Done magnetizing the Wraithlords

Ordered some magnets last weekend , and they arrived in around 3 days. So been working on magnetizing my Wraithlords and after a lot of work I'm finally done. (I'll have pictures up once I've found the cable for the camera)

Magnetized the right arm on them all, and also all other weapon upgrade options. So now I can field them with WYSIWYG, which is pretty important for me. Personally I don't like proxying or count as'ing my models, as the visual element of the hobby is extremely important. This is also why I prefer having nice looking terrain instead of books or some such.

I also magnetized my space marine captain/chapter master, which also turned out amazing. Got all weapon upgrades that came in the box magnetized and ready to be painted. The smaller magnets struggles to hold the combimelta in place but other than that it all works great. Its nice being able to change poses and wargear on the models.

The rest of the Eldar army is soon ready to get primed and ready for painting. It will take a while to get the army painted though, but as long as it turns out nicely I don't mind.

I'm still waiting for my P.A.C.K 1520 which hopefully arrives this week. The cities of death terrain pieces have yet to be posted, but I'm hoping to get them here before Christmas. I'd also need to get the Eldrad and Yriel models, as I plan on converting Eldrad to Iyanna Arienal and Yriel is really needed in a Iyanden army.

Iyanden Eldar - First Impressions

Okay, now I've played 4 test games (excluding a 1v1v1 game) and I've gotten 4 wins so far, so I'm pretty satisfied with it. I decided to write up what I've noticed in the games that could improve myself and anyone who reads, without leaking too much strategic information to my friends ;).

HQ:

Iyanna Arienal (count as Eldrad):
The best farseer you can get. You simply cannot go wrong with Eldrad in your foot slogging army, as he's able to fortune two units and guide or whatever another. Combining him with the wraithwall is amazing as the Avatar is  much more durable with fortune, in a game he took rapid fire from approx 30 chaos marines and didn't take a wound.

The wargear on Eldrad is also amazing and if you plan on playing higher point games its almost a must have.

Regular Farseer with Fortune:

Just a basic farseer with no other upgrades than fortune. This is really a hard question as you can only fortune one squad per turn and might have problems passing psychic tests etc. In one game he was worth it, in another totally useless. I really think RoWarding & RoWitnessing are great and shouldn't be left home unless really tight on points.



Avatar of Khaine:
This guy made triple his points back in one game, by using fortune. And died to rapid fire from a SoB squad, only managing to destroy their rhino in another game. So the lesson here is to keep him fortuned up. 3+ armor save 4++ invul save is amazing when rerolled, and T:6 will only get you so far. But I have a haaaaard time not taking him anymore, due to the game he single handedly took down like 1 rhino, 20 chaos marine, obliterator etc etc.

Yriel of Iyanden (Theory):
As I haven't been able to play with this character yet, I have a hard time saying how he will work. But in a squad of harlequins he should be amazing. Being able to run up solo to a whole squad of MEQ units and wipe them out whilst the harlequins assault something else. The str:6, AP3 pie plate should shred through any 3+ or worse armor save units. I'll have to try him out soon.


Troops:


Wraithguard (10 Man + Spiritseer):
Alright, these guys are tough, but only in masses and with a fortune 'seer. You can be sure that they will hold the objective and even if they'd manage  to get into close combat, you have time to bring backup as they will be hard to kill for a normal enemy (terminators and the likes are an exception).

Their guns are really short ranged but if they get in range, most things vaporize. Thankfully they are assault weapons meaning you can move 6" and still fire 12", giving you a range of 18" which isn't all that bad, considering rapid fire weapons.

But the main problem is their cost and I dont really recommend taking a full squad unless your playing 1500p or more. And smaller squads just aren't as intimidating and lacks the punch 10 of these will do.


Pathfinders:
Nothing much to say really, a decent choice for objective camping and they are hard to kill from a distance. However if something gets close they are as good as dead. They are the main guys i keep for protecting my home objectives whilst the wraithguards march over towards the enemies objective.



Elites:


Harlequins:

I really enjoy playing with these models. They look slick, are immune against most shooting (shadowseer) and have a nasty amount of attacks. I still haven't tried my death jester but theres been several times where I've had to wait for the perfect counter attack moment and could have used them to fire instead of just wait for the charge.

I honestly thought they would be mediocre as they are really expensive. And I haven't actually yet used more than a 5-6 man squad of them. But even when half their squad is dead, they keep on killing more.

Against the Adepta Sororitas the two remaining harlequins (with harl. kisses) got assaulted by the Canonness but managed to survive, and got one wound off her. After that they used Hit and run and managed to run up to a retributor squad killing all of them whilst only losing one harly. The last harly ran up to the Canonness and rended her to death.

And in the battle against the chaos space marines they managed to run up and kill a squad of raptors but they got killed by the lord they were with. The lord as lucky to survive though as he made most of his invul saves, so I dont blame the harlies for that.

Against the orks they ran ahead and killed off a boy squad on the charge, without even getting attacked back. However they didn't consolidate far enough and got toasted by lootas. Maybe too effective that time around.


Heavy Support:


Wraithlords:
These monstrous creatures have proven very resistant to enemy fire. They do lack the melee capability of some other monstrous creatures, but they can still pack a punch. Against the chaos a greater daemon managed to kill one of them but died soon later in close combat against another wraithlord. Whilst the avatar was being overrun by smaller targets, trying to keep him from slaying daemon.

They have also been okay against tanks with their brightlances, but you really need two brightlance wielding wraithlords for them to have any chance. One just isn't enough as one shot can easily miss, but two have a higher chance of doing some good.

Taking 3 of these guys insures that you have a lot of high toughness targets and as far as I've seen the enemies don't really know how to bring them all down, at least if they also have a fortuned Avatar in the mix.


Overall:
I'm really happy on how my testing have started with 4 wins and the only 'loss' I have is the 1on1on1 but that doesn't really count as people gank you, hehe.
Some people might think my "fluffy" army is way too competitive, but I think it'll pass when they get used to the units and know how to kill them. It will be a sad day for me :(.

But in any case, as I almost tabled the enemy in two of the games, I think they are above average and can be a good all around army. I have yet to test the Swooping Hawks so I can't comment on how they will perform. I'll take them in the next test game.

Space Marines 101 - Terminators & Assault Terminators

Terminators


The normal variant of the terminators are extremely durable and can put out a good amount of storm bolter shots, whilst being effective in close combat with powerfists and the sergeants sword.

These guys really don't need a land raider transport, as the land raider doesn't have any firing points. They are better used as fire magnets whilst walking towards the enemy line. This can be pretty effective combined with their relentless rule, allowing them to shoot their heavy weapons whilst moving forward.

With their 2+ and 5++ they can take a lot of beating, but once the AP 1-2 or other armor ignoring weapons start showing up, their 5++ only last for so long. But if you add a independent character (like Lysander) you can use their better invul save to take some pounding, at least if its only a lascannon or two, just make sure its a IC with the eternal warrior rule.

But overall they are a good versatile unit as they can take on even some of the best close combat units with their power fists, and then lay out some good firing with heavy weapons and storm bolters.

Wargear


For each five terminators in the squad you can take an additional upgrade weapon: the heavy flamer, assault cannon or a cyclone missile launcher.

Heavy Flamer
This is used best against hordes, and will do pretty good against them as well, due to the fact that it ignores cover saves, and 4+ or worse armor saves. The upgrade itself is very cheap, and an okay choice if you don't have more than 5p to spare on upgrades for them. But due to the template range it will only get to fire once or twice per game, and sometimes it might have been better laying out more storm bolter shots. But I think its worth taking if you only have 5p to spare, and only in 5 man squads of terminators.

Assault Cannon:
This weapon is great, it lays down 4 rending shots a turn at strength 6 and AP 4. Its best used against elite infantry and tanks. You actually have (statistically) better odds of destroying a land raider with an assault cannon, than a lascannon. But the range is only 24", but that isn't really a problem for terminators as the rest of the squad have 24" storm bolters, and the fact that they can move 6" and still fire them. The problem with this upgrade however is that it makes the assault cannon wielding terminator cost a whooping 70p. So you might not want to take these on smaller cheaper squads of terminators.

Cyclone Missile Launcher:
My favorite upgrade choice for the terminators. This weapon basically shoots like two missile launchers, whilst the user moves and fire his storm bolter on the side. This is great as you don't lose anything when taking the upgrade. The CML can take down light transports, and if lucky even tougher targets. And if there are no tanks to shoot at, then you can fire small blasts on hordes. If you have two of these, in a 10 man squad you get a total of 20 storm bolter shots and 4 small blasts, it really puts a lot of hurt on infantry.

They also have the chainfist upgrade, which basically grants the user 2D6 against armor penetration. I usually take one of these in case I got the points, as it adds to the versatility of the squad, and thats always a good thing.


Assault Terminators


Often thought as one of the best, if not the best choice for an elite slot in the space marine army. And this is due to the fact that they get free thunder hammers and storm shields or dual lightning claws. With thunder hammers and storm shields they are a great unit against other elite units, with 2+ and 3++. If you take the lightning claws they are better versus less elite units as they lose the 3++ and str 8, but gain extra attack and reroll to wound.

If you plan on bringing assault terminators, you really need a transportation for them. Their only choice is a land raider variant, and if you want the most transport space the Crusader variant is the one you should consider. You can deep strike them into enemy territory, but you have to remember that they get one turn of shooting, and if they are a shooty army you'll just get shredded to pieces before being able to assault. The land raider is a great transport for these guys, as you can drive 12", disembark 2" and assault 6" making a effective 20" 'bubble of terror'.

Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield:
This are the guys you want if you need to take down monsterous creatures, (mega armored) nobz or basically any other elite unit. The reason I say "any other elite unit" is because you will get ripped to shreds by 30 ork slugga boyz on the charge, not due to the fact that it ignores your armor, but because you only have 1 wound and with every 1 you roll, one terminator dies. Oh and on the charge you only get 3 attacks per terminator AND the boyz strike first. If you plan on going against a lot of boyz you'll want to take lightning claws instead.

But overall this is the favorable choice of weapon load out for these guys. You'll really show the enemy what terminators are made off.

Dual Lightning Claws:
This load out is great for taking down hordes of things. But you will lack against other elite targets as you still only have your 5++ to keep you alive, and against monsterous creatures your strength wont be great (however the reroll to wound might help).

Combination:
The preferred way is to take most thunder hammers and storm shields, but with some lightning claw terminators thrown in the mix. This way you might pick off some units before they get to strike, but put the armor ignoring wounds on the shields. Sometimes if your in a tight spot you might want to put the armor ignoring wounds on the 5++ lightning claw terminators as they might already have struck and you need every thunder hammer to strike back at them.

Sidenote:

Always remember that one assault terminator squad and one terminator squad in your army can take a land raider as a dedicated transport, meaning it doesn't take up a heavy support slot. This way you could field 5 land raiders, or 2 land raiders and 3 predators/vindicators/whirlwinds etc.

Ordered Cities of Death buildings and rulebook.

I decided that I wanted some CoD buildings for Christmas, and as my father never knows what to get I told him to tell me a price range and I'd buy terrain for it.

This is excellent though, as I get something I really want badly. We don't have a lot of good terrain here, so this is a perfect way to get more terrain, and best of all, great looking terrain!

I also ordered the CoD rulebook as I think its time to get more objectives and scenarios than the 3 missions in the core 5th edition rulebook.

This is what I ordered:

2x Imperial Sector (2x4x Buildings)
1x Shrine of the Aquila (1x Building)
1x Moonscape crater pack (5x Craters)
1x Battlefield accessories (Random ammo crates, fuel barrels etc)
1x Cities of Death rulebook.

This should be enough for a great looking 4'x6' 'Omega' table. I ordered it all from Maelstrom Games and hopefully it'll arrive safe and sound, as I don't have postage insurance on it.

I'll probably base them with square pieces of hardboard, to make them durable and can add rubble and stuff. Going to post more pictures of them after I've started the project (after Christmas).


P.S.
I'll add more posts in the 101 Space Marines series soon, just been doing a lot of other stuff lately.

Waiting for my P.A.C.K 1520

Ordered a custom cut P.A.C.K 1520 about a month ago from battlefoam.com . Decided (well my girlfriend and I did ;P) that we didn't want models lying around everywhere. So a single place to hold all my models was the answer for that, and luckily battlefoam.com had a 'free delivery' thing going on for the holiday season.

Basically this bag should be able to hold all my units that I have, and a few that I have planned to buy somewhere in the future (10 more wrathguard for example). I sent them a list and said that they'd fill it up with pluck foam pieces in case it wouldn't get filled. However they replied saying it probably would be filled up by both my space marines and the eldar, so I'm just hoping there was room for all the units.

You can find their video about the P.A.C.K 1520 here.

The pack 1520 was posted several days ago, so I'm waiting eagerly for it. I'll post more information about the case whenever it arrives!

Ultramarines Army Photoshoot

Been wanting to take some pictures of my entire space marine army for a while now. Mainly because I don't think I've ever had it all in one place at one time.

After seeing the Spear of Sicarious in the games workshop webpage I really wanted to see if my army could match that. Realizing its not a hard task to do, I finally decided to do it.

I think my army did a decent job trying to match the Spear of Sicarious:

Guess the Spear of Sicarious is more specialized and has more troops. However I bet I could take that army on any day! ;D

Space Marines 101 - Assault Squad

The marines in an assault squad are all normal marines, but equipped with jump packs and chainsword instead of boltgun. This means that they keep their 1 attack in their profile but gain an additional attack due to the chainsword.

Many people will claim that the assault marines are worthless and you can spend your points on better more effective things, and whilst I don't think they are worthless, I do understand why they don't like them.

The positive side of the coin is that the marines are all equipped with jump packs and power armour, meaning you have a fast moving 3+ armor save melee unit. This means that they are more mobile than your units in transports, as they can jump across terrain with ease.

The downside is that if your units aren't in transports they can be shot at. Meaning your assault squad will get a constant rain of fire against them. And a 3+ armor save will just last that long. This means you'll want to bring a full squad (10man) so that you have lots of attack left when you get the charge. This will cost you 190p without any additional upgrades.

The idea is to use them to get an early charge against a unit that would stay back and lay down fire. One example would be Necron Warriors or Immortals, they wouldn't be fast enough to move away from your marines and your marines would eat them up in close combat. You'll want to keep them in cover or out of line of sight whilst advancing to reduce the number of casualties.

However if your opponent is using a close combat focused army, you can use them as a counter attack unit. This way they can protect your other units that would get eaten up in close combat. But the marines tend to die against elite close combat squads, as they often wield armor ignoring weapons. Sometimes that extra round or two that they keep the enemies off your other units can be valuable.

Upgrades:


One of the best upgrades are the flamers, as you are able to take two of them in a 10 man squad. As the flamer is an assault weapon, you can weaken the squad properly before charging in to them. The sergeant should get a power fist or thunder hammer. You can give him a pair of lightning claws as well, but most of the time you'll want something with high strength in the squad, as the rest of the marines can hurt the weaker targets.

You could buy the sergeant a storm shield, however I think you shouldn't be risking taking saves on him and instead pick off your normal marines to make sure your fist or hammer sergeant will get to strike (I:1 :( ). So personally I don't recommend getting the storm shield for him. You'll want to try to keep the point cost as low as possible.

A standard assault squad with 2 flamers, 1 power fist will cost around 230-240p.