Stabbin' and such: Triumphant at Last! 2/9/17

[Dono1979]

Vinidcator Line Breaker formation..... good bye cover saves

[Firepower]

 

Also, I was misinformed about Vindicators.  I thought ordnance hit targets from the center outward, ignoring cover.  Evidently, that's only barrage weapons.  6 shots from Vindis against a single squad hiding in a building resulted in 2 dead Guardsmen, because of incessant 3++ cover saves.

 

 

That's why I can't leave home without 1 dreadnought with flamer weapons in a pod. because 3+ cover saves are every where in every army all the time. And usually they are on a model with a 4+ or worse, so the Ironclad really shines at ruining their life.

 

 

Yeah, those 2 Ironclads I gotta build will definitely change things. 

 

 

 

For bodies hiding in cover, you should consider the lowly Whirlwind or a TFC with the non-cover save ammo. It roasts them right where they lay.

 

I'd kinda like a pair of Thunderfires, but I don't do finecast (good luck finding a metal one for a decent price), and don't have any spare cash now anyway  As for Whirlwinds, heresy!

 

At any rate, I will be reconsidering the Vindicators' so-far-undisputed place in my lists.  I love the style of them, but cover saves have consistently been a migraine for me on that matter.  And if a couple of Ironclads with TL Heavy Flamers can clear out the hordes, what do I need more templates for?  Especially seeing as the Ironclads and pods will be stuck in among the things I want to blow up!

Edited August 14, 2015 by Firepower

[Honda]

I'd kinda like a pair of Thunderfires, but I don't do finecast (good luck finding a metal one for a decent price), and don't have any spare cash now anyway  As for Whirlwinds, heresy!

 

 

Actually, if you look at our original lists for the Armageddon campaign, Whirlwinds were in our list before they were out of our list. Now they are back.

 

Whirlwinds - "When they think they are safe because we can't see them"

 

 And if a couple of Ironclads with TL Heavy Flamers can clear out the hordes, what do I need more templates for?

 

 

1. Templates are like Land Raiders. You can never have too many.

 

2. Nothing says "these 24 inches are mine" like the business end of a Vindicator. Also keep in mind, the template only has to touch a vehicle and that's a S10 hit.

[Firepower]

My first victory today, and my first maelstrom game at that.  I gotta say, Maelstrom is way more fun.

 

A real squeaker this was.  1500 versus Tyranids, sporting two blobs of hormagaunts, a flying dakkatyrant warlord, a Dimachaeron, an Exocrine, 3 Venomthropes, and some huge detachment of gargoyles with a stabby Tyrant.  I brought 3 medium blobs, a bigger blob in an LRC with Ludoldus, and two Vindicators.

 

The huge pile of gargoyles was shrouded nearly the entire time, assisted by nightfight, so they shrugged off most Vindi shots with ease.  Hormogaunts died first, as they should.  Everything was going swimmingly, including the death of the Dima from LRC shooting, until I charged the stabby Tyrant with Ludoldus' squad.  What should have been an annihilation of Gargoyles turned into a sea of 1's, robbing me of a slaughter and leading to a drawn out melee which, while useful in keeping the detachment tied up, saw Ludoldus and his squad ripped to itty-bitty zealous pieces.

 

By turn 5, all I had left was the LRC and a full squad I embarked into it earlier.  He had his warlord Tyrant in my backfield, with lots of his stuff still left alive.  This series of events was fantastic.  First, two tankshocks get my squad into disembarking and charge range.  Rolling to get turns 6 and 7 was a godsend.  I had two very important cards, one for slaying the warlord for D3 points, and one for slaying a Flying Monstrous Creature.  

 

The squad had two Neophytes in front, exactly 9 inches away, which was the number I rolled for a charge distance.  He killed one with overwatch, failing to cost me the charge and triggering Righteous Zeal.  I shoot, charge, and kill it. He loses Linebreaker, and I get 4 points in a single attack on turn 7.  

 

I won by 1 point.

 

An amazing game, more fun than my last two by far.  Blasting the Dimathingy to death before it could do anything was immensely satisfying, partly because it finally had a chance to charge, and my opponent rolled snake eyes for the distance.  The bad luck of Ludoldus' unimpressive charge was well outweighed by the final kill. 

 

A penance is due for letting some of the wretched bugs survive, but without their leader, the Chapter will have time to regroup.  The mourning of the High Marshal will be carried out with blooded blades and roaring cannons!

 

http://www.wallpaperhi.com/thumbnails/detail/20120220/warhammer%2040k%20space%20marine%20artwork%20tyranids%20black%20templar%201125x812%20wallpaper_www.wallpaperhi.com_20.jpg

Edited August 23, 2015 by Firepower

[Marshal_Roujakis]

 

Low points- Ludoldus and his squad was full strength, and within charge distance of 2 transports full of guardsmen, with just the itty-bittiest amount of crater terrain between them.  I turned on the KILL! button, and...failed the charge range.  The following turn saw the squad reduced from 13 models to about 5.

 

Also, I was misinformed about Vindicators.  I thought ordnance hit targets from the center outward, ignoring cover.  Evidently, that's only barrage weapons.  6 shots from Vindis against a single squad hiding in a building resulted in 2 dead Guardsmen, because of incessant 3++ cover saves.

 

 

Terrain can and will stop a decent charge, you've got to be within 6" of your target if you plan on Assaulting through terrain, that -2" distance will kill you... also, even with the rerolled charge distance you still failed the charge? that's some real bad luck then...

 

And yes, that hit going outwards thingy is only for Barrage Weapons such as Whirlwinds, Orbital Bombardments and Thunderfire Cannons... Ordnance weapons though lets you roll 2 dice and pick highest when going for Armor Penetration against vehicles.

 

 

 

For bodies hiding in cover, you should consider the lowly Whirlwind or a TFC with the non-cover save ammo. It roasts them right where they lay.

 

I'd kinda like a pair of Thunderfires, but I don't do finecast (good luck finding a metal one for a decent price), and don't have any spare cash now anyway  As for Whirlwinds, heresy!

 

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/catalog/product/600x620/99550101455_SMRapierQuadMortar01.jpg

 

Space Marine Rapier Quad Mortar - it may not be made of metal, but it sure beats trying to assemble that abomination which is the finecast Thunderfire Cannon...

I can personally attest to the pain of trying to assemble the finecast version... nothing aligns with the finecast TFC... at least with Forgeworld you can just send it back if you have a lot of complaints. 

[Firepower]

That's quite a gun, but I've already got a good handful of models on my To Do list (the 2 Ironclads and 3 Pods, plus Honor Guard eventually).  And I lack funds, which especially rules out Forgeworld

 

I do certainly wish I had a Thunderfire or 2 though.  Pewter particularly, even if it would take machining to assemble.

 

But damn, 60 points for that gun is a bargain.  

Edited August 24, 2015 by Firepower

[Bung]

Dont know abput your conversion skills, but you could use some of that Mantic Forgefather thingies to convert, at least that will be what i will do,when i have time.

 

http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/warpath/forge-fathers/product/forge-father-jotunn-heavy-hailstorm-cannon-bundle.html

 

At least they are cheap with 3 for around 25 €. 

[Marshal Mattias]

Good job smashing the bugs - I love it when a last-unlikely-turn-7-suicide-run-plan comes together ;)

[Flint13]

Happy to hear of a recount of glorious, xenos smashing victory (even if it was near-Pyrrhic :D )

 

I will admit that I occasionally forget vindicators can be a bit neutered by a cover save as well. I've just been using a Typhon for so long, I forget the little demolisher cannons don't have ignores cover.

 

Actually, since you seem to enjoy them, that triple vindicator formation might be something to look into. Vindicators are super cheap in both points and real monies, and that gives you an even larger cover ignoring blast than a Typhon would. You do lose out on that sweet sweet Thunderblitz bonus though ^_^

[Firepower]

 

I will admit that I occasionally forget vindicators can be a bit neutered by a cover save as well. I've just been using a Typhon for so long, I forget the little demolisher cannons don't have ignores cover.

 

Actually, since you seem to enjoy them, that triple vindicator formation might be something to look into. Vindicators are super cheap in both points and real monies, and that gives you an even larger cover ignoring blast than a Typhon would. You do lose out on that sweet sweet Thunderblitz bonus though

 

With Jink, the gargoyle horde had 2++ saves.  There's nothing I could have shot at them that would've made a real impact.  Which sucks, because it was such a huge, juicy target and was almost impossible to miss, so having Vindis that couldn't kill such perfect cannon fodder was all the sadder.  But their whole purpose was simply to bubble wrap the stabby Tyrant, and they didn't pose any real threat.

 

As for a third Vindi, I actually have one on sprue already.  But I'm currently looking at a pile of plastic on my work bench.  It's 3 drop pods.  Or rather, just the doors, wings and bases of 3 pods.  This pile is huge.  And I got two Ironclads I'm nearly done assembling.  And then there are two Stormtalons around here somewhere...that Vindi will be along somewhere in the ballpark of 2025.

 

Good job smashing the bugs - I love it when a last-unlikely-turn-7-suicide-run-plan comes together

 

Drew those 2 game winning cards on turn 5, and everything suddenly became "I have to kill that Tyrant."  I think my opponent didn't bother to fly away just because he didn't think the game could possibly go to turn 7, or that i could possibly get the charge, much less actually kill the thing. Or he was just being sporting.  :D

 

It seems awesomely appropriate from a narrative perspective that, upon realizing that they can't kill the whole swarm, the last remaining Templars throw everything at killing the boss bug...and then quickly spin around, yell "We win!" at the swarm, and leave.

 

Dont know abput your conversion skills, but you could use some of that Mantic Forgefather thingies to convert, at least that will be what i will do,when i have time.

 

http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/warpath/forge-fathers/product/forge-father-jotunn-heavy-hailstorm-cannon-bundle.html

 

At least they are cheap with 3 for around 25 €. 

 

I've actually looked at just using the guns from the Stalker tank on a small platform with treads.  A fairly easy conversion I think, at least on paper.  Of course I would need techmarines too, but that's a whole other pain in the ass.

[Flint13]

Ah wow, I didn't think of the jinking... 2++ is pretty obnoxious

 

But that's just a cover save, yeah? All the more reason to get to that third Vindi for some sweet cover ignoring 10" blasts :D

[Firepower]

They have a shockingly low survival rate in my army. The only other tank is a single LRC, and 2 of my 3 games have been versus Guard with a wretched number of Meltas and artillery. They got wrecked by the dakkatyrant flying behind and hitting the rear armor in my last game. Luckily, he only had two units that could even glance the LRC, and it earned its points splendidly. :)

[Ciler]

Grats on the win !

 

On a not really related topic, how do you go about changing a thread title, as you do on a regular basis ? I can't figure how to do it and I wouldn't want to think you'd be using heretic powers to do so.

[Acebaur]

Firepower played a game? Like with actual real live other humans??    I'm shocked!

 

 

:lol: That's awesome man, glad you had fun! Sounds like the game was a blast, it's always fun when works out in epic narrative fashion like that. I agree you need a third vindy, firing that 10" blast that ignores cover, even if you only get to do it once could really ruin your opponents day :lol:

 

 

Grats on the win !

On a not really related topic, how do you go about changing a thread title, as you do on a regular basis ? I can't figure how to do it and I wouldn't want to think you'd be using heretic powers to do so.

 

All you have to do it edit the first post with the full editor and then you can change the name ;)

[Trignama]

I'm with Ace on this, I had to double check to make sure this was Firepower's post.....

[TheHyperion]

It sounds like you had aid from the warp ;) Will you be joining us soon? Anyways that game sounds great, ive only played a purge the alien game so no maelstrom for me yet, this batrep has gotten me more excited to try it :D

~Sapphon

Edited August 26, 2015 by GrandMasterSapphon

[Firepower]

It sounds like you had aid from the warp Will you be joining us soon? Anyways that game sounds great, ive only played a purge the alien game so no maelstrom for me yet, this batrep has gotten me more excited to try it

~Sapphon

 

There was a point in turn 5 or so when his stabby Hive Tyrant, for whom i had no real solution, suffered a Perils of the Warp.  Sooooo close to him just flat out disappearing from witch craft folly.  I was crushed when the dice decided to leave him with just a wound for his mistake. :lol:

 

I prevailed through faith and zeal in the Emperor, against the desires of the fickle warp and its dice gods.  B)

[Firepower]

So a rare look at the creation process for you all. Decorating my Ironclads as proper Templars is taking some creativity (and plagiarism), but I think I'm off to a good start here. I'm not doing extensive conversions or anything, but whatever I can without too much fuss.

This chassis is pretty much done, shy of the front plate and the Frag launchers on his left side.

No idea where I got that shield. It's been randomly bouncing about my bitz boxes for a while now.

Also, today I went to my local GW to try that mold line scraping tool for the first time on my overwhelmingly large pile of Drop Pod pieces. After several hours, I got most of the mold lines off of the wings. That's all. I'm using the tedium of the Pod mold lines to take my mind off of working on the Dreads, and after a few hours of that insanity, working on the Dreads seems like heaven by comparison.

Edit- I realized just now that the low angle of the pic is a bit misleading. Those torches are installed into the top plates, not attached to the exhausts or anything like that.

Edited August 27, 2015 by Firepower

[Acebaur]

If you haven't already I wouldn't buy a mold scraping tool. Just use the back of your exacto knife. Does the same job and is free :)  

 

Looking good on the dread! Can't wait to see more of him(Yes, you've now set a precedent and must post more WIP pics ;) )

[Firepower]

Yeah, I'm sticking with my knife, even though that dulls the blade something fierce.  The mold line tool just rips sprue tabs off too, rather than cleanly severing them.  

 

That's not actually all of the torso decoration.  I've also turned a banner into a tabard, which is pinned into the bottom of his torso.  Or it will be after I paint it anyway.  

 

Speaking of, it's still a toss up as to whether I'll hand paint or airbrush the models.  The details and edges on the dread are rather cramped, which will be annoying.  And I haven't quite worked out a recipe for spraying black that I like.  But it would certainly make large bone panels much easier, and perhaps save enough time that I take it upon myself to try a bit of weathering.  I intend to weather my pods, so I might as well see if I can make the transition to weathering all my vehicles.  A bit of simple silver sponging, maybe some oil wash rust...or maybe not.  Like I said, toss up.

 

Also, this is the first time I've used plastic cement instead of super glue.  Damn does it make a difference!  Good stuff.

Edited August 27, 2015 by Firepower

[Acebaur]

 

Yeah, I'm sticking with my knife, even though that dulls the blade something fierce.   

 

 

That's what I'm saying though, use the back of the knife. It has just enough edge that it scrapes the lines away nicely but you don't dull your blade or risk slicing off too much plastic. 

[Honda]

Edit- I realized just now that the low angle of the pic is a bit misleading.  Those torches are installed into the top plates, not attached to the exhausts or anything like that.

 

 

The torches look excellent and are a great idea. Where did they come from?

 

Like Ace, I use my Xacto blade for mold lines, though I hadn't thought about using the back side. The benefit of using the cutting edge is that you eventually get the blade to the point where it will still cut plastic, but "casual" stabbings of your fingers don't draw blood.

 

For glue, I always use one of those plastic welds, Tenax 7R. Not only does that make a much stronger bond than super glues, but being able to attach bits in seconds is great for maintaining your mental health. :)

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the dread come together more...then paint.

[Brother dean]

One of these days I will play him...  the question is as fungus or should I give him a chance to redeem the Ophidian Gulf?...

[Firepower]

One of these days I will play him...  the question is as fungus or should I give him a chance to redeem the Ophidian Gulf?...

 

A choice of killing green things or killing green things, so far as I see it.

 

Although with how fun it was to have two horde-ish armies smash together and duke it out, I gotta say that a proper WAAAAGH rumble sounds interesting.  Assuming it doesn't involve some Supa Unkillable Luky-Stik Boss of Bosses.  Played a game against a guy using a Knight, and given the current limits of my army, it quickly became pointless.

 

 

 

The torches look excellent and are a great idea. Where did they come from?

 

 

An idea shamelessly stolen from some random soul on the internet.  Most of my decorations for these guys will be, really.

 

The torches are from some WHFB kit.  Empire or Bretonnian, probably.  Most likely Empire.  I can't recall exactly.

 

I know what you mean about the glues.  Those torches are sitting in holes I drilled, and naturally want to fall to tilt along the same angle as the sloping surface they're in.  With the new cement, I had to hold them in place for maybe 3 seconds, rather than 5 minutes.  Although one is still leaning juuuust a bit.

Edited August 27, 2015 by Firepower

[Lord Blackwood]

The Dread Hype is Building , Zeal Intensifies.  

Where do you get yer model chain?  How thick do you recommend it be for like normal dudes?