Summer madness

As the song says, 'School's Out for Summer!', so I have some decent hobby time ahead.  My wife has even suggested I take some figures away with us when we go for a week in France.  I still can't quite believe that one!

Anyway, there are a couple of events ahead for me.  The first is the next Invasion tournament at Warhammer World on the 19th August.  Matt has been running a practice league and I have updated my list as first detailed here.  The only change is that I have dropped the Landspeeder Storm.  Whilst the Outflanking and ability to move the Scouts about at speed is nice, the multi-melta proved very unreliable at only BS3. Instead I am taking a basic Predator at 60pts (and giving the Tactical sergeant melta-bombs with the spare 5pts), as AV13 should hopefully soak up a bit more fire and give my Master of the Forge something to hide behind when deploying.

Due to its value, the Predator was in my first ever list for the Howling Griffons and I have had one for a while.  Unfortunately, I built it with HB sponsons.  Luckily, I had a Whirlwind kit unmade, which I am now assembling so I can swap weapons with the Predator.  This list has done quite well with various partners, including Tau, Eldar and DA, although I am not totally sure yet who my ally will be, let alone what they will be taking.

The second event I am getting ready for is Armies on Parade on 14th September.  I had thought about dusting off my guard army and doing something involving a Skyshield and Vendetta, but I shall stick with my Howling Griffons again this year, as I'm enjoying them a lot.  Of course, with the rumoured new codex in September, I'm not abandoning them now.

With Apocalypse 2.0 just out, the Space Marine Company formation appealed to me, as I had always wanted to build a whole company, even if it requires 107 marines and 3 Dreadnoughts!  I also couldn't resist the Master of Relics model, so it looks like I'll be doing the 9th Company.  This may be somewhat over-ambitious of me, but would look really cool and put out a lot of firepower.  Not sure how much chance I will get to play them ever, but I'm not worrying about that for now.

On my desk at the moment are six more heavy weapon marines to add to the six I already had.  With bolter marines, I have about enough for three squads so far - seven to go.  I will also have to paint the Captain and another Dreadnought.

It will take quite a bit of time, especially with the quartered colours, and also cost a bit to do, but nowhere near as much as the £448 GW is advertising in their one-click collection.  Obviously, I already have a few of the units, but even if you are starting from scratch, you really don't need 10 Devastator boxes, when the Company (only?) needs 40 heavy weapons.  Four boxes is enough, as each box has five marines, but eight heavy weapons.  Eight Tactical boxes would provide the rest of the marines and eight more heavy weapons. If I have worked this out properly, that would equal three missile squads, one with multi-meltas and two each of plasma cannons, lascannons and heavy bolters.

To carry on the 'useless purchases' theme, the one-click collection includes the boxed commander, rather than the new model anyone making this formation would actually want.  I suppose this comes in at £14 instead of £15!  But, if my maths is correct, you can get the formation for £406 at GW prices, with the new captain.

I don't understand GW's marketing sometimes.  They are trying to promote their products, but making them more than 10% more expensive than they need be.  The old Apocalypse 1.0 boxed formations actually worked out cheaper than buying models separately, which was a first for GW.  It's a shame they now seem to be doing the opposite.

600 pts Space Marines - shooty list

Ever since I started my Howling Griffons, I have always included a combat-oriented jump squad with chaplain.  However, I have recently been experimenting the following list for an Invasion event at Warhammer World in August:

HQ - Master of the Forge with conversion beamer on a bike

Troops - 5 sniper Scouts with camo cloaks
Troops - basic Tactical Squad
Dedicated transport - Razorback with TL assault cannon

Fast Attack - Landspeeder Storm with MM
Fast Attack - Stormtalon with skyhammer

I have played a couple of games on 4 foot tables and either lost or drawn, but on 6 foot tables I have won both games.  This includes tabling a footslogging eldar list yesterday, with a Wraithlord, a Spiritseer, Wraithguard, 3 Jetbikes and 5 Warp Spiders.

Of course, the conversion beamer works best over 42 inches, so it needs the larger table for maximum effect.  Even so, over 18 inches the S8 AP4 blast still caused a good number of casualties.

Razorback turret - middle or rear?

Having got hold of the TL assault cannons I needed, I am just assembling a new Razorback for my Howling Griffons.  I have made both top hatches, so I can make it into a Rhino if needed.  However, whilst playing about with the turret, it occurred to me that it would make more sense to turn the hatch round, so the guns are in the middle of the tank, rather than at the rear.

 Picture 1 - rear position

Picture 2 - middle position.

This is the third Razorback I have made and I don't know why I have never realised this before.  The LCs from the kit are the main bit of the guns, with the barrels from the Ravenwing sprue ACs.  This makes the gun very long.  In the middle position the tip reaches the top of the front panel.  This would gain me about an inch in distance over the original LC in the 'official' position.

Looking around the Internet there seem to be a few Razorbacks out there with a central turret.  Has anyone done the same?  Have any opponents objected?

Howling Griffon Scouts and Landspeeder Storm

A couple of free days have just about allowed me to finish off my latest two units.  There is still a bit of tidying up to do, but I'm pleased with how they have turned out.  Having just glued the scouts into the Storm, I just noticed I had forgotten to do the griffon shoulder pads.  That could now be tricky for a couple of the figures inside!

The army needed a bit of extra mobility, having had some of the new Tau dance all over me in GW Newbury, where they are undefeated since their book came out.  Of course, the new Eldar are now also imminent, so I wonder how they will perform?  I notice a distinct lack of stats in the new White Dwarf.

To continue the mobile theme, I have also built a Master of the Forge on an attack bike, with a conversion beamer.  Whilst he has done quite well so far, he needs a unit to hide in, so I picked up the DA bikes set on Saturday, rather than waiting for the new 3-bike set to come out.  The assault cannon from the Ravenwing sprue is destined for a Razorback.  A Stormtalon will also soon be added to my army.  I think I may have enough fast attack for now!

Invasion 2nd April 2013

An early April Tuesday was my latest trip to Warhammer World with GW Newbury for Invasion - a 3-game 2x600pt doubles tournament.  I took my Howling Griffons with jump chaplain, 5 sniper scouts, a 10-man tactical squad with multi-melta and flamer and a 9-man assault squad with a plasma pistol and my new sergeant.  This squad leader was kitted out with a storm shield and lightning claw.  No pistol unfortunately, but the idea was to use him to soak up / dish out challenges and free up the chaplain to work through the unit and keep the fearless as long as possible.

My partner was one of the boys from school, who took a basic librarian, two tactical squads (one with plasma and the other with a missile) and 5 bikers.  'Look out, Sir!' seemed an appropriate team name for us!

Our store had made a deliberate effort to get more of the younger players along and actively encouraged mixed pairs of an older and a younger player.  Other stores seem to have also been wanting more young players, as two of the three teams we played were both kids, and the other was two brothers, including a young teenager.  That might have had as much to do with our results and with the fact that it was a weekday during the school holidays.  Because of my school club, I am quite used to playing kids anyway.

Our first game was against a nids / DA combo against a nice couple of lads.  The winged Hive Tyrant proved particularly troublesome with Iron Arm meaning we could barely scratch it.  However, we made a few rules mistakes, like letting him zoom across the board on Turn 1.  Very silly!  My biggest error was believing his gaunts on the 4-point objective were fearless, as long as the tyrant was on the board.  It was only in about turn 4 I realised they were actually out of synapse range, when I couldn't do much about them. We lost 8-4.

The second game was probably the most enjoyable, as the elder brother knew the rules, which helps!  They had a Plague Marine / Thousand Sons tag team we played length-ways with two objectives.  It ended up as a draw, as two Thousand Sons managed to keep out of combat on the last turn and got onto their objective. We would have won, if we had made the charge and tied them up.

After a loss and a draw, the last game was a bit of a reversal, but was not the most satisfying victory ever.  We were up against two more kids with GK and DA (a lot of which were unpainted).  The GK player had a Dreadknight, librarian and two small power-armour squads.  The DA player was nowhere to be seen for a few minutes once we started setting up, then he turned up with Sammael, 3 squads of bikers and a razorback.  He was surprised that he couldn't take the razorback without any infantry, as was I that nobody in the first two games had noticed!

We basically stood back and let them advance towards us, with only my jump squad moving to meet the bikes, which they managed to pretty much tie up for most of the game.  He only remembered late on that they had Hit and Run.  The Dreadknight almost managed to make it into combat before being shot up, largely by rapid fire, and then the rest of the GK folded.  It was then just a case of grinding down the DA bikes, including killing Sammael with a lucky snapshot from the MM.  In the end there were only two DA bikes left and most of our army was still intact for a 10-2 win.

With 15 points for a win in the last game and a decent painting score, we ended up 9th, which was a pleasing  standing, especially after our first game!

New Howling Griffons models

A report form last week's Invasion will follow shortly.

Whilst up at Warhammer World I treated myself to a Contemptor Dreadnought.  The Mortis pattern has BS5, Skyfire and Interceptor, so I also got 2 Kheres Assault Cannons - Heavy 6, S6, AP4 to sort out any flyers!

I am also working on a Landspeeder Storm, including the 6 scouts onboard and another unit of BP/CC scouts.  These are proving quite time-consuming, with the quartered colour-scheme, but I'm enjoying myself anyway.

At the weekend I picked up the new Tau codex, as as I might start some battle brother allies to my HG.  I could even be tempted to start a new army.  GW Newbury's new manager Matt (Quinn has been promoted to GW Swansea) has organised a painting competition using the new Cadre Fireblade model.  That is the only Tau model I got at the time, as there wasn't much left in store by the time I got there on Saturday.  

I have been reading the rules and fluff to decide first of all on which sept and colour scheme to go for.  My HG bases have been desert-style, if I want to go for allies, so a brown camo would make sense, but not the standard scheme.  On the other hand, I have a hankering for painting orange for a change - a mix of red and yellow of course!  The Borkan Sotek Green sept seems quite good fluff-wise.

Invasion time again!

Tomorrow will see me off to Warhammer World with GW Newbury again.  My Howling Griffons will finally be getting involved!  I shall be teaming up with one of the lads from school, who is taking Dark Angels with two tac squads and a biggish biker squad.

My troops will be a full tactical squad and 5 sniper scouts, but I can't decide what else to take.  I'm torn between my original jump chaplain with a 9-man assault squad or an assault terminator squad with thunder hammers plus the new termie chaplain I'm just painting.

Then the question would be whether or not to deep-strike with either unit.

I may just roll off to decide when I get there.