Review/Drinking Game: Warhams 40k 7Ed: Send Help

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maglag
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Post by maglag »

Koumei, you seem to think that GW somehow cares a lot about teenage boys.

May I remind you that WH40K is a game that both costs a lot of money and demands a lot of patience. Do you really think that teenage kids are that interested to spend hours/days building and painting dolls minis? Most of the 40K players I know are adults who actually have the income to afford an army and the dedication to brush it.

"Release supplements for what is weak" has happened too much times in the recent years to be a coincidence.

Just in kayos we also got the Hellbrute dataslate formation because they were the worst dread, and the crimson slaughter book whole purpose is to allow you to play possessed without feeling bad for yourself. It was not just corn getting buffs among the weakest choices of kayos.

GW is learning. The recent codexs have less and less useless units, and even those that get screwed up receive buffs.

We don't talk about Age of Sigmar. GW designers were high on coke or something. Actually, your explanation may work quite well with that one. Age of Sigmar is indeed aimed at a younger audience than 40K (who are already spending all their disposable income in 40K material). It. Explains. So. Much!

Anyway, I'm still enjoying your reviews quite a bit, so here's some corn tits:
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(best part of playing KAYOS is that you get to play female marines and still be fully fluff-compliant. No, seriously, there's books where girls just get mad and gain the favor of the kayos gods and then kill a boy kayos marine and take his armor for herself)
Last edited by maglag on Fri Dec 11, 2015 4:16 am, edited 5 times in total.
Koumei
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Post by Koumei »

Krystal "Team Fortress" Brooks here, in my latest British review of dice games. See what I did there?

ELITE DANGEROUS

So we have the Possessed. Traditionally these have been kind of shit due to randomness. Overall I would say that this time around they're less bad. Backhanded compliment of the year, I know.
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So they're Daemons of Khorne in Power Armour, meaning they have 3+/5++, which is a good start, and they have S 5 and 2 Attacks, but only one CCW. Not a pair, no firearms at all, no Chainaxes or Power Weapons. They're also Fleet, Fearless and ALSO have the Mark of Khorne. So when they charge you it's 4 attacks at Strength 6 - now we're getting somewhere! When you charge them it's still 3 attacks at Strength 5. Also, if a unit is locked in close combat, roll 1d3 at the start of the Fight Sub-Phase. Also drink three times. You either get to re-roll failed Wounds, AP 3 (so sometimes they DO have power swords), or +1 Attack and +1 Initiative. At 5-20 models, they CAN pile some dangerous attacks in, there is that. They can take a Rhino.

Overall, they at least have a use, even though you wouldn't build an army around them.

Chaos Terminators of Khorne!
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There are some hilariously bad paintjobs for these. But there are also some, like above, with great edge highlighting and details.

3-10 Terminators with Twin Bolter and a Power Weapon (any). Mark of Khorne. Any model can swap the power weapon for a Lightning Claw or a Power Fist or Chain Fist. Any model can swap the Twin Bolter for a Combi-[Flamer/Melta/Plasma]. Any model can swap both weapons for a pair of Lightning Claws. The upgrade costs are actually pretty reasonable, and they're only 34 points each at the base, too, so it's not an automatic "no". 1/5 models can swap his gun out for a Heavy Flamer or a Reaper. These ARE kind of pricey, but then again, a Relentless model with a 2+/5++ is a great base for an Autocannon. They can take a Land Raider.

BLOODCRUSHERS (drink once)
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An image search gave better paintjobs than this, but I wanted to sear your eyes with ALL THAT RED. Besides, the best one didn't let me hotlink.

3-9 giant armoured cavalry assholes. They're basically Bloodletters on Rhyhorns. I might still be thinking of Pokemon. Anyway, at 5/5/5/4/3/4/3/7/6+/5++ they're nothing to sneeze at. They are expensive, and are Fearless, Derp Striking Daemons of Khorne with Power Swords. Great for summoning close to the action. The enemy then has to decide whether to unleash as much firepower as possible (thus sparing other units) or accept 12 S 5 AP 3 attacks (and 3 S 5 AP - Hammer of Wrath attacks).

Now we have the Fast Attack. Seeing as the god of warfare doesn't use stealth bombers and artillery platforms and attack helicopters, you want fast things, so as to "get up in their business" as they say on the street.

Chaos Spawn are actually kind of useful: as blobs.
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And as nightmare fuel.

Mark of Khorne, Rage, Fearless, Fear, Very Bulky, and rolls 1d6 each turn to determine its attacks. It's a Beast, so moves fast. S 5 T 5 W 3, so it's actually not bad as a "Lock up in combat, sit there with a smug look and absorb hits" unit. And thanks to moving fast, that's exactly what you do. And then the enemy unit is already locked in combat, so can't Overwatch your high-impact stuff.

As an added bonus, you also roll 1d3 each round of combat... and bloody hell, drink three times AGAIN. So yes, each round of combat you roll a d6 and a d3 for the unit. The possibilities are a 4+ Armour Save, roll 2drop1 for the attacks, or Poisoned 4+. I'm not going to lie to you, they're not superduper. But they help a little.

RHINOS? THE ENEMY HIDE IN METAL BOXES! THE COWARDS... THE FOOLS! WE SHALL... TAKE AWAY THEIR METAL BOXES.
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That doesn't look bad. To make up for it, I'll link you to THIS one, which does look bad.

This is the Rhino that everyone has, for the same cost, with the same stats. As a Chaos one it has a Twin Bolter rather than a Storm Bolter, and you don't really care. Also it still counts for BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!

Chaos Bikers:
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Points for being metal

3-10, at Toughness 5 (because Marines on Bikes), both flavours of grenade, Bolt Pistol and CCW, and Mark of Khorne. Two can take a Flamer, Melta or Plasma Gun. Nothing special, but they have obvious uses as early-strike things, especially for popping tanks open and maybe scoring First Blood that way. You could very well have a reason to take them, is what I'm saying.

Flesh Hounds:
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These are Bad Dogs.!

5-20 Beasts with 2 Wounds each. They're Daemons of Khorne with Fearless and Derp Strike, and they can Scout. They're probably better to actually take as part of your army than to summon, but creating a batch of 8 to charge nearby enemies certain has potential. Still, 3 attacks on the charge at S 5 AP - without Rending or anything.

Raptors:
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5-15 guys with Jump Pack, BP, CCW and both Grenades. Mark of Khorne. Cause Fear. You probably take these because a Formation demands it, to be honest. Two models can take a Plasma Pistol/Gun, a Flamer, or a Melta Gun. They're not great but they're not completely shit. If nothing else you could push them forward and use them as a summoning platform.

Warp Talons:
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They're like Raptors but nearly twice as expensive! 5-10 of them, and they only have Power Armour, Jump Pack and 2 Lightning Claws. No Grenades. They are Daemons of Khorne with a Mark of Khorne, and if they Derp Strike within 6" of an enemy (veeeeery risky), the enemy gets hit by a Blind attack. I like the idea and the imagery, and sure, S 4 AP - Hammer of Wrath followed by 4 S 5 AP 3 Shredding attacks per model is great, and the Blind is a great support thing when it lands... but these are expensive and too risky to use. Sorry.

MOTHERFUCKING HELL DRAKE!
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The wings remind me of Bahamut Zero from FF7. So does the damage payload.

These are great, and used to be considered broken. Honestly they're just "standing out as an excellent unit in an otherwise mediocre dex" in Chaos Meringues. No you can't squadron them. It's BS 3 F 12 S 12 R 10 HP 3 as a Flyer with Hover Mode. It is a Daemon of Khorne (5++ motherfucker), has regeneration, and comes with an autocannon that shoots a whole bunch of times (S 8 AP 4 Heavy 4 Pinning). So not only is it hard to destroy (even a penetrating hit that gets "Explodes" still has a 1/3 chance of being negated), but it throws a lot of fire out. It can Vector Strike - slamming its body into enemy units like a Flying Monster. This is Strength 7 so is decent for popping transports open. It can also swap the autocannon for a Torrent Flamer (ie "more range like a Hellhound) that is S 6 AP 3. Imagine if it smashed a transport open with its head, and then a group of Marines had to pour out. In a tight formation.

:D

Oh also, once per game, it gets to re-roll all failed Wounds/Penetration rolls, but then has to roll 1d6. On a 1 it loses a HP with no saves (but can still regenerate it).

Looks really cool too.

HEAVY SUPPORT:
Land Raiders!
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You know what these are and how they work. Slightly cheaper for Chaos because they don't get Power of the Machine Spirit.

Forgefiend!
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Reminds me of Wolfenstein 3D. GUTEN TAG!

It's a Walker vehicle that is also a Daemon of Khorne, and Fleet, and Regenerates, and has the 1/game re-roll Wounds but take a potential hit. Has two Hades Autocannons (the ones that shoot a lot), but can swap them for S 8 Plasma Cannons and can also put a third S 8 Plasma Cannon in its face. If you take a crazy robots force, have one of these painted red, one painted black and green, one Helldrake painted pink, and two Maulerfiends (up next), one blue and one yellow. And I guess take a black Defiler. Then shout POWER RANGERS, GO! every time you unleash your army.

Maulerfiend!
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Cheaper than above, but it has all the same rules of the above, as well as the ability to move 12" in the Move Phase and flat-out ignore difficult terrain. It also adds +1 to penetrate buildings. It gets two Power Fists and two Magma Cutters, and can replace the latter with two sets of Lasher Tendrils. Lasher Tendrils can be really handy: every model in base contact loses 1 Attack per set of Lasher Tendrils. So if five guys charge the Maulerfiend, they each lose 2 Attacks. If two Maulerfiends charge the same thing, that's -4. Minimum 1 though. Magma Cutters give you 1 bonus auto-hit against a model you already hit in close combat with other weapons, at Initiative 1, S 8 AP 1 Armourbane. If you have two (you do), you get two of those hits as long as ALL of your regular attacks hit. Usually not as good as tendrils.

Defiler!
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The heavy siege walker. Daemon of Khorne, Fleet, Regeneration, the re-roll-but-hit rule, Battle Cannon, Twin Heavy Flamer, Reaper Autocannon, Two Fists. It can swap the fire out for a Havoc launcher or a Power Scourge, and can swap the Reaper out for another Fist, a Twin Heavy Bolter, or a Twin Lascannon. Big, cool looking, and expensive. Probably too expensive, but at 4 Hull Points, Regenerating, 5++, it might be able to survive all the incoming attention and still do things.

Soul Grindr. I mean Grinder.
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It's another heavy Siege Walker. Daemon of Khorne, Deep Strike, and ignores Shaken/Stunned on a 2+. It has an Iron Claw (literally the same as a Power Fist, so drink once. Also they call out that it's Unwieldy even though it's only taken on a Walker, which ignores the Unwieldy rule, so drink once more.) and a Harvester Cannon (3 shots fired out at S 7, either ground or air based). It can also take a Warp Sword (Master Crafted Power Sword that doesn't get dual-wield bonuses unless taken as a pair) and one of the following: Baleful Torrent (S 6 AP 4 Torrent Flamer), Warp Gaze (S 10 AP 1 Heavy 1), Phlegm Bombardment (S 8 AP 3 Ordinance Large Blast).

Helbrute:
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There are a lot of tentacles involved with Khorne.

A shitty Chaos Dreadnought, in an edition where even regular Dreads aren't taken when you don't have to. Multi-Melta and Power Fist, can swap them out for lots of different weapons, and every time it takes a Glancing or Penetrating hit, you have to roll on a random table and this time I don't drink. 1 = Immobilised for one turn but shoot twice. 2 = recover from any Shaken/Stunned results, and gain Rage for the turn. 3 = as above, plus Fleet, and HAS to charge if it can.

Skull Cannon:
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It's a Chariot with Bloodletter crew, so it CAN charge for Strength 7 Hammer of Wrath hits if it REALLY wants (and get the S 4 or 5 AP 3 attacks as well). But that's usually dumb. It's a Daemon of Khorne that can Derp Strike. If it does cause Wounds with Hammer of Wrath, it has a chance of regaining Hull Points. It also has a Skull Cannon (the weapon, it isn't recursively equipped with itself), which can be really handy for patching up a weakness of certain grenadeless units. Basically it's a S 8 Large Blast the Ignores Cover and hit units are marked for the rest of the turn, such that friendly units ignore terrain when charging them, as though they had grenades.

LORDS OF WAR:
Lord of Skulls:
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This costs 888 points, which has been very carefully worked out not only through weeks of math-hammering, but through arduous playtesting, to make sure it is worth precisely that amount. I'm kidding, they just put Khorne's number three times and patted themselves on the back.

It's a Super-Heavy "Walker", a Daemon of Khorne, and has Regeneration, Fleet and Rage. It also has the 1/game rule of all the other crazy walkers. Every time it loses a Hull Point, even if it later regenerates it, it gets a permanent +1 Attack (maximum 10). Also it can't Stomp (sadface), but can Tank Shock/Ram with the Super-Heavy Thunderblitz table (this is good). It gets a Great Cleaver (Strength D AP 1), a Gorestorm Cannon (Hellstorm Template, S 8 AP 3), and a Hades Gatling Cannon (S 8 AP 3 Heavy 12 Pinning). But it can swap the Gorestorm for an Ichor Cannon (S 7 AP 2 Large Blast) or a Daemongore Cannon (like the Gorestorm but S 9, Instant Death, Gets Hot!), and the Hades for a Skull Hurler (S 9 AP 3 Apocalyptic Blast, re-roll successful saving throws).

And now what you've been waiting for... THE DECURION OF KHORNE!
The Blood Host requires you drink once, of course.
It has 1+ Slaughtercults
Each Slaughtercult allows up to 1 Lord of Slaughter (any Bloodthirster or a Lord of Skulls, no special rules added)
Each Slaughtercult also grants 1-8 Auxiliary choices:

Re-roll the Warlord Trait of Khorne, and get +1 Blood Tithe point per turn automatically.

Slaughtercult is:
1 Chaos Lord or Daemon Prince or Herald or Blood Throne or Unfettered Fury, or Skulltaker
2-8 chosen from Chaos Space Marines, Berzerkers, Bloodletters
1-4 Possessed
0-2 Chaos Cultists (ie "No you can't just take tiny cheap Troops choices and spend all the points on monsters you asshole", I don't know if that's an Overreaction, but drink anyway)
0-2 Chaos Spawn
If Chaos Cultists fail a Morale test, you can instantly remove them as casualties and get the Blood Tithe Point for it. Any time you spend any BT points, gain TWO benefits: the normal one you spent, and also any one of lesser value (up to 4). The second one only affects this formation.

Auxiliary:
Brazen Onslaught
1-4 Terminators
2-4 Bloodcrushers
All units that are outnumbered in close combat get +1 Attack (every model gets the +1)

Khorne's Bloodstorm (drink once)
2-4 Raptors
1-4 Warp Talons :(
0-1 HELDRAKE THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED
(Yes, the rest are a point tax for having a Heldrake)
They all get +1 Strength on their Hammer of Wrath and Vector Strike attacks, so S 5 for HoW and S 8 Vector Strike

Gorepack
2-4 Bikers
1-4 Hounds
Move Through Cover, Preferred Enemy (Psykers). Flesh Hounds get Hammer of Wrath, and the Chaos Bikers re-roll to Wound for their HoW.

Charnel Cohort ie "I already have a Daemons army"
1 of the following; Daemon Prince, Herald, Blood Throne, Skulltaker
2-8 Bloodletters
1-4 Flesh Hounds
1-4 Bloodcrushers
0-4 Skull Cannons
Whole formation gets Counter Attack. If the HQ is in Derp Strike Reserve, you can re-roll its Reserve roll. Other units from this formation don't scatter if they're within 6" of it. Warp Talons wish they had this so they could accurately deliver their Blindness. Also if the enemy for some reason isn't Fearless and thus has to actually test Fear against this formation, it's at -2 Ld.

War Engine: 1 Helbrute, Defiler, Soul Grinder, Forgefield, Maulerfiend, or Lord of Skulls, but Heldrakes aren't allowed in because fuck you (drink once for their overreactions). No special benefits, it's seriously just "you get a Walker vehicle".

Overall? It's not bad. It's a vast improvement over Chaos Marines and Daemons, but that's mainly due to carving off the Instability and Warp Storm rules, and adding good benefits to the Decurion. The Blood Tithe (specifically, getting units killed (this will be your main source - you will only fight challenges against people also forced to issue/accept, and against people who can reliably beat you) and then summoning more) is a good addition if you have the spare models. Or are playing on Vassal. It is a risky army, to be sure, and you have to play dangerously aggressively, but it is possible to make that work in a way that it previously wasn't. A lot of units still cost too much or, out of formations, don't bring enough to the table, but that's because they've tried to make them essentially the same unit as in the existing Dex. If Chainaxes are simply AP 4 weapons, then no-one really cares about your Berzerkers, and that's what they are in Codex: Chaos Marines, so that's what they are here.

But in general it gets a nod of approval. Let's see some really nicely painted Khorne stuff with smooth, layered/airbrushed orange-red plates and nicely highlit edges, and bold brass sections.

So what next? We have Tau, Eldar, Inquisition, Knights, Space Marines and Assassins. I think that's all?

Final notes on answering maglag:
Yes, you twat, they love teenage boys. Not in the "going to prison" way, but in the sense that middle class teenage boys get their parents to buy them all this crap, and if they get bored and leave a bunch of unfinished but already purchased plastic lying around the house, that's just fine by them. Look around the GW stores (if they haven't been replaced by tiny 1-man shops that just sell items and take pre-orders for kits) and note that half the people there are actually teenage boys. Yes there are also plenty of "something older than 30" neckbeards too, it's about an even split.

And until Orks, Nids, Daemons of Nurgle, Chaos Marines of Slaanesh/Tzeench, and Sisters all have good solid dexes and they release an "Oh shit" splat that fixes Dark Eldar's Wych Cult side of things, I expect you to eat either crow or a hat. It is your choice. If that happens I will accept that okay, they've been paying attention to their rules beyond "Overreacting to the one thing that makes people freak out" and gradually fixing things.
Count Arioch the 28th wrote:There is NOTHING better than lesbians. Lesbians make everything better.
Silent Wayfarer
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Posts: 898
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:35 am

Post by Silent Wayfarer »

maglag wrote:(best part of playing KAYOS is that you get to play female marines and still be fully fluff-compliant. No, seriously, there's books where girls just get mad and gain the favor of the kayos gods and then kill a boy kayos marine and take his armor for herself)
I was going to say that male marines sometimes just became girls because of Giant Frog, but then I remembered you were talking about Corn.

Also, for the next review, how about Assassins? That one should be fast and snacky, or there's more stuff I missed and it'll be informative.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
Koumei
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Posts: 13871
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Location: South Ausfailia

Post by Koumei »

Sure, Officio Assassinorum it is. And after that I'll get Inquisition out of the way, because that's also a pretty short one.

Krystal "Team Fortress" Brooks brings you another British critique of a dice game:
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So, here is your Force Org Chart for Assassins:
1 Elites
That is all.
If the Assassin kills the enemy Warlord, you get a bonus point on top of anything else.

But there is also this Formation: Assassinorum Execution Force.
You take one of each Assassin, you get the same rule as above, and the whole lot get Preferred Enemy (enemy Warlord).

Assassins can never join units and should not be the Warlord because they don't get Warlord Traits. They also all have a 4++ and effectively have Frag Grenades.

So what do we actually have for our Assassins? Well I'm glad you asked, me! Let's start with the Vindicare, Mister Shooty.
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He hits on a 2+ when shooting, and on a miss gets to re-roll it as a 4+. He gets Defensive Grenades, and gets to Infiltrate. He has Stealth, Fearless, Move Through Cover, and any time he shoots a unit, except for Snap Shots, he picks the model he hits. So he gets to pick characters out all the time. Enemies suffer -2 to their Look Out, Sir! Oh and also he ignores Cover except when making Snap Shots. For his weapons, he has a Pistol (12" S X AP 2 Sniper Pistol, Special Ammo) and a Rifle (72" S X AP 2 Heavy 1 Sniper, Special Ammo).
Every time he shoots, pick one of the following:
-No Invulnerable Saves: go fuck yourself, you just take the Wound (no Armour, Cover OR Invulnerable)
-Strength 10 against Vehicles (and still Rending because Sniper), against others: causes 1d3 Wounds
-Wounds on a 2+

So he can even fuck tanks up, but is super good at killing special characters. You should be just fine taking the Warlord out (and at 72" range plus Infiltrate, picking a weak target to score First Blood). He gets his own purity seal and is worth taking.

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Super fucked

Also, Eldar Farseers are immune to him, because Love Can Bloom, even on the battlefield. (No this is not a real rule.)
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I could just supply so many memes here.

Callidus Assassins!
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So, history lesson: 3-4Ed they had some great rules: before the battle starts, you get to move any one enemy model 6", as though making a Scout move on its behalf, and can choose the direction it faces (for vehicles). There was even an Apocalypse formation where you take up to 5 of these and stack the movement. "Uh sir, why is the Baneblade pointed directly at us, and blocking LoS for our tank squadron?" "My trusted advisor said to do it,"

They also had a special "Deep Strike without scatter, then assault on the same turn" rule. Needless to say this went away because GW have decided that stuff just isn't on. They also have a 2+ to escape any close combat before blows are struck, thus trolling enemies. And had a bonus "end of the combat round" Poison attack, on top of their close combat "Ignores all Saving Throws ever, yes even Invulnerable" and the Template "S 10 against Ld, automatic Crew Shaken/Stunned on vehicles" gun.

That was awesome.

Then for the 5Ed Grey Knights dex they cut out the redeployment, reduced the main weapon to just "Power Sword, causes Instant Death. In an army where every motherfucker has a Force weapon" and they stopped the DS+Assault thing, but I think they made it "Jump into play by deploying out of an enemy unit and causing hits to them". But then standing there and waiting for their assault. Probably lost the Dodge-Out and just had the 4++ and Hit & Run. But they were super hilarious when paired with Imperial Guard psyker squads, who back then had a power that reduces an enemy unit's Ld by (number of models). So you slap them with -9 Ld, reducing it to 1, then spray them with that... and cause Instant Death (AP 2 Ignores Cover) on a 2+.

Now IG Psykers don't do that and her gun works differently anyway. So what DO Callies do? Well, they have high stats all over, and are Fearless, Fleet Infiltrators with Hit & Run, Move Through Cover and Precision Strikes (6 to hit: select the specific model). Enemies suffer -2 to Look Out, Sir! You can re-roll to Seize the Initiative, and opponents suffer -3 to the first Reserve roll they make, because she wore a disguise and told them they need to go to the outpost at Uzbekistan, not the one on Mars. And when Infiltrating, she can just choose to start anywhere that isn't within 1" of an enemy, even in LoS, and if starting in Reserves, she can wander on from the enemy board edge if she wants. On the first turn, or the turn she enters play, enemies can only Snap Shot at her.

Her wargear:
Neural Shredder: S 1, AP 2 Template, Pistol, always wounds on a 4+ and doesn't affect vehicles. Sadly she has *almost* nothing to bring to bear against tanks.

Phase Sword: AP 2 Power Weapon that strikes at normal Initiative and, on a 6 to Wound, ignores Invulnerable Saves. It's closer to how it used to be!

Poison Blades: close combat weapon that is Poisoned 3+ and Rending. Usually the Phase Sword is better, but against foes with high Toughness and crappy saves, there's this (and occasionally even for good Armour saves). Also it means she can occasionally Rend her way up to a 13 to penetrate vehicles.
"Did she just stab the Lemon Ruski tank in the arse and cause the cannon to shrivel from poison?"

Has some good uses, I won't deny it in the slightest. Just not stupidly good like before. Still worth a purity seal.

EVERSOR ASSASSIN
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"KIDS, LET'S DO DRUGS!"

Good statline, Melta Bombs, Power Sword, Fearless, FnP, Infiltrate, Furious Charge, Move Through Cover. When reduced to zero Wounds, it explodes for S 5 AP - against every model within d6". Enemies get -2 to Look Out, Sir! He fires his Pistol for 4 shots at a time. Charges 3d6", and gets +3 Attacks on the charge rather than +1, so that means 8 attacks on the charge, at S 5. Also, fires Overwatch at full Ballistic Skill. And that's 4 shots, so actually works out pretty well.

Pistol is a Bolt Pistol with a built-in Needle Pistol (Poisoned 4+)

Neuro-Gauntlet: Wounds on a 2+ with re-rolls if it fails. So fucks infantry up really well.

Okay, so overall for him? He isn't BAD, it's just... we have a dedicated sniper (shooting is great), a dedicated "fuck with people" which is good, a dedicated anti-psyker, and this one is your dedicated close combat guy. And close combat is the worst.

But he does survive well, so you should be able to get up in their faces, at which point you'll cause casualties, it's just a matter of causing the *right* casualties. Best taken to supplement an army that is weak in close combat. Hell, make him simply stand in front of your most important gunline (7" in front, just in case), and the enemy will agree they have other things to assault.

And finally, the Culexus - he'll blow your mind:
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Fear, Fearless, Infiltrate, Move Through Cover, Preferred Enemy (Psykers), good statline, enemies get -2 to Look Out, Sir! His close combat attacks are all AP 2 because he's just draining your soul, and 6 To Wound (against Psykers: any successful To Wound) causes Instant Death.

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Your soul is mine

Any Psykers within 12" have -3 Ld, and don't get to generate Warp Charge points. Also, they can only succeed at using Warp Charges on a 6. He cannot be targeted or affected in any other way by Psykic powers. And Blessings and Maledictions cease working when within 12" of him. He just flat-out shuts Psykers down.

His Animus Speculum is a relatively short ranged weapon at S 5 AP 1, and has a special number of shots: up to 3 from your own Warp Charge pool, plus the combined Mastery Level of Psykers within 12" (ie "all those charges that Psykers were denied"). Yes you can totally put him within range of like 6 levels worth of allied Grey Knights and just shoot out (lowest[1d6,3])+6 shots.

Enemies are ALWAYS WS 1 and BS 1 against him, meaning 6 to hit at range and 5+ to hit in close combat. Great for survival.

He also has grenades that hit a Blast for the Psi-Shock rule (causes Perils) and, in close combat, are Defensive Grenades against Psykers.

Know your opponent is taking Psykers? This guy will wreck them. Fielding Psykers yourself but don't actually want to use their powers? This guy gets boosted up as a nice addition. Otherwise? Still isn't actually shit. Worth consideration, gets a purity seal from me.

So that's it. These are your Assassins.
Count Arioch the 28th wrote:There is NOTHING better than lesbians. Lesbians make everything better.
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maglag
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Post by maglag »

ASSASSINS!

Corn is pleased with this review and bestows his milky gifts upon this thread:
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Koumei wrote: And until Orks, Nids, Daemons of Nurgle, Chaos Marines of Slaanesh/Tzeench, and Sisters all have good solid dexes and they release an "Oh shit" splat that fixes Dark Eldar's Wych Cult side of things, I expect you to eat either crow or a hat. It is your choice. If that happens I will accept that okay, they've been paying attention to their rules beyond "Overreacting to the one thing that makes people freak out" and gradually fixing things.
You know, in your other post you claimed orks were all the rage with teenage boyz, so why are you now complaining that GW doesn't support the greenskinz enough? :mrgreen:

Anyway Nids and Nurgle/Tzenceth have been winning tournaments in case you missed it. Tzenceth even dominated at one point with their 2+ re-roll invulnerable units. Distraction carnifexes are back while flyrants are something you need to prepare for.

Slaanesh and Orks aren't top tier, but they're still pretty solid. The dark prince has telepathy and speed and the orks have lots of dakka, with their power klaw leaders becoming basically fearless when you run out of boyz fodder with their latest rules.

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And GW kinda hates women. That's why sisters and wyches can't have nice things. And 40K's whole storyline is "The male Emprah of MEN decided that only MEN should have important positions and everybody who disagreed was to be exterminated. And then the gay knights and space furries bathed in the blood of human women and claimed they were the gud guyz."
Last edited by maglag on Fri Dec 11, 2015 7:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Oh god Khornate Knights. As if they weren't special snowflake enough by being the 666th Chapter that is so pure that they can freely use DAEMON WEAPONS without being corrupted by them...

Inquisition next right?
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Post by Maxus »

Silent Wayfarer wrote:Oh god Khornate Knights. As if they weren't special snowflake enough by being the 666th Chapter that is so pure that they can freely use DAEMON WEAPONS without being corrupted by them...

Inquisition next right?
Yeah, let's have some sweet hats happening here.
He jumps like a damned dragoon, and charges into battle fighting rather insane monsters with little more than his bare hands and rather nasty spell effects conjured up solely through knowledge and the local plantlife. He unerringly knows where his goal lies, he breathes underwater and is untroubled by space travel, seems to have no limits to his actual endurance and favors killing his enemies by driving both boots square into their skull. His agility is unmatched, and his strength legendary, able to fling about a turtle shell big enough to contain a man with enough force to barrel down a near endless path of unfortunates.

--The horror of Mario

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath. He is a terrible person and a hack at writing and art. His cultural contributions are less than Justin Bieber's, and he's a shitmuffin. Go go gadget Googlebomb!
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Post by Koumei »

Time for another British critique by Krystal "Team Fortress" Brooks. I am pushing this meme.
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See?

Okay, the Inquisition had two Codices back in 3Ed to coincide with the release of their standalone flop unfinished game, Inquisitor. Tying in like that was a great idea. It was one of few good ideas with the whole mess there. Naturally, the one with which I am most familiar is Codex: Witch Hunters, the last actual physical book that served as a codex for Sisters of Battle.

With Codex: Grey Knights in 5Ed (the one with the WARD KNIGHTS), all three types of Inquisitor (not including minor orders) were given basic info, including special characters. But now they have their own Dex and it somehow escaped the culling of wargear that GK had.

So, you can take an INQUISITORIAL DETACHMENT.
1-2 HQ, and 0-3 Elites. That's it. The only benefits are you can re-roll your Warlord Trait if it's an Inquisitor one.

For Warlord Traits, much like the Harlie ones, results 1-3 are the same for all tables: choose to pass or fail any Morale tests (like Iron Will from 3E Dex), roll twice for Reserves and Outflanking and mysterious terrain/objectives, and 1/game call an Orbital Bombardment (S 10 AP 1 Large Blast Barrage).

For the other three, you have:
Ordo Hereticus: Preferred Enemy (Psykers), Adamantium Will, 24" bubble of no infiltration.
Ordo Malleus: Preferred Enemy (Daemons), penalty to nearby Daemon Invulnerable Saves, and +1 Warp Charge each turn (yours and enemies')
Ordo Xenos: Preferred Enemy (non-vehicles from Dark Eldar, Eldar, Necrons, Orks, Tau and Tyranids), 6++ and one weapon gets +1 S and Rending, Hatred (apparently everyone)

There's only one Relic for each flavour - "gain a special rule each turn for that turn" (Hereticus), fuck stats of Daemons in a challenge (OM - HAHAHA FUCK YOU KHORNATE DAEMONS AND YOUR INSISTENCE ON CHALLENGES), and "Gain rules based on enemy Xenos" (OX).

So, Inquisitors cost 25 points each, and are HQ choices. They get Carapace Armour, Bolt Pistol, CCW and both Grenades plus Psyk-Out Grenades: XXXX. They're all Stubborn.

There is stuff they can all swap for - Combi-Weapons, Plasma Pistols and Power Swords/Fists most notably.
Malleus can swap for an Incinerator (Grey Knight "better than a Heavy Flamer"), Nemesis Daemon Hammer (Thunder Hammer, probably a Force weapon, IIRC it loses Unwieldy against Daemons?), Daemonblade (DAEMONIC CORRUPT WEAPON, EXTREMIST HERETICAL INQUISITOR HERE FOLKS. Also powers are generated by ROLLING ON A RANDOM HERETICAL TABLE oh god drink the whole remaining drink), or Hell Rifle (shoots bits of daemon out - EXTREMIST AND HERETICAL).
Hereticus can swap for Inferno Pistol fuck yes, Condemnor (Combi-weapon: Boltgun plus 1 use "Fuck psykers" weapon), Thunder Hammer or Null Rod (completely shuts Psykers down).
Xenos can swap for a Needle Pistol, Venom Talon or Conversion Beamer.

They can all take Power Armour and up to 3 Servo Skulls (great anti-Infiltrator screening stuff).
Malleus can take Psybolts (Bolt weapons get +1 S) and Brain Mines (parahax enemies in close combat). He can also swap the armour, frags, kraks and weapons for Terminator Armour with a Storm Bolter and Daemon Hammer. The Storm Bolter can then be swapped for a Combi or for a Psycannon. He can be a Level 1 Psyker with a Force Sword.
Hereticus can take a Psyocculum (BS 10 against Psykers), and can become a Level 1 Psyker with a Force Sword.
Xenox can take Digi-Weapons, Plasma Syphon (enemies shooting at him with Plasma are BS 1. Yes this means their chance of hitting equals their chance of exploding), Rad Grenades (enemies in CC are -1 T) and Psychotroke Grenades (enemies in close combat go mental, roll on a RANDOM TABLE and down your drink). Can become a Level 1 Psyker with a Force Sword.

So there are a LOT of options, as you would expect with the Inquisition.
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Special characters: Inquisitor Coteaz:
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He has Artificer Armour (2+), a Master-Crafted Daemon Hammer (or MC Hammer for short), the usual stuff... and a psyber-eagle. It can be used to make 1d6 ranged attacks. He has Level 2 Mastery, and he can re-roll Seize the Initiative/force enemies to re-roll theirs, and has a rule called I've Been Expecting You.

Don't worry, I won't reference Monty Python again: the Inquisition expects you.

If an enemy arrives from Reserves within 1' of him, his whole unit gets to shoot them. This can be done every time, without a per-turn limit. Yes if he happens to be sitting on a Quad-Autocannon, he can blast them to pieces with that.

Fyodor Karamazov:
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He used to be a Monstrous Creature (see: Throne), but now he's just Infantry, not even Bulky apparently. But with a pretty hefty statline (see: Throne). But he can't enter buildings or vehicles (see: Throne). MC Multi-Melta, MC Power Sword, Frag+Krak+Psyk+Rad grenades, and an Orbital Strike. He's Relentless.

He's allowed to position his Orbital Bombardment on allied units, in which case it doesn't scatter. Yes, that is hilarious. He also helps nearby allies pass Leadership Tests.

There was an OX character in the Grey Knights book, but she didn't get a mini, so fuck her, she no longer exists.

Elite: HENCHMEN!
Basically it's a unit that consists of a mix of Acolytes (chumps who can take all sorts of wargear), Arco-Flagellants (maniacs who make 6 S 5 attacks on the charge), Crusaders (STORM SHIELD EVERYONE), Daemonhosts (daemonic attacks generated by RANDOM TABLE, drink three times), Death Cult Assassins (nice Power Sword attacks), Jokaero (monkeys that have heavy weapons and can boost the unit, depending on a random table, but don't drink), Ministorum Priests (see: Astra Militarum), Mystics (homing beacon for your own Deep Strikes), Psykers (Level 1 Psykers) and Servitors (they carry big guns).

3-12 models, any mix you like.

Transports are:
Metal Boxes
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Razorbacks
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Chimerae
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Valkyries
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And the three main types of Land Raider
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Brought to you by Pimp My Ride

As I said, it's a pretty small dex. It's functional and just does what it has to. Inquisitors are pretty handy for adding to Imperial armies, and can help cover your weaknesses. Jolly good.

So what next?
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Since I'm getting my Knight kit today, why not Imperial Knights?
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Post by Schleiermacher »

Of the ones that are left, I'm most interested in Eldar.
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Post by maglag »

Since we already covered dark space elves and clown space elves, may as well cover fabulous space elves.

In the grimdarkness of the future, there's surely still a crapload of elves.
Last edited by maglag on Fri Dec 11, 2015 2:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Stahlseele »

Would not be Hell without somebody constantly telling you that you are inferior in every single way after all . .
Welcome, to IronHell.
Shrapnel wrote:
TFwiki wrote:Soon is the name of the region in the time-domain (familiar to all marketing departments, and to the moderators and staff of Fun Publications) which sees release of all BotCon news, club exclusives, and other fan desirables. Soon is when then will become now.

Peculiar properties of spacetime ensure that the perception of the magnitude of Soon is fluid and dependent, not on an individual's time-reference, but on spatial and cultural location. A marketer generally perceives Soon as a finite, known, yet unspeakable time-interval; to a fan, the interval appears greater, and may in fact approach the infinite, becoming Never. Once the interval has passed, however, a certain time-lensing effect seems to occur, and the time-interval becomes vanishingly small. We therefore see the strange result that the same fragment of spacetime may be observed, in quick succession, as Soon, Never, and All Too Quickly.
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Post by OgreBattle »

Orks
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Post by Stahlseele »

Orkz!
Welcome, to IronHell.
Shrapnel wrote:
TFwiki wrote:Soon is the name of the region in the time-domain (familiar to all marketing departments, and to the moderators and staff of Fun Publications) which sees release of all BotCon news, club exclusives, and other fan desirables. Soon is when then will become now.

Peculiar properties of spacetime ensure that the perception of the magnitude of Soon is fluid and dependent, not on an individual's time-reference, but on spatial and cultural location. A marketer generally perceives Soon as a finite, known, yet unspeakable time-interval; to a fan, the interval appears greater, and may in fact approach the infinite, becoming Never. Once the interval has passed, however, a certain time-lensing effect seems to occur, and the time-interval becomes vanishingly small. We therefore see the strange result that the same fragment of spacetime may be observed, in quick succession, as Soon, Never, and All Too Quickly.
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Post by Koumei »

Okay, I'll knock Knights out, then tackle Eldar (a bigger project after all).
I actually forgot Orks have a 7Ed Dex. IIRC it's also in the "Pre-Necron" tier, so don't get excited about it. (Protip: never get excited about orks)

While I'm at it with this "not a review" post, I think the following are interesting:
How someone else decided to tweak Necrons and make them fluffier

How someone else decided to fix Dark Eldar

How someone else decided to fix all Daemons (sadly, they retained Warp Storms and Instability)

How someone else decided to fix (and bloat) Tyranids

Interesting to read while I go about getting ready for the day before we hit 2PM, anyway.
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Post by Koumei »

Krystal "Team Fortress" Brooks here, with another great meme-filled British critique. This time of Codex: Imperial Knights

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Sure, why not?

The book is small and the minis are large. The price tags larger still. This is an interesting one because it wasn't something that people were saying would never happen: people just flat-out didn't think it would happen at all, there was no point even denying it. For that matter, a lot of people didn't know what Knights were, they were last seen in Epic 40K. So what are they? "Not quite Titan sized" giant mecha.

This time around I'm going to start with the weaponry because there aren't many and they basically all use different weapon layouts as the main thing to differentiate them.

Avenger Gatling Cannon: it has standard Marine Killer profile, but Heavy 12, Rending. So you can even do okay against the odd Terminator or whatever.

Heavy Flamers and Heavy Stubbers and Melta Guns are the same as normal.

Ironstorm Missile Pod: it sits on top of the Knight and is very long range, with Large Blast Barrages that hit like Heavy Bolters.

Rapid Fire Battle Cannon: it's not actually Rapid Fire in the sense of the game term. It's a Battle Cannon that fires twice per turn.

Stormspear Rocket Pod: sits on top of the Knight, decent range, S 8 AP 3 Heavy 3. You could use it to pop Marine heroes who aren't attached to units, or focus on tanks and Monstrous Creatures.

Thermal Cannon: it's a S 9 AP 1 Large Blast Melta weapon.

Twin Icarus Autocannon: it's an Autocannon sitting on top of the Knight that is twin-linked but also has Skyfire and Interceptor. Take a bunch of these.

Reaper Chainsword: Strength D melee weapon. GIVE THEM THE D

Thunderstrike Gauntlet: I hope it can be modelled to flip people off. Silent Wayfarer, can you confirm? Anyway, it's also Strength D, but it hits at Initiative 1 even for a Super-Heavy Walker, and also has an awesome rule that is probably good for FORGING THE NARRATIVE: if it wipes out an enemy Vehicle or Monstrous Creature (not Buildings, Gargantuan Creatures or Super-Heavy Vehicles) in close combat with this, it gets to hurl it: a bonus shooting attack that happens then in combat, at 12" S (Toughness or 1/2 Front Armour) AP - Large Blast. Also if a vehicle was going to explode from the hit, that happens after the throw. If it had passengers, they have to do an emergency bail-out before the throw.

Given the Initiative drop, it's not really worth paying any points to swap a Reaper to a Gauntlet, but fuck if the throwing isn't funny.

Also basically every Knight has an Ion Shield: at the start of the game, and on every enemy shooting phase, select one facing (Left, Right, Front, Rear) to get a 4++ from Shooting attacks. Kind of sad the way you choose after the enemy positions and before they shoot - if you decided at the end of your turn, that could make them scurry about to get a different facing, putting them where you want them. And would force a bit more planning on your part, not just "SHIT, THE DROP POD MELTAS ARE HERE, SHIELD MY BUM!"

Anyway. Warlord Traits? Warlord Traits. Bubble of slightly increased Run/Charge distance, Master-Craft one weapon, re-roll Misses when charging, d3+1 Outflanking Knights (CREEEEEEEEEEEED), re-roll Invulnerable Saves of 1, and +1 Attack.

The first, second and last are kind of underwhelming but not useless, the rest range from solid to "fuck yes".

So first of all, Imperial armies can take these guys as Lords of War. But they also have their own actual formations and detachments.

First we have the Household Detachment:
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Not... exactly

3-5 Knights. One of them is selected to be the boss, and he can be the Warlord (like a bauss), re-roll his Trait (like a bauss), be an actual Character (like a bauss), re-roll Misses in a Challenge (like a boss). He can also take a Relic. Beyond this? The whole Detachment gets motherfucking Objective Secured.

"Hi guys, I'm going to sit on this Objective here, and be hard to kill (and if killed, detonate, annihilating your surrounding guys). I have this Objective and you don't, even if you're also touching it."

There's also the Oathsworn Detachment, which is 1-3 Knights. No benefits at all, this is simply just "Add a Knight to a Battleforged army".

So what about the Knights themselves? KNIGHT ERRANT!
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If that's too tacky, instead look at this one:
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It costs just shy of one and a half Land Raiders. It has a Heavy Stubber which can be swapped for a Melta Gun, and has an Ion Shield.

Okay fine, it also has the Reaper (can swap for a Gauntlet) and a Thermal Cannon. Can also take a Carapace Weapon.

KNIGHT PALADIN!
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TWO Heavy Stubbers, well, that must be why this one costs as much as one and a half Land Raiders precisely! Reaper (can upgrade to Gauntlet), Rapid-Fire Battle Cannon, Ion Shields, can take a Carapace Weapon. Can swap one Heavy Stubber for a Melta Gun.

KNIGHT WARDEN!
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Wait, shit, sorry. That's the old Epic mini.
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There we go, suitably green.

Costs the same as the Paladin. Avenger Gatling Cannon, Heavy Stubber (can Melta up), Heavy Flamer, Reaper (can up to Gauntlet), Ion Shield. Can take a Carapace Weapon.

KNIGHT GALLANT!
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My eyes, the goggles do nothing

The cheapest of the bunch so far, but still more than 300 points. It has a Heavy Stubber (can Melta up), and a Reaper AND a Gauntlet. Ion Shield, can take a Carapace Weapon.

KNIGHT CRUSADER!
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The most expensive so far, at more than 400 points. Like, chuck a Carapace weapon on and it's not just the Land Raider but the Terminator Squad inside. Compared to expensive and kind-of-sub-par options like that, though, it sounds like a bargain.

Whatever. It has Ion Shields, an Avenger, a Heavy Flamer, a Heavy Stubber (can Melta up), and a Thermal Cannon as well. That can be swapped for the RF Battle Cannon, and it can also take a Carapace Weapon. FIRE THE MAIN GUNS, ALL OF THEM.

Then we have the Formations that are not Detachments:

An Exalted Court is 5 Imperial Knights of any type. They are ALL Characters and can ALL choose Relics. If one of these is the Warlord, he can re-roll Traits and re-roll Misses in a Challenge. One model in this is the Super King, with +2 WS and BS and +1 to the Ion Shield. The rest get +1 WS and BS.

A Baronial Court is 3-5 Knights of any type. Any model that is within 6" of at least one other model in the formation gets +1 to the Ion Shield if it's the Front Arc. One model is the Baron, so he's a Character with +1 WS and BS, can take a Relic, and if he's the Warlord you know what he gets. He gets Counter-Attack and can Overwatch, as can others within a bubble.

A Tripartite Lance is specifically 1 Warden, 1 Gallant and 1 Crusader. They are treated as one unit that has to stick together. While the Warden is alive, they all treat enemy Cover as 1 lower. While the Gallant is alive, they all get 1d3 Hammer of Wrath attacks. While the Crusader is alive they all Twin-Link their Blasts.

A Gallant Lance is 3 Gallants. They get Crusader, Rage, and a re-roll on Charge distance.

A Skyreaper Lance is any 3 Knights, but all with the Icarus Carapace weapon. They re-roll failed Penetration against Flyers and Wounds against Flying Monsters.

But now! As a little bonus! I'm going to cover the Forgeworld Knights as well!

Cerastus Knight Acheron
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I like green, okay?

It's over 400 points, gets to run extra fast, has Ion Shields, and gets its own special type of Flame Cannon (Hellstorm S 7 AP 3) and a Reaper Chainfist. That's a Destroyer that gets to re-roll any 1 on the Destroyer table against vehicles.

Cerastus Knight Castigator
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Points for the dynamic pose. Only a little more expensive than the Knight Paladin. Runs Fast, Ion Shield, Twin-Linked Bolt Cannon (S 7 AP 3 Heavy 8), and a Tempest Warblade. It only hits for S 10 AP 2 (but remember it has the STOMP). But it re-rolls failed Armour Penetration rolls, and causes Deflagration (see: Volkite weapons), and also if it really wants it can swap its 4 attacks out for one auto-hit against every adjacent model. It's not like it can't hurt tanks, but it's super-anti-infantry.

Cerastus Knight Lancer
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The reports are in, and my data says this one looks stupid, so there you have it. The research was conducted by professional mecha stylists. French mecha stylists. Anyway it costs 400 points on the dot, runs fast, and it has a different Ion shield: it can't protect the rear (WHAT'S THAT, MELTA DROP PODS? CHRISTMAS YOU SAY?), gets a 5++ in Close Combat, and other Gargantuans/Super-Heavies take a -1 to hit it in close combat.

The Dildozer Double Shocker Shock Lance gives them the D in close combat, with +1 Initiative on the charge, and can also shoot out with 6 S 7 AP 2 Concussive shots.

Questoris Knight Magaera
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Just shy of 400 points, it has worse close combat stats (relative to other giant robots), but it can regenerate, explodes extra hard when it does explode, and its Ion Shield also provides -1 Strength to shooting attacks from that facing (-2 S for Blasts/Templates). It has a S 6 Salvo 2/3 (so... Assault 3 because Super-Heavy Walker. Drink once) Plasma Gun, a Lightning Cannon (S 7 AP 3 Large Blast with Rending and re-rolls to Wound) and a Reaper. The Reaper can be swapped for a Siege Claw (S D, re-roll Penetration (on a D weapon - drink once!) against buildings, +1 to the damage table for buildings) with Twin Rad Cleanser (Template weapon that Wounds on a 2+ and permanently reduces Toughness by 1).

Mechanicum Cerastus Knight Atrapos!
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Over 400 points, runs fast, same shield as the one above has, explodes extra hard, Twin-Links its weapons against Gargantuans/Super-Heavies, can regenerate, and has some weapons. Specifically, a Lascutter: Strength D very short range (also used as a melee weapon, Strength D, drink once for re-rolling penetration against buildings, and +1 to the damage table). And also a Graviton Singularity Cannon that is an Armourbane Concussive Large Blast, but roll 1d6 every time you fire it. On a 1 you suffer one automatic Hull Point of damage, and on a 6, the weapon gains the Vortex rule and shit gets fucked up, son.

Questoris Knight Styrix
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Also not as much of a fighter, and just over 400 points. Has the special shield the other two above do. Can regenerate, explodes extra hard, and has a Reaper (can upgrade to a Siege Claw with Twin Rad Cleanser) and a Graviton Gun. Also has a Volkite Chieorovile, which is a S 8 AP 3 Heavy 5 gun that Deflagrates enemies. Great at clearing heavy infantry out... or even fucking up tank squadrons, to be honest.

So there you have it. Something that nobody thought would happen, and they're BIG kits with LOTS of parts. Did it pull GW out of the red and cause them to make an overall profit that financial year? No it did not. Nor did the new Space Marine Dex and new 40k Edition. Because GW is dying and refuses to acknowledge the real things that are killing it. But hey, it was a big cool thing that people were happy to see.
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

I can confirm that the Thunderstrike Gauntlet can be posed to give people however many fingers you want.

I can also confirm that I paid less for each of my Perfect Grade Gundam models (~200 each for them, 220 for the Knight).
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Post by Koumei »

Time for another British critique of dice games by Krystal "Team Fortress" Brooks.

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CRAFTWORLD ELDAR

So let's start with the army-wide rules:
They Hate Daemons of Slaanesh and models with a Mark of Slaanesh. Also, against such units, they have -1 Ld for the purpose of Fear tests.

Most units also have Battle Focus, which lets them Run then Shoot, or Shoot then Run. That's pretty good. Can't do this with Heavy Weapons unless they're Relentless. Overall this is a nice rule that, while not overpowered, helps Eldar do their job.

Warlord Traits are 1/game bubble of re-roll 1s to Wound, 1d3 units get to Scout (and thus Outflank. CREEEEEEEEED), +3" Run speed (so 1d6+3, or flat-out 9" if using the Decurion), re-roll saves of 1, Split-Fire, Warlord is a Warp Beacon for friendly Derp Strikers. Many of these are good traits, so if you're re-rolling (you are), you have excellent chances of getting something you like.

Now, this one doesn't have little Formations you can take, instead it has a big Decurion Detachment. Although the individual pieces can still just be taken in a Battleforged army - you can actually take "Wraith Constructs: 1 Wraith Knight" a bunch of times and call it an army. But if you adhere to the overall Decurion, you get more benefits. So what are they?

CRAFTWORLD WARHOST:
1-3 Guardian Hosts
-Guardian Battlehost
-Windrider Host
-Guardian Stormhost
0-3 Regents of the Warhost per Guardian Host
-Heroes of the Craftworlds (no special rules, just 1 Autarch/Yriel/Eldrad/Illic)
-Seer Council
-Living Legends (no special rules, just 1 Phoenix Prince or Avatar)
1-12 Auxiliary choices per Guardian Host
-Outcasts (no special rules, just 1 unit of Rangers)
-Aspect Host
-Crimson Death
-Dire Avenger Shrine
-Engines of Vaul (no special rules, just 1 squadron of Spinners/Prisms/Falcons)
-Wraith Host
-Wraith Constructs (no special rules, just 1 Hemlock/Wraithlord/Wraithknight)

The Decurion gives a very nice benefit that fits in well with Battle Focus: any unit from this runs the full 6" instead of rolling.
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No, rolling, not Rollins.

They don't just have big tables of Special Weapons and Heavy Weapons and Melee Weapons from which all units draw their choices. Instead, with the exception of Vehicles and Relics, it's all on a per-unit basis. This is a good thing. For everything combined so far (with the exception of the lazy "This Formation is just one ____" cases), I award them:
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For HQ choices we have a lot:
ELDRAD
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That's the Doctor Who version but fuck it, whatever. He's still there despite canonically being dead. He is an expensive Level 4 Psyker with Daemonology (Sanctic), Divination, Telepathy and Runes of Fate. He has a 3++ and an AP 3 Fleshbane Force weapon that also let's him sometimes generate extra Warp Dice when successfully casting. Once per Psychic Phase he can re-roll any number of dice used in a single Psychic or Deny test.

PRINCE YRIEL, STILL HANGING ON
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He has Plasma Grenades, a 3+/X++, and an AP 3 Fleshbane Armourbane spear that forces him to re-roll Saving Throws of 6. Yes, HE has to re-roll those, because it's cursed. Also 1/game he can centre the Large Blast on himself to deliver a S 6 AP 3 hit to every model under it except himself. Modifies Reserves like an Autarch.

ILLIC NIGHTSPEAR
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He has a master sniper who nonetheless has a Power Sword for when shit gets real, and can Infiltrate anywhere onto the table other than in Impassable Terrain. If he begins attached to Rangers, they can do the same. He has both Hatred AND Preferred Enemy (Necrons), Shrouded, and Move Through Cover. Also when shooting (other than Snap Shots), he always selects the model he hit. He grants this rule to Rangers he joins, too. So he's a pretty good Assassin and turns other snipers into Assassins, too. His sniper rifle is AP 2 by default, and a 6 to Wound causes Instant Death, a 6 to Penetrate is an automatic Penetrating Hit. Nice.

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Phoenix Prince of Bel-Air Phoenix Lord of Dire Avengers: ASURMEN
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The most recent Phoenix Prince minis were made in the '50s

I like this one better:
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If all else fails, convert a DE Incubus for him.

Counter-Attack, Fearless, Defence Tic-Tacs (each time charged, either fire Overwatch at BS 2 or fire no Overwatch but gain Counter-Attack and Stubborn. Pick the first one), Eternal Warrior, T 4, W 3, Sv 2+/4++ (3++ in a Challenge). If he's your Warlord, he gets 1d3 Traits from the Eldar table (re-roll duplicates). Fuck yes.

Has a Twin-Linked Avengerpult and Plasma Grenades, and Do you like his sword sword sword, his diamond sword sword? You cannot afford ford ford his diamond sword sword! Sorry. Mastercrafted S 5 AP 2, and for every Wound taken, make a Ld test or die. So it kills people real good. Makes a good Warlord, and works best as a bodyguard for shooty units like Fire Dragons. Because "Oh you want to assault them? COME AT ME BRO".

Phoenix Lord of Howling Banshees, Jain Zar
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Convert Lelith Hesperax. She has Acrobatic (+3" on Running and Charging, no Initiative Penalty for charging through terrain), Eternal Warrior, Fear and Fearless, and enemies in combat with her are at -2 Ld. She prevents Overwatch by the enemy, so is best paired with Striking Scorpions or allied Wyches. In a Challenge, she can choose to lose 1 Attack but prevent the enemy from using one of their weapons. Enemies in close combat are -5 Initiative and WS (minimum 1), and she has a S 4 AP 2 melee weapon that re-rolls failed Wounds, and a thrown S 4 AP 2 Assault 4 weapon. Actually, if she reduces the enemy Initiative, that lets the Exarch of a Striking Scorpion squad really shred face.

Phoenix Prince of Striking Scorpions, Karandras
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I am sticking with these until GW makes new sculpts for them

He has a Chainsword that lets him hit at S 5, and a Scorpion's Claw as well (Power Fist that doesn't reduce you to Initiative 1, and has a built-in Shuripistol), Plasma Grenades, a 2+ Armour Save, Eternal Warrior, Fearless, Infiltrate, Stealth, Shadowstrike (Shrouded until he shoots or fights in combat), Night Vision, Move Through Cover... and if you hold him in Reserve, then he automatically appears on turn 2, choosing to wander on from any table edge he damn well pleases. If he joins a unit of Scorpions, they get to do the same thing. Also he can shoot people with his helmet.

Hurr hurr hurr British dick joke.

Sorry. At Initiative 10 he has a good chance of shooting people for an automatic Wound with no Armour Saves. Actually pairs well with his fellow Scorpions.

Phoenix Lord of Fire Dragons, Fuegan
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Melta Bombs, 2+ Armour Save, Long Range Melta Gun, Assured Destruction (+1 vehicle damage on top of the +2 for an AP 1 weapon), Eternal Warrior, Fearless, FnP, and each turn can re-roll a single failed roll to Hit, Wound or Penetrate. Also gets +1 S and A each time he suffers an unsaved Wound. Don't quote me, but I think it's possible that FnP isn't a save and thus if he fails the save/they're AP 2, but he passes FnP, he might get the bonus without losing Wounds. This lasts for the whole game. He also has an axe that, in close combat, is AP 1 and Armourbane. It's kind of overkill to pair him with fellow Fire Dragons, I'd chuck him with some Guardians or Avengers to be honest. And then basically have him step out to the side and explode enemy transports, letting the squad he left shoot the passengers afterwards.

Phoenix Lord of Swooping Hawks, Baharroth.
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Jump Infantry (see: wings), 2+ Armour, Plasma and Haywire Grenades, Grenade Pack (I will explain when I get to Fast Attack), and a Blinding Assault 3 laser gun. Eternal Warrior, Fearless, Hit & Run, Herald of Victory (no scatter on Derp Strike). And when he Derp Strikes, all enemies within 6" have to test for Blind. Note the bit about not scattering. He has a Power Sword with the Blind rule, too. Best paired with Hawks, or maybe allied Scourges? Worth thinking about. Probably best modelled by converting a Scourge, too.

Phoenix Lord of Dark Reapers, Maugan Ra
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2+ Armour Save, Fearless, Eternal Warrior, Hatred (Daemons of Chaos), Nightvision, and each shooting phase he gets to shoot twice - even at different targets. He has a Shuricannon that is proper Rending instead of Bladestorm, and has an Assault 1 Pinning Poisoned 2+ "Dead? Explode into a Large Blast" mode. Also he can use it in close combat at S 6 AP 3. Probably best paired with Troops choices, to be honest. Or maybe with Dragons, and doing the "Step away from unit, they pop the transport, he shreds contents" thing (or just staying there and threatening anyone who wants to assault them). I'd probably convert a Death Jester for this guy.

Warp Spiders, Crimson Hunters and Shining Spears don't get Phoenix Lords. This is sad.

Autarch! The custom-commander thing. You get a 3+/X++ Save, a Shuripistol, Plasma and Haywire Grenades, and you can modify your Reserves rolls by +/- 1. Can take a Warp Jump Generator (Spiders), Wings (Hawks) or Jetbike. Can also take either Mandiblasters (Scorpions) or a Banshee Mask. Can swap his pistol for a Fusion Pistol. Can take up to two weapons: Scorpion Chainsword, Avenger Catapult, Lasblaster (Hawks), Deathspinner (Spiders), Fusion Gun (Dragons), Power Weapon, Reaper Launcher, or (if on a jetbike) Laser Lance (Spears). As you can see, he can pick from lots of aspects.

Farseer: 4++, Witchblade, Shuripistol. Can take a Jetbike. Level 3 Psyker, Once per Psychic Phase can re-roll any number of dice for a single Deny or Psychic Test. Has Sanctic Daemonology, Divination, Telepathy and Runes of Fate. Can swap the Blade for a Singing Spear.

Warlock Conclave: 1-10 Warlocks, with Mastery 1 (2 for 4-6 models, 3 for 7+). Yes they forget powers as they lose models. Regardless of Mastery, they generate one Warp Die per model. Haxx. Can swap their Witchblades for Singing Spears, can take Jetbikes.

Spiritseer: Level 2 Psyker with a Witch Staff and a 4++, draws from the usual lists. Wraithguard, Wraithblades, Wraithlords, Wraithknights, Wraithforks, and Hemlocks re-roll Hit rolls of 1 against enemies that are within 12" of the seer.

And that's the end of HQ, thank fuck for that. Next time we'll look at the Troops and maybe the Elites as well.
Last edited by Koumei on Sat Dec 12, 2015 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

The lack of qt elfdar fanart for Baharroth saddens me. And how come they're Princes now? They used to be Phoenix Lords. Maybe it's meant to refer to WFB's Phoenix King or whatnot.

Also, why Striking Scorpions are the orkiest unit in 40K, even more than actual orks:
they'z green (this is propa)

they've got choppas that are choppier (always +1 str)
they've got sluggas that are shootier (better ap)

dem aspekt boyz got choppy in one hand n' dakka in the other, but decided that wasn't enough dakka so they put dakka on their face n' deyz use this dakka when they gets choppy.

DA skorpion boss can take a power klaw or an 'uge choppa (that's choppier than what orkses got, can get more than +2 strength), or a pair of super extra choppy choppas.
and since DA scorpion boss is da boss, he's got his dead choppy power klaw, but thought "iz gotta be shootier too", and stuck a bit of dakka on.

and their dakka? It shoots choppy disks!
Dakka while choppy, choppy shooty dakka, comprehending this would make an ork's mind implode. Eldar shootas don't got range like a propa ork shoota though, so that's an arguable deficiency compared to orks.

brutally kunnin, they're real slippery and sneaky like
kunningly brutal, they do this all in dead 'ard 'eavy armor.

sneakin in 'eavy armor. everybody else is like "we'z gotta strip down to be slippery like". Beakies do this, umies do this, even orkses do this, but Eldar's all like " You'z all stupid, dats why youz monkeys. Iz putting on 'eavier armor, iz gonna stomp through the jungle all sneaky like and chainsaw you stealthy like cuz Eldar's da best like dat. And if youz looks at me funny, dakka comes outta my face"

and the Skorpion Big Boss travels around the galaxy lookin' to scrap, with his extra shooty dakka face that's twice as shooty which makes him 33% choppier, and he's got extra 'eavy armor but it's extra flashy so he can run in it and be even more kunnin' and sneaky.
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Post by Koumei »

...whoops. Yeah, they're actually Phoenix Lords. I just made that mistake a while ago and it solidified in my head. And I couldn't find the female one for Baharroth using a quick Google image search.
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Post by ishy »

Koumei wrote:...whoops. Yeah, they're actually Phoenix Lords. I just made that mistake a while ago and it solidified in my head. And I couldn't find the female one for Baharroth using a quick Google image search.
Here you go:
Image
- Edit: if that one is too big:
Image
Last edited by ishy on Sat Dec 12, 2015 12:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Marvellous!
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Post by Koumei »

Thanks. Fixed it now. I will continue as soon as I can be arsed doing so. That might be tomorrow.
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Post by maglag »

Now that's some 2+ armor and S4/T4!

It's one of the interesting things about the Phoenix Ladies, they all have superior S/T to their base race, whereas nowadays most race's heros have the same S/T as the regular dudes (or in the case of orks, the heros have the same S/T than regular warbosses, because of course the bauss has superior stats to the squad leaders that in turn are stronger than the boyz than in turn are stronger than the defensive screen gretchin). I'm a bit surprised Koumei didn't point it out, just mentioning the first Phoenix Lady has T4.
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Post by Koumei »

TROOPS:
Guardian Defenders are your typical Guardians
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It's 10-20 guys with Plasma Grenades, Mesh Armour and Shuripults. I should point out now that Shuriken weapons all have the Bladestorm rule, which is like a weaker Rending: against "stuff with T and Wounds", a 6 to Wound automatically Wounds even Toughness 10 assholes, and at AP 2.

They can take a Warlock to hang out with them, who can swap his mandatory Witchblade for a Singing Spear. And for every ten Guardians, you can add one Heavy Weapon Platform (Shuricannon, Scatterlaser, Bright Lance, Starcannon, Missile Launcher). They can take a Wave Serpent.

STORM Guardians
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They're almost exactly the same except they get Shuripistol and CCW. And instead of taking a platform, up to 2 of them can take Flamers or Melta Guns, and also up to two can take Power Swords.

Windriders
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Bigger, prettier image

So many people have lost their shit over these guys. Previously they were good - you Outflank them lategame and basically try to steal/contest objectives on the last couple of turns. Because Eldar Jetbikes. 1/3 used to be able to take a Shuricannon.

Now? Now every single model can, if they like, take a Shuricannon or a Scatter-Laser. In the 6Ed Codex (this one is sort of a patch dex of that), Scatter-Lasers made other weapons Twin-Linked, so it was even crazier. The thing is, at 27 points per model for heavy weapons, I'm not sure it is such a big deal. Then again they can zoom really far and pick their targets, I dunno. Sounds like an Internet overreaction. 3-10 of them. They can still take a Windrider Warlock (Level 1 Psyker).

RANGAS Rangers (Wait, is ranga even a word outside Australia?)
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Hilariously, the epub I have lists "Eldar Jetbike" in their wargear. This is a mistake. They actually have sniper rifles, Shrouded, Infiltrate and Move Through Cover. So you set them up in the mid-field, hidden in terrain, for a 3+ Cover save, preferably in range described as "Close enough to shoot them on turn 1, not the other way round", and they shoot people. 5-20 models.

Aspect Warriors: Dire Avengers
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Now in plastic!

These are your "solid" Troops choice, better than stock. They have Plasma grenades, a 4+ save, WS 4 BS 4 I 5, and Avenger Shuripults. 5-10 models, one can be upgraded to an Exarch (WS 5 BS 5 W 2 I 6, 4+/4++). Defence Tactics (see Asurmen). That makes them great for shooting the fuck out of attackers. A replacement of the old Bladestorm (on any turn, shoot twice, then you can't shoot next turn).

The Exarch can Twin-Link his gun, or swap it out for a Power Weapon + Shuripistol, Power Weapon + Shimmershield (whole unit gets 5++ Invulnerable Save) or Dire Sword (AP 2 sword, every Wound triggers Ld test vs death) + Shuripistol.

Can take a Wave Serpent.

ELITE:
Aspect Warriors: Howling Banshees:
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Not in plastic

Actually, I'm pretty sure the ONLY plastic Aspect Warriors, aside from Crimson Hunters, are Dire Avengers. Anyway, there's a law that states when talking about Banshees you need to post Dat Ass.

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5-10, +3" to Run/Charge speed, no Initiative penalty for terrain, and they have a Shuripistol and Power Sword. And Banshee Mask: Fear + no Overwatch! So ally with Deldar and place your Succubus with them while Jain Zar (or masked Autarch) sits with Wyches. You can then shred infantry really well without being shot up in your own turns.

Anyway, you can upgrade one model to an Exarch, who gets WS 5 BS 5 W 2 I 6 A 2 and subtracts 2 from enemy Ld. She can swap her sword for either a Triskele (Power Sword that can also be thrown to 12" as S 3 AP 3 Assault 3) or an Executioner (S 5 AP 2, 2-handed), or swap both weapons for a pair of Master Crafted Power Swords and you do not do that, seriously. Can take a Wave Serpent.

Eldar OrksAdpect Warriors: Striking Scorpions
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3+ Save, Plasmanades, Shuripistol, Chainsword that hits at S 4, and FACE GUNS: Mandiblasters (chance of dealing a wound (with saves allowed) to enemies in close combat). Infiltrate, Move Through Cover, Stealth. If they Infiltrate, they are Shrouded until they shoot or fight in combat. 5-10, and you can upgrade one to an Exarch, who gets the usual stat boosts and also in the first round of a Challenge, he gets bonus attacks equal to (his Initiative - enemy Initiative). He can swap his pistol for a Claw (see Karandras) and/or his Chainsword for a Biting Blade (S 5 AP 5 Two-Handed weapon). Or he can swap both for a pair of Chainsabres (paired Rending S 4 AP 5 weapons, also 2 Shuripistols). They can take a Wave Serpent.

Aspect Warriors: Fire Dragons
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Alternatively:
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Mai Waifu

You used to want loads of these. You STILL want loads of these. 5-10 guys with Melta Guns and Melta Bombs and a 3+ save. They have one job: transform tanks into explosions. They do their job well. +1 to vehicle damage tables (so +3 including AP 1, meaning they have a coinflip to cause EXPLODES! - or even better for Open-Topped vehicles) If you upgrade one to an Exarch, he can take a longer-range Melta Gun or a Heavy Flamer, and gets the 1/turn re-roll that Fuegan gets. They can and will take a Wave Serpent.

Wraithguard:
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S 5 T 6 3+ motherfuckers. Bulky and Fearless. 5-10, armed with Wraithcannons (very short range Strength D weapons). These can all be swapped for D-Scythes (Template D weapons with -1 to the roll on the FUCKYOU table). They can take a Wave Serpent.

No longer need a Spiritseer, the seer just boosts them. Also they no longer have a way to be taken as Troops, but that's not really a thing (or a big deal) anymore.

WraithBLADES:
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Pretty sure Guard/Blades are a dual-purpose plastic kit. So these ones have Rage and a pair of Ghostswords (S +1 from the baseline 5, AP 3), so they charge for 4 attacks each at S 6. T 6 3+ still. 5-10 in a squad, and they can swap their swords for Ghost Axes (S 7 AP 2, Initiative 1) and Force Shields (4++). Can take a Wave Serpent.

I really should mention some stuff I forgot in the previous post: the Witch Staff used by Spiritseers is just a Soul Blaze Witchblade. And all the Psykers get Ghost Helms: if you suffer Perils, you can spend a Warp die if you have one to negate the Perils.

Next post? Fast Attack, Heavy, and possibly the other stuff along with it!
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