Chapter Approved 2018: Part 2- Eternal War Missions

Part 2 of my Chapter Approved review will take a look at the new Eternal War missions. The book features 6 new missions to use in your games of 40k. 

Eternal War Missions

Acceptable Casualties

Sudden Death no longer applies in the new Eternal war missions. What this means is that tabling your opponent does not automatically win you the game. 

You can check out my thoughts on this for the maelstrom of war mission in yesterday's post. I think this rule would have a much greater effect in Maelstrom of War missions than in most Eternal War missions, if we were using the standard ones. You could simply table your opponent, then hopefully use the remaining turns to grab the objectives and win the game.

However, the new Eternal War missions feature a lot of progressive scoring (scoring as the game goes on, rather than at the end game), so it could be possible to gain a good lead as the game goes on to prevent your opponent from snatching victory on the final turn.

I prefer progressive scoring in most games. End of game scoring can tend to turn into a bloodbath, with the objectives being a consideration for the final turn, pouncing on them in the end game, rather than a focus from the start of the game.

Chapter Approved 2018 Review: Part 1- Maelstrom Missions

Chapter Approved 2018 is now upon us, with a whole host of new missions to try out in our games of 40k. The first part of my review will take a look at the new Maelstrom of War missions. These are my favourite way to play 40k, so I was keen to see what was in store. 

Maelstrom of War Missions

As well as 6 new missions, there are a number of special rules added to the maelstrom games that are a big improvement over how the game will be played. 

Acceptable Casualties

Sudden Death no longer applies in the new maelstrom of war missions. What this means is that tabling your opponent does not automatically win you the game. 

Finally! In my opinion, this is how the game should have been played from the start. In so many casual games and tournament games, I have had opponents go for wiping out my army, as opposed to actually even attempting to play the mission. This will now hopefully force players to actually consider going after the maelstrom cards/objectives for a hope of winning the game. 

A gunline army can still sit back and pound the enemy force with their superior firepower, but this will probably punish them in the long run, as they are not collecting maelstrom points. This new rule change will probably not affect me at all, as in all maelstrom missions, the cards were always deciding how I was playing. Hopefully, we'll see a lot more players making greater tactical decisions in games; sacrificing a units' shooting to advance onto an objective, thinking about unit placement to best go after objectives in later turns. 

If one opponent gets tabled, I think the game still continues, giving your opponent the chance to score more maelstrom points in their turn. This is one way they can try and win the game after tabling their opponent, but does not guarantee victory if your opponent has been focusing on scoring big in the maelstrom mission and has a significant lead. 

I would hope more tournaments would adopt maelstrom only missions and get rid of kill points in an effort to encourage better playing of the mission, rather than just crushing your opponent. 

40k Grand Slam Tournament Game 3- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Imperial Knights/Astra Militarum

My third game of the Element Games Grand Slam 40k tournament saw my Dark Angels and Deathwatch force take on Matt and his army of Imperial Knights and Astra Militarum. 

The ETC mission was Dominate and Destroy for the Eternal War mission and Contact Lost for the maelstrom of war mission. This would be tough, as this game gave double kill points for the Eternal War mission on top of the ETC mission. We would be using Dawn of War deployment. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)

Azrael (Az)

Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle, Eye of the Unseen (Relic) (L)

Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle (An)

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles (I)

5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)

5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters (S2)

5 Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub (D)

10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators (H)

Darkshroud- Heavy Bolter (DS)

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)

Watch Master- Guardian Spear (W)

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol (WC)

10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (DI)

10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords (DV1)

6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters (DV2)

Auxiliary Detachment

Culexus Assassin (CA)

40k Grand Slam Tournament Game 2- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Ynnari

After a big win on game 1, my second game of the tournament saw me taking to one of the top tables to face Mikey from Hellstorm Wargaming and his Ynnari force. 

The joint missions were Big Guns Never Tire for the Eternal War and Deadlock for the maelstrom of war mission, with Search and Destroy deployment. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)

Azrael (Az)

Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle, Eye of the Unseen (Relic) (L)

Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle (An)

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles (I)

5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)

5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters (S2)

5 Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub (D)

10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators (H)

Darkshroud- Heavy Bolter (DS)

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)

Watch Master- Guardian Spear (W)

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol (WC)

10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (DI)

10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords (DV1)

6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters (DV2)

Auxiliary Detachment

Culexus Assassin (CA)

40k Grand Slam Tournament Battle Report 1- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Adeptus Mechanicus/Blood Angels/Astra Militarum

Here is my first 40k tournament battle report form the recent Grand Slam event held at Element Games. 

The first game was against Wayne and his mixed Imperial force, featuring a lot of firepower and some hard-hitting combat units. The first mission was a mixture of The Scouring Eternal War and Tactical Gambit for the maelstrom of war, using Spearhead Assault deployment. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)

Azrael (Az)

Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle, Eye of the Unseen (Relic) (L)

Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle (An)

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles (I)

5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)

5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters (S2)

5 Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub (D)

10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators (H)

Darkshroud- Heavy Bolter (DS)

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)

Watch Master- Guardian Spear (W)

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol (WC)

10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (DI)

10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords (DV1)

6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters (DV2)

Auxiliary Detachment

Culexus Assassin (CA)

Video Battle Report- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Astra Militarum

Today, I have another video battle report for you. In this game, my Dark Angels and Deathwatch tournament army take on Mike's Tallarn Astra Militarum in a Warfare tournament practice game. 

This game features an unusual maelstrom mission, where you get to look at the next cards in advance and can use a stratagem to swap them with your current hand. This gives you good opportunity to plan ahead and maybe score more points in your turn with the right use of the stratagem. 

Check out the video and be sure to subscribe to the Youtube channel if you like the reports. 

Game against Winters SEO- Genestealer Cults vs Space Marines

In case you haven't seen it, I recently played a game against Winters SEO, where my Genestealer Cults took on his Ultramarines. It was a blast of a game that went right down to the wire. You can check it out on Youtube, just be sure to say how much you enjoyed it in the comments!

Here are some photos I took of the game to give you a taste.

Army Showcase- Steven's Astra Militarum

Today I have an army showcase for you, featuring Steven's Astra Militarum force. 

Steven got in contact with me on the St Andrews Wargaming Facebook page a while back with some great pics of his force when I was looking for hobby updates from readers. He was prepping them for a doubles tournament he was attending. 

The army is a great Astra Militarum armoured company, with a beautiful paint job on the tanks. I got in touch with Steven to get more info on the force and how he put it together. 

1. What drew you to the army? 

One of my friends has a Tanith army and we decided to go to the 40k doubles tournament at Warhammer World back in October. Because we wanted the army to be themed we started looking at other regiments that the Tanith fought with in Sabbat Worlds Crusade, because his army was 1000 points of pure infantry we opted for one of the tank regiments as we wanted to get past turn 1. 

I choose to go with the Narmenians 1st Armoured Regiment out of the novel Necropolis for three reasons. Firstly, the first time I read this novel it made me want to collect an armoured company but back then my painting skills were not up to scratch to do them justice. Secondly, the mustard drab colour scheme sounded like it would be fun to paint and yellow colours are always a challenge to get to look right. Thirdly, Coron Grizmund is my favourite character from the Gaunt’s Ghosts series so I would be able to convert a model for him and use him as a Tank Commander 

Better Know a Blogger: Part 54- Redtoof's Mostly 40k Blog

Today's Better Know a Blogger features Dan from Redtoof's Mostly 40k Blog. 

Dan started his blog earlier this year, and I have been a continuous reader and follower since I discovered it on the 40,000 blogs Facebook page.

On Redtoof's Mostly 40k blog, you can find a great selection of content, including battle reports, hobby updates and codex reviews. He's also been featuring on a number of video battle reports recently, including a great game with his Tyranids against Winters SEO.

A great recent article was on tournament preparation, featuring some great advice on what to do when you are getting ready for a tournament, delivered in a humourous way.

Apologies to Dan for the late posting of this. I've had it sitting for a few weeks and just haven't had the time to put it together.

Here are Dan's answers to my questions:

1. What age did you get into gaming and what started it off?

I started getting into gaming at some point during primary school in the 90s and I was about 10 when a model shop arrived in my small hometown in Devon that stocked Citadel Miniatures. I instantly thought I wanted some of that and started collecting minis, mostly based on what looked cool. A little while later 3rd edition 40k came out and I got into playing the game ‘properly’, and I haven’t really stopped since.

Warhammer 40k Battle Report 167- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Thousand Sons

This week's Warhammer 40k battle report is another warfare tournament practice game, featuring my Dark Angels and Deathwatch army taking on Ben's Thousand Sons army. 

This game featured a custom mission for warfare called The Ritual. This mission features two objectives, with one on the central line, 18" away from each flank. You score two points for each objective you hold at the end of your turn. In addition, if you have a character within 3" of the objective, you can spend up to two command points to score that many bonus victory points, so lots of opportunity to rack up bonus points. 

In addition, each player gets one command point back at the start of each player turn, but you cannot regenerate command points in this game. Deployment is also a bit of a change. Both players secretly bet a number of command points for gaining first turn. The winner loses the command points, but sets up first and gets the first turn (their opponent cannot seize the initiative). Quite an unusual scenario to play. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)

Azrael (Az)

Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle, Eye of the Unseen (Relic) (L)

Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle (An)

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles (I)

5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)

5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters (S2)

5 Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub (D)

10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators (H)

Darkshroud- Heavy Bolter (DS)

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)

Watch Master- Guardian Spear (W)

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol (WC)

10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (DI)

10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords (DV1)

6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters (DV2)

Auxiliary Detachment

Culexus Assassin (CA)

This is my trial tournament army going forward. It contains a strong firebase and some great reserves in the Deathwatch. 

8th Edition Warhammer 40k Ork Codex Review: Part 4- HQ Units

The next part of my Ork Codex review will take a look at the HQ units in the codex. 

HQ Units

Warboss

The Warboss is one of the main HQ units in the codex, and the one that I imagine most players will select to lead their army. 

He is a bit of a combat monster, with WS2+, S6 and 4 attacks. He comes with a Power Klaw, allowing him to hit on a 3+, at S12, AP-3 and D3 damage per wound. He has T5 and 6 wounds, as well as a 4+ armour save. He is fairly durable in combat, but suffers from lack of a good armour save and little way to get an invulnerable save (barring the Bad Moons warlord trait). 

He hits hard in combat, but can fall quite easily to an enemy unit that has high strength, high damage attacks. 

He provides some very strong buffs to the army. He allows Infantry units within 6" to advance and charge. This is a very powerful ability for the Orks, who mostly want to be in combat. This can help you get into combat a turn or two early, which makes a big difference against the enemy firepower. 

He also provides some morale benefits, allowing you to pass a morale test for D3 mortal wounds for nearby units. May not be of much use to Orks, with their Mob Rule, but could come up useful every once in a while. 

For only 85 pts, the Warboss is a bargain, and a great HQ unit to lead your army. 

Ghazghkull Thraka

The Big Boss of the Orks is back to lead the great Waaagh! against the rest of the universe. 

He ups the durability of a regular warboss, going up to T6, 8 wounds, a 2+ armour save and 4+ invulnerable save. This makes him very strong to enemy attacks. He also remains at movement 5, unlike other Mega armour models that generally move at 4". 

He gets 6 attacks in combat, hitting on a 2+ with his power klaw, so a nice bonus for doing more damage in combat. 

He also gets the same abilities as the Warboss, allowing you to advance and charge, as well as giving morale boosts to nearby units. 

He is pretty expensive at 235 pts, so not sure if he is worth it. You can get a bunch of characters much cheaper to buff your army more. 

8th Edition 40k Ork Codex Review: Part 3- Relics and Psychic Powers

Part 3 of my 8th Edition Ork Codex review will take a look at the Relics and Psychic Powers available to the army. 

Shiny Gubbinz (Relics)

The Orks have access to a number of useful Relics to add to the characters in the force to help them demolish the enemy even further. 

Da Dead Shiny Shoota

A Kustom Shoota that is 18", Assault 12, S4, AP-1 and 1 damage. 

This gets an extra 8 shots and AP-1 over a regular Kustom Shoota. This is actually pretty good, and you should be able to get a decent number of hits if hitting on a 5+ (along with the extra shots). This is a solid choice, but I don't know how often you will see it, as there are simply better Relics available. 

Headwoppa's Killchoppa

A big Choppa that is +2S, AP-2 and 2 damage. In addition, to wound rolls of 6+ inflicts 2 mortal wounds instead of normal damage. 

Again, a very solid relic to take. The chance of doing multiple mortal wounds on a 6+ is a great bonus. This is strong when added to the Monster Hunters stratagem, allowing you to do 2 mortal wounds on a 5+. 

Supa-Cybork Body

Gives the bearer a 5+ Feel no Pain type save against wounds. Cannot make a Doc's Tools roll for this model if you do so. 

This is a great upgrade for your warlord, as most Ork characters struggle to get an invulnerable save. Gives them a chance of staying alive for longer. I think this is a useful Relic to take in the army. 

Hobby Update 07/11/18- 40k Genestealer Cult Neophyte Hybrids

Today's Warhammer 40k hobby update features some reinforcements for my Genestealer Cults army. 

I wanted to add some Heavy Weapons Teams to my army for the Neophyte Hybrids squad. I wanted a couple of Mortar teams and a Lascannon team. The Mortars would allow me to hide the Neophyte squad and still have some firepower to contribute. The Lascannon is also useful for some strong anti-tank firepower for the army. 

I also added a couple of Flamers to the Neophyte squad. I figured these could go in the Shotgun squad to allow me to get close to the enemy army and roast them. 

I painted up the Heavy Weapons in a yellow scheme to match my Scout Sentinels. I figured that the stolen "Guard" equipment would have a similar colour scheme. 

8th Edition 40k Ork Codex Review: Part 2- Stratagems

Welcome to part 2 of my 8th edition 40k Ork codex review. This part will take a look at the stratagems available to the army. 

Stratagems

The Orks get access to a great number of useful stratagems in the new codex. Some of these are generic stratagems available to other armies, while they also get some unique ones to help too.

Mob Up (1CP)- Used at the end of the movement phase. Two infantry units with the same datasheet within 2" of each other may join up if one has less than 10 models and one has more than 10 models.

This was the stratagem introduced in Chapter Approved last year. It is quite situational, but useful for denying your opponent kill points if the mission has them and you can meet the criteria. It is also a way to perhaps increase squad sizes of certain units to gain more benefit from stratagems. For example, you could mob up a couple of units of Lootas and get both units affected by the same stratagem.

Medi-Squig (1CP)- At the end of the movement phase, select a Character within 3" of a Painboy. The model regains D3 lost wounds

This is a solid stratagem to help keep your characters alive for longer. Used in conjunction with the Painboy's abilities, you can potentially heal 2D3 wounds on a single character in one turn. A good roll will put most characters back to full strength. Very useful.

Snagga Grapple (1CP)- Use on a Deffkilla Wartrike that Falls Back. Select a unit within 1" before they fall back. On a 2+, they suffer D3 mortal wounds.

The Deffkilla Wartrike is a vehicle that has some great close range firepower and combat ability, so getting into combat is a good deal for it. The ability to fall back and deal mortal wounds is pretty strong. This gets better when combined with the Blood Axes Kultur, allowing it to still shoot or assault.

8th Edition Ork Codex Review: Part 1- Special Rules, Clan Kulturs and Warlord Traits

Welcome to the first part of my 8th edition 40k Ork Codex review. This will take a look at the special rules, Clan Kulturs and Warlord Traits. 

I have been eager to see what the new codex has to offer for the Orks. They were a pretty strong index army, even as other codexes came out, so was keen to see how they would boost the army in the new book. 

Special Rules

Dakka! Dakka! Dakka!

Each time you roll an unmodified 6 to hit with a ranged weapon, the hit roll succeeds, regardless of modifiers. In addition, you get to make an additional hit roll with the same weapon (which cannot generate further hits). 

This new special rule was previewed a while back. Overall, I like it. With Orks, it was very easy for some armies to stack up the modifiers to hit against them, making it literally impossible for your ranged weapons to even hit certain units. This ensures that you will also be able to count on your firepower to some degree in the army, rather than making it a waste of points. The bonus shots for rolling a 6 to hit are also a great bonus, both for large volume units such as Shoota Boyz, where you might get lots of hits, or for smaller units, like Tankbustas or Lootas, where every extra shot and hit with their powerful weapons are a great boost. 

'Ere We Go

You can re-roll charge rolls for this unit, and can choose whether to re-roll any or all of the dice. 

This got even better from the index version and is a huge boost for the combat effectiveness of the Orks. Getting to re-roll one or both dice is a big boost to the army. Imagine the situation where you need a 7" charge and roll a 5 and a 1. Under the new system, you can choose to re-roll the 1, giving you great odds of making the charge. Under the old system, you had to re-roll both, giving you roughly the same odds of making the charge or forcing you to use a command point re-roll on the 1 to give you better odds of making the charge. 

The other big bonus is that it allows you to re-roll charge rolls, not only "failed" charge rolls. For example, say you were multi-charging two units that were 3" away and 7" away. If you were to roll a 4" charge, you could contact the first unit, but not the second. You could not re-roll for free as you have not failed a charge. In the new rules, you have the option to re-roll one of the dice to allow you to have the chance of catching both units without the risk of failing the charge overall in many cases. This is also great for giving you the option to roll further on charge and opens up more tactical options, such as consolidating into other enemy units to tie them up in combat or getting further to surround a unit and stop them from falling back in the following turn. 

St Andrews Wargaming- Blog Update

Hi everyone, today I have an update on what is happening with me and the blog in the coming weeks. 

I just wanted to put some thoughts down on what has been happening and what is coming up for St Andrews Wargaming. 

First up, written battle reports have been a bit sparse recently. Don't worry, this is not a waning interest from me on the side of written reports. My games for the battle reports get played at the Spiky Club in Reading on a Friday night. This means that from time to time I don't get a game each week if I am away for the weekend or have plans on the Friday (a rarity, I assure you!). The last few weeks have been a bit sparse through illness and visits home, etc. I'm also going to be busy and away at tournaments for the next few weeks, so reports may be a little light for the coming weeks. 

Don't worry though, I'll be attending the Warfare tournament in Reading and another tournament up in Stockport in November. This means I'll have 10 tournament battle reports to write up come the end of November and December, so plenty of great content to come there. 

Warhammer 40k Video Battle Report- Genestealer Cult vs Ynarri

A new video battle report is now up on Youtube. In this maelstrom of war game, my Genestealer Cults take on Doug's Ynnari/Drukhari force.

This was a really tough and fun game, it was nice to get the Cult back on the table in the post FAQ world! 

Better Know A Blogger: Part 53- Another Wargaming Blog

This week's Better Know a Blogger features Merijn from Another Wargaming Blog. 

I first came across Merijn's blog a few months ago, drawn in by some of the awesome terrain work that he showcases on the blog. It was his Veerhuis construction and WIP shots that drew me in. I love a good piece of scratch built terrain, and this looked to be an awesome project that was shaping up. 

Looking at the finished photos, I think you'll agree that he has done a fantastic job, creating a piece that would fit into any fantast-type or medieval game. 

Not only will you find fantastic terrain, you will also find some fantastic painted models, most recently focusing on Age of Sigmar Orcs. 

Merijn, in all his glory!

You will also find some really cool comic book style battle reports from his narrative campaign. I love a good battle report, and it is nice to see a different style of reporting to my own. These are really easy to digest and a quick and fun read. 

Here are Merijn's answers to my questions:

1. What age did you get into gaming and what started it off? 

I started way back in 1985 when I was 10 years old. My older brother convinced me to drop some pocket money in a shared buy of a new-fangled game called ‘Oog des Meesters’ (translated from Dutch: ‘Eye of the Master’). It was a roleplaying game which required us to gather more friends to actually play. We did. I never stopped roleplaying after that. The Warhammer Fantasy Battles 3rd edition launch two years later started my wargaming hobby. 

Warhammer 40k Battle Report 167- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Space Wolves

This week's Warhammer 40k battle report sees my combined force of Dark Angels and Deathwatch take on Chris' Space Wolves in a special maelstrom of war mission.

This game was a practice for an upcoming tournament. In November, I will be attending Warfare in Reading. This features 5 games of custom missions, which I want to try out before the event. The mission we were playing was called All Out War.

In this game, players draw three cards per turn, up to a maximum of 6 cards. At the end of each turn, you must discard your maelstrom cards until you have only 3 in your hand. The twist is that each maelstrom objective you discard, your opponent scores the points. For example, if you discard Defend Objective 3, your opponent scores 2 points for it. This makes trying to score cards each turn important, as anything you don't achieve could potentially help your opponent to win. I was intrigued to see how this mission played out, as it suits the way that I normally play maelstrom missions.

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)

Azrael (Az)

Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle, Eye of the Unseen (Relic) (L)

Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle (An)

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles (I)

5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)

5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters (S2)

5 Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub (D)

10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators (H)

Darkshroud- Heavy Bolter (DS)

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)

Watch Master- Guardian Spear (W)

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol (WC)

10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols (DI)

10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords (DV1)

6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters (DV2)

Auxiliary Detachment

Culexus Assassin (CA)

I had previously talked about my thoughts behind the army when I was building the list. This basically boils down to having the Dark Angels as a solid firebase, while the Deathwatch can act as a mobile reserves force for board control and targeting the enemy army. 

Another feature of the Warfare missions pack is a limit on 10 command points. This means that with my three Deathwatch units using the Teleportarium stratagem, I will only start the game on 7 command points. I'm normally used to a lot more to play with! (Note- the Auxiliary detachment doesn't count, as I can use "excess" command points to pay for this, I can only start the game with 10 CP). 

Hobby Update 23/10/18- Genestealer Cult Magus and Primus

Another Warhammer 40k hobby update for you today, this time another Magus and Primus for my Genestealer Cult army. 

I painted these two up with blue robes and a coat, rather than the orange as is usual in the army. This is to allow me to distinguish them from the others in my army.

Hobby Update 22/10/18- Genestealer Cult Neophyte Hybrids

Today, I have another Warhammer 40k hobby update, this time featuring some more Neophyte Hybrids for my Genestealer Cult army. 

I decided to add a squad armed with Shotguns to give me some close range shooting punch. This could be a useful unit to ambush and get close to the enemy army to get the increased strength shots at close range. 

Hobby Update 19/10/18- 40k Genestealer Cult Scout Sentinels

Today's Warhammer 40k hobby update features my three completed Scout Sentinels for my Genestealer Cult army. 

These Sentinels were converted to be crewed by some Neophyte Hybrids, so that their armour would match those of the rest of the army. I also magnetised the weapons, so that I could switch out their armament to suit the rest of my army. 

I had completed the bulk of the models previously, just needing to paint up the crew to finish off the models. 

I shamelessly copied the scheme from Dave at Confessions of a 40k Addict. He painted up his Sentinels in a yellow scheme. I liked it so much, that I copied it for my own. It reminds me of the power lifters in Aliens, so I like the way the scheme goes with the army. 

Better Know A Blogger: Part 52- Languor Management

Better Know a Blogger is back, and kicking it off this week is Iapedus Maximus from Languor Management. 

Languor Management has a strong focus on Iapedus' T'au army, with frequent painting posts, and tournament reviews to sink your teeth into. You can also find a whole host of ebay rescue stories and unboxings of the latest goodies from GW.

A recent post that caught my eye was his aim to go a whole year without buying any new miniatures. Madness, I hear you cry, but I wish Iapedus every joy with his foolish endeavour!

Be sure to check out and follow his blog, it is one of my regular reads and a great blog that I keep coming back to. I really enjoy the tournament reports, its a great insight into playing a different army competitively and seeing the experience of other people at events.

Here are Iapedus' answers to my questions:

1. What age did you get into gaming and what started it off?

I must have been about 10, and was visiting some friends of my mothers who's kids just happened to have got a copy of Heroquest for their birthday. Up until that point I didn’t really enjoy going around their house to visit, but from the moment I saw all those little figures and doors being setup and was handed my little scrap of paper to note down what happened to my character, I was hooked. From then on I always looked forward to going round, sometimes even convincing my mother to let me stay on and walk the mile home through the fields and lanes just so I could finish the quest we were on. It was great. 

Thinking Tournament Lists for Warhammer 40k- Dark Angels/Deathwatch

I have a couple of tournaments coming up in the next month, as well as a few planned for next year. This weekend, I began putting together a potential list to try and for the upcoming events. ]

Most recently, I have been using the Dark Angels and Deathwatch as separate army forces. 

The Dark Angels army performed well, but did suffer a few drawbacks in the force. The army had no reserves, meaning they were susceptible to the enemy firepower, as everything was on the board. The mobility in the army was provided by the Black Knights and Ravenwing Bikers, who suffered a bit in the army. They have some good firepower, but really lack the durability to stand up to the enemy firepower. 

The Deathwatch hit hard, with the special issue ammunition and stratagems doing well to give them some strong firepower and some limited mobility. 

I thought that it might be worthwhile to combine the two armies to get the best of both worlds. The Dark Angels to supply a solid firebase and some strong Plasma firepower, while the Deathwatch would give me some reserves to threaten enemy units, as well as giving me a degree of mobility with their deployment options. 

So here is my first proposed army. 

Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)

Azrael

Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle

Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters

5 Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub

10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators

Darkshroud- Heavy Bolter

Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)

Watch Master- Guardian Spear

Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Bolt Pistol

10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords

6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters

Auxiliary Detachment

Culexus Assassin

13 Command Points

Hobby Update 16/10/18- Genestealer Cults Neophyte Hybrids, Magus, Primus WIP

Today's warhammer 40k hobby update features some more units for my expanding Genestealer Cults army. I am currently working on adding another Neophyte Hybrids squad armed with Shotguns, a Magus and a Primus. 

I decided to paint the Magus and Primus in blue robes. My other models have orange robes, so this will help distinguish them on the tabletop. These are at the wash stage, ready for the final highlights to finish them off. 

Remember, for more hobby updates and blog info, join the St Andrews Wargaming Facebook page. 

Hobby Update 15/10/18- Genestealer Cult Purestrain Genestealers

Today's Warhammer 40k hobby update features some more units for my Genestealer Cult army. This weekend, I was able to get more hobby work done on my Genestealer Cults army. 

I painted up another 16 Purestrain Genestealers to add to the 16 already in the army. These were put on 32 mm bases, as opposed to the 25 mm ones they were supplied with. I think they just look better on the bigger bases.