+++ Interview with an Unforgiven Grand Master +++ Opus VII

[Greenz]

Nice, I'm glad to see this back up!

[sneakybamsen]

Yay, Lucifer!

 

Would really like to read more about the people on these pages. Can't  wait till "normal service" is resumed :P

 

//Sneaky

[Chaplain Lucifer]

Brother Arkley sits in a confortable cell and tell us all about his Unforgiven-ness:

1.) How have you become an Unforgiven Grand Master?

I started 40k from the heady days of Rogue Trader, I was at a launch party at Leeds on the day. First as an Ultramarines fan for a long time, in the early nineties I moved back to Scotland for about 5 years but in this time I got introduced to Deathwing and the short story we all love and know. One of my friends collected Dark Angels (Multiwing 2nd Edition), he was not a great player and used to say they were crap so being a good friend I proved him wrong and tabled my own Ultramarines with his Dark Angels... I guess that was the seed.

2.) When did you start to play an Unforgiven Chapter?

After moving back to England I didn't play much, I tried 3rd and 4th but they lacked something, I liked 2nd so I think it was then I stopped playing to focus more on the hobby side. So I started painting more that playing and it got to the point where its the background and painting are my main parts of the hobby.

After ages of painting Ultramarines, I did dabble with other Chapters etc but I ended up on Dark Angels. About 2012 I got the idea for the Blades of Altena now Alaric and over the past 4 years the Chapter has slowly grown.

I would play again but I am not a fan of the current game.

3.) Which is your favorite "Wing"? Deathwing, Ravenwing, Greenwing, Mixed wing?

I prefer mixed or Deathwing. I am a balanced player and like to pick armies I think can take on all comers
I really can't stand this Power Fist, Plasmagun, Lascannon x X type lists or whatever the flavour of the month is, it seems boring to me plus lack of imagination.

4.) What is your play style?

I liked to devastate opponents, If they had a unit they relied on or used well I would remove it.

If it was a casual game I would just go with the flow, winning or losing didn't matter so much to me.

5.) What is your most treasured memory from your hobby career involving the Unforgiven?

I think beating my friend with his own DA army which he said was crap, I really enjoyed playing with that army.

A close second would be the creation of my Successors

6.) Do you collect and play any other armies even though it's heresy?

I have Deathwatch, Red Corsairs and Imperial Guard


7.) Which is your favorite Unforgiven character? And favorite Villain?

Favourite character? Mmmm its a tie between Azrael and Ezekiel, I have been harsh in my opinion of Gav Thorpe and his treatment of the Dark Angels but I do like these 2, the Hunt is important to the Dark Angels but Azrael is aware of the fall out of abandoning battles etc. so for me he isn't one dimensional like say Asmodai.

Favourite Villain? Does Asmodai count? The easy answer would be Khârn. But I am going to go out on a limb and say Abaddon. Contrary to popular belief he isnt a failure each of his Crusades accomplished his goal and when he reaches his final destination of Terra where I think he will fight Dante tongue.png.

8.) Which is your favorite Black Library publication involving Unforgiven? And non-Unforgiven?

I genuinely liked The Unforgiven novel, with the exception of one bit Asmodai should have lost more than a few fingers smile.png. Can you see a pattern?

Well ADB's Night Lords series, hell whats not to like. It actually made me like Night Lords and the same with First Heretic with the exception of Pinky and Perky.

9.) Is there any Forgeworld favorite that you want or already have?

A few years ago I might have had an answer, today I am not a fan. I feel the quality is very hit and miss and it makes me disappointed.


10.) Any advice for your fellow Unforgiven Brothers?

Take an idea and run with it... And keep running. Never let people tell you that you are wrong but by all means take advice

Thanks, Brother Arkley!

[Chaplain Raeven]

Nice interview! Did you lose faith in FW because of the issues with your latest veterans?

[Lostrael]

Oh Asmodai, not sure if I would see him as a villain, after his failings in Unforgiven... I had face-palm moments reading this book, that made me wish the Lion would wake up an lose his temper on him.

[Chaplain Lucifer]

And this week: Brother Stobz!

1.) How have you become an Unforgiven Grand Master?

Through tenacity and relentless adherence to the Lions cause, the Inner Circle thought I'd make a better Grand Master than a painting Servitor, I hope they are correct.

2.) When did you start to play an Unforgiven Chapter?

It all began with Rogue Trader and the desire to serve as a celibate fighting monk, I originally painted my crappy metal TDA Dark Angels in metallics as a DIY paint scheme; but with the appearance of the mighty Robed Monks in 2nd Ed I was hooked and converted to Power Armour and the First Legion forever. Azzy, Zeke and the original Asmo are the best GW minis of all time.

3.) Which is your favorite "Wing"? Deathwing, Ravenwing, Greenwing, Mixed wing?

I really do prefer the Green elements of the Dark Angels, I have an affinity for mechanized warfare and love to pit the 3rd Company with supporting armoured elements against the Lions foes.

4.) What is your play style?

Sneaky. And superior mobile firepower, and the application of force at the enemies critical weakness to disrupt his plans and ability to win.

5.) What is your most treasured memory from your hobby career involving the Unforgiven?

The positive vibes and support from Frater here for completing the painting of my mechanized 3rd Company, yep, not the Thunderhawk (that still sucked to paint) :P

6.) Do you collect and play any other armies even though it's heresy?

Nope, HERESY!!! but I might start a Mechanicum army in the near future if I get a pay rise

7.) Which is your favorite Unforgiven character? And favorite Villain?

I'd like to say Belial in his pre-Deathwing days, but the books don't do him justice. Villain, any Chaos scum, take your pick, I hate them all.

8.) Which is your favorite Black Library publication involving Unforgiven? And non-Unforgiven?

A D-B Nailed it for us in the HH series, please come back and do some more dude :D Non Unforgiven books, I like the Gaunts Ghosts series. I like covert soldiering.

9.) Is there any Forgeworld favorite that you want or already have?

I have most DA things that I have ever wanted, their range is fantastic. Notable exceptions are a DA specific Contemptor in similar style to the MkIV one... Yes Please!!! and the same treatment on a Levi....... Not forgetting a HH Lion Mini would not go astray...

10.) Any advice for your fellow Unforgiven Brothers?

Never Forget, Never Forgive. Keep it simple, have honour, but be more cunning than the other guy. Pre-emptive retaliation is the key.

Thank you Stobz!

[Chaplain Lucifer]

This week we have Valorous Heart beng interviewed:
        
1.) How have you become an Unforgiven Grand Master?

    I have had a passion for motorcycle since I was very little, plus I love imagery of fast cav charging down artillery.  And I think I saw all of that in the 2nd edition Ravenwing battle force, that set came with 1 chaplain on a bike, 5 bikes, 1 attack bike, and 1 land speeder.

    That set was the 3rd thing I bought for 40k, the 1st was the Sisters of Battle Codex and the 2nd was the Sisters of Battle battle force.  And I still have the card inserts for both of those sets that gave you the rules for how to play them.

    Both of them really spoke to me about a world and a story that I could really invest myself into.

 

2.) When did you start to play an Unforgiven Chapter?
    I got into 40k near the end of 2nd edition, probably less than a year before 3rd came out.  Like I said above, that Ravenwing set was the 3rd item I picked up for 40k.  And just to be clear, I didn't pick up the main game with the rules until the 6th or 7th purchase.

    In those early days for me, it was mostly about just putting everything I had on the table and playing a game.  So the Ravenwing was really just support for my Sisters of Battle back then.
    
    3rd edition came around, and I'll be honest, that was my least favorite edition, especially with Ravenwing.  Also during that time I moved away from my LGS and it was really hard to find a game that wasn't a tournament.

    If I hadn't found the GW in Grapevine, TX I probably would have ended up just letting all of my stuff go.  With the crew at that store I gained a new lease on my passion for the hobby, and just in time for 4th edition to roll out along with our new codex.

    With 4th I dove into Dark Angels and Ravenwing with a singular focus and just nailed down the rules for both the game and the army.

 

3.) Which is your favorite "Wing"? Deathwing, Ravenwing, Greenwing, Mixed wing?

    I think it should be obvious at this point that my answer is Ravenwing.  LOL

 

4.) What is your play style?

    That is an interesting question... what is my play style?

    I used to think that it was AIR, in the Tao of 40k, but the more I looked into the other play styles of that philosophy I realized that the whole thing was crap.  Because it didn't account for the difference between stone, wood or metal in the EARTH style, and it made FIRE out to be a style that lacked intelligence.  And it ultimately only really discussed the difference between aggressive and reactionary play styles, and advocated a balanced list that could be both aggressive and reactionary.
    
    So I guess my play style could be described as anti meta with a focus on social engineering.  I want to play a game with my opponent, but I would much rather influence what my opponent does next turn as opposed to reacting to what they did last turn. I tend to build lists that don't have a deathstar or other high threat profile.  Instead the army wins with a death from a 1000 cuts.

 

5.) What is your most treasured memory from your hobby career involving the Unforgiven?

    Most treasured memory?  That would have to be the best comeback game I have ever had.

    It was 2500 points of Ravenwing vs IG. The IG player stole the initiative and proceeded to wipe out half of my army on the top of turn 1. Going into the bottom of turn 3 I only had 2 scoring models left (2 attack bike units and I think both were wounded) and he had control of 4 or 5 objectives.
    
    So I charged both attack bikes into CC with different units in cover and holding objectives.  But here is where I did my sneaky thing.  I had moved the attack bikes so that when they charged, the IG unit would have to move away from the objective when they made their pile-in move, and move even further away if they didn't kill me that first round.  The gamble was that the difficult terrain will slow him down while trying to get back to the objective.  The attack bikes both died in the second round of CC, but the strategy worked and he never got those 2 units back on the objectives.

    
    The game ended at the end of turn 5.  I had Sableclaw and 1 other speeder and he had only 1 IG unit not falling back but that unit wasn't scoring.  The game ended with both of us holding ZERO objectives and I think we were tied on kill points.
    

6.) Do you collect and play any other armies even though it's heresy?

    Yes, in addition to a sizable Ravenwing collection, my large army is my Sisters of Battle, a small Inquisitor detachment, 2 of each of the assassins, and I am starting to collect a small kill team / allied detachment for Deathwatch, plus the contents of Space Hulk, Execution Force, and Renegade.

       

7.) Which is your favorite Unforgiven character? And favorite Villain?

    I really like Sammael and Cypher.  But what I like best is that the heroes for one faction are the villains for another.

 

8.) Which is your favorite Black Library publication involving Unforgiven? And non-Unforgiven?

    I really liked the first 6-8 books in the Horus Heresy.  I did enjoy the 2 Dark Angels Horus Heresy books.  But I really feel that the series lost something after the first 6-8 books.

9.) Is there any Forgeworld favorite that you want or already have?

    I would love to see the model they have planned for Johnson... but I'll settle for rules for him.  Why didn't they make rules for Johnson with the 30k DA legion rules?  Other than that I am really interested in a number of the FW Realm of Battle board sections.

       

10.) Any advice your fellow Unforgiven Brothers?

    The first advice I would give to players is to join the Ravenwing.  And that Sableclaw is hands down are best HQ.  He is Deathwing, he is Ravenwing, he is a flying land raider, he is BS10, and he can do a drive-by beheading.  He also has GRIM RESOLVE, which I stand by the interpretation that he can OVERWATCH.  (But this isn't the place to discuss that)
    
    Second advice I would give is to the DW/RW players out there.  Don't get fixated on the RW Strike Force.  The RW Attack Squadron has far better synergy with both DW formations than the RWSF does.  Plus the RWAS is cheap.

 

Thank you Valorous Heart!