Furioso Dreadnought WIP: Magnetized

 My Furioso arrived in the mail today. As I started to assemble him, I could not decide between the three variants. So, I decided to pull out the magnets. You can see in the pictures where I placed the magnets. I put one in the body, and one in each of the face plates. The arms are interchangeable as most of the dreadnought models are.

The magna-graple can also be glued together and set in on top quite securely.

Hopefully this opens the eyes of anyone else who wants to keep their options open. This particular model was very easy to magnetize. The only problem I could not resolve was how to magnetize the talons and the fists.

If you have any questions about the magnets or the tools, just ask.

Thanks for reading.

Tactics: Deployment

In the wake of my latest battle report (found at this link), I wanted to do a bit more analysis of tactics. In my opinion, one of the most important aspects Warhammer 40k is deployment. Sadly, however, this tactical aspect of the game receives little to no attention in the forums and blogs. Perhaps it is more accurate if I say that deployment does not receive the attention that it is due.

I think we can all remember games where we were unable to overcome the advantage we have given our opponent through poor choices in deployment. Reach back into your memory and feel once again victory slipping away from the start of turn one as you continuously visualize the mistakes of deployment thinking, "I should've done this or that."

So in an effort to be helpful, I would like to explain the strategic thought behind my attempt to gain a tactical advantage through deployment.

I play an assault focused Angels Sanguine force. In my most recent match I was playing against the Imperial Guard.

When you are playing an assault force against a shooty army (or shooty list), you need to deploy with the purpose of coming to grips with your enemy as quickly as possible. You must avoid giving your opponent any extra rounds of shooting.

Generally speaking, shooty lists and their generals want to alpha strike. They want to go first and blast you into the stratosphere before you can get started, and a mistake in deployment can give them the extra round or two that they need to neuter your force.

In this situation, I go first if I get the opportunity. Going first creates a little problem. If we choose to go first, we must deploy before our opponent. I call this deploying blind.

Deploy in the wrong place, and you give your opponent an advantage. If you concentrate your force on one flank or the other, then your enemy will deploy on the opposite flank denying you ability to engage. If you are on the right flank, he will deploy on your left flank. He will fight what we call a 'refused flank,' creating precious time for shooting you down in the extra turns it takes for you to get into close combat.

If you spread your force out across the entire deployment zone, then your opponent can still use the refused flank in order to fight only a portion of your army. In this scenario, you have given your opponent the chance to gain numerical  (or firepower) advantage in one portion of the battlefield.

My solution to this problem is the following: I deploy my force in the center of the deployment zone as far forward as possible (while still trying to take advantage of terrain within reason). Deploying in this fashion eliminates the advantages that your opponent might gain from trying to fight a refused flank. If he deploys on one flank or the other, then you still close on him quickly with your units arriving simultaneously. If he spreads his forces out in the deployment zone, then you have the opportunity to divide and conquer.

In this situation, many shooty opponents will divide their force placing half in one corner and half in the other. The reason they do this is to create as much distance between your force and theirs. I still feel that this circumstance gives you, the assault army deployed centrally, the advantage. You can decide whether to divide your force and engage or to send your entire army after one half of your opponents force. This decision will be dictated by scenario and is a discussion for a different article.

One final note: the Spearhead deployment type will alter deployment slightly. However, I fee that the most significant restrictions posed by spearhead deployment fall on the shooty list. The assault army may still deploy centrally in order to get as close to the enemy as possible. Spearhead gives your opponent some extra depth in his deployment zone; however, your opponent may not deploy wide on his flanks to create more space.

Hopefully this small tactical discussion of deployment will be useful to some. Furthermore, I hope that it sparks a larger discussion of deployment throughout the blogosphere.

Please leave a comment and join the discussion, whether you would like to support my position, advocate the contrary, or pose an alternative which I have missed. Let us have a collegial and reasonable discussion for the mutual benefit of all.

Battle Report: Blood Angels vs Imperial Guard

I have a video battle report here. I played a game against Darksaint this past Saturday. It was a really fun battle for everyone involved. I ended up with a win, but Darksaint had a wonderful time blasting my army into the stratosphere with the firepower of the Guard.

My analysis:
--Devastators are devastating!! I mean it. They proved themselves to me. They filled a definite void in my army: fire support. The redundancy of three squads made them that much more effective. If you think that Devastators don't match with a jump pack list, just try it. You'll like it. Now I have to get to work on modeling them up.

--I deployed my Assault Marines on the table, rather than reserving them for deepstrike. This worked out well. I had a giant line of sight blocker in my deployment zone. So, I went for it. I will be experimenting with this more in the future.

Blood Angels 1850 Descent of Angels or Jump Pack Army List

I have recently changed my army list up a bit. I will be posting a battle report soon which features the new list in their debut match. I decided to try the Devastators. I take back everything that I ever said about how the Devastators are not a good match for Jump Packs. I found them to be an excellent partner to the Assault Marines. They lay down great fire support, which was a major weakness for my previous list.

1850

HQ
Dante
Honor Guard: 4 Meltaguns
Librarian: Jump Pack, Shield and Blood Lance

Elite
3 Sanguinary Priests: 2 Jump Packs, 2 Melta bombs

Troops
Assault Marines: 10 Marines, 2 Meltaguns, Power Weapon
Assault Marines: 10 Marines, 2 Meltaguns, Power Fist
Assault Marines: 10 Marines, 2 Meltaguns, Power Fist

Heavy Support
Devastators: 4 Missile Launchers
Devastators: 4 Missile Launchers
Devastators: 4 Missile Launchers

They have one win versus an Imperial Guard list. However, I was very impressed. I recant my previous position and now fully endorse the use of Devastators.

Scatter Terrain Progress: Obelisk and Stone Pyramids

 Here is the finished progress on the moss covered small pyramids and stone obelisk terrain. They were very easy to make.

Construction: I used some left over polystyrene to make the pieces for the obelisk piece. A little bit of work with the hot wire cutter to make the pieces in the shapes that I wanted and some wood glue. For the small pyramids, it was even easier to construct. My wife opened a box of something she had purchased. She said, "Do you want these styrofoam pieces?" I said, "Yes, I do!" They were perfectly square. So, I used the wire cutter to make a small square to top off each piece and glued them together with wood glue.

Painting: Everything got a base coat in the black Interior Home Wall paint. This was because spray painting will eat the foam. It is important to get a good seal with that base coat.

After the black, I mixed sand with PVA glue (watered down a bit). I painted this mixture over the each piece entirely to add texture. After the texture, I painted them brown. I wasn't worried about getting complete coverage. The purpose of the layering is to add variation and depth in the colors.

After the brown, I dry bushed codex grey followed by the same mixed with white. Continue mixing in more white with each successive layer of drybrushing until you are satisfied. Get increasingly more 'dry' or 'light' in your drybrushing as you go.

Final touches: I watered down PVA glue and painted it on, adding flock to make moss growing on the stones. I do this in small sections rather than trying to do it all in one go. After this dries, I take them outside and spray on a clear coat of sealant. This will keep your moss from rubbing off so easily during game play.

More Terrain for the Table

As promised, here are the pics of current terrain accomplishments. I have completed the first of the Tank Traps bases. Also, I started on some small stone pyramids and some stone pillars. I will cover large portions of the stone pillars pieces in moss. I expect it to look pretty good upon completion. Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading.

Vanguard Veterans WIP: Squad 2

 As it is taking so long for Mephiston and the Land Raiders to arrive, I set back to work on my second Vanguard Veteran Squad.

You can see the progress here in the pictures. I think that this model is turning out pretty good. I am pleased with the look of the pose after my converting. I had to saw off the left leg, sand down the hip to change the angle, and re-attach the leg.

I have also been working on some more terrain that I will get up on the blog in day or so. Also, I am painting a Leman Russ Battle Tank.

As always, your comments are welcome.

Angels Sanguine 1850 Points

I apologize to any who read here regularly for the long time between posting. My brother-in-law was here visiting over the last three weeks. Furthermore, I had a nightmare week of admin paperwork and the like at work.

I had a game of 40k scheduled for today. I had the camera out and was going to try making my first video battle report. The stage was set for Blood Angels versus a Slaanesh Daemon Army. However, my opponent fell ill. He went to the doctor instead of coming to play today. To my friend, Darksaint, I hope you get well soon.

I decided to post the current list that I am running along with my plans for the future.

Blood Angels 1850 points
HQ
-Lord Commander Dante
-Honor Guard- 4 Meltaguns
-Reclusiarch- Terminator Armor, Meltabombs
Elites
-Terminator Assault Squad-1 Thunder Hammer and 4 Lightning Claws
-2 Sanguinary Priests-Jump Packs, Meltabombs
Troops
-10 Assault Marines-2 Meltaguns and Powerfist
-10 Assault Marines-2 Meltaguns and Powerfist
-10 Assault Marines-2 Meltaguns and Powerweapon
Fast Attack
-Vanguard Veterans- Jump Packs, 3 Power Swords


In the future, I am planning on mixing it up a bit. I have recently ordered Mephiston and 4 Land Raiders. I intend on beefing up the Termies and putting them in a Crusader. I also have in mind to try out the Devastators with Missile Launchers in conjunction with the DoA list. Drop podding some dreadnoughts sounds like a lot of fun, too.

Ideas or suggestions? What are my fellow Blood Angels players running? Are you having any luck?

750 Point Battle Test Case: Tactics

 I have been running pretty hard this week, trying to show my brother-in-law all over this part of Italy. We went down to bay here in Naples, Sorrento, Rome, Spanish Quarter/Spacanapoli here in Naples, Pompei, etc. and etc.

So, I haven't gotten around to posting this: I went over to the Schoolhouse this past Monday to help with the club. In an effort to coach or mentor a young and developing Black Templars player, we decided to play the following: He and I teamed up 750 point FOC legal lists to make 1500 points in a match against one Imperial Guard player. So, it was a 1500 point match-up, but I had 750 points with which to work. I played what you see in the pictures.
-Librarian: Jump Pack, Meltabombs, Shield and Blood Lance
-2 Sanguinary Priests: Jump Packs
-Assault Marines: 10 Marines, 2 Meltaguns, Powerfist
-Assault Marines: 10 Marines, 2 Meltaguns, Powerfist

I put as much effort as I possibly could into teaching the Black Templar player. However, I also decided to make the most of these 750 point encounters for Blood Angels general strategy and tactics and Descent of Angels specifically.

These small battles really give me the opportunity to get a very solid experience base with the basic obligatory choices from the force organization chart. I have the chance to test a lot of different things with the 1 HQ and 2 Troops sized force.

On this particular occasion, I was working with the very core of the Descent of Angels list: Assault Marines, Priests, and a Librarian.

Tactics used: True to form, I reserved for Deepstrike. I attached one priest to each squad and the Librarian to one of the squads. I did this in order to reduce the number of reserve rolls. This guaranteed that when the Marines arrive, a priest would arrive. Also, the Librarian would not arrive alone. I know that may sound too simple, but I wanted to get it documented in case someone needs to learn it.

I chose to deepstrike aggressively. I feel that this is crucial to the success of the Descent of Angels type of list. Our opponent had two Griffon Mortar Tanks sitting bank in a large ruined building which blocked Line of Sight. Their rear was guarded by an infantry platoon which was combined with a commissar. I dropped in on either side of the tanks. I landed each squad in the 'hot' zone for melta shots on the side armor, one squad firing on each tank. The result was two exploded Griffons. They killed about 8 or so of the rear guarding platoon.

Let me speak for a moment about getting the Meltaguns in the 'hot' zone (within 6 inches). I chose not to combat squad, as we were playing annihilation. I placed the Sgt about 5 inches away from the side of the tank and rolled scatter. When you place the troops in concentric circles around the first model, 10 models on the small bases is going to require two rings around the first model to place everyone (really one complete ring and one partial). Nevertheless, I make sure that I place my Meltagun toting marines last and closest to the target. They are part of the partial circle or ring farthest out from the first model and closest to the enemy vehicle.

Think about it this way. This placement allows me to make up for scatter. We are only rolling one d6 on the scatter. I was 4 to 5 inches away with the placement of the original model. Let's just go with 4 inches. If he scatters 3 inches away, then he is now 7 inches away. The bases are just about 1 inch in diameter. So, each ring or circle of deepstriking models earns an inch of scatter back. So, Meltaguns placed on the second ring closest to the target tank would be 5 inches from the vehicle. If my model scattered 4 inches away, then the meltas would be 6 inches. I am sure that you get the picture.

These are a couple of things that have becoming convincing in my experience with the 750 point test cases. More to come.

On a side note, the Angels Sanguine were really on their game that day. In the following round, we exploded a Chimera with the Command Squad inside (after receiving a load of melta fire), assaulted and destroyed the remaining Command Squad members and assaulted the rear guard platoon destroying them. The day continued in that fashion . . . A good day for the Meltaguns.

As always, your comments are welcome and thanks for reading.

Blood Angels vs. Tyranids: A Mentoring Game

I haven't posted much this week. My Brother-in-Law flew over the pond to visit with our a family. As a result, I am not spending much time in the hobby. We are showing him the sights here in Bella Napoli.

Nevertheless, I went over to the school house to help Darksaint out with the young 40k players at his after school club. This week, I played 750 point game against a very new and young Tyranid player. His painting shows great potential. Yet he is still trying to come to grips with all the special rules of his army.

I played him with the intention of helping him discover just what some of his units are capable of on the table.

I spent most of the game helping him learn just how fast his hormagaunt broods really are. He was happy to discover what Fleet, Move Through Cover, and Bounding Leap mean. Other topics of learning included Rending for the Genestealers and Deep Striking for the Trygon.

In reality, he had plenty of opportunity to learn about the Deepstrike rules as my Angels Sanguine were reserved for deepstrike as well.

The mission was Annihilation in a Spear Head deployment. We called the game for time after the top of turn 4 (I was going second in the turn sequence as usual) with the Angels Sanguine ahead in KPs: 4-1.

I have really been thinking about how to best help these young players learn the game. If you have any thoughts, please share a comment.

Incidentally, I placed an order with GW the other day: Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer, 3 Land Raider, and Mephiston.