Competitive Play is NOT a death sentence.

Woah, hold up there. A death sentence to what? What nonsense are you talking about, Al?

What I'm talking about here is this idea that somehow wanting to win, and even building an army to win, is often seen as a dirty thing. Cheese, filth, beards - so many names have been made up for people who like to play a hard up game where they have a solid army that not everyone will like to play against.

See what I said there?

"Not everyone will like to play against.". Let's look at some of the reasons that people don't like to play against some of these lists. I've actually compiled a list from rifling through a few Facebook groups.

1. "I can't take what I want to take when I play against them." - this is an interesting one, because it sorta invalidates itself. The person taking the hard list is taking what they want to take, too.
2. "Some things are better than others, so it's unfair to take lots of them." - depending on the system this can be pretty subjective. It's certainly accurate for some, however.
3. "The guy using it is a jerk." - let's be honest, there's a good chance you feel this way because you lost. However, it does bring up a point I feel I should stress.

Playing like a jerk means you won't get to play games.

And I mean being a jerk. If you can see your opponent is hating every moment of playing against you, talk to them. Try to get them involved in the game. If you've used your dirty list against them three times in a row and pounded them into a fine paste every time, try to help them out a bit. I'm not even saying play a different list either - I'm saying help them tweak their list, or show them the weaknesses in yours. Strutting around like a showpony after crushing people doesn't help much, either.

A crushing doesn't have to be a negative experience. When you're doing the same old dance every time it almost always is though. We all like to feel like we've made some progress in a game, even if we're not winning while doing it. Relax - not every movement you make has to always count, not every roll (or flip) needs to win the game for you. Try to remember that when you play your mate with your tournament list, especially if he's just there for a beer and chips do. 

But COMPETITIVE GAMING CAN BE FUN.

This is the rub - everyone has different ways they like to enjoy their games. Some may only like to play their games around the kitchen table after the kids have gone to sleep, some may build elaborate backstories for all their units - some people like to build the most furiously aggressive list they can. To those of you who hate "that sort" of gamer - try it for once. But to all of you out there who do nothing but - how about trying a different way of playing too? Take something a little more gentle, try out a list that you think won't perform - try models that you've never used before and don't think will work. The worst thing that could happen is you'll lose a game - but it can also greatly improve your play. Because at the end of the day, if you need a really strong list to win a game - that's why they always call it crutches right?

Play games. Have fun. Try to play out of your comfort zone - you might find a new love. And just because someone doesn't play the way you do doesn't automatically mean they're crap either. :) Don't get me wrong - not everything is for everybody - but I feel like we're far too down on people who like to play hard to have fun.

I'll stop preaching now.

- AL

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Interviews: Jarrod Brehaut and The Assault on the Black Library

Today we take a look at one of the unsung heroes of the Victorian Miniature Gaming community, a Tournament Organiser (TO). They put in long hours to put together events for you and usually without enough thanx for their work. Jarrod Brehaut is fairly new to the TO game, making his debut in 2016 Co-TO'ing the Hunt, a narrative event at the House of War in Ringwood. Jarrod has stepped up as lead TO for 2017's iteration of the narrative event, rebranded it into a series labelled the Black Crusade - A Narrative Tournament Series, with the Assault on the Black Library the next in the series.

So Jarrod, tell us a little bit about yourself. How long have you been in the hobby?

It would have been 2001. I was at Chadstone Shopping Centre with some mates on school holidays, and we wandered into the Games Workshop store. The red shirt, as they were known at the time, grabbed us, put some dice in our hands, and walked us through a demo Warhammer 40,000 game. Orks vs Crimson Fists, from memory. I thought the little miniatures were so cool.

I had a bunch of birthday/Christmas money I’d received as gifts, and walked out of the store that day with some Plague Marines and a Chaos Space Marine codex.

At that point I was mostly interested in the painting and modelling aspect, more so than playing. I really enjoyed building and painting models.

As most people do, at some point I took a pretty lengthy hiatus from everything Games Workshop related, until about 2011, when suddenly I felt a panging to sit down and paint some models. I only ever intended to come back as an artistic hobby, and paint models that interested me. I never intended to collect an army. A mate of mine was hugely into the hobby however he had no regular opponents, so he had huge armies sitting on a shelf collecting dust. I originally started playing a few games using his armies, and while reading The First Heretic, suddenly decided I wanted to collect a Word Bearers army. From that point on, I’ve been pretty avid about all aspects, gaming as well as hobbying.

These days I do a lot of work with Menza Gaming in terms of helping to produce content to delivery to a wider audience, from volunteering to demo games at PAX, running the Menza Facebook page, and soon will be getting my hands dirty in producing some battle reports and hopefully painting tutorials.

What do you enjoy about going to events?

Initially it was a way to play against new people, but also a great way to see people’s awesomely painted and converted armies. Voting for Player’s Choice was my favourite part. I still love seeing great armies, and seeing other players ideas come to life, but I’m a lot more rounded as a Warhammer 40k player nowdays. I’m still pretty rubbish about the game, but I’m beginning to switch to a more competitive mindset.

And of course, sinking some beers and having a laugh. I’m a big fan of ‘beerhammer’.

What do you enjoy about running events?

I’m still quite new to being a TO, however for me I think the great thing is being able to run the kind of event you’d love to attend. If you can do that, and people enjoy what you do, it means other events may start to emerge that I can then attend.

Attending events, you see lots of guys putting in a lot of time and hard work in running their own events, so I also dig the idea of taking the reins so they can get back to the tables themselves.

What is your event about, and how is it different from others?

The Assault is all about being a narrative-style event. At the moment we have events that are really competitive, with big battle scores, and potentially no-comp. We have big hobby events that reward painting and modelling, and reward taking softer lists. But the one slice of the hobby pie we don’t have any events centred around, is the narrative and background.

It’s a huge part of the hobby, we play this game that has a rich immersive plot around it, and people really enjoy it. The popularity of the Horus Heresy novels is a testament to that. Yet we rarely, if ever, see this element creep into our tournament scene.

The concept for a narrative-style actually came about primarily for this year’s event The Hunt.

I’ve always loved Cypher. His little snippets of background in White Dwarf, and throughout various Chaos codexes (codices?) I’ve always found to be completely badass. He is an enigma, and I love all the theories surrounding his motives.

At some point, Matt Antonello put up a post on Facebook asking for people on information about Cypher. I PM’ed him to start unloading all the stuff I thought was awesome. He told me he was considering running an event with a ‘Cypher theme’. I at the time had been considering attempting to run an event of my own, so it seemed to be fate. We decided we could co-TO the event.

The feedback I got from that event was astounding, people really loved the opportunity to get stuck into an event with themed missions, structured around an evolving narrative. Matt Antonello has stepped down from being a TO, so I decided to step up and tackle it myself.

And here we are.

This year’s event is centred around the story-line of Ahriman attempting to bust into the Black Library, and the Eldar’s attempts to stop him, but it’s open to anybody playing any army, and even bonus points given for writing a ‘fluff piece’ as to why their army is fighting in this campaign.

Where can we find out more information about the Assault?

If you’re interested, please like the Facebook Page “Black Crusade - A Narrative Tournament Series” I plan on making this an annual event, so if you’re keen this year, or just to follow along, give it a like. The dates for “The Assault” are  20-21 May 2017 and it is being held at the House of War in Ringwood

Also make sure to check out the Menza Gaming facebook page, and check us out at menzagaming.net

We are committed to bringing loads and loads of content in the new year, and I’m personally really excited about a lot of the stuff we have coming.

So there you have it fellow Victorian Miniature Gamers, a bit of an insight into one of the people that help bring you events, in a hobby that you love to play.

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Painting Tournament Armies: Or how I learnt to stop stressing and love being lazy

Painting an army for a tournament or event can be intimidating and stressful.  After all you want to have your army looking its finest, to catch many an eye, and for those keen competitors, to score as many painting points as possible.  However, there are a lot of ways you can make it a painless experience and avoid the dreaded "Death-march" in the 48 hours before the event.

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Hobby - Road to Arc40k - Word Bearers

I can't do it. I can't let Difsta have all the fun. It's time to have a chat about a project I've been working on, with an eye towards Arc40k 2017: The Word Bearers

Hi there, do you have some time to talk about the Dark Gods?

For those who aren't aware, the Word Bearers are a Chaos Legion, and were the first of the original Legiones Astartes to turn to the Gods of Chaos. Their Primarch Lorgar was a devout and pious son of the Emperor, but religion didn't wall into the Emperor's vision for the galaxy. He scolded Lorgar and his Legion and tore down their temples and idols.

Lorgar was seduced by his advisers Kor Phaeron and Erebus into putting his faith in beings that would welcome his worship: the Chaos Gods. It was the Word Bearers who would play a large role in corrupting Horus, Angron and many others in the Traitor Legions to the Primordial Truth as they called it.

Since the Heresy, the Word Bearers are the Chaos Legion that have embraced Chaos to the greatest degree. Where some Legions like the Night Lords spurn the gifts of the Gods, and others like the World Eaters, focus their attention on one of the Gods, the Word Bearers fervently worship all the Gods as a great pantheon. Each are given their dues, and the Sons of Lorgar can draw upon all of their power.

They are commonly led by Dark Apostles who inspire their followers with fiery rhetoric.

Rules

The Word Bearers, like the rest of the traitor Legions, have received some unique rules in the recent supplement, These are as follows:

Requirements:

• No unique characters
• No cult units (such as Noise Marines or Berzerkers).
• Units that can purchase marks can still take them, as long as that base unit doesn't have a specific mark by default.
• Marked Psykers and DPs can choose to generate all their powers from their gods' discipline. 
• You must take VotLW, which is free

Benefits:

• Unholy Pact: Word Bearers Psykers harness Warp Charges on 3+ when rolling Malefic Conjuration powers, and Possessed are Troops.
• Blood Feud: Models with VotLW re-roll to hit against Ultramarines, but Ultramarines gain Hatred (Word Bearers).
• Profane Zeal: Word Bearers units within 6" of Word Bearers Dark Apostles gain Zealot.

These rules suit the Legion pretty darn well. Their religious leaders are head-and-shoulders above their counterparts in the other Legions, and their dogmatic knowledge of the fell rituals of the Chaos Gods lends them a bonus to summoning daemonic allies. Finally, as the first to allow daemons to inhabit the bodies of their soldiers, the Possessed form a staple of a Word Bearers force.

So how am I using the lore for this army, and the rules, to construct my army?

The key thing that separates the Word Bearers from their traitor brothers is their total and utter religiosity. It's what makes a Word Bearers army unique, and so that's the feature I most wanted to accentuate in my models. Every battle a Word Bearer's army fights is part of a holy war, driven not by hatred or desire to conquer, but instead because it's what their Gods demand.

When building my models, I was struck by the thought that a Word Bearer might well utter the phrase "My body is a temple." Where we use this idiom to mean that we should take care of ourselves and so forth, a Word Bearer means it entirely literally. His every word is a prayer or a hymn, his every movement a ritual, and his body should be adorned with holy iconography and scripture.

The first model I'd like to show here is the leader of my force. Whether or not he ends up using the relevant rules, in terms of my army's background he is a Dark Apostle. His helmet is a leering skull, in twisted parody of Space Marine Chaplains. He still bears the Crozius Arcanum he did during the Heresy, and his backpack incorporates a censer, presumably buring some kind of profane incense. His armour bears the mark of one who tracks with the Dark Powers, mutated and distorted by the touch of the Warp. His armour is covered in script, literally bearing the Word of Chaos, and on his back he carries the Book of Lorgar, and the word 'Verum', Imperial High Gothic for "The Truth." 

Next up are my Chaos Space Marines. The core of any Chaos warband, I've made sure my marines are just covered in Chaos iconography, either in the form of adornments to their armour, trophy racks or 'impurity seals' and parchment inscribed with script and runes. The unit contains an Icon of Vengeance proclaiming their faith, and the Aspiring Champion shows signs of mutation, as well as being armed with a small athane in his left hand. This ritual dagger makes many appearances in the fluff of the Word Bearers, and is used for spilling the entrails of human sacrifices and enemies alike.

Their transport is likewise covered in marks of devotion, like spikes carrying devotional offerings as well as a plethora of candles, further accentuating the religious overtones. The top hatch uses a piece from a third-party manufacturer, and demonstrates that even the vehicles of the Word Bearers haven't escaped the foul touch of their patrons.

Next up are my Possessed, These are actually the least converted models in my army, mostly because the Possessed kit already looks plenty gribbly enough. The main effort I put into these guys was in trying to blend the colour of their armour with their flesh tones. This is meant to give the impression that their mutations have essentially melded their armour and bodes, and it's now impossible to say for sure where power armour ends and wicked talons or gaping maws begin.

I really wanted to run a Maulerfiend in this army, both because I really like the way they play in game, and also because I feel like daemon engines would form a natural part of the Word Bearer armoury, With that in mind, I wanted to further differentiate my model from a Maulerfiend of the Iron Warriors or Black Legion. I decided the best way to do this was to play to what was already strong in my army, and make the model more-Daemon and less-engine. I've replaced many of the metal parts of this model, like claws and feet, with fleshy counterparts from Age of Sigmar monster kits. The most striking detail is the head, which has been entirely replaced with a seething mass of tentacles. Not only does this represent Lasher Tendrils really well, but having no discernible face makes the model a bunch more otherworldly and creepy.

Finally, we have my Land Raider. This model serves as a transport for the holiest of my warriors, the Possessed. As such, it provided me with a really good opportunity to make a striking centerpiece model worthy of these blessed Secondborn. Using pieces from the Chaos Warshrine kit, Dark Apostle kit and Corpse Cart kit, I've made my very own rolling altar to the Dark Gods. The Apostle on top preaches to his flock, all the while making sacrifices to the Powers of Chaos, Since this photo was taken, I've applied a liberal amount of Blood for the Blood God technical paint to the roof of this tank, making the sacrifices look fresher and more gruesome. A few finishing touches and this Holy Temple will be ready to despoil the battlefields of the Imperium.

Between now and Arc40k, I'm hoping to add a large unit of Cultists to the army (because any good Word Bearers priesthood is followed around by a gaggle of the lesser faithful), some Havocs (to provide some much-needed firepower), some Chaos Spawn (because is not the servant who has been utterly subsumed by the desires of his Dark Masters not the most blessed of all?) and a Helbrute (because the Forgeworld Mhara Gal model is friggin' 

Theme in your modelling

Hopefully my thoughts above have given you a better idea of how the story and fluff of an army can manifest itself on the tabletop a little more than "They're Ultramarines, so they're, like, blue." By sticking to a couple of strong visual motifs, like Daemonic Possession, mutation, and religious ceremony, you can bring a real sense of identity to the models in your collection.

Until next time, all glory to the Primordial Annihilator!

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Hobby: Difsta's Road To Arc - Emperor's Children Rapture Battalion

So for those unaware of Difsta's Road To Arc, an Arc40k hobby initiative, you can check out a bit of a glimpse of where this started on my Difsta's Road to Arc Moves to VMG. But in essence I am keeping track of the thematic construction of my army list, followed by the actual construction of my army list (from both a list development and a model devleopment).

So with all the cool new stuff in Traitor Legions a CSM Codex Supplement made available for us Veterans of the Long War, what does this mean for my army list for Arc40k 2k17? Well for those that want a quick review of what Emperor's Children (EC) players should be expecting from the new Codex Supplement, head on over to my review on the Emperors Children, or just see some of the repeat cliff notes in my list ideas

What do I get for being an Emperor's Children Detachment?

There are a couple of percs and a couple of costs for running an EC detachment, I will only focus on the ones overly relevant to my potential lists (as you can look at the Review post from the other day in detail if you want to):

Percs: I get Veterans of the Long War (VotLW) for FREE

• Those units gain Fearless and Feel No Pain 6+ (or 4+ on a unit with an Icon of Excess).
• They also get some cool strike before they die rule that is just a bit of flavour, but not overly relevant.

Cons: I have to pay for Mark of Slaanesh on every model that can purchase it.

• This is going to add a lot of points to my army. Now some of that is made up for because I was purchasing VotLW which now I get for free, but it is still fairly steep.

Using the Emperor's Children Rapture Battalion

The Rapture Battalion is the Emperor's Children Formation Based Detachment (FBD). So for those who don't know what an FBD is, you may have heard of it referred to as a Decurion Style Detachment, as the Necron Decurion Detachment was the first of its kind. But now everyone gets them, and there are actually quite a few available to the Chaos Space Marine players these days.

What do I get for running this Detachment over say a CAD?

Well there is only really 2 key things that the EC get from this detachment that they wouldn't get from just taking a CAD:

1. The Combat Drugs Command Benefit: Which basically gives units a random bonus to their WS, BS, I, S, T or A.
2. The Kakophani Formation:
• This formation gives Split Fire to Noise Marines
• Shred to Sonic weaponry
• And if I take 6 units of Noise Marines then all the Sonic weaponry also fain +1S

Now the Combat Drugs are cool, but they are hardly crucial to the list, and for me to get any real benefit from the Kakophani formation I need 6 units of Noise Marines, which is super expensive (albeit super in line with Lord Eidolon's cannon).

What do I lose for running this Detachment?

Well for there are 2 key things I lose for running the EC detachment, and that is:

1. Objective Secured: Now I can run a Chaos Warband (arguably the best Core choice for EC), and I may even end up doing this, but I am pretty sure the Kakophani formation is my only access to Noise Marines, which I am 100% having in my army list.
2. Flexibility: There are a couple of units I would rally like to take that I end up being unable to take in this Detachment, eg. a single Helbrute (unless I take the Chaos Warband...)

Both of the downsides to the EC Detachment can be rectified by taking a Chaos Warband, but if I do that then I am better off taking a Black Crusade Detachment (still as an EC Detachment) as I then get access to Noise Marines (albeit losing the 2 main buffs for the EC Detachment specifically).

What to do... what to do...

Taking a look at a potential list...

Well lets start by looking at using the crazy new EC Detachment, trying to get the most benefits out of the Kakophani formation, I mean Lord Eidolon is known for having the largest and most disciplines forces of Emperor's Children since their shattering in the Eye of Terror Slave Wars, and it mostly consists of Noise Marines, so this is pretty fitting. If you want to know a bit more about Lord Eidolon, head on over to the 40k Legends: Lord Commander Eidolon of the Emperor's Children article.

CORE: The Kakophani - 834 Points

• Lord Eidolon (115 Points): Chaos Lord, Mark of Slaanesh, VotLW, Bolt Pistol, Power Maul and the Shriekwave Chaos Artefact
• 3 units of Noise Marines:
• Unit 1: 12 Noise Marines (331 Points)
• Noise Champion with Boltgun and Boltpistol
• 9 x Noise Marines with Sonic Blasters
• 2 x Noise Marines with Blast Masters
• Icon of Excess
• Unit 2: 6 Noise Marines in a Rhino (194 Points)
• Noise Champion with Boltgun and Boltpistol
• 4 x Noise Marines with Sonic Blasters
• 1 x Noise Marine with a Blast Master
• Rhino with Dozer Blades (I never leave home without Dozer Blades)
• Unit 3: 6 Noise Marines in a Rhino (194 Points)
• Noise Champion with Boltgun and Boltpistol
• 4 x Noise Marines with Sonic Blasters
• 1 x Noise Marine with a Blast Master
• Rhino with Dozer Blades (I never leave home without Dozer Blades)

AUXILIARY: 516 points to spend

I am struggling to work out what to choose for my Auxiliary choice...

Ancient Sarancos: For those following my previous articles (or previous Facebook page) I was really hoping to run Ancient Sarancos, who was a part of Lord Commander Eidolon's Traitor command. But if I want to take the Rapture Battalion and Noise Marines, I need to take the Kakophani which is a huge points sink, and I don't really have an option of putting in a single Helbrute. I would need to take something like the Helforged Warpack, but that would require a Warp Smith and a minimum of 3 AV12 walkers, and I really don't want that many in my list at 1350. I may go down this path in tournaments of larger points, but for Arc40k it is just too much.

Note: The pic above is just one I put together with photo editing tool, I have not yet assembled, let alone actually started painting this bad boy.

Havocs: I was keen to run Havocs in my list using the forgeworld Kakophani models, most likely with lascannons as a solid anti Heavy Armour from range kind of unit. But outside of a Chaos Warband I cannot get these in a Rapture Battalion, and with the cost of both the Chaos Warband and the Kakophani, and still needing to find the points for an Auxiliary, I really am left stranded here.

Note: These actually are my models that I have assembled so far (still yet to paint).

So where does this leave me?

Well I really just don't feel like I can write the kind of Emperor's Children list that I was thinking of running, tying in a number of old school characters with the Emperor's Children specific detachment, which seems odd, but that's where it lands.

So I can either look at running a traditional Combined Arms Detachment (CAD) or alternatively I can run a Black Crusade Detachment from the Traitor's Hate book, or finally I can look at playing around with new ideas for an army list, and I think that is where I am sitting.

Trying something different than expected...

Well there was a unit that I really didn't think I wanted to run at first glance in my EC army, but after going over my possible Auxiliary choices for the Rapture Battalion, I have been reconsidering it...

Obliterators as "Super Noise Marines"

Now I have to work out a better title for that unit, but hear me out... I take units of Obliterators in the Cult of Destruction Auxiliary choice, but model them kind of like giant Noise Marines. What might that look like I hear you ask... Well I have been doing a quick google search to see if I could get some inspiration, and I came across something beyond what I had imagined from a french blogger called David De Abreu over at Blog de Kouzes. He did an article on how he made Emperor's Children Obliterators (article is in French) using a unit of Space Marine Centurions and a Helbrute kit.

So I am going to have a look at how much effort would be involved in making something similar, and then re-evaluate. I wont take Obliterators in my army if I am simply using the standard CSM Obliterator, as the model just doesn't feel very Emperor's Children.

Stay tuned, for updates on what my army list might end up looking like and how I go trying to come up with my own version of an EC Obliterator

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40k Legends: Lord Commander Eidolon of the Emperor's Children

The Risen; A Tale of Eidolon

Eidolon, born of Terra, elevated to the rank of Lord Commander of the Emperor's Children was, hailed as the exemplar of all that the Emperor's Children aspired to, or at least that's how it was 10,000 years ago.

During the Great Crusade, after the Cleansing of Laeran, Chief Apothecary Fabius was given free leave to do what was needed to enhance the gene-seed of the Astartes. Fabius set up a research facility aboard the Andronius, a Strike Cruiser under the authority of Lord Commander Eidolon. Eidolon had taken a personal interest in Fabius' work, and although disapproving of his methods, Eidolon informed Fabius that he would begin his experimentation on him. Through the Apthecary's genetic enhancements, the Lord Commander became faster, and more deadly than ever before. Fabius had implanted a modified tracheal implant that bonded with the Lord Commander's vocal chords, allowing him to produce a nerve paralysing shriek, similar to that employed by certain warrior breeds encountered on Laer. It was thanks to this newly acquired ability that Eidolon was able to destroy the Warsinger on Istvaan Extremis with a devastating sonic shriek, becoming the first of a new breed of warrior, the Noise Marines.

However Eidolon would owe Fabius for more than just his enhanced abilities, but for his life. Eidolon made the foul hardy mistake of questioning his Primarch's orders, which proved fatal, and quicker than the mind's eye could follow, the Primarch withdrew the deadly Kinebreach Anathame blade from its scabbard and beheaded his once-favoured son. In a moment of remorse, Fulgrim ordered the Apothecary to restore the slain Lord Commander back to life. Fortunately for Eidolon, Fulgrim's killing stroke was such a clean cut that Fabius was able to reconnect the nerve clusters at the base of the neck. Unfortunately, Eidolon would live the remainder of his days in pain like no other, but with thanks to his corruption of Slaanesh every instant of life given to him would be spent in a symphony of both pain and pleasure. Forever after, his fellow brothers would simply refer to him as "The Risen".

How to run him in a game of Horus Heresy

Well Eidolon is a character available from the Horus Heresy - Book Two, so there is not a lot you need to do to make this guy work, simply take him as a HQ choice for an Emperor's Children army representing the Traitors. But I have given you a look at his rules as this will come into how we design his character in the later days of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

How do I run him in Warhammer 40k

Well this one is a little bit trickier, because Chaos Space Marines (CSM) do not have him as an available character, the only 2 original Emperor's Children models available for us in the CSM Codex is Lucius the Eternal and Fabius Bile, neither of which would be even remotely workable (even as a "Counts As").

So lets see what we have to work with, some items will come across easier than others:

• Chaos Lord: This is fairly obvious, it is the only unit entry that would even come close to a good option for a Lord Commander. A Chaos Lord is pretty close to the same stat line as Eidolon's 30k stat line, with just 1 less attack and a 3+ save instead of a 2+ save.
• Mark of Slaanesh and VotLW: Well these should also be fairly obvious, he has been around since before the Heresy and has dedicated himself to the Chaos God Slaanesh.
• Jump Pack: You can take it or leave it with the Jump Pack, as Eidolon can rock it if he wants to or not if he wants to chill in a rhino with his home boys.
• Sigil of Corruption: This is the closest CSM have to an Iron Halo, and would grant our 40k version a 4++ Invulnerable Save.
• Power Maul, the Black Mace or Power Fist: So Eidolon runs around with an ornate Master-Crafted Thunder Hammer, an upgrade not available to CSM for some reason. So you can either run it as:
• A Power Maul which is the closest weapon available aesthetically to the Thunder Hammer, although it obviously packs no where near as much of a punch.
• The Black Mace which also shares a similar look to the Power Maul isn't that far from a Thunder Hammer also, and packs a bigger punch than that of the Power Maul, but still a much higher AP than the Thunder Hammer.
• As a Chaos Artefact this means that I will not be able to take another rumoured artefact that you will see below...
• A Power Fist which is the closest weapon available rules wise to the Thunder Hammer with the X2 Strength and AP2, however looks nothing like a Thunder Hammer.
• Shriekwave: Now this is a new rumoured artefact from the Traitor's Legion Codex Supplement due out on the 10th of December. This is as close as I think we are going to get to Eidolon's modified tracheal implant, or rules wise Eidolon's 30k special rule Death Scream. It is a Chaos Artefact, so would rule out the Black Mace if you take this one, which is a closer fit to Eidolon anyways. It is a Ranged Weapon with the following profile:
• Range 12", S8, AP2, Assault D6
• Mental Trauma: Before attacking, the target must take a leadership test, if they fail you re-roll to wound.

So all up you are looking at somewhere around 140 points without a Jump Pack and assuming he is taken in an EC Detachment (ie. Free VotLW). Sure you can take him a little cheaper without some of the bells and whistles, and it would still work, but the above I think best captures what Eidolon is in the 41st Millenium

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Hobby: How to Tournament

Hobby: How to Tournament

Good day, ladies and gents of the interwebs.
Today I'd like to talk about tournaments, and making sure you are properly prepared.

Best Laid Plans

So, initially I wanted to write 2 articles about a tournament I went to recently, detailing my army list and tactics, and follow up with talking about how my army went.

Those plans went out the window before I even started playing my first game.

What the heck happened?

To give you a bit of background information before I start waffling on, I attended the Community Comp Team Challenge at the start of December.

This was an 1850 point tournament, where teams of 4 take it in turns to match their armies against each other at the start of each round. 5 games in total over the 2 day event.

The lists had to be 8 Community Comp points or less - aside from that, it was pretty open slather.

You may be thinking this article is going to start bashing the tournament.
Not at all. I had a great time, played against some amazing opponents, got to roll some dice and make appropriate whooshing noises at my Dark Eldar moved around the table.

The tack I'm taking is more about preparation, and being prepared for the particular tournament you're heading to.

Know Thy Enemy

I was unprepared for this tournament, not because I forgot dice or my army or something like that (although I did forget my Maelstrom cards - thanks Leigh!).
The army I put together was not the best I could have taken. We were able to see the lists our opponents had submitted, and my response to the overwhelming majority was "Guhr."

My army only used 2 of the 8 possible Community Comp points, and was playing against armies that were using the full 8 CC points. This tournament didn't have a 'composition' aspect to the final results, so I took a soft list - brought a knife to a gun fight - when I could have gone to town with unit selection and put some much nastier things on the table.

This is my own fault.
I should have read the player's pack more thoroughly, and asked more questions of my team mates to fully understand what to expect.

Cross your 'I's and dot your 'T's.

Different tournaments will all have their own specific focus for the scoring system they use.
At the Norris 1000, where I am one of the Tournament Organisers, we have a focus on Sportsmanship and Hobby. Other tournaments focus on Battle Points, others on Army Compisition, or a combination of any/all of the above.

CCTC had a limit to what you could take, in the form of the 8 Community Credits, but there was no disadvantage in the scoring when using all 8, or using 2 as I did.

For the uninitiated, if a tournament has a composition element to their scoring, you can get more points by taking 'softer' lists, rather than going ****s out for Harambe.
I usually take softer lists, but there was no need at this tournament.

Where to from here?

This error of mine could have been easily avoided.
Had I made myself more aware of what to expect, I could have won at least 1 game.

So, my advice - if you're going to a tournament for the first time, make sure you are properly prepared.

Tailor your army to the scoring system in place.
No Composition? Take a hard list.
Harsh Composition? Take a soft list.
Lots of Painting/Hobby point? Paint the bejeebus out of your army (or hire a commision painter).

And if it's a Maelstrom tournament, make sure you take your Maelstrom cards and numbered objectives.

Read the Player's Pack.
Talk to your Peeps.
Do all you can to make sure you're going to perform to your best on the day.

Cos, sure, lions may not limber up before chasing down that gazelle, but we're not lions.

BP - Be Prepared.

Hopefully this article has tickled your thought box and given you something to think about.

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Review: 4 New Formations for Warhammer 40k

December is a massive month for releases for GW and Warhammer 40k. We have seen Wrath of Magnus (well technically November) as well as Traitor Legions (due out tomorrow) and we also have 4 new Warhammer 40k Battleforces

Space Wolves: Ironclaw Strike Force

This formation is pretty useless. The special rule is basically pointless and the formation has so many units that I don't think you will ever see this formation used.

• 1 Iron Priest
• 1 Stormwolf
• 1 unit of Wolf Guard Terminators
• 1 unit of Blood Claws
• 1 Venerable Dreadnought
• 1 unit of Fenrisian Wolves

Tau Empire: Targeted Reconnaissance Cadre

This formation is a bit better than the Space Wolf one, however with a couple of the entries being a single model rather than a unit means that you have a single broadside and a single ghostkeel. The special rule for this formation is pretty solid, granting free movement.

• 1 Commander
• 1 XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit (not a unit, so no additional suits)
• 1 unit of XV25 Stealth Suits, with 1 Drone
• 1 Pathfinder Team
• 1 TY7 Devilfish
• 1 XV88 Broadside Battlesuit (not a unit, so no additional suits)

Adeptus Mechanicus: Eradication Cohort

Now we are talking about some good buffs (not that Ad Mech overly need it). Basically shoot with your "weakest" unit that you know will at least cause an unsaved wound or glancing/penetrating hit, then all the rest get Preferred Enemy against the enemy unit. Now this is great when shooting against a big target like a Super Heavy or a Death Star, but against MSU the buff is lost pretty much entirely, but lucky for the Ad Mech player Death Stars are king in the meta.

• 1 Sydonian Dragoon
• 1 Kastelan Robot Maniple
• 1 unit of Kataphron Destroyers
• 1 unit of Fulgurite Electro-Priests
• 1 unit of Sicarian Infiltrators

Deathwatch: Watchblade Taskforce

Free hit and run, auto pass, thank you very much! This is the best of the lot in my opinion. This is an army right here. Nuf said!

• 1 Deathwatch Watch Master
• 3 units of Deathwatch Veterans
• 1 unit of Deathwatch Terminators
• 1 unit of Deathwatch Bikers
• 1 Deathwatch Razorback

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