Squaduary 2018: Vanguard Veterans complete

This week, I managed to complete my final squad of White Scars for Squaduary 2018. 

I already had a squad of Vanguard Veterans with Jump Packs, three armed with a pair of Lightning Claws and two with a Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield. I decided that my new unit would be armed with dual Chainswords. I like this option in 8th edition, as it gives each Vanguard Veteran 4 attacks, great for going through massed infantry. I had to have a dig around in my bitz box to find enough Chainswords to arm the unit. 

I armed the other two Veterans with Lightning Claws to give me a full unit of 5 armed with a pair of Lightning Claws each. 

Hobby Update 16/02/18- White Scars Lieutenant with Jump Pack

This week, I was also able to complete one of the characters I need for my upcoming tournament list, the White Scars Lieutenant. 

I think this model was originally a Captain, but thought he would make a good Lieutenant for my army. He comes with a Power Axe, giving me some nice bonus strength attacks. He will be good for getting additional damage with my Vanguard Veteran and Assault Squads, who he can keep up with thanks to his Jump Pack. 

Battle Report 132- 1600 pts Deathwatch vs Harlequins

This week's battle report sees a return to the table for my Deathwatch, taking on Yaro's Harlequins once more. 

We would be playing the Tactical Gambit maelstrom mission. This is the mission where you bet how many of your four cards you will score in your turn (before you know which cards you draw). If you score at least that number, you gain that number of bonus points. If not, your opponent gets the bonus points. This can make it risky to bet big, but rewards you if you do and score the cards. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Watch Captain Artemis (A)

Librarian- Force Sword, Bolt Pistol, the Beacon Angelis, Null Zone, Might of Heroes (L)

5 Veterans- 2 Frag Cannons, Storm Shield, Bolters, Chainsword (KT1)

Rhino- Storm Bolter (R1)
5 Veterans- 3 Combi-Meltas, Bolters, Chainswords(KT2)

5 Veterans- Bolters, Chainswords (KT3)

Rhino- Storm Bolter (R2)

5 Veterans- Stalker Bolters, Chainswords (KT4)

5 Veterans- 3 Missile Launchers, Bolters, Chainswords (KT5)

5 Veterans- 3 Frag Cannons, Storm Shield, Bolters, Chainswords (KT6)

Drop Pod- Storm Bolter (DP)

5 Veterans- Deathwatch Shotguns, Storm Shields (KT7)

6 Vanguard Veterans- 3 Pairs Lightning Claws, Bolt Pistols, Chainswords (VV)

A different kind of Deathwatch army for me. I decided to go for bodies over toys, dropping the Corvus Blackstar from the list. 

I decided to give Watch Captain Artemis a go. His Stasis grenade should negate the pesky invulnerable saves of the Harlequins. I made him my warlord and gave him the 6+ FNP from the rulebook warlord trait. My other secret weapon was the Librarian with Null Zone. Negating the invulnerable saves of the Harlequins is key to bringing them down, as my Deathwatch don't have the weight of fire to get past them easily. 

Saying that, 7 units of Deathwatch Veterans should give me a decent level of firepower. I also remembered to give them all Chainswords. With 2 attacks base, getting an extra attack on each Veteran should boost my damage output a lot. 

Squaduary 2018- Scout Squad Completed

Today I have another of my Squaduary 2018 pledges completed, the Scout Squad. 

I decided to add another Scout squad to my White Scars army for an upcoming tournament. Scouts make a great screening unit in 8th edition, allowing you to carve out a nice region to block enemy deep strikers thanks to their infiltrating abilities. 

Squaduary 2018- Assault Squad Completed

This last weekend I managed to get my first squad for Squaduary 2018 completed, my Assault Squad. 

I needed to add a bunch of Assault Marines with Plasma Pistols to my White Scars army for an upcoming tournament. I managed to get 7 of these Marines painted up to join my force. 

It's weird to be fielding Plasma Pistols once more. The lack of Gets Hot (unless you overcharge) is great, meaning the unit can put out a lot of high strength firepower with little risk. These seven Marines will be split between three Assault Squads. 

Battle Report 131- 2000 pts Genestealer Cult vs Iron Hands Space Marines

This week's battle report sees my Genestealer Cult army take on Yaro's Iron Hands Space Marines. We would be playing the maelstrom of war mission, Targets of Opportunity. This is the mission where you draw three cards per turn, but must discard all your current cards at the start of your next turn. This means you only have a single turn to try and score your cards. I was looking forward to this mission, as it is the way I tend to play my maelstrom games anyway!

My army consisted of:

Brigade Detachment

Patriarch- Mass Hypnosis (Pt)

Magus- Force Stave, Might from Beyond (M)

Primus- Needle Pistol, Bonesword, Toxic Injector Claw (Pr)

10 Neophyte Hybrids- Mining Laser, Grenade Launcher, Autogun (N1)

10 Neophyte Hybrids- Mining Laser, Autogun (N2)

10 Acolyte Hybrids- 2 Heavy Rock Cutters (A1)

10 Acolyte Hybrids- 2 Heavy Rock Drills (A2)

10 Acolyte Hybrids- 2 Heavy Rock Saws (A3)

5 Acolyte Hybrids (A4)

15 Purestrain Genestealers- Purestrain Talons, Rending Claws (PG)

4 Aberrants- Power Hammers (Ab1)

4 Aberrants- Power Picks (Ab2)

Scout Sentinel- Heavy Flamer (S1)

Scout Sentinel- Heavy Flamer (S2)

Scout Sentinel- Multi-laser (S3)

Goliath Rockgrinder- Heavy Stubber, Clearance Incinerator (GR1)

Goliath Rockgrinder- Heavy Stubber, Clearance Incinerator (GR2)

Cult Leman Russ- Battle Cannon, 3 Heavy Bolters (LR)

12 Command Points

I would like to say that I kept my army the same in order to test its strengths and weaknesses, but in all honesty, I simply didn't have time to make up a new list for the game, so used the same one as my last game with the Cult.
I realised when writing this up that I had played the Rockgrinder as a Goliath Truck without realising! This the problem of proxying models. Apologies to Yaro for the mistake. I really need to get the second one built and painted.

Squaduary 2018: Week 1- White Scars assembled and undercoated

Today I have a hobby update on my Squaduary progress in the first week. 

I had pledged to get several units of my White Scars painted up, needed for a tournament at the end of the month. The units I want to complete are a squad of Vanguard Veterans, Assault Marines and a Scout squad. 

The models have been built and undercoated. I also managed to get the base layers of the armour and their highlights completed at the weekend.

Squaduary 2018- White Scars

It's that time of year again! Rory from Stepping Between Games is running his Squaduary hobby event once more this year, and once more, I am joining in.

This year, I am going to pledge a number of units for my White Scars. As you may have seen from yesterday's battle report, I am changing up my White Scars army a little for 8th edition. I have purchased a number of new squads and want to try and get them painted up.

This serves as double motivation, as I have a tournament at the end of the month and want to try and get the units completed for that. I plan to try and paint up a unit of Scouts, a unit of Vanguard Veterans and a unit of Assault Marines. Not only that, I have a few characters and a new Thunderfire Cannon to try and complete as well before the end of the month! Who needs sleep anyway?

I hope you follow along with my progress, as well as the progress of all the other great bloggers taking part in the event.

Battle Report 130- 2000 pts White Scars vs Orks

This week's Battle Report sees my White Scars take on Ben's Orks. 

I have been following the Frontline Gaming series on updating White Scars for 8th edition with great interest. It talks about using the White Scars Chapter Tactics to their best extent. Based on the suggestions, I've had a look at changing my list around a bit to further suit 8th edition. I purchased some Assault Marines, Scouts and Vanguard Veterans from ebay to add to my army. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment
Captain- Bike, Power Fist, Shield Eternal (C1)
Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Might of Heroes, Veil of Time (L1)
5 Scouts- Bolters (S1)
5 Scouts- Bolters (S2)
5 Scouts- Close Combat Weapons, Bolt Pistols (S3)
5 Assault Marines- Bolt Pistols, Chainswords, Flamer (AM1)
5 Assault Marines- Bolt Pistols, Chainswords (AM2)
5 Assault Marines- Bolt Pistols, Chainswords (AM3)

Battalion Detachment
Captain- Jump Pack, Master-Crafted Bolter, Power Axe (C2)
Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Fist (L2)
5 Tactical Marines- Heavy Bolter (TM1)
5 Tactical Marines- Missile Launcher (TM2)
5 Tactical Marines- Missile Launcher (TM3)
5 Vanguard Veterans- 2 Pairs of Lightning Claws each (VV1)
5 Vanguard Veterans- 2 Chainswords each (VV2)
10 Sternguard Veterans- Special Issue Boltguns (SV)
Rhino- 2 Storm Bolters (R)
6 Scout Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns (SB)
5 Devastators- 3 Heavy Bolters (D1)
5 Devastators- 2 Missile Launchers, Lascannon (D2)

The army is based around the Space Marine characters, who can hit hard in combat and can buff nearby units. The Jump Pack units also benefit from the White Scars Chapter Tactics, as they can fall back from combat and still shoot and assault.

Better Know A Blogger: Part 47- March of the Damned

This week's Better Know a Blogger features Colin from March of the Damned. 

March of the Damned is yet another great blog that I have come across thanks to the 40,000 blogs facebook group. 

Colin's blog has recently been focusing on the exploits of his new Death Guard army. You will find hobby updates on progressing his army, as well as some great battle reports using the army. These reports feature some narrative introduction, some great summaries of the key points in the battle and a review of how the game went. 

Not only that, you will also find some great editorials on 40k, such as his recent articles on Alpha Strikes and Smite Spam, as well as on the fluff of the game. You can also find some great codex reviews and new scenarios he has designed for 40k. 

Here are Colin's answers to my questions:

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

I was 14 when I got into hobby gaming. I had started off with tabletop role-playing games and soon found myself drawn into the Warhammer 40K universe through the pre-release articles in White Dwarf that year. The original Rogue Trader artwork and background grabbed my imagination like nothing else had.