Hobby Update 22/01/20- White Scars Primaris Impulsor

Today's hobby update is the Impulsor transport for my White Scars army. I took this to give my Primaris units a bit more mobility on the tabletop, as they were quite a static army.

I also magnetised the upgrade options to allow me to change the role of the tank on the battlefield. My first game with the Impulsor didn't really showcase its abilities much, as I outflanked it and the game finished early. However, I'm looking forward to trialing it out in my coming games. 

Hobby Update 20/01/20- White Scars Phobos Librarian

Today's Hobby Update features my Space Marine Primaris Phobos Librarian. I'm mostly using this for my White Scars army, but as the Librarian has a generic scheme, I could use him for my Dark Angels as well. 

I'm not sure which psychic powers are best for the Phobos Librarian. If you run one, which powers do you find the most useful?

How to Magnetise the Space Marine Impulsor

This guide will show you how to magnetise the upgrade options for the Space Marine Impulsor, allowing you to equip it with either Ironhail Skytalon array, Bellicatus Missile Array, Shield Dome or Orbital Comms array.

To magnetise this kit, you will need:

• 3 Large magnets (I use 5 mm)
• 9 small magnets (I use 2 mm)
• Pin vice or drill the size of both magnets
• Spare plastic sprue (leftover parts of the model kit)
• Other standard hobby supplies (superglue, knife, etc). 

Assembling the model

All of the magnetising points used in this guide are for section 59 of the model; the extra part of the hull that attaches to fit the different upgrade options. As such, you can pretty much assemble most of the model without having to worry about the magnets (parts 1-3 of the assembly instructions). 

Step 1- Hull Section

Drill a 5 mm hole in the centre circle section of part 59 (or a hole large enough for your magnet of choice). 

Hobby Update 15/01/20- White Scars Primaris Eliminators

Today's Hobby Update features two squads of three Eliminators for my White Scars army. These two units will provide some useful sniper support for the army, able to take on enemy characters or units hiding out of line of sight. 

I painted these up similar to my White Scars Sniper Scouts, adding static grass to the camo cloaks to blend in with the bases. 

Hobby Update 13/01/20- White Scars Primaris Infiltrators

Today's Hobby Update features a couple of White Scars Primaris Infiltrator squads. These are a new addition to my White Scars army, and should provide some durable board control units for the force. 

I finished up painting these at the weekend, along with basing them and putting on the transfers. 

Hobby Update 10/01/20- White Scars Primaris Marines WIP

This week, I have been painting up a few units of Primaris Marines for my White Scars army. So far, I have got the base colours and washes on the two units of Infiltrators and Eliminators. 

I just have the final highlights and bases to do for these units and they will be ready for my tournament in February. 

Hobby Update 07/01/19- White Scars Primaris Intercessor Squads

Today's hobby update are some models that I completed last year, my White Scars Intercessor squads. I got three units of five Primaris Marines painted up before a tournament last November. This past weekend, I added the transfers to the unit to finish them off. 

The White of the armour creates a bit of a glare in the light box, so you can't see the details too clearly in the photos below. 

Warfare 2018: Battle Overview- Dark Angels/Deathwatch vs Deathwatch/Astra Militarum/Dark Angels

Today I have a battle overview of one of the tournament games I played at Reading Warfare last year. I actually meant to write these up ages ago, but lost the notes on the games, so only had the photos to go by. 

It's hard to think this game was only played a year ago, as so much of the game has changed since them. 

Here are some photos of the first game, where my Dark Angels and Deathwatch took on Daniel's force of Deathwatch and Astra Militarum. This was a custom mission for Warfare. In the first two turns, you scored kill points for killing units in your opponent's army. Then in turn 3, the player with the lowest current score gets to place two objectives, and these are worth 5 points each (if I recall correctly). This meant you could be at a disadvantage for scoring big in the initial turns. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment (Dark Angels)

Azrael- Combi-Plasma, Sword of Secrets, WARLORD (Brilliant strategist Warlord trait)

Primaris Lieutenant- Master-crafted Auto Bolt Rifle, Bolt Pistol, Eye of the Unseen Relic

Primaris Ancient- Bolt Rifle, Bolt Pistol.

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles. Bolt Pistols.

5 Scouts- Bolters, Sergeant with Chainsword

5 Scouts- Heavy Bolter, Bolters, Sergeant with Chainsword

Devastators- Heavy Bolter, Armorium Cherub, Bolters

10 Hellblasters- Plasma Incinerators, Bolt Pistols.

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, Auxiliary Grenade Launcher

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

6 Veterans- 2 Missile Launchers, 4 Stalker Bolters

Auxiliary Detachment (Officio Assassinorum)

Culexus Assassin

White Scars Tournament Army Review: Warfare 2019

I recently attended Warfare 2019 with my White Scars army. I have been developing the force since the release of the new codex and supplement, and it was proving to be a powerful force on the table top. The event was 1750 pts, and featured 5 missions from Chapter Approved 2018, a mixture of eternal war and maelstrom missions. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment

Captain on Bike- Twin Bolter, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Chogorian Storm, Master of Snares, Wrath of the Heavens

Librarian- Jump Pack, Force Stave, Mantle of the Stormseer, Ride the Winds, Storm-wreathed

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols
5 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols

5 Scouts Bikers- Twin Bolters, Shotguns, Combat Knives

Battalion Detachment

Captain- Jump Pack, Master-crafted Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

Lieutenant- Jump Pack, Power Axe, MC Bolter

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolters

5 Scouts- Bolt Pistol, Combat Knives

Spearhead Detachment
Chaplain- Jump Pack, Crozius Arcanum, Bolt Pistol, Litan of Hate

10 Vanguard Veterans- 5 with 2 Chainswords, 5 with two Lightning Claws

5 Vanguard Veterans- Chainswords and Plasma Pistols
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers, Heavy Bolter
5 Devastators- Bolters, 2 Missile Launchers

Thunderfire Cannon- Techmarine Gunner with Flamer, Plasma Cutter, 2 Servo-arms

I'll take a look through the army and see what worked and what did not.

Captain on Bike
The Captain on Bike is one of the hard hitting combat units of the army. With the Wrath of the Heavens relic, he has incredible mobility on the battlefield, able to advance up to 22" and ignore intervening models and terrain in the movement phase.

With the ability to advance and still charge, this gives the Captain an incredible threat range on the tabletop. This allows him to get a first turn charge in most games, if I want him to. With the Chogorian Storm warlord trait and Shock Assault rules, this gives him between 6-8 attacks on the charge. This gives him incredible combat potential with the Thunder Hammer.

He was able to do a lot of damage on the charge in combat, dealing with many threats in the enemy army.

The Master of Snares ability is also very useful in games. It allows you to prevent enemy units from falling back from combat, keeping the Captain safe from enemy firepower in the enemy turn. You can also use his abilities to fall back and charge in your subsequent turn, thereby getting the most out of the Captain.

With using the Captain so aggressively, he can be slain by enemy army, giving up slay the warlord. However, he has a decent level of durability with the Storm Shield and T5, and can take on most threats in combat with ease.

St Andrews Wargaming- 2019 in review

I thought I would take a look back at the year of blogging in 2019 for St Andrews Wargaming, and seeing what the new year has in store.

Blogging
My blogging content has been down significantly in 2019. I posted 160 articles on the blog in 2018, compared to only 81 in 2019, a reduction of about 50%. These articles have been exclusively hobby updates, battle reports and codex reviews.

There are several reasons for this. One of the main ones is that I think blog interaction and views appear to be down across the board. I think a lot more readers are migrating to social media and Youtube channels to get their hobby content. This has left a lot of bloggers behind and I think my average article views are well down compared to a couple of years ago.

I think another issue is the way that GW have changed their release schedules and release practices. In previous years, Codex Reviews were a big draw to the blog, as people wanted to read about the new releases and new rules and units for an army. For much of 8th edition, GW have started giving advance copies of the codices to the bigger Youtube channels and websites. As a result, most people are getting their information about the new releases from those sources, weeks before anyone else can supply these highly sought after articles.

Another issue for me has been the increased release schedule of the new books. We have gone from one to two codices a year, to almost one a month with 8th edition. It can be hard to keep up do date with the reviews for just the armies that I have. For most of my reviews, I have focused on the special rules, warlord traits, psychic powers and stratagems, rather than reviewing each unit in turn. I have saved the more indepth reviews for my Frontline Gaming articles.

As I will discuss below, the battle reports have also been a time-consuming part of blogging. This has limited the number of posts I can put out.

Changes in my social life have also limited the amount of time I can spend on the blog. I started a new relationship this year and have taken up some hobbies that have cut down the time I can spend on blogging each week, which has helped contribute to the lower output this year.

Another aspect that I need to work on for the new year is interacting with other blogs. Potentially one of the reasons for the reduced readership and comments on the blog has been that I have also dropped off in reading blogs and commenting on other blogs. As I have said previously, interacting with other bloggers is a great way to keep the community going and get more people interested in your own blog. I've been trying to start this up again more recently, and hope to improve on this in the new year.

Many of the people I starting blogging around the same time as, and many of the blogs I used to follow on a regular basis have either stopped altogether or seen a dramatic reduction in their posts; Confessions of a 40k addict, The Burning Eye, From the Horus Heresy to Infinity and Beyond, From the Fang.

A big shout out to some recent bloggers who have taken up the mantle, producing great content most weeks; Stylus from the Woffboot Chronicles and Redtoof from Redtoof's mostly 40k blog.

I also want to call out some blogs that have continued to go from strength to strength; Old School Gaming, WeeMen and Cascadian Grimdark. If there are any other blogs you think I should be following, please leave a comment and let me know.

Many thanks to all of those that continue to read and comment on the blog on a regular basis, and for helping to keep my motivation up in the past year.