Here Come Da' Orks!

Campbell and I played a 2k point game today of his Ork Horde versus my Marines, the Legio Draconis. I was fielding:

• Commander (Combi-Melta and Relic Blade) and Command Squad (Power Sword, Power Fist, Flamer, Meltagun, Apothecary), all in a Razorback
• Tac Squad w/ a multi-melta and a plasmagun in a Rhino
• Tac Squad w/ a lascannon
• 9-man Sternguard Vets in a Drop Pod
• 6-man Devastator Squad (2x Plas, 1x Missile) in a Razorback with TL-Las.
• Epistolary Librarian in Termy Armor with Avenger and Null Zone. He was embedded with...
• 5x Terminators w/ Hv Flamer
• 5x Scouts with Bolt Pistol and CCW, Sergeant w/ Power Weapon. They were loaded into a...
• Land Speeder Storm w/ Hv Flamer
• Assault Marines x5 (Flamer, Powerfist Sergeant)

Campbell's army was something like this:

• 1x Nob Biker Squad
• 2x Warbike Squads
• 2x Trukks with 12 Boyz each
• 3x Battlewagons with 20 Boyz each
• 1 Squad of 10x Kommandos w/ Character (I forget who)
• 1 Squad of 10x Lootas 

I'm sure Campbell had some nice toys in there, and all the Boyz and Warbike squads came with Power Klaw equipped Nobs. Campbell, if you want to chime in on your list or make any amendments to the writeup below, let me know. And thanks for a great game! 

Game was Capture and Control with 4 objectives, Spearhead deployment. We played with mostly large ruined buildings, one of which sat center-map.  Campbell won the roll and opted to go first. He chose the corner that left me in the corner without an objective (1 of the 4 objectives was center table). I deployed to give myself cover saves, leaving the Devastators out of their Razorback and putting them inside a ruin instead. I scout moved the speeder and its cargo to the unoccupied quarter on my side of the table. I also combat-squadded the 10-man tac squad that had the las-cannon. I left the lascannon behind a barrier midfield and deployed the other 5 marines behind the empty Razorback. This was a really smart move that I later wasted.

First turn, the Nob Bikers took the bait and went for the land speeder. They blew it up but the Scouts inside were fine and ran for some nearby ruins. All of the Battlewagons and Trukks moved as fast as possible towards me. But Campbell split them up when trying to circle the ruin. Two Wagons and one Trukk went towards my table edge (and towards the 5-man Tac squad with the Lascannon). The other Wagon and Trukk went the other way, along with his two squads of Warbikes. They all went flat out or cruising speed and so had no firing. The Lootas took up out a couple of marines standing in the open, but that was about it first turn. 

On my turn, I had some really good targets. I opted to focus my attack on the table quarter on Campbell's side that now held two Warbike squads, one Trukk, and one Wagon. I dropped the drop pod next to one Warbike squad and deployed the Sternguard in rapid fire range. I moved the Rhino and deployed the Tac squad inside in rapid fire range of the Trukk. I deployed the Command squad immediately and moved them within assault range of the Battlewagon. I embarked the lonely 5-man Tac squad inside the TL-Las Razorback and moved it 6". The Sternguard did a good job and took out most of one Warbike squad. Unfortunately, everyone else just sucked. What I wanted was to bust open the Trukk, but I had to expend the firing of both Razorbacks and the entire Dev Squad to destroy it, and when it exploded it only killed a couple of Boyz inside. And they didn't get pinned. The Tac squad then rapid-fired into it, but didn't get many hits and they made most of their cover saves. Finally, the Command squad assaulted the Battlewagon. They destroyed it with a PowerFist hit without blowing it up. Their shots with the Meltagun and Combi-melta accomplished nothing. Other shooting (scouts, tac marines) was ineffectual. I was really disappointed in my dice this turn, because if I had decent dice rolls, I could have taken out a Warbike Squad, a Trukk full of Orks, and a Wagon full of Orks. Instead, I managed to take out the transports but not do much to the Orks inside. 

On turn 2, my Command squad was assaulted by both Boyz squads. Actually my Command squad survived, thanks to Feel No Pain. The second Warbike squad shot the Sternguard, inflicting a couple of wounds and giving them the opportunity to fall back out of assault range. Yay combat tactics! Half of his army was tied up trying to kill my scout squad and my 5-man Tac squad. This was a good waste of his resources. On my half of turn 2, I counter-assaulted with my 10-man Tac squad. I also disembarked the 5-man Tac Squad and ran them into the fray too, and this was just a stupid thing to do. It was only later that I would realize that this was the mistake that lost me the game. That squad could have stayed inside the Razorback and easily rolled up on an unoccupied objective nearby, but instead I let them get tied up in an assault, where they would die, along with all the rest of my Troops, on Turn 3 or 4.

Turn 3 brought in his Kommandos, followed by my Deep Striking terminators (who made short work of the Kommandos). I had killed off most of the Warbikes, and Campbell actually forgot to move the Nob Bikers on turn 3. By this time, the other Wagons had made their way around and unloaded their cargo, which meant 40 more Boyz into the massive fray in the middle. This humongous multi-unit pileup took forever to resolve but was a lot of fun! The marines actually did surprisingly well, winning most of the combats and inflicting a lot of Ork casualties. Unfortunately, they just got worn down due to sheer number of dice rolls. Eventually they lost a combat and failed their leadership rolls, and since they were surrounded, were unable to fall back and were destroyed. 

At this point, I still had Sternguard, Terminators and Librarian, Devastators, and all my transports, but no Troops. I had done a substantive amount of damage, though the Nob Bikers were still unscathed, and Campbell still had lots and lots of troops. Knowing that playing for a draw was a longshot, I conceded.

It was a really good game - only the second time I've played against Orks in all of my games. I'd like to face off against them again. I did make some smart tactical decisions - encouraging Campbell to split his forces and making good use of transports - but ultimately my mistake with throwing away the 5-man Tactical squad is probably what cost me the game. 

I find that it still difficult for me to see these mistakes until I see the consequences of them (sometimes two or three turns later). Well, I'm still learning!

Must-Have Units

Ron at From the Warp has asked fellow bloggers for their favorite must-have units. We're not talking compulsory choices, like troops, but those units that you always find room to squeeze in, no matter the cost.

For my Space Marines, the Legio Draconis, there really isn't one choice that I *absolutely* always field, though there are a couple that I regularly stick in. One of those is the Chapter Librarian, Necronomicus.

He stands on the battlefield with his eyes closed, his jaw set like it was cut from granite. He inhales, his nostrils flaring, picking out the scents of sweat and blood. His psychic hood crackles and those marines standing nearby take a step back as they feel their hair on the backs of their necks begin to rise. Those loyal marines always feel a moment of unease at the start of the battle--it is not fear of their enemy that taunts them, nor fear of death, but fear of the unknown. For each of the hardened battle brothers know that when Necronomicus opens his eyes, when that terrible light shines forth from his mouth, that they are about to be sucked through the Warp, a place meant for no man. Each battle brother says a prayer to the god-emperor, putting his faith momentarily into the god-emperor's noble servant, this keeper of secrets, this Librarian.
Kitted out with The Avenger, Gate of Infinity, and the Epistolary upgrade, he transforms an ordinary tactical squad into a surgical instrument. I often employ a beacon-equipped drop pod to establish a spearhead against my opponent, and being able to teleport the librarian and a tactical squad to the front lines of the battle on the second turn can be crippling to my opponent. The tac squad gives the unit the numbers to take a few casualties, while the Librarian's Avenger power, backed up by a flamer in the tac squad and a hail of bolter fire, can decimate most infantry units.

As an alternate option, I sometimes give the Librarian terminator armor and embed him with a Terminator squad. In this case I will replace Gate of Infinity with Might of Ancients. The termy squad usually packs a Heavy Flamer, giving this squad a decimating pair of template weapons. The ability to boost the Librarian's strength and initiative with Might of Ancients combined with his Force Weapon turns him into a MC/IC killer.

The Librarian may not be the most effective or reliable choice in the Space Marines 'dex, but it is one of the most fun. Being able to teleport 24" per turn, escape from assaults, lay down an AP3 template, counter other psychic powers, and having a free power weapon makes him a fun choice for me and a major headache for my opponent.

Okay, okay, so it's a bit of vanity, too. My Librarian model is the nicest-looking model in my army and made First Cut at Games Day Baltimore 2008. I'm no crazy Golden Demon painter, but I think it came out pretty well, and I just like showcasing it on the tabletop. Here's a pic:

What are your must-have units?

Eldar Pics

My parents were in town this weekend and my mom is a photographer, so I got her to set up her extremely nice camera and do some photos of my WIP Eldar. Check them out!

Eldar Army - WIP Part 3

Finished up the Dire Avengers. Here's a finished pic of the group, followed by a series of stage by stage photos for the Exarch. (I can't figure out why I can't put in larger sized photos. Sorry. One day I will put up a whole gallery of images once I figure out how to take better photos and use the blog tools better.)

Started with the GW Spraygun and a pot of regal blue over black primer. Then painted on a couple more coats of regal blue to bring up the brightness a bit.

Regal blue lightened with a bit of white, built up on the armor in a couple of layers. Starting to see some of the definition in the model.

Well, maybe we missed a few photos in here. My rechargeable batteries suck. But basically, helmet, banner, and tabards were painted astronomican gray thinned and lightened up towards white. Washed with asurmen blue wash. Guns are black with two layers of gray. The top of the gun is bone washed brown and highlighted with lightened bone. Crest is pretty straighforward. Painted it with a brownish foundation paint (some fleshy color), then with my primary colors, washed, then highlighted.

The finished model. I did some more highlighting and evening up around the helmet. Highlighted the armor to add further definition. I did a freehand Dire Avengers symbol on both sides of the banner, which I'm fairly happy with (I suck at freehand). I also did a little doodle on the front of his tabard which you can't really see in this photo. His base is a bit of sand and a chunk of a wine cork. Eyes are shaded with purple.

Here's the finished gang in another shot.

Promptly started to work on the Farseer. My batteries were dead so you missed a number of steps. My primary colors here are hormagaunt purple and hawk turquoise (and bleached bone). I use the purple wash to brighten up the hues of the lightened hormagaunt purple. For the hawk turquoise, I started with orchide green base and washed darker areas with asurmen blue. I'm working on a NMM bronze for the blade. I wanted something that would look good with the model without re-using a color already on the model. My buddy shades suggested bronze, and so far I'm happy with the results. You can see the NMM effect better in the bottom two photos.

I absolutely love this model and intend to keep tinkering with it until it's looking top notch. I might take this to next year's Baltimore Games Day.

Team Games & Thorny Balance Issues

We regularly play team games - 2 players to a side, 4 players total. It adds a nice teamwork dynamic to the game, and allows more of us to get together at our buddy Shades' place. Shades has a great gaming space: a fantastic table, lots of quality terrain, and most importantly, beer. In fact, we're playing a team game this afternoon - 1500 points per team, 750 points for each player.

Early on, the decision was made that the combined army had to adhere to a single force org chart, rather than each player having to adhere. That meant that 1 player could, conceivably, take all the heavy and elite slots while the other player takes troops and HQ. Seems simple enough, right?

Not so fast! One team was running all Tau. On the other team, one player was running IG, the other Marines (me). Since I regularly use reserve units, my teammate, Aaron, decided - hey, let's use the IG Astropath so that the marines get a +1 on Reserve Rolls. This began a massive debate about what should be allowed and what should be unallowed in team games, that is, how should army-wide special abilities and game rules affect a mixed team? Should the Astropath's ability affect Space Marine allies? Can guardsmen climb into an empty Rhino? Can a lone SM Captain join a squad of guardsmen?

If all four player are playing different armies, you can make some global calls about this at the beginning of the game: everything goes, nothing goes, or pick and choose. However in our situation, we have a mixed team with a homogenous team. The all-Tau force doesn't have to consider questions like this. We can safely assume the Shades' Fire Warriors can climb into Erik's Devilfish. It would seem ridiculous to disallow this just because the players are different. Disallowing this would be the same as having a player assist you in playing your own whole army and then deciding that the models that he was controlling couldn't interact with your models in a beneficial way because they were controlled by a different player.

It seemed counterintuitive to the Tau team that SM's and Guard should be able to use each others' abilities, leadership, independent characters, or transports. And it should be pointed out that the SM+Guard team have an ability the Tau team does not have: the ability to make up for the other ones' shortcomings (not that marines have shortcomings) when building our army list. We can build a force of tough-as-nails marine infantry combined with hordes of cheap guard tanks. The question then becomes, does this strategic benefit outweight the tactical ability losses our combined teams suffer?

Here's what we went with: The Tau-team (Shades and Erik) get the army-wide and team-wide benefits of leadership, independent characters, troop transports, as well as special abilities like markerlights and such. The SM-Guard team (Shannon and Aaron), have the opportunity to build a more strategically viable army list thanks to the wider array of unit options and the ability to shore up each others' weaknesses. The SM-Guard team are denied army-wide abilities, shared leadership, trading independent characters, and shared transports.

I still don't know what is balanced, but I DO know that come end of the game, if I win, I want to know it was because I outplayed the other team. I don't want anyone, myself included, to think "if the SM hadn't gotten the astropath ability, they wouldn't have won." So we play as conservatively as possible within the accepted framework (shared force org chart), and if we win, no one can accuse us of breaking the system.

For future games, I think it is best if each team maintains its own independent force org chart. However with a smallish 1500 points per side, its difficult to field tactically viable full force org charts at only 750 points. The table winds up flooded with troops and no one has any heavy choices.

What do you think? Should mixed armies sharing a force org chart be able to share each others' tactical abilities as if they were the same army? Should team-ups contrary to the fluff be permitted (tau+SM)? Is there any way to guarantee game balance in team games?

In my experience, it is always better to decide these questions in advance of the game. Once the dice are rolling, someone is going to be left with a sour taste in their mouth as either they feel they are denied something they ought to have had, or they feel that the other player is breaking the rules. Just talk it out in advance, and if you can't come to an acceptable consensus, don't play. It's that simple.

And don't bother wishing Aaron and I luck. We shouldn't need it. BWAHAHAHA!

Eldar Army - WIP Part 2 - Dire Avengers, cont.

Here are a few more pics of my dire avengers. At this point I have gone over them with a blue lightened with astronomican gray to even out the base colors on the shoulder pads and armor plates. I went over the helmets, first with astro gray, then a wash of asurmen blue, then a gray-white blend. They'll get one or two more coats of gray lightening to white before they're done.

The crests are pretty cool. They are pretty much done - they might get a touch more highlighting. They were easy to paint too, except that I kept slopping paint up against the targeting doohickey that sits on the shoulder. Touch-up work comes later.

The guns took me longer than I expected. They had all gotten blue in the basecoating, so I went over them again in chaos black. Then I edged with a dark gray, then edged again with astronomican gray. The center strip is tallarn flesh base (to cover the black, followed by bleached bone, followed by a brown wash, followed by more bleached bone. I will probably touch it with white on the edges, just to make it pop.

All-in-all they are coming along well, and I'm getting some nice Greek-themed ideas for my Craftworld working on these. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Eldar Army List

Here is my first crack at a list for my new Eldar force. Keep in mind I have only a few models right now, so I'm sort of open on the way I take this army. Any advice - weaknesses you see or improvements you would make - I'm keen to hear.

HQ

Farseer on Jetbike (Singing Spear, Doom, Fortune)

Warlocks x5 on Jetbikes (2x singing spears, Embolden, Enhance, Destructor x3)

Farseer (Doom, Fortune, Mind War) - This Farseer rides with either Dire Avengers or Banshees

Elite

Howling Banshees x10 (Exarch, Mirrorswords)

- Wave Serpent (Shuricannon, EML)

Fire Dragons x6 (Exarch, Firepike, Tank Hunters, Crack Shot) - ride in the Falcon

Troops

Dire Avengers x10 (Exarch, Shuriken Pistol, Power Sword)

- Wave Serpent (Shuricannon, EML)

Dire Avengers x10 (Exarch, 2x Shuricats)

Dire Avengers x10 (Exarch, 2x Shuricats)

Fast Attack

None

Heavy

Falcon (EML, Spirit Stones, Holofield) - carries around the fire dragons

War Walkers x3 (all with EML)

What do you think? Is this list too unfocused? Am I at risk of having too few units on the table? I figure the walkers outflank. Even if they come in on the wrong table edge, with 48" range they should be able to do their business (6 str 8 missiles!) Between the seer council, the fire dragons, and all the missile launchers, the list shouldn't have much problem with vehicles. Horde armies, I lay down the missile launcher str 4 blast templates all over the place and break open the horde with either the seer council or the banshees backed up by a farseer to reroll wounds. If I know I'm going to be facing land raiders, I can trade out some of the EMLs for bright lances.