Blood Angels for Local Tournament.

So I've had a few conversations with a kid from my FLGS about his Blood Angels. Invariably I write him a list which he then mostly ignores before asking me for more help which he then mostly ignores.....You know who you are ;-)

The following list mostly uses models you already have while still being fairly competitive at the 1750 point level that you requested. I'll also list a few possible alternatives as we go along.....

1750 Pts - Blood Angels Roster - List 1

HQ: Librarian (1#, 100 pts)
   1 Librarian @ 100 pts (...in Power Armour; Blood Lance; Shield of Sanguinius)
      1 ...in Power Armour

This guy stays with a Razorback Assault Squad to dish out a cover save for the vehicles using shield. he has Blood Lance in case a suitable 'car-park'  like row of vehicles is around.

Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad (6#, 185 pts)
   4 Sternguard Veteran Squad @ 185 pts (Combi-Meltagun x2; Rhino)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)
      1 Rhino

Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad (6#, 185 pts)
   4 Sternguard Veteran Squad @ 185 pts (Combi-Meltagun x2; Rhino)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)
      1 Rhino

Sternguard have a 'special ammunition' to deal with most things and I've given a couple of them Combi-meltas to deal with everything else. If you want to use them more as a supporting unit you can give 2 of them Missile Launchers instead of combi weapons (they're the same points) and just sit back taking pot shots at things from the top of the Rhino.

Troops: Assault Squad (5#, 125 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 125 pts (Meltagun)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Sergeant (Close Combat Weapon; Infernus Pistol x1)

Troops: Assault Squad (5#, 125 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 125 pts (Meltagun)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Sergeant (Close Combat Weapon; Infernus Pistol x1)

These either suicide drop to kill armoured targets early on or can be used to drop onto objectives while the rest of your army gets on with the job of killing stuff. Alternatively you can have one big unit.....



Troops: Assault Squad (10#, 250 pts)
   7 Assault Squad @ 250 pts (Meltagun; Meltagun)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Sergeant (Melta Bombs; Hand Flamer x1; Power Fist x1)


.....and hide behind the transports before leaping over the top at an appropriate moment.

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 165 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 165 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)
      1 Razorback (Twin Linked Assault Cannon)

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 165 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 165 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)
      1 Razorback (Twin Linked Assault Cannon)

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 165 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 165 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)
      1 Razorback (Twin Linked Assault Cannon)

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 165 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 165 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)
      1 Razorback (Twin Linked Assault Cannon)

You can use Las/Plas Razorbacks instead if you really like or even a mixture of both types if you feel so inclined.

Fast Attack: Baal Predator (1#, 146 pts)
   1 Baal Predator @ 146 pts (Searchlight; Heavy Bolter)

Fast Attack: Baal Predator (1#, 146 pts)
   1 Baal Predator @ 146 pts (Searchlight; Heavy Bolter)

These pump shots into horde units or disembarked infantry. 10 shots at BS 4 is nice. If you drop 5 points from somewhere then you can have 3 'ordinary' Predators instead as I haven't used any heavy support slots.



Heavy Support: Predator (1#, 100 pts)
   1 Predator @ 100 pts (Heavy Bolter)

Total Roster Cost: 1672

I've intentionally left the points a bit short as I don't know what your Sergeant models are armed with and you may want to use ones that you already have built that have war-gear. It also leaves enough points spare for you to include your Sanguinary Priest if you really want to.

Hope that covers most of what you were looking for without having to spend too much extra money. If we can meet up at the shop at some point I'll show you how to get the best out of whatever you end up using ;-)

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Some current bits and pieces.....

I've been updating some of my 'Counts-as' guys as a few of them are showing their age now.
I also figured that I needed a Rune Priest model that was more in keeping with the style of my Wolf Guard. Then I realised I'd have to make a 2nd one as my Space Wolves list now has two of them in it......but that's a job for another day.....

'Counts-as' Kharn.

'Counts-as' Lysander.

'Prototype' New Rune Priest.

Thoughts and Comments are (as usual) most welcome.

House of Paincakes Article No. 11

So It's that time of the week where I plug my HoP Post and then add eye candy so you don't notice what an attention whore I've become.....

This week bought to you by the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Sarah Michelle Gellar - Buffy

Alyson Hannigan - Willow

Emma Caullfield - Anya

Michelle Trachtenburg - Dawn

Charisma Carpenter - Cordelia

Eliza Dushku - Faith

Though Amber Benson, Mercedes McNab and Juliet Landau are all worth searching for amongst quite a few others.....

Raven Guard for Tom

After our discussion yesterday I think the following fits all your requirements.

1750 Pts - Blood Angels Roster - 'Counts-As' Raven Guard 8th Company.


HQ: Commander Dante (1#, 225 pts)
   1 Commander Dante @ 225 pts

He'll be 'counting as' a Raven Guard Captain I believe. He kicks ass quite nicely in assault and has an Infernus Pistol as well as giving the unit he's in 'Hit and Run' which is always useful.


: Honour Guard (5#, 265 pts)
   1 Honour Guard @ 265 pts (Chapter Banner; Equip with Jump Packs; Honour Guard; Honour Guard)
      1 Sanguinary Novitiate (Jump Pack)
      3 Honour Guard (Jump Pack; Flamer x1; Meltagun x1)
      1 Honour Guard (Jump Pack; Meltagun x1; Power Sword x1)

These guys will go with Dante so they can be placed* next to something you want dead and either 5 Melta weapons (Dante's Infernus Pistol + 4 Meltaguns) or 3 Flamers make it go away. Plus if the whole army deploys rather than deep striking it gives you a 12" 'bubble' of Morale re-rolls from the Chapter Banner, though unfortunately the 'extra attack' effect only works on his own unit.


* Dante's unit doesn't scatter.

Elite: Sanguinary Priest (2#, 180 pts)
   1 Sanguinary Priest @ 180 pts (Sanguinary Priest in Power Armour)
      2 Sanguinary Priest in Power Armour (Jump Pack; Lightning Claw)

These go with 2 of the larger squads and radiate 'Feel no Pain' and 'Furious Charge' to as many Assault Marines as possible.

Troops: Assault Squad (10#, 235 pts)
   7 Assault Squad @ 235 pts (Meltagun; Meltagun)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Power Fist x1)

Troops: Assault Squad (10#, 235 pts)
   7 Assault Squad @ 235 pts (Meltagun; Meltagun)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Power Fist x1)

Troops: Assault Squad (10#, 235 pts)
   7 Assault Squad @ 235 pts (Meltagun; Meltagun)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Power Fist x1)

These do the grunt work. 2 Meltaguns give you a good chance of destroying vehicles and your 25? S5, I5 + 3 S9 Power Fist attacks on the charge deal with Infantry as well as being quite good at maiming vehicles as well.

Troops: Assault Squad (5#, 125 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 125 pts (Meltagun)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Sergeant (Close Combat Weapon; Infernus Pistol x1)

Troops: Assault Squad (5#, 125 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 125 pts (Meltagun)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Sergeant (Close Combat Weapon; Infernus Pistol x1)

Troops: Assault Squad (5#, 125 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 125 pts (Meltagun)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun
      1 Sergeant (Close Combat Weapon; Infernus Pistol x1)

These are suicide units really. They either screen the rest of your army, hold objectives, or drop in and toast pesky tanks.

Total Roster Cost: 1750

If the test games haven't convinced you to drop the Lightning Claws then you can put them back in by removing the Power Weapon in the Honour Guard and using the points to change the Power Fists into pairs of Lightning Claws as the points will still work out to 1750.

Also, 5 Meltaguns might be overkill in the Honour Guard so if you need 10 points for something that's where you'll get them from.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.

Primarch's - Angron

Previous relevant posts can be found here.

So After doing 'The Night Haunter' several weeks ago I'm going to try my hand at Angron next as I figured he'd be fairly easy.....

We have a few examples of Angron's prowess in GW's background and the Horus Heresy series, but most of these are of the 'Angron was over there killing shit' variety so don't give us much in the way of specifics.
I was therefore just going to give Angron slightly above average Weapon Skill, Strength and a bazillion attacks and call it a day.

However......

The short story 'After Desh'ea' from the Horus Heresy series book 'Tales of Heresy' shows him in a slightly different light. Amongst other things it shows us that Angron has a strong code of honour, an innate understanding of military tactics and the ability to hold his anger in check (at least temporarily) should he deem it necessary. It also implies that his rages and lack of self control are the fault of his neural implants rather than an inherent part of his nature. Honourable warrior and Uncontrollable Berzerker all wrapped in one inseparable package.....

Also, the audio book 'Raven's Flight' states that no other Primarch could have bested Angron in single combat except for maybe Horus or perhaps Sanguinius. However, I'm a bit dubious about that but I promise to bear it in mind ;-)

Now onto equipment.

According to 'Battle for the Abyss' Angron originally wielded a Chain-Axe called 'Brazentooth' which he later replaced with  a pair of Chain-Axes called 'Gorefather' and 'Gorechild'. Since Gorechild is now wielded by Kharn the Betrayer we've a fair idea of it's stats. Again I can't find a reference to him shooting anyone so we won't bother with ranged weapons as even if he had them I'm reasonably sure he wouldn't be using them often.

Angron - Primarch of the World Eaters Legion.

WS 8, BS 5, S 8, T 6, W 6, I 8, A 6 (7), Ld. 10, Save 1+, 3+ Inv.

Composition : 1 (Unique)
Unit Type : Infantry

Wargear.
Primarch Armour, Gorefather + Gorechild*, Frag and Krak Grenades.

* Gorefather + Gorechild - Angrons close combat attacks always hit on 2's. In addition Angrons attacks count as being caused by Power Weapons and add an extra D6 to his armour penetration rolls.

Special Rules.
Acute Senses, Berzerk Charge**, Eternal Warrior, Fearless, Independent Character, Might of the Primarch, Neural Implants***, Relentless, Whirlwind of Destruction****.

** Berzerk Charge - In a turn in which Angron has charged into combat he gains +1 S, +1 I and an extra D6 attacks rather than the usual 1 normally gained for charging.

*** Neural Implants - The implants 'given' to Angron as a gladiator constantly attempt to goad him into a killing frenzy. At the start of each of the controlling players turns Angron must take a Leadership test, should he fail this test he will be subject to the 'Rage' special rule until the beginning of his next turn. While subject to this rule he must always use his 'Whirlwind of Destruction' special rule in assault rather than his normal attacks. At the beginning of the controlling players next turn Angron may attempt to regain control of himself, but the Leadership test will be at -2 for each turn he has been subject to 'Rage' during that game.
As a side effect of these Implants, Angrons mind is almost impossible to effect with psychic abilities and actively disrupts psychic energies around him. Any psychic power that has Angron in it's area of effect will fail to work on a roll of 3+ and any psychic power targeted specifically at Angron will fail on a 2+ regardless of whether the power would have been beneficial to him or not.

**** Whirlwind of Destruction - Instead of his normal attacks Angron can choose to make a Special attack that automatically hits every model in the combat in which he is involved (with the exception of himself, obviously).
First Roll a die for each model in the combat (Identically armed models may be rolled for as a group to save time).

The following hits are taken using Angrons normal strength for that turn and are therefore at S8 (or S9 in the event that Angron charged that turn).

Angron still has a small measure of restraint. 'Friendly' models may reduce the result on the table by -1, World Eaters may reduce it by -3 (they are well used to their Primarchs particular style of fighting).

0 or less : Miss
1      : The victim is fortunate enough to have been struck by the most glancing of blows and may take his normal armour save.
2 - 4 : The target takes an automatic hit using Angrons normal profile
5      : The target takes a hit at Angrons normal profile but any successful invulnerable saves must be re-rolled.
6      : The target has taken the full force of Angrons fury. Remove the model from play with no saves of any kind allowed.

In addition, any vehicle within 1" of the combat will take a single automatic hit using Angrons normal profile.

World Eaters.

World Eater Berzerkers.
Pre-Heresy World Eaters may still be represented using the Khorne Berzerker stats with the following additions.
For every five Berzerkers in the squad one Berzerker may replace their Bolt Pistol  with one of the following.

Flamer - 5 Points
Meltagun or Hand Flamer- 10 points
Plasma gun/pistol or Infernus pistol - 15 points

In addition to his normal options the unit Champion may exchange his Bolt Pistol for a Hand Flamer, Plasma Pistol or Infernus Pistol at the above costs.


'Standard' World Eaters Marines.
World Eaters who are yet to be given their own implants may be represented by standard Chaos Havocs, Chaos Space Marines or Chaos Raptors but must be given the 'Icon of Khorne' upgrade. In this case the upgrade is not reliant on an 'Icon Bearer' but the cost remains the same.

World Eater Terminators.
World Eater Terminators use the normal Chaos Terminator profile but gain +1 to both their WS and Attacks characteristics in addition to gaining the 'Fearless' and 'Furious Charge' special rules. Their base cost is increased by 10***** points to take these new abilities into account. They may purchase other upgrades as normal with the obvious exception of Icons.

***** This may be too cheap now I've thought about it.....

Any World Eater unit Champion may purchase a 'Personal Icon' for 5 points.

I think that pretty much covers Angron and his Legion, but as usual any constructive comments will be taken on board.

Slighty Strange Tournament.....

So I'm in a 'Tournament' on Saturday or is it a 'Hobby Event', I'm not sure what's classed as what any-more.....

Regardless of that, here are the rules.

600 points maximum for your 'Army'.
1 HQ, 1+ Troops and the rest of the FOC is the same,
40 minutes time limit per round,
All rounds will be decided on VP's alone.

Here's the interesting bit though......due to the small size of the FLGS we'll be playing on 2" by 4" tables.....

It seemed an amusing concept so I signed up, lol.

I'm not really sure what to take but I've come up with a few amusing candidates.

Option 1 - Space Wolves Missile Spam

HQ: Rune Priest in Power Armour (1#, 100 pts)

   1 Rune Priest in Power Armour @ 100 pts (Jaws of the World Wolf; Living Lightning)

Troops: Grey Hunters Pack (5#, 80 pts)
   5 Grey Hunters Pack @ 80 pts (Meltagun)

Heavy Support: Long Fangs Pack (6#, 140 pts)
   5 Long Fangs Pack @ 140 pts (Missile Launcher x5)
      1 Squad Leader (Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)

Heavy Support: Long Fangs Pack (6#, 140 pts)
   5 Long Fangs Pack @ 140 pts (Missile Launcher x5)
      1 Squad Leader (Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)

Heavy Support: Long Fangs Pack (6#, 140 pts)
   5 Long Fangs Pack @ 140 pts (Missile Launcher x5)
      1 Squad Leader (Bolt Pistol; Close Combat Weapon)

Total Roster Cost: 600

This gives me a lot of anti-infantry (Frag) and anti-vehicle (Krak) but leaves me a bit vulnerable if somebody brings along Land Raiders or a lot of 2+ Saves. I can go 3 Missile Launchers and a Lascannon in the Long Fang Squads instead which, may be a bit more balanced and leaves a few points for upgrades on the Rune Priest.

Option 2 - Space Marine Assault Terminators.

HQ: Space Marine Librarian (1#, 100 pts)
   1 Space Marine Librarian @ 100 pts (...in Power Armour; Null Zone; The Gate of Infinity)
      1 ...in Power Armour

Troops: Scout Squad (5#, 100 pts)
   4 Scout Squad @ 100 pts (Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle x3; Missile Launcher)
      1 Sergeant (Camo Cloaks; Bolt Pistol; Sniper Rifle)

Elite: Terminator Assault Squad (10#, 400 pts)
   9 Terminator Assault Squad @ 400 pts (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield x9)
      1 Sergeant (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield x1)

Total Roster Cost: 600

It's a big rock that I throw into my opponents face. Not sure it requires much more explanation than that.....


Option 3 - Imperial Guard Weapon Teams List.

HQ: Company Command Squad (5#, 90 pts)
   4 Company Command Squad @ 90 pts (Meltagun x4)
      1 Company Commander

Troops: Infantry Platoon (37#, 510 pts)
   1 Infantry Platoon @ 510 pts
      4 Platoon Command Squad (Meltagun x4)
         1 Platoon Commander
      7 Infantry Squad
         1 Heavy Weapons Team (Lascannon)
         1 Sergeant
      7 Infantry Squad
         1 Heavy Weapons Team (Lascannon)
         1 Sergeant
      3 Heavy Weapons Squad (Autocannon x3)
      3 Heavy Weapons Squad (Autocannon x3)
      3 Heavy Weapons Squad (Autocannon x3)
      3 Heavy Weapons Squad (Autocannon x3)

Total Roster Cost: 600

It shoots at vehicles with the Autocannons and Lascannons and the Melta units suicide into anything that they can't handle. It's possible to drop the Lascannons from the Infantry Squads and add a 5th Heavy Weapon Squad with Lascannons at the cost of sacrificing the Meltaguns.

Well those are the first 3 that sprang to mind but I'm sure I'll have some better ideas once I've thought about it a bit more.....

E-Mail In - Eddy's Blood Angels.

E-Mail In :

hi gareth,
im a bit stuck with my current blood angels list im running and i don't know what to do. i was hoping you could help me out :P

my list:

tycho-175
10-man tactical squad, lascannon-180
5-man assault squad, melta gun, razorback, assault cannons-165
5-man assault squad, melta gun, razorback, assault cannons-165
5-man assault squad, melta gun, razorback, assault cannons-165
5-man death company, rhino, powersword-165
furioso dreadnought, extra armour, blood talons-140
sanguinary priest-50
7-man sternguard, rhino, 2 combi-melta, 2combi-plasma-245
2 multi-melta attack bikes-100
predator tank, heavy bolters-100
predator tank, heavy bolters-100                                                

total=1750

so far it's been working for me but i'm starting to find the preds are to much of an easy kill point or a nusance when moving as they block line of site or are out of range. this is likely due to my deployment but it got me thinking of other options. then i remembered devastators.

5-man devastator squad, 4 missiles-130.

i feel two of these would work well as there not so much of a target, have better range, more deployment options and can't be destroyed in one shot by lets say, ooo a melta :P

i also need a psychic hood so i do belive a libraian is in order so thats another 100 points. so far i need 360 points from my list so i was thinking of dropping the two preds and the furioso dreadnought which would give me 340 points. any ideas on where to get the other 20 points from. i don't rili want to lose any more sternguard so maybe the DC power sword and a combi-plasma/melta or maybe even a whole DC member.

eddie yates ( clubbing baby seal deployment guy * ) :)

* It's a long story ;-)

Reply :

As with a few other people lately I think your problem is that there are almost too many good options in the newer codices and people are beginning to end up with more 'Battleforce' style armies. You need to pick a focus and go with a particular concept and build a balanced force around that. Saying that, there's nothing wrong with the 'core' of your army it just needs a bit of tweaking that's all. But first a few observations.....
I'm presuming from your e-mail that you don't want to lose the Sternguard but I'm not sure they compliment the list in any real way. I'm also not sure how attached to Tycho you are, but I personally don't think he's worth the points so you should probably dump him and get a nice utility HQ in the form of a Librarian instead.
I'm also not a fan of Death Company as they're easy to lead about by the nose should your opponent want them to be somewhere else.
Your running a mainly mechanised list without any real 'assault' units in it other than the Death Company so I'm not sure how much use the Sanguinary Priest is going to be either.
Single Dreadnoughts aren't going to survive for very long either. You really need 2+ or none imo. If you want them mobile but still a combat threat then Librarian Dreadnoughts are a good buy. As well as still being a threat in combat they can help out your vehicles by giving them a 5+ cover save using 'Shield of Sanguinius'.

If you drop the units I think you don't need and add the ones you do you'll end up with something like this,

1750 Pts - Eddy's Blood Angels - 1750

HQ: Librarian (1#, 100 pts)
   1 Librarian @ 100 pts (...in Power Armour; Blood Lance; Shield of Sanguinius)
      1 ...in Power Armour

Elite: Furioso Librarian (1#, 175 pts)
   1 Furioso Librarian @ 175 pts (Shield of Sanguinius; Wings of Sanguinius)

Elite: Furioso Librarian (1#, 175 pts)
   1 Furioso Librarian @ 175 pts (Shield of Sanguinius; Wings of Sanguinius)

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 180 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 180 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Close Combat Weapon; Infernus Pistol x1)
      1 Razorback (Twin Linked Assault Cannon)

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 180 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 180 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Close Combat Weapon; Infernus Pistol x1)
      1 Razorback (Twin Linked Assault Cannon)

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 180 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 180 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Close Combat Weapon; Infernus Pistol x1)
      1 Razorback (Twin Linked Assault Cannon)

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 180 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 180 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Close Combat Weapon; Infernus Pistol x1)
      1 Razorback (Twin Linked Assault Cannon)

Troops: Assault Squad (6#, 180 pts)
   3 Assault Squad @ 180 pts (Remove Jump Packs; Meltagun; Razorback)
      1 Assault Marine with Meltagun (Remove Jump Packs)
      1 Sergeant (Remove Jump Packs; Close Combat Weapon; Infernus Pistol x1)
      1 Razorback (Twin Linked Assault Cannon)

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (5#, 130 pts)
   4 Devastator Squad @ 130 pts (Missile Launcher x4)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (5#, 130 pts)
   4 Devastator Squad @ 130 pts (Missile Launcher x4)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)

Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (5#, 130 pts)
   4 Devastator Squad @ 130 pts (Missile Launcher x4)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)

Total Roster Cost: 1740

Position your Devastators to give them good 'fire lanes' with their Missile Launchers. Everything else lays down a hail of Assault Cannon shells before leaping out and blowing up vehicles with 2 Melta shots. Librarian Dreadnoughts either protect vehicles with 'Shield' or use 'Wings' to jump out from behind vehicles and kick the shit out of stuff.
If you must have Death Company or Sternguard then drop an Assault Squad and Transport and put them in instead but I'd keep them cheap.....


Troops: Death Company (6#, 175 pts)
   1 Death Company @ 175 pts (Death Company; Death Company; Rhino)
      4 Death Company
      1 Death Company (Power Fist)
      1 Rhino

or

Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad (6#, 185 pts)
   4 Sternguard Veteran Squad @ 185 pts (Combi-Meltagun x2; Rhino)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Bolter)
      1 Rhino

The list I did is 10 points short so you can add either of these instead of an Assault Squad and still have points to spare


Thoughts and Comments are (as usual) most welcome.

More Dark Eldar.....

The Games Workshop Newsletter 16.02.2011 In this issue: Unleash the beasts!

More Dark Eldar are now available to Advance Order

House of Paincakes Article No. 10

Hey I reached double figures without being banned, sacked or taken off to one side for a quiet talking to....

Article here.

Token Tuesday bit of eye candy is this week bought to you by the classic TV series Xena Warrior Princess.

Xena - Lucy Lawless

Gabrielle - Renee O'Conner

 Callisto - Hudson Leick

Varia - Tsianina Joelson

To be honest hardly an episode went by without some girl wearing highly impractical leather armour. These are just some of the ones that first came to mind.....

Optimal Configurations - Part-Two - Scout Squads.

So after the article I did on Tactical Squads I thought I'd move onto the other troops choice, Scouts.

So our Scout options are somewhat limited and our transport options for them are even more so. As I covered transports first in the Marine entry I suppose I should do the same for the Scout Squads.

Well there's one, lol.

The Landspeeder Storm - 50 points.

So what we have is an Armour 10 (all round), Open-topped Fast Skimmer with a transport capacity of 5 Scouts. It comes with a Heavy Bolter as standard which can be upgraded to either a Heavy Flamer, Multi-Melta and Assault Cannon. Unfortunately it's apparently piloted by Scouts as well as it's only BS 3.
It comes with a couple of interesting pieces of equipment as standard. One increases the scatter distance of units that Deep Strike near it and the other reduces the Leadership of units charged by Scouts that have disembarked from it.
It comes with the 'Scouts' rule as well as the normal Landspeeders ability to arrive via Deep Strike which gives us some extra deployment options but unfortunately isn't a dedicated transport so therefore costs us a fast attack slot for each one we wish to take.

All of the following Landspeeder Storm related assessments are going to be presuming that the Storm has some Scouts in it as otherwise your better off with a normal Landspeeder.....

Lets look at the relative benefits of those upgrades we have to pay for before we look at what we get for free.

Its a short list, though.

So we can upgrade our Heavy Bolter to.....

Heavy Flamer (10 Points) - Well it counteracts the issue of being BS 3 and compliments the Landspeeder Storm if the vehicle is being used to outflank and then steal objectives. Definately worth considering if this is your preffered use of the vehicle.
Multi-Melta (15 Points) - Multi-Meltas are pretty damn useful but unfortunately BS 3 Multi-Meltas are only going to hit 50% of the time.
Assault Cannon (35 Points) - So on average your going to hit with 2 S6 shots and a 33% chance of getting a Rending wound. Not worth the points.

So it could outflank and be a nuisance but other than that I see little use for one. If you must use one then I'd do this,

Option 1.
Fast Attack: Land Speeder Storm (1#, 60 pts)
   1 Land Speeder Storm @ 60 pts (Heavy Flamer)

Troops: Scout Squad (5#, 90 pts)
   4 Scout Squad @ 90 pts (Combat Blade x4)
      1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Power Weapon x1)

So the vehicle and unit inside use their respective 'Scout' rules to outflank. They then Heavy Flamer a squishy objective holding unit and assault what's left.

Variations.
You could give the vehicle a Multi-Melta and the Sergeant a Combi-Melta and use it as an outflanking anti-tank unit. However the chance of this working are not particularly good and your then likely to have gifted your opponent 2 Kill Points.....If you have any points spare you can further upgrade the Sergeant but it's probably not worth it.

Okay that's the options involving the Landspeeder Storm done. Now onto the actual Scouts.....

Well they have the standard Marine equipment of Boltgun, Bolt Pistol, Frag and Krak grenades with the difference being they have Scout Armour (4+) rather than the usual Marine Power Armour (3+). So they're more vulnerable to things like Heavy Flamers, Heavy Bolters and other similar AP4 weapons if they're stupid enough to be somewhere where they're not getting a cover save. Apparently Marines stick all the genetic upgrades into Scouts (S 4, T 4, I 4) before they bother to train them (WS 3, BS 3) which makes them less handy in a fight* and a lot less useful when shooting*. They do come with the full compliment of sneaky abilities though as they have Infiltrate, Scout and Move through Cover.

* The difference between WS 3 and 4 is less of an issue than the difference between BS 3 and 4.

So now lets have a look at weapon and equipment options, starting with weapons.

Boltgun - Default :

So our Scouts start off the Boltgun which is probably the least useful weapon for them as you want your scouts either killing things from a good safe distance or charging them with lots of attacks so this option needs swapping for something more useful to their role.

Combat Blade - Free Upgrade :

Swapping out our Boltgun for a Combat Blade gives us two close combat weapons and therefore an extra attack. This should be the standard 'upgrade' for any unit of Scouts that want's to get up close and personal.

Shotgun - Free Upgrade :

Exchanging our Boltgun for this upgrade can seem like a good idea until you think about it a bit more. Effectively were getting double the amount of shots than our Bolt Pistol at the same range  and due to the shotgun being an 'Assault' weapon we can still charge which at first glance seems like a good deal. However the Shotgun has no AP which makes it worse should we be shooting vehicles in the rear armour and it costs us the extra attack in combat that a Combat Blade would give us. A unit of 10 scouts with Shotgun and Bolt Pistol is getting 20 shotgun shots followed by 20 attacks on the charge. A unit with Combat Blade and Bolt Pistol is getting 10 Bolt Pistol shots followed by 30 attacks on the charge which is identical in both number of and Strength of attacks overall. In the likely event of the Scouts opponents lasting till another round of combat the Shotgun Scouts are down to 10 attacks whereas the Blade/Pistol Scouts are still getting 20.**

** I've ignored the Sergeant in order to keep the maths simple, but the end result is much the same.

Sniper Rifle - Free Upgrade :

Should be the standard armament for an objective holding unit as it has long range and the chance of 'pinning' an enemy unit should never be underestimated. Don't make Sniper Scouts the basis of a shooty army though as you'll be severely disappointed.

Missile Launcher - 10 Points :

One model in the unit can swap his Boltgun for one of these. I'm a fan of Missile Launchers normally but single Missile shots that miss half the time aren't great. For 10 points though, they're an adequate supplement to a 'Sniper' units fire-power. In a unit with Telion they become much better, obviously.

Heavy Bolter - 10 Points : 

As with the Missile Launcher, one model in the unit can have one of these. The standard firing mode is unimpressive with a Scouts BS but the addition of the Hellfire shell gives you a 'wounds on 2's' small blast that's nice to have.

Now onto equipment,


Camo Cloaks - 3 points per model : A sniper unit with Telion doesn't need these, a sniper unit without Telion does.

That was easy, now to the Sergeant.

The Sergeant can have any of the upgrades that his unit does with the addition of the usual Sergeant options of Combi Weapons, Power Sword/Fist, Meltabombs etc.
As a rule of thumb I'd give him the same upgrades as his unit with the exception that I'd give him a Power Weapon or Fist if he's in an assault unit, but that's all the extra I'd ever spend on him with one exception....

Teleport Homer - 15 Points : Any Terminator unit that deep strikes within 6" of the Homer doesn't scatter. If your infiltrating your Scouts forward and you have Terminators deep striking in then it's worth thinking about. However as you can't really predict when the Terminators are going to arrive this isn't particularly reliable as a tactic. It's quite funny when it works though ;-)

Got all that?

Good now onto how that lot translates into actual unit configurations after a brief interlude.....


A brief word on Telion.

I was always a fan of Telion but now the recent FAQ has made the 'stealth' rule pass on to a unit from an attached character he has become much more of a bargain due to the 3 points per Scout he saves you thanks to the fact that his unit doesn't now need Camo Cloaks.
His 'Voice of Experience' rule enables you to give a single model in his unit his BS instead of him firing himself which makes the Heavy Bolter or Missile Launcher your Scouts may take a lot more accurate.
Also his 'Eye of Vengeance' rule which enables him to select which model in the target unit takes the saves from any wounds he generates is useful for upping the chances that hidden Power Fists or single wound support characters can be sniped out of units. The fact that his weapon has the 'Rending' rule makes the occasional 6 you roll to wound like a bloody Xmas present ;-)

"Oh look, I rolled a six to wound. Please remove that Sanguinary Priest from that unit of yours"

Option 2.
Troops: Scout Squad (5#, 135 pts)
   4 Scout Squad @ 135 pts (Sniper Rifle x3; Missile Launcher; Sergeant Telion)
      1 Sergeant Telion

So for a relatively cheap 135 points investment we get a Scoring unit to sit on our objective that has a 3+ Cover Save and a BS6 Missile Launcher due to Telions 'Voice of Experience' rule.

Variations.
Heavy Bolter with Hellfire Rounds is a fair swap for the Missile Launcher as it gives you a nice 'wounds on 2's ' small blast option and of course you can add extra ablative wounds Scouts if you like.

Option 3.
HQ: Master of the Forge (1#, 120 pts)
   1 Master of the Forge @ 120 pts (Converison Beamer)

Troops: Scout Squad (5#, 135 pts)
   4 Scout Squad @ 135 pts (Sniper Rifle x3; Heavy Bolter w/Hellfire Shells; Sergeant Telion)
      1 Sergeant Telion

Originally 'invented' by Stelek back at the dawn of time from his 'Best-Of' Space Marine list I believe, though his version had Camo Cloaks as it was done wayyyyy before the recent FAQ. This unit is designed to be deployed in a building that has been reinforced using the Master of the Forge's 'Bolster Defenses' rule which ups the cover save granted by it by one. Add to this the benefits from Telions Stealth rule and you have a unit with a 2+ Cover Save. The Scout has a Heavy Bolter instead of a Missile Launcher in this list as it better compliments the Master of the Forge's Conversion Beamer once your shooting at things at mid to close range.

235 points isn't that expensive and if your taking the Master of the Forge anyway then it's a useful unit combo.

Variations.
None really, It is what it is.

Scouts in Combat.
They're not that good. I know people will talk about the number of attacks they get and that they're still Marines and any number of other justifications but there are fundamental issues with them. Firstly WS3 means there isn't much that they'll be hitting on 3's mostly they'll be requiring 4's which isn't bad when they are hitting things. Unfortunately what they'll be hitting for the most part is going to be actual Marines which will be hitting them back on 3's. The fact that they only get a 4+ save is an issue in combat but is more of an issue when it comes to getting into combat in the first place.....

Scouts have a number of methods of getting closer to the enemy at the start of the game either via infiltrating or 'Scout' moves or some combination of the two. However this is going to place them in a situation where they will face the full brunt of the enemies fire-power on their own. I can only see this working if they're in an army that gets the benefit of Shrikes 'Fleet' Chapter Tactic and can get a first turn charge or if you have a shit-load of them. Relying on Scouts to do the brunt of your fighting is very risky imo and shouldn't be the basis for  an army.

Of course if you want to get them close to the enemy without all those tedious 'getting shot to pieces' issues then outflanking is the way to go.....


Option 4.
Troops: Scout Squad (10#, 170 pts)
   9 Scout Squad @ 170 pts (Combat Blade x9)
      1 Sergeant (Melta Bombs; Bolt Pistol; Power Fist x1)

Whatever method your using to get close to the enemy your going to need a lot of bodies to soak up damage so full squads are I'm afraid a necessity. Several of my friends (most notably Adam who I'm sure will be annoyingly vocal in the comments section) have used Scouts to good effect but most of them have come to the conclusion that the Power Fist is a required inclusion in the unit as a safety measure against certain obvious units. I never use Scouts in this way myself so they'll have to defend this particular unit configuration themselves.

So that's Scouts pretty much covered. At some point in the next week or so I'll move onto the Elite's section of the Force Organisation Chart.

Incoming - Tomb Kings

The Games Workshop Newsletter 14.02.2011 In this issue: A look beneath the sands...

Incoming! Tomb Kings "Lightning shall sunder the skies, the rivers will flow with blood and war will come to the land. The legions of the long-dead kings shall once more rise eternal in conquest, and death shall ride beside them." - Settra, The Eternal King of Nehekhara. In May, the Tomb Kings army will be receiving new models as well as an army book. Take a look at theAstronomican today to read the Studio's Incoming article, which gives you a little more information about the legions of the Undead. For now we'll leave you with these previously unseen images - join in on the speculation of what this might be on ourFacebook page.

Real Life gets in the way again.....

The whole 'This happens on this day' concept doesn't seem to be working for me as a blogger so I've decided to simply post what I like when I like, lol.

I'll still be carrying on with the 'Primarch', 'Optimal Configuration' and 'Smackdown' series of posts. I just won't be doing them on a particular day is all. Apart from the Tuesday post for the 'House of Paincakes' network that is, as I'm sort of committed to that now.....

Later on in the week I'm going to add links to all the posts that could be considered a 'series' so they're easy for people to find now that they won't necessarily be appearing on a set day as well as having a general 'tidy-up' of the layout.

Just thought I'd let you all know ;-)

Mike Vs. BoLS - Guest Article

Well the guys at Bell of Lost Souls have put up a Tactica for Stormravens that to be honest I thought was a bit rubbish. However it has managed to piss off my friend Mike to such an extent that he has e-mailed me the following that I'm going to publish exactly as it was sent to me.

Original article in White, Mikes comments in red.

Normally I ignore any and all tacticas on BOLS because they break down into “well der!”, “actually, my rulebook clearly says you cant do that” or “if you have to do that to win then go play warmachine you prick!” however this one caught my eye as far from being disparaging it actually said something that I thought was good was, well, good. However having read the article on why stormravens aren’t shit I’m now thinking I may have been wrong on not one but two counts. One for thinking bols can produce anything that uses common sense or maths to prove something and two I’m now thinking storm ravens must be quite shit if this is the best someone can come up with for arguing its pros. So this will break down into two parts I think. First of all proving why BOLS writers (even this guest author) are fail at life and arguing, well I’ll prove the arguing thing and leave you all to draw your own conclusions about how much they suck at life. Secondly I’ll write an article analyzing the storm raven both in the context of (accurate) theory hammer, the game and the army list in which it’s set currently. Red italics are me and black is the original article. Where possibly I’ve tried to put my observations and annotations at the end of the paragraph however in several places there were two or more mistakes per sentence in which case I felt it necessary to interject half way through. Happy reading!

Now that the new official model has been released I think we will start to see a lot more of these fantastic gunships on the tables. There are some big misconceptions regarding the Stormraven we need to tackle.

What he means here is “there are some fairly well reasoned points of view that he’s going to tell you are wrong with whatever the exact opposite of linear thinking is”

I would like to state up front that I believe most of these misconceptions are based upon theory hammer, not actual gaming experience. Of course if the player does not wisely use the flyer then, of course, it's bound to fail. This article will teach you how to most effectively use your Stormraven.

This may well be true, however given that later he will use some bad and/or poorly thought out theory hammer it’s not a great start to the article

Misconception #1 - Every gun in your opponent's army will be pointed at the Stormraven, it won't last one turn so why bother ??

if its on the table that seems like a fairly safe assumption to me!

If you have been following my series of articles here you'll know I specialize in the use of aggressive DoA tactics. The Stormraven makes a fine addition to any DoA army. So let's first look at what the flier has going for it that will keep it shaking and baking all your opponents.

Fair enough, deep striking it in will keep it alive for turn 1, but how can something without descent of angels make a fine addition to such an army, surely it wouldn’t be a DoA army anymore, more of a DoA army with stormravens flying shotgun?

AV12 all around - Might not sound that great but in fact it is. Because he says so ;) S8 glances 50 percent of the time and penetrates one third of the time. ß that’s theory hammer right? That thing that apparently proves the storm raven is useless he said earlier….Extra armor negates most adverse effects from glancing hits and you can move flat-out for the 4+ save versus penetrating hits. Extra armour knocks stunned down to shaken so it ignores half of 1/6 of a result IF YOU PAY THE EXTRA. And going flat out gives you a 4+ save against glances and pens doesn’t it? If you factor in the roll to hit and the cover save you'll find that your chances of dropping the Stormraven with one shot are greatly reduced. For example suppose a Space Marine Devastator shoots it with his missile launcher:

0.67*0.33*0.33 = 7 percent odds to penetrate and destroy ßThat’s this mathshammer again. The stuff he said shouldn’t be used to prove the stormraven is useless?furthermore, he’s wrong. Chances of penetrating stop at his 0.67*0.33 which is a 22% chance of penetrating. Followed by a 33% chance of killing it which I suppose does, overall, come out at his stated 7% but if you’re clumping words like “penetrate and destroy” together then we need to look at other variables. Like the 16% chance of a glance which could still result in immobilization which makes its life as a transport over and makes its guns less useful as it will have just sunk to the floor.

Though the crème of this argument has to be his example being of a single devastator with a missile launcher. When have you ever seen one? In a tactical squad holding an objective this may be feasible, but a single devvy marine? Wouldn’t that single devvy be hitting on 2’s anyway? Unless the rest of the squad died, but if that happened then we need to look at the chances of him falling back and such before working out how he’ll do as the only thing in a marine army capable of taking down a stormraven!

Lets backup a tiny bit as while taking a break from his stupidity and eating a bacon sandwich I noticed another problem with his argument. 7 chance of “penetrating and then as a result destroying” as I think he means. That’s sounds shit?

0.67*0.5*0.33 = 10% chance. That doesn’t sound great does it? That’s the same missile launcher firing at a rhino using the same(flawed) mathshammer as before.

The almighty melta only rolls 1d6 versus the ceramite plating putting it basically in the same class as a missile launcher except for the +1 on the AP table. Or that means there’s no benefit to getting into half range as meltas only get an extra dice at half range normally. It's even worse odds when you use an autocannon or plasma. Did he really just tell us to buy a stormraven because plasma and autocannons aren’t as good as killing it as a meltagun?!?! You don't see many lascannons these days, compared to the obscene amount of self-blowing up plasma you see day in day out? and who seriously plays Tau as a competitive army? Sure a railgun is your worst nightmare but I don't expect to see any on the top tables at a big tournament. Which coincidently is probably where you won’t see this guy and his storm ravens either if his arguments so far are any indication of his intellect or game winning strategy!

AV12 in the rear is also huge as it is great defense versus landspeeders and other fast vehicles that can shoot. Land speeders? Really? I fully agree that av12 on the rear is awesome but my go to arguments would have been krak grenades, marines and such with furious charge and hydras. Now maybe I’m being unfair, perhaps he’s going somewhere with this argument?If you're playing it right though your tail will never face those enemy guns but then it doesn't really matter.i may be right, he may have been going somewhere but in all honesty that sentence doesn’t make sense to me, if someone wants to explain what he means then answers on the back of a postcard to the usual address

Finally there will be tables setup with high LOS blocking terrain you can hide the Stormraven behind. Cityfight tables are a great example! He argues we don’t see lascannons or competitive tau but we might play cityfight?


Misconception #2 - The Stormraven is a huge point-sink. Why would anyone bother putting a jump troop inside?

There are lots of options how you can configure the Stormraven. My favorite is extra armor, first off I think when he says armor he means extra armour “because there’s a fucking U in it”* and secondly, I thought his arguments thus far rested on the assumption that it came with this, he has worked it into most calculations he’s made so far. twin linked lascannon but you don’t see lascannons anymore…..and twin linked multi-melta. In one game at BoLScon last year my Stormraven destroyed three landraiders but you don’t see lascannons anymore…..- that's lucky but still very impressive. The Stormraven is cheaper than a landraider and in many ways much more of a potent threat. Because it has half as many lascannons, which you don’t see anymore, and the multimelta is twin-linked….seems like 6 of one and half a dozen of the other to me! Mine is geared towards anti tank but you could go with the flying Land Raider Crusader if you want anti horde.i must have an early print of the blood angel book and the white dwarf that shows the storm raven as neither contain options for me to give my storm raven armour 14….oh he meant offensively…..ok fair enough, but none of these are arguments for putting stuff inside It's very flexible and the four Bloodstrike missiles are just more gravy on the biscuit. Im from the north if you ask anyone living in London (“lots of planets have a north!”** so I put gravy on lots of things but never on biscuits. Biscuits are fine on their own or they dunk in tea

I like to run an Epistolary (Sword/Rage) with a choppy Honor Guard. They've all got jump packs and the Chapter Banner for the +1 attack. To me they are the ultimate Blood Angels deathstar - furious charge, FNP, reroll hits all the time and the 3++ save (i.e., stormshields on three of the Honor Guard). I also have a Furioso with a pair of Bloodfists onboard. Together they can destroy anything in close combat including the mighty Thunderwolf cavalry. By running them in the Stormraven I can quickly move them and place them in the best position to spearhead my assaults. The rest of the army plays a very vital role coming in from reserve via deepstrike and first eliminating threats to the Stormraven. This is all assuming that the storm raven doesn’t get immobilized, something his theory hammer which you shouldn’t use to prove the stormraven is shit didn’t take into account

As I've shown *stifles laugh* it actually requires a high volume of shots on average to drop the flier so by taking out shooty enemy units early in the game my Stormraven has much more freedom to move about the battlefield. Didn’t his earlier statistics assume that the enemy army had a single marine with missile launcher and no lascannons? The Librarian and his Honor Guard can quickly cover open ground once they disembark since they have jump packs and stay in the fight. A unit such as assault terminators on the other hand are very slow once they disembark; versus a wise opponent they will engage one or two units max then they are out of the fight. When did this turn into an article about jump command squads being better than thunderhammer termies which cost far less points anyway?

So by fielding an uber assault jump unit in the Stornraven paired with a close combat dreadnaught you have a fast unit you can insert where needed the most and they can still quickly reach other enemy units once they've disembarked. Being able to field a dreadnaught in the Stormraven has brought another dimension to the game - it's the best delivery system for the walker *cough* drop pod *cough* and ensures they will reach close combat untouched. So long as the opponent only has a single missle launcher and you’re not including the 7% of the time he already showed that it wouldn’t work


Misconception #3 - Sure the Stormraven has some great guns but what is the value there when you've got assault units embarked? It can't practically fulfill both roles!

Sure it can. Here is my basic approach to wielding the Stormraven:

1) Start in reserve.
This helps to protect the flier and let's your deepstrking units arrive first eliminating the most immediate threats. Typically it will arrive on turn 3 to turn 4... Still plenty of time left to seal the deal. Or perhaps turn 2 50% of the time?

2) Arrive from reserve.
If possible I'll move onto the table and alpha strike an enemy tank or unit using the 60" range of the Bloodstrike missiles to outrange my opponent. It's best to fire them all in one fell salvo rather than plink off single shots turn by turn. Also the salvo very effectively negates those pesky cover saves such as smoke launchers and flickerfields. I don’t know about anyone else but my codex says they’re one shot, not negates cover. I mean yeah, firing all four will statistically make more of them get through the cover saves but that’s not what he said and thus we have to assume not what he intended to say or in fact tells his opponents when he plays them. That said, against a stormraven those 4 missiles only stand a 28% chance of “penetrating and destroying” a stormraven. And as we’ve already been told, if its not guaranteed it obviousl cant work.

3) Endgame
After the initial alpha strike the Stormraven will most likely be moving flat-out and you can use it's Power of Machine Spirit to fire the multi-melta or lascannon. But you don’t see lascannons very much anymore… At this phase I move the Stormraven into a position to deliver the embarked assault units. At this point it's fulfilled it's role and not a big deal if its destroyed late in the game. You have to finally expose it to pull off the grand assault - it is what it is. If it does survive the post assault phase then it can still tank hunt and contest objectives. When I read endgame I thought he was talking about contesting objectives but apparently even though there’s only a 7% chance of it dying to a missile its now fine to let it die because it did its job of “maybe” delivering a squad its now easy to kill again



Conclusions ßthis ought to be good…
So in conclusion let's wrap up what are the main advantages to the Stormraven:

* Fast skimmer
* Assault vehicle (transport + dreadnaught)
* AV12 all around useful against land speeders for some reason
* Extra armor are we back to assuming it comes with it? Cos it doesnt
* Ceramite plating but you don’t see lascannons anymore
* Power of the Machine Spirit
* Wide array of weapons to choose from but you don’t see lascannons anymore

How would you use a Stormraven in your force? Don't listen to those naysayers - go out and try one - you just might like it !! more importantly, listen to me next week when I’ll explain in a balanced and fair way both its good points and its bad points (like that it doesn’t come with extra armour)

*10 points to anyone who can guess where that quote is from

**20 points for this one

I'll publish Mike's own Storm Raven article as soon as he sends it to me.

Feel free to comment away.