you a lot more options). We've already got 48£, which is almost half the price of BaC. A space marine MKIII tactical squad is 35£, without any heavy weapons or equipment for the sergeant (which BaC has) and in Betrayal at Calth we have three, that are, in total 105£, which summed with our terminators are 153£. Then we have our beloved contemptor, which costs 33£ and 9.50£ each arm, which are 52£ and added to the rest we've already got 205£, which is more than the double of this box price. But we shouldn't forget the characters! Two legion praetors, one in terminator armour and another without are 33£ what is more or less what BaC has, so added to the rest this sums up to 238£! So you get a final discount of a 138£ buying BaC rather than buying the figures separately from Forge World. I've heard people say that the problem is that they're less detailed, which is true, but the difference is so small that it doesn't matter. Also remember that this also comes with a board and instructions to play a game that is halfway between 40k and Space Hulk (it seems to be fun) and that this is plastic, so its easier to use and convert.


The second great thing is the combination of figures it brings. At first I thought that thirty marines was too much and that it should bring instead just twenty and something like a recon squad, but as I explained in my last post 30k is made for large units, so it turns out 30 was a good number (even though they're plastic, so customization is very easy). The contemptor is awesome, even though it could have a more dynamic pose, and the cataphractii are also great, with ten lightning claws, five power fists, five chain fists, five combi bolters and a heavy flamer. Both characters of the box are cool, even though they aren't the best, they have a couple of nice details (I like the power maul/crozius). Also remember that all the miniatures in the box are usable at regular 40k (I fear I will end up playing them more this way), as even the contemptor has rules at Imperial Armour.


At last I think that one thing that you should think about if you buy the box is what it means for all of us hobbyists. If GW sees that this is a success, maybe they'll start making heresy in plastic, maybe really blend with FW, and that will be the BEST. I think GW is testing us with this, do people really want plastic heresy? Are hobbyists interested in the Horus Heresy? I think the answer is yes, and I hope they start releasing other heresy kits (I hope for the dreadclaw, but I know that would be low in the list), passing to plastic but keeping quality resin in kits like the character series, for example.


All this said, I'm very happy with Betrayal at Calth and with GW in general (after AoS I had started to loose hope) and I recommend it for you all, being both a good option to make a competitive army and to have some good minis to paint.

30k vs 40k

I'm starting a Horus Heresy army this Christmas and it brings me a new problem, as I'm the first of my group to do so, so could I play my new Sons of Horus against the usual 40k battles?

The internet isn't much help in here, as there are as many people that say yes than no, an after some time searching I'm even more troubled, so I read the rules, compared them to existing armies and made some studies and even though the heresy legions can seem in advantage because all the D weapons, super heavies and primarchs (oh my god the primarchs), they have a great flaw in the actual 40k game, they need to have big units so they aren't flexible at all. For example, ten tactical marines cost 150 points, which is overpriced, while taking more costs just 10 points per miniature, wich means that taking ten more costs just a 100 points, which is really cheap, meaning that to have balanced units they should be as big as possible which totally destroys the usual flexibility of actual space marines and thus, the legions work in a totally different way, with few powerful units, a system that doesn't work to well in seventh edition with the tactical objectives.

So, in conclusion, even though the usual 40k armies will have some problems at getting down some units from the legions, they will easily out-maneuver them, so I think they are pretty balanced, being the legions more powerful but less flexible than other armies.
I will be testing my Sons of Horus soon to confirm all of this, and I will post my new ideas about them, as well as some pics.
 I hope this article was useful for you readers and I'll be posting something soon!

domingo, 20 de diciembre de 2015

Advanced Chaos Space Marines Tactics


Hi there everyone! We all know tha CSM aren't the best faction to play in 40k nowadays, but if you use all the resources available, you could end up with a decent army, so first, what are those resources and what do they have?:
Chaos Space Marines Codex:
• This will be our basic resource and most of our units will come from here. I won't talk about it further as I've already done an entry for that.
Crimson Slaughter: 
• All your units have the Fear special rule. This means that even if you usually wouldn't need the supplement for anything you should say that your army is Crimson Slaughter, as this can sometimes come in handy and it's free! 
• Possessed are troop choices, which is, at least for me, very good, as I like the possessed playstyle and because of this I can skip the compulsory cultists or chaos marine unit. Also it gives your possessed Objective Secured if taken as part of a combined weapons detachment.
• Relics of the Crimson Slaughter are far better than Chaos Artifacts. Even if you loose the Key and the Flamer combo you gain lots of things, as Divination for your Sorcerer, the invoking machine, Daemonheart, etc... 
• The possessed rules, now called Slaves to the Voices, are far better than the other ones, as they can give them Shrouded (for a 2++ on ruins and buildings), the beast type (basically move 12" and get to your enemy faster) or 3++ and Rending (better save is always better and Rending can be useful lots of times).
• You can't take Veterans of the Long War (except for your cult units). This won't usually affect you much, as VotLW isn't usually good, but it can be a big downside if you know you're playing against space marines.
• The ability to upgrade one unit of chosen into Draznitch's Ravagers is one of the best things of the supplement, basically because it allows you to reroll 1 with plasma guns because of Preferred Enemy. Also useful when combined with chemical weapons from The Purge.
• The warlord traits are pretty good in a close combat characters and the second one, Maelstrom of Torment can be awesome when used in a Terror army (as I'll explain later).
Black Legion: 
• Chosen units are troop choices for Black Legion, which is, basically, the thing that stops me from always taking Crimson Slaughter. An army based on Chosen can be pretty decent, its a shame this can't be combined with Draznitch Ravagers.
• All your units have to take VotLW, which usually sucks, though can be good if playing versus space marines and going close combat.
• If you take Abbadon you can upgrade a single unit of terminators to Bringers of Despair. This isn't a competitive option, but if you're playing a friendly game, it cam be fun to shoot your combi meltas at 2+.
• The Chaos Artifacts of the Black Legion aren't that good. It's true there're a couple of fun things (the eye and the last memory) but the rest are pretty bad.
• The warlord traits are horrible, please roll in another place. 
Imperial Armour 13
• Gives a lot of extra units that compliment very well the codex (as I've already explained in my last entry).
• Adds the Renegade Army, which is a great ally for our CSM, giving us better mobs than cultists, GREAT artillery and tanks. 
• Brings into our games the Legacies of Ruin, for our vehicles, that can give some very good things (the Death of Kasyr Lutien is brutal).
Imperial Armour: Siege of Vraks
• Gives us extra rules for our Renegades, some of which are pretty good (maybe I'll have to do an article about renegades...).
• It has two new detachments. The first one is just for renegades so I'll pass, but the second one, The Purge, is THE SOLUTION, as it allows you to take Renegades and CSM. It gives us chemical flamers, which are very good for Draznicht's Ravagers (even better if infiltrated with Huron); chemical rockets, which you won't use ase CSM have almost no missile launchers, and it makes all your ordnance area weapons cause dangerous terrain, which is sweet if you also use some of the artillery from the renegades. This things are fine, but what makes The Purge so great for me is that instead of requiring two troops it requires two elites! With all the places, groups and tournaments that are requiring armies to be organized in detachments this allows you to skip the two compulsory troops. This means you can take Draznicht's Ravagers as core choices, or terminators, or even plague marines without the respective lord or sorcerer. The possibilities are endless with this, though it has its downsides: You can't take Fast Attack as part of this detachment, so no Chem Nurgle Bikers; the only mark/dedication available is Nurgle, which sucks in a lot of cases and you don't get objective secured.
Khorne Daemmonkin
• We all Chaos players had our hopes up for this codex, I thought this could be my new Codex, as I have a lot of Khorne marines, but... It wasn't. KDK is a pretty bad Codex, and it isn't CSM nor Demons, so you can't use any of the bonuses for them. Even though it has some formations that do not specify the units must be taken from KDK, and the army in general can bee good as an allied detachment or in combination with other Chaos armies.
Chaos Demons Codex
• Demons are great allies for CSM, and I take them frequently as an allied detachment with four Tzeentch heralds and Nurglings for Daemonology.
Stronghold Assault
• With rapiers and renegade artillery some fortifications can come in handy (I find the void shield generator awesome for the job). 

All this things make CSM a more bearable army though it still doesn't bring them to the tops, for that we would need a whole new Codex (some images on the internet may mean we'll get one soon, but you never know with this things). Also all this info sounds awesome and all of that, but how can you put it together? Well, here I have some of the combinations that work better for me:
Chaos Stronghold
This consists of taking lots of long ranged units, take a corner of the table as far from your enemy as possible and kill everything before it gets near. I usually take The Purge and Crimson Slaughter with Plasma Draznitch Ravagers to kill whatever gets at range, Plague Marines to defend and a deathly combination (the quantity of each thing depends on the enemy) of: Rapiers with Conversion beamer and Laser destroyers, predators, infernal relic predators, Obliterators, Vindicators, renegade artillery batteries, renegade strike batteries (chaos wyverns was what we all needed), renegade hydra batteries (if you think your opponent will have lots off flyers or you want to be preventive), renegade bombard batteries (very good at gaming tables with lots of covers), renegade heavy ordnance battery, renegade support squad (if you're a wimp and take a mediocre unit when there's all this greatness), renegade rapier laser destroyer battery and renegade field artillery battery. Also I always field a Void Shield Generator or even two. You can also take bastions, defense lines or any other fortification you have, cover is good for this list, and if you taka a lot of barrage also take things that block line of sight. The other thing to consider are sorcerers to boost and defend you, warpsmiths to repair your vehicles and units to defend your big guns (plague marines are the best for this, and you can take them with the purge, though cultist and renegade mob units also work. All you have to do now is wait in your fortress of destruction, know who to shoot (units that can charge you or damage you from the distance) and pray to the dice gods for good rolls. Before you play this you should know that not everyone finds this way of gaming fun to play or to play against, and you should remember that this is for fun, so unless you and your opponent are iron within and iron without, the simple quantity of areas four wyverns and quad mortars can unleash can be stressing.
Strike and ControlThis is a list based on moving fast and being everywhere in the table, shining in vortex of war missions, as you usually have units in all the objectives you need. Your army will consist of a mix of raptors, bikers, warp talons, helldrakes, hellblades/talons and blight drones, assisted by a lord or sorcerer with a bike or a jumpack and some units in rhino or dreadclaw. To use it well you have to spread your units over the table, usually working with the minimum squad number and the maximum special weapons as possible (the lack of tanks or artillery forces you to take your heavy guns on your squads) and its very difficult to take as a detachment, as you will need more than three Fast Attack slots and you wont need troops, so you will usually play them freestyle.
Speartip Strike
The Speartip Strike is a classic brought in from the Horus Heresy, and consist of deep striking your terminators into the heart of the opponent. That's it. But there are some things that you can do to upgrade this so I'll go by steps: First step, take five terminators; second step, upgrade the unit to be ten; third step, give some weapons for them (multi meltas, power fists, chainfist or claws); fourth step, give them Abbadon the Despoiler; fifth step, upgrade them to Bringuers of Despair; sixth step, take a sorcerer or lord with jump pack, bike or mount and the flamer and the key for accurate deep strike; seventh step (which makes sixth unnecessary), take a Karhibdis Assault Claw to make them gods and finally, eighth step (yeah, one for each point of the chaos star), take another terminator character to boost the unit, preferably a sorcerer with telepathy for an invisibility chance. 
The Speartip is potent, but its expensive as hell and it doesn't work alone, so you should just use them with the eight steps at really colossal games, in where you can afford it and a whole army to support them. 
Chosen to Kill
When you are fighting against enemies that take few potent units, mobs of cultist or chaos marines aren't appropriate. That's the moment in where you'll need the most difficult unit to use at all its potential in the codex... Chosens! The thing that makes them so good is that they can take five special weapons and have two attacks base, but what makes them so complex is that they get VERY expensive, so you'll need to optimize them as much as you can. Above all the configurations available, the best one, without doubt, is to take five with plasma guns or chemical flamers from the Purge and Draznicht's Ravagers, but this is limited to one per detachment, so you'll need to take more, which I recommend to kit with melta guns and power weapons, depending on your enemy. This generates another problem, how do I get them close enough to fire my flamers and melts guns or to charge with my power weapons? Well, there are three solutions: The first, which only guarantees to work on one unit but could work on three, is to take Huron Blackheart (Ahriman is also an option, but he usually is to expensive) to infiltrate them, the second one is to give them earth transports (rhinos and land raiders) and the third is to give them orbital transports (dreadclaws and Kharybdiss). All three of them have their advantages and disadvantages, but you can do a lot of damage with this guys either way.
Terror Strike
The Terror Strike is made for the Night Lords, though the ones that pull it off are Crimson Slaughter and KDK and it consist of lowering your enemy's leadership so they will fail Fear, Pinning and Morale test and its easier for you to kill them. This can be done by mixing quite a lot of things, so choose from the following options the ones that you most like: The thing that I usually use as the main force of it is the Kranon's Hellguard formation, as it reduces leadership and BS, even though the units it requires aren't very good (jump pack lord with raptors, three terminators with combi melta, a pair of cultists mobs, chosen  in the land raider and a support hellbrute is what I think that works better). The Charnel Cohort formation from KDK is also good, and works better with fear (which is from where you will take the most advantage anyway). Be'Lakor is doubtlessly the best warlord option for a terror strike army, as he also lowers leadership and generates warp charges from it (also invisibility guaranteed is great and psychic scream will come in very handy). At last, every additional CSM unit you take should be Crimson Slaughter, as free fear is specially useful here. It's also important to note that this list isn't that effective against armies with high leadership (necrons for example) and almost null against fearless armies, like demons (though daemonic instability with low leadership is painful).
Tainted Forge
This type of list was the most used kdk list in the ETC, and consist in only fielding daemon engines. At first you'll think that it's a suicide, as you'll be very outnumbered, but the thing is that usually more than half of the enemy army won't be able to harm you. It depends a lot of your enemy, but if you manage to kill all the anti vehicle enemy units you will be unstoppable. Also, field some areas to level the numbers.
Storm of ChaosThis type of list is, for me, purely hypothetical, as I don't have the units to field it (still scratch building them) because it includes lots of FW minis, the dreadclaws. The idea is to get most of your army into a dreadclaw and alpha strike them into a position in where they will do enough damage to survive the next round. Using lots of chemical flamers and melta guns and counting that the dreadclaws are flyers, you should be able to do it very efficiently.
Chemical WarfareThis is an army based on the Purge, so you'll go Nurgle styled. You just have to fill your elite choices with chosen units with chemical flamer (make at least one of them Draznicht's Ravagers), fill the HQ with whatever you like (sorcerer is a good option to boost your people) and if you aren't using all your heavy supports at anti vehicle (you still need some), take havocs with flamers. At last take a promethium pipe as a fortification so your flamers will be torrent and wait behind it so that you'll literally shred your opponent. Note that this won't work against long ranged units, so try not to play them against tau or to field people to support them.

Abbadon the Despoiler

This is my first paint entry, so I hope you like it! 
I´ve got this figure waiting in its box for years and I´ve finally decided to paint it, which has been great, as it has more detail that I could imagine (so many little skulls). I´ve painted him to go with my chaos undivided army, the Yellow Shoulders, and I´ve alredy ordered some Justaerins to go with him!

I got him a chain at the back because I thought it was to plain ant it would give him an even more barroque look

I painted his hair red to contrast with the rest of the mini and bring the atention to the head

At one arm he has the mighty Hand of Horus, with its orange little lightinings

 At the other he holds the mighty Drach´nyen, with all its angry faces

 I painted the faces in orange like if they where made of molten metal, though I don´t like much the final result...

 Abbadon has got an angry and spoiled face since an angel of the Emperor burned his soul

 Even the legs of the mighty Abbadon are full of skulls, faces and pointy things

 I ended pretty exasperated of the little bolts in the Hand of Horus though I´m quite happy with the final result

sábado, 12 de diciembre de 2015

Imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and Dammed


As promised I'm going to do a unit by unit review of some of the units of IA 13, though I won't be able to talk about some units as I've never played them nor seen them in action (mainly super heavies and those that don't change from the loyalist version). Before starting, all of these units are overpriced, so don't take them at low points games. Even the best units in here (rapiers are maybe an exception) won't work well under 1500, while they will perform great at bigger games.
Decimator: Awesome model with awesome rules, this is the worst nightmare of Dark Eldar or Wagon Ork armies, as they're capable of shooting heavy flamers at units inside vehicles at close combat. I think the best option are dual close combat weapons, because of the flamer rule and because other options can be taken more efficiently in other units (butcher cannon => Hades autocannon in forge fiends. Soulburner petard => rapiers or renegade artillery . Storm laser => rapier with laser destroyer.  Conversion beamer => rapier with cyclorathe. Yes, I like rapiers). If you know your enemy will go with lots of vehicles, decimators are a competitive option. Also all dedications are good for him, depending on the way you're using him  (if close combat intended Khorne is the best).
Blight drones: I've never actually played them, but the mawcannon seems to be pretty solid, giving you a flying battle cannon, which is sweet. I'll probably scratch build some, as they seem to be pretty interesting for space marine wiping.
Chaos rapier weapons battery: For me the best unit of IA13 for CSM, all the weapons are good, as Hades autocannon and ectoplasm are cheaper than a forge fiend and have higher BS, Quad Heavy Bolter can be good at several occasions (ork nobz wiping), laser destroyers are great at busting vehicles at AP1 and the Cyclorathe pattern conversion beamer is FUCKING AWSOME as it gives you an AP2 S10 big blast if you're more than 24" away, wich should wipe out of the table the big units at first turn, still do great damage at second, and loose firepower at third if you're opponent is moving. I'm building five of this babies to give support to my army and I plan to use them as laser destroyers or conversion beamers, that are my favorite options.
Blood Slaughters: This is Khorne at all its glory. It has awesome close combat stats (and the impaler is great) but you loose control over him. This is a big disadvantage, as not choosing who you assault and where you move makes you loose a lot of tactical flexibility (almost all) and your enemy can take advantage of it. This means that you should either deep strike or position him very well at deployment.
Great Brass Scorpion of Khorne: A decent option at very big games (apocalypse mainly) its not as good as a Kythan, but its still better than a Lord of Skulls. It combines close combat at shooting power, so it's quite flexible and will perform good if used correctly (which is easy, unless forming part of a more complex plan, you just need to shoot and charge things as you find convenient).
Chaos contemptor dreadnought: Similar to a decimator in some ways, the contemptor has a wide range of options (no kheres autocannon though) that enable him to fill a lot of jobs. I personally prefer running two with Khorne dedication and two fists with plasma blasters (yes, you guessed right, a take a dual close combat weapon decimator with them).
Emperors children sonic dreadnought: It's fine, but I don't see it as a great option (remember this are CSM, not great means horrible at Eldar or Tau standards). It can fire twice its blastmaster/ sonic blaster and doom siren, but at the price of not moving, and in the other arm he has a chainfist. If you want to field him I would take a blastmaster and change the chainfist for a missile launcher to get a shooty stationary dreadnought.
Ferrum infernus chaos dreadnought: I really like this guys, they have lots of options, lots of possible combinations and the specializations look good (though only destroyer of cities actually is). I just like them because they are, in may opinion, better than the loyalist version (the point increase sucks, but I think it compensates), which is very uncommon.
Chaos Kharybdis assault claw: Too expensive for what it does, this is a drop pod who procreated with a super heavy. With a transport capacity of 20 it could be used to take a bringers of despair unit with Abbadon.
Chaos dreadclaw drop pod: Now we are talking! You are telling me that chaos can take a drop pod and that can drop pod can move! Yes please. The dreadclaw is the solution to a lot of problems of CSM, as it enables you to throw any unit at the enemy and also gives a hover transport.
Chaos hell blade: Worst than the helldrake in general the hell blade should be taken though in games with lots of flyers or in games in where a lot of mobility is needed because of their teleport ability (remember that they don't score, so they aren't good for that).
Chaos hell talon: A grownup hell blade this baby has more weapons and hull points, and some of the bombs could be great (alchem cluster and warp pulse).
Chaos infernal relic predator: Better than the usual predator in my opinion I take him with magna-melta, inferno autocannon or plasma destroyer, and it usually does a good job, though being and infernal relic you'll need a warpsimth, a malefic sorcerer or Abbadon to take more than one.
With this I've finished my IA13 review, hope you liked it and see you in my next entry!

domingo, 6 de diciembre de 2015

Chaos Space Marines Basic Review


I think that it's appropriate that my first article is about chaos, as it is my favorite army, the one that I've played most, even though I believe they are pure crap in this edition. So I'll start with a unit by unit review:
Abbadon the Despoiler: There is a quite generalized hate to this character, and that has a reason. Rules-wise he could be badass, he has tons of AP2 attacks and a quite decent durability... But he isn't worth 265 points... It's true that Chaos is an expensive army but this is just to much. You can take him in non competitive games though, its fun to play him with ten Bringers of Despair terminators from Black Legion and deep strike them into the enemy's heart.
Huron Blackheart: Kitted with a heavy flamer, a power axe and a mutant dog that gives him powers, the Tyrant of Badab is one of the chaos named characters you could consider taking in a half competitive environment. For me his best characteristic is his warlord trait, that enables him to infiltrate 1d3 infantry units. I usually infiltrate him with flamer chosens (this can be improved, but I'll explain that in a advanced tactics article). Also the psychic powers can be good if you're lucky.
Khârn the Betrayer: This was my first chaos named character, and I've used him a lot, so believe me when I say this is one of the best suicidal units in the game. Some people like to put him into a unit of berzerkers, chosens, possesed or other close combat unit, but I've discovered something that gives Khârn an advantage, people FEAR Khârn. And they should, as he will tear to bits almost everything he charges, if he charges, which he won't, as that FEAR will make people shoot him. You don't know how many times I've thrown Khârn into the enemy so he will be shot down and let my other units charge almost without losses. It's usually a good idea to give him a Rhino (I once gave him a land raider for extra fun) and go suicidal into the enemy's lines, just to see how my twenty possesed survived and avenged him.
Ahriman: This is one of the only three level 4 psykers in all the game. He is quite expensive, but he can be fun in a friendly game with thousand sons. I really don't have to much to say about him, he's just like a sorcerer on steroids.
Typhus: Two words, plague zombies. Though he's hard as a rock and all that stuff he has something better than everything else, the capability to sacrifice cultist shoot attacks for Feel No Pain, which is great half the times, as cultist will just be holding down objectives, filling the two troop compulsory choice or meat-shielding. Also a good option in a 10 man Nurgle terminator squad, as they will be the hardest pain in the ass.
Lucius the Eternal: This guy can do wonders if correctly used, being unstoppable against high WS opponents as his attacks will increase. I've seen a lucky guy (not me sadly) defeat an Avatar with this fella. If you really want to use him get him in a possesed or power weapon chosen 9 man squad and get him into a land raider.
Fabius Bile: The heretic side of an apothecary, he can improve chaos space marines units, which could be good, but it isn't, even though giving +1S could be great for other units your CSM shouldn't get into close combat too much, so I would pass on him unless you have a thematic terata army (which could awsome, I've thought of it a couple of times).
Chaos Lord: Our first generic character, the chaos lord is, with the sorcerer, the HQ you will most use. It can be kitted to do lots of things, so I will difference between them.
• Basic lord: Power armor, power weapon (maybe a relic), bolt/plasma pistol or combi-weapon, even sigil of corruption if you're feeling generous. His function is to fill the HQ choice and give you close combat power in low points battles.
• Bike lord: As the one before but in a chaos bike. Put him in a bike unit for survivability and extra punch. Also you can do this with a juggernaut, a disk or a Slaaneshi-horse-beast for extra resistance and/or punch. A pair of lightning claws suit him well in several occasions.
• Tanker: The roll of this lord is to go with his unit and receive punishment, which, in my opinion, can be done by two ways: Put him in a terminator amour or put him in a nurgle-chair and combine with terminators or plague marines.
• Jump Lord: Kitted with a jump pack the jump lord can jump straight into the enemy in a jumping unit like warp talons or raptors and you'll be jumping all over the table! Put him a pair of lightning claws for Night Lord skin.
Sorcerer: The sorcerer has all the variants off a Chaos Lord, but trades the extra damage the lord can make for psyker abilities. Really just pass on the chaos powers and go to telepathy and biomancy.
Daemon Prince: This guys are real bastards. When you throw in a buch of upgrades (power armour, axe of blind fury/murdersword, psyker, wings and Skalathrax flamer) they get almost unstoppable, but also gets pretty pricey. Sometimes when you're playing huge games it's fun to do squads of flying princes to go throwing out powers. Also because they're demons and can be psykers they 're a good option for Malefic Daemonology (though not as good as heralds).
Warp Smith: Can come in handy when playing lots of vehicles but are even better for their ability to sabotage covers and enemy vehicles. Also very fluffy for Iron Warriors.
Dark Apostle: I know that some people play them, but I can't really see the point. Maybe they could be good when playing lots of cultists but really, the leadership boosts aren´t so necessary. I would spend my points in a Chaos Lord or Sorcerer unless doing Word Bearers or something like that.
Chaos Space Marines: This is possibly the weakest part of the Codex. A ten man unit with mark, icon and heavy weapons rises it's price over 200 points, and that´s unacceptable. It's been a little less than a year since I last played one of this. It's true that a Nurgle or Slaanesh unit can get pretty resistant, but plague marines, terminators or bikers do that better.
Cultists: I just don't like cultist. I didn't start CSM to have lots of cannon meat running around but, sadly, that's one of the best configurations available. They are the best option to fill the compulsory troop slot if you aren't taking a marked lord or sorcerer, they make great meat shields and they are a more or less good option for holding objectives, getting actually good when taken like plague zombies.
Chosens: This is one of the units I most use of the codex as I love their tactical flexibility. With 2 base attacks and access to a lot of equipment you can get a melta unit, a power weapon or even a dual lightning claw one, though they can get very pricey with this (their major drawback). Though kitting them with a melta is the most simple option there are lots of competitive configurations available for them, which I'll talk about in another article.
Possessed: Capable of making an obscene quantity of strength 5 attacks, possessed are a good offensive unit, though they're easy to take down and get quite pricey. They will really make good use of a land raider, and shine with all marks (Tzeentch being the worst, but still usable). This unit is quite fun to play, though you can't depend on them as they'll get wiped out easily.
Chaos terminators: They are as expensive as durable, which is a lot. 2+ armor means they will survive well everything except AP2 weapons, which you should either kill or run from. For friendly games is actually fun to take a 10 man squad with power/chain fist and combi melta (give them Abbadon or Typhus if you have enough points) and deep strike them into the enemy's lines.
Hellbrute: The chaos version of a dreadnought, this bad boys can take a lot of different weapons for different play stiles (I like the dual close combat weapon, but I don't use to play them). Basically used as support units and they get better if you use the formations available for them.
Mutilators: Arguably the worst unit in the codex this close combat version of obliterators are the avatars of crap. Capable of changing through a panoply of weapons you should spend your points and elite slots in something else unless you are playing... Well I just can't see a reason for fielding them.
Khorne Berzerkers: Though not terrible berzerkers are not great either as they're too expensive for the damage they can actually do, so when I want close combat units I prefer taking possessed, but zerkers can be fun to play in big units (or maybe I just want them to, as I've got 28 of them painted) as they can unleash a lot of attacks (S5 if you pay the icon).
Thousand Sons: Also known as thousand points, because though the rules look good (AP3 bolters, 4++, a psyker...) they are so expensive they aren't worth it. And the sorcerers can only choose from Tzeench, which is worse than bad, or for Daemonology, which will get him killed, so basically use his warp charges in another psyker.
Plague Marines: A great choice in the codex (CSM standards, it actually isn't that great of a unit) plague marines are good as keeper unit (this will actually be useful if using some units from Imperial Armor 13 or Siege of Vraks). Also remember that they have Poisoned, so sometimes you can get some monsters down with them (my brother Tyranids suffer from this guys).
Noise Marines: Not just cool but also useful, this unit can unleash 30 shots that ignore cover (don't forget the blastmaster). It's true that fully kitted they get awfully expensive but, if used correctly, they can be worth it (chaos standards too).
Rhino: Our only vehicle, as the land raider must be taken separately, the Rhino is a mandatory choice for all those units you want getting close to the enemy. It's quite cheap, but it isn't resistant and it has no weapons (havoc launchers are just a good option if you have spare points, wich you won't, as you are playing chaos). All this said, rhinos are great at one thing, blocking line of vision, so if you take four or five you can advance with your units at the back without being shot down (your rhinos will be eventually destroyed though).
Chaos bikers: This unit can really shine if used and kitted correctly, which is a lot of small teams of three with two meltas/flamers and a mark of Nurgle for Toughness 6. If used for quick striking, doing combined charges here and there and shooting their special weapons where needed this can be one of the best units of the codex.
Chaos Spawns: Well though I believe they're fine, lately chaos players have been loving them. Maybe is for a three wounded beast with S and R five? I don't know, because I don't like them too much, I have a pretty bad luck with dices and I've been stuck with one attack each too many times.
Chaos Raptors: Though generally disliked by the community, I use raptors as cheap bikers and they can get pretty useful. Also depending of the table in where you're playing having some jump infantry can be very useful.
Warp Talons: The bastard son of a raptor and a possesed who has been kitted with a pair of lightning claws, a warp talon is a killing machine expensive as hell, so you won't be fielding them too much. That said one of the best games I've had was with a unit of ten of this with a lord, three malefic disc heralds with grimoire at the back boosting them and a winged demon prince with The Flamer and The Key that allowed them to Deep Strike with another two five man squads of raptors with two flamers in the ranks of a tau army and obliterate them (one of my few victories to tau with CSM).
Helldrake: Possibly the best unit of the codex, helldrakes are great units, combining flamers and autocannons. Why? I don't really know, I just know that when I field them they make a very good job. Possibly it's the combination of an AP3 torrent flamer, vectorial strikes and a flying vehicle with 5++ and It Will Not Die.
Havocs: The chaos version of a devastator, they can be nice for fielding heavy bolters, missile launchers or lascannons They can be usefull though you have to be sure that taking obliterators wouldn´t be cheaper or better as it will give you more optionas and flexibility.
Obliterators: The other unit in the codex liked by common CSM players, oblierators can change from weapon to weapon, are very expensive and have horrid miniatures (yeah, I don't like them that much). For me the problem about this guys is that they are incapable of unleashing lots of shots, as most of their weapons are Heavy 1.
Defilers: Too expensive for low point battles, defilers start shining when taken in big groups in big armies, basically because of its battle cannon and dreadnought close weapons. Taking three is a quite solid option (though expensive) that you can use to smash vehicles in close combat and destroy space marines at the distance.
Forge fiend: The shooty version of the two chaos dinobots, the forge fiend is a good unit (oh yeah 8 S8 shots for the blood god) great at tearing appart vehicles (the ectoplasm option also is useful at terminator-destroying). BS 3 sucks, but it's bearable.
Mauler fiend: The close combat version of the dinobots it isn't as good as it's twin brother, though can be a competitive option in building-packed tables, getting much better when taken in pairs, as it increases the chances of one actually surviving and charging something (yes, chaos is so bad that the best option for something to survive is to take two, and even that can fail).
Chaos land raider: Usually good as it gives your units a high chance of surviving AND charging the enemies, you will never regret giving your close combat units a land raider. In one of the biggest games I've played I fielded five land raiders with four ten man dual lightning claw chosens and one with nine possessed and a lord with key and flamer, which enabled Abbadon and ten terminators to arrive (I lost that one, I was so outnumbered).
Chaos Vindicators: Who's the idiot that doesn't want big S10 AP2 blasts? Though short range sucks vindicators are great units in any siege or defensive army.
Chaos predators: Though three lascannons or autocannons are always usefull, there are better ways to field them (yes, obliterators and havocs).


Well with this I've analyzed every unit in the core codex, giving just basic information and opinions, but I'll make a post as soon as I can analyzing the units of Imperial Armour 13 (which improve and complement the codex) and a latter post explaining more complex builds mixing both of the books, with also some additions from Imperial Armour Siege of Vraks and the Crimson Slaughter and Black Legion supplements, as mixing all of them can make some competitive builds that will surprise your opponent and increase your chances versus harder armies as Eldar or Tau (this doesn´t mean winnig´it means that you won´t be totally obliterated).

















Introduction


Hello there everybody. I'll be calling myself "The Traitor", but you can call me "Traitor scum" (some battles vs space marines have earned me tha name). I play 40k and I like it, even more, I love it, so I decided to create a blog to share my experiences about it. I think that the most peculiar thing that will difference me from other bloggers is that... Well, I'm 15 years old. I started when I was seven, painting a little unit of goblins of Mordor and since then I've accumulated more than twelve thousand points of 40k armies and cero points of AoS, even though I used to have quite a lot of Fantasy... (how could that happen?) I think I have a decent play style and that I can paint my figures good enough to show my armies on the internet. Actually I just play 40k (sorry, I'm no big fan of AoS and I´m still missing fantasy), and I'll try to have an interesting blog, in where I will show some of my miniatures, I'll make some reflexions, maybe a tactic or trick... You know, the usual. I hope to bring the attention of some readers and, basically, that's it!
The Traitor