Rogue

Saturday just gone marked my annual dipping of the toe into the tournament scene with our local doubles tournament, and having put the thought in my head back in December, I decided to give Xenocreed a bit of a run out. The format is straight-forward - two 1000pt forces in a ream, shared CP, your rules and effects don't affect your team-mate. We went with a Tyranids/Cult combo. The Tyranids brought a pair of tyrannofexes, deathleaper, neurolictor, 10 stealers with a broodlord, 10 gaunts, 10 flappy gaunts, and a biovore. My contribution was: 10 metamorphs and a Iconward in a truck 10 metamorphs and a Iconward in a truck 10 metamorphs and a Iconward in a truck Ridgerunner with mortar and spotter Sanctus One Iconward had +2 resurgence points (giving me 8 in total), and one had the reliquant to reroll battle-shock (because five spare points). My role was to take (and hold, ideally) objectives, and to blend light infantry whenever the opportunity presented itself. With 8 RPs, I could afford to throw metamorphs at things, knowing that I'd get two units back again (280 points extra in a 1000pt list, which feels like a lot). GAME ONE: SALAMANDERS AND CUSTODES Hmm. Well, this one went about as well as you'd expect, give that half the enemy had flamers with assault, and the other half were never going to get swept by metamorphs. We really struggled here - the metamorphs, even with FNP4+, didn't want to get overwatched, and that really limited their movement and options. The Salamanders player was very good at sitting just inside ruins to prevent me charging through walls, and stopping the trucks having LoS for fire-support. By the end of the game, the Marines were all dead, but it had taken almost all of our infantry (resurgence units and all) to get there, and the Custodes were barely touched. We were out-played, but I think it was a really tough match-up out of the gate. GAME TWO: TYRANIDS AND GSC (Final Day) This one went much better. We got the first turn, which really changed the dynamic - I was able to push all three trucks forward to threaten the midfield objectives, with the option to send the metamorphs in turn two, and then again if necessary. In the end, I was able to hold the morphs in the trucks on both flanks - one one side, that was enough, as they just didn't have the resources to crack the truck and then deal with the contents; on the other side, their Lector bounced off the Goliath, before the morphs disembarked, flamed him down and then charged something else. At close quarters, that ability to drop 30+ flamer hits in one direction and then charge something else with 30+ S5 attacks made the morphs a real threat, especially with that "I can trade into you because I get them back and you don't" element. It felt like this one was about the threat more than the reality, and the longer that goes on, the more powerful RPs become, as two fresh units appearing on a scattered field can pick up a lot of points. In the end we maxed out on this one, without having to use the Ambush units. GAME THREE: ORKS AND WHITE SCARS We went first again, but were very aware of the orks' threat range - we pushed the trucks out again, taking both flank objectives and daringnthe orls to come after us. Which they did. One one side, a unit of 20 bounced off the truck, and were then flamed and clawed to pieces - all 20 boys died, leaving just the characters. On the other side, Ghaz crushed the truck, but the morphs hopped out and exactly the same as their brothers, flaming and clawing the ork boys out of the game. I feel like these were big wins for us, with the bulk of the ork bodies out of the game before their turn 2. Both units or morphs got taken down by surviving characters, but I was getting them back, unlike the orks. In the middle, the third unit chopped up a smaller unit of Boyz, and three bikers, forcing the opposition to commit more and more resources into the blender, letting us recapture the flanks with a tyrannofex and the flappy gaunts. It was the closest game, and we took it by three points - the morphs were sacrificed on other flanks, but it completely drew the sting from the ork assault before it really got going. Did I learn anything? I think so. The metamorph/iconward/truck combo feels like it has real synergy. Obviously, there's the Scout thing, which gives the trucks real reach going first, and a pseudo-redeploy when going second. Then there's the firing deck - I can fire two-thirds of my flamers without disembarking. Not game-changing, but a useful option, and having overwatch threats is always good. And if the truck gets blown up before the morphs disembark, I can shrug of half of the casualties via that 4+FNP, so staying in there at close quarters feels less risky too. (The same goes for the Frenzied Devotion stratagem (+1 attack, +1 WS, become hazardous - lots of upside, but a significantly reduced downside). Tactically, pushing trucks out to the flanks forced the game - you have to come after them, or I get points. But if you do, you probably can't get the morphs (especially if I have a nearby ruin to emergency disembark into), so I have an immediate counter-charge (which gets even better if I can push two trucks to the same flank. Patience remains the big thing. I'm definitely getting better at not commiting too early. But at the same time, Xenocreed really allows me to get innthere when I need to, knowing that if my unit does get wiped, they'll be back via deep strike I feel like I want to play around with Xenocreed a while longer, so we'll see what else I can get out of them.

That is fantastic.

Very nice. What's the body?

I had a couple of games in the run-up to Christmas - both at 1500, and with me as Outlander Claw. I ran with this: - rockgrinder, with 5 aberrants and an abominant - goliath, with 10 metamorphs and an iconward - goliath, with 10 metamorphs and an iconward - 3 ridgerunners, all with mining lasers - 3 units of 5 jackals - 10 neophytes Everything except the neophytes and the rockgrinder could scout. I didn't take any enhancements (and only used the Devoted Crew stratagem from the Outlander set). The jackals were great. Being able to sticky mid-table objectives was really useful. And having a unit in my pocket for late-game secondaries was ideal. In the second game, they all died across the first couple of turns, but not before they'd scouted up, and claimed two of the three neutral objectives. On the flank, they then advanced forward and move-blocked several units, keeping the objective safe for a turn; in the centre, they were wiped out by bladeguard, but that left the bladeguard exposed to my metamorphs, who were able to jump out of a transport, gain reroll wounds on their hand-flamers, then charge in and finish them off. Having that early objective control immediately put pressure on my opponents - they have to come contest the objectives, otherwise I'm just getting free points; but clearing out the jackals exposed more valuable units on their side. Which leads into the other thing I learnt from these games - units in transports are so much more versatile. I was able to loiter near objectives, wait until enemy units committed to objectives, and then jump them. With rerolls to wound and crossfire, even hand-flamers are dangerous in numbers. And even better, I was able to commit a unit at a time, rather than piling forward to avoid getting shot at for too long. It felt likea much more controlled approach, especially compared to my more usual Biosantic tactics of early pressure and hope to hang on through the endgame. That said, I did wonder how effective the list would be as a different detachment. I'd lose the sticky jackals (very useful), the extra OC (mildly useful, but I wasn't really using vehicles to hold objectives), the Devoted Crew stratagem (great against 3-damage exocrines, less so against d6 damage vindicators), and maybe the scouting metamorphs (because I'd swap the Iconwards for Biophagi to get the keyword in Biosanctic). Biosanctic woud give me more combat punch with the aberrants and metamorphs, and a more useful set of stratagems; Xenocreed would put a lot of focus on the metamorphs, but with the Deeds enhancement, I could potentially regenerate a unit three times...

Thanks, chaps - I really appreciate your kind words and encouragement. I've not managed an army shot, but I have had a couple of games (as Outlander Claw, given that I've been bolstering the mechanised side of things recently), so here's a couple of shots from those... The mechanised elements did sterling work into a tyranid force (which, in fairness, lacked much anti-tank punch), then ran into a Blood Angel force that included a pair of vindicators - by the end of the game, I'd lost both trucks, the rockgrinder, two of my three ridgerunners and all three units of jackals; but the infantry were alive and holding objectives, and that was enough to take a turn five victory.

And to finish off the year - banners :)

I think the rails are great - it does give that feel of racing through an abandoned shunting yard or mineworks. Have you made a deliberate decision to leave the bike headlamps (and rider shoulder lamps) the same colour as the surrounds? I find it's a good way to add a spot of colour, and they look a little incomplete without at least something marking them out as light sources. And O really like the subtle red tone on the right-hand ridgerunner, coming down the centre of the chassis. It adds some visual variety without dominating the colour scheme.

And a few more bits and pieces: These two give me a third complete unit of Jackals. These chaps took me up to 60 acolytes/metamorphs, with a leader and icon for every brood of ten. And my second Iconward gets me to the end of the year, 40k-wise. (I've got some Frozen Horror HeroQuest models to paint up next.)

My first introduction to the whole 40k setting was White Dwarf 119, and one of my stand-out memories was how little I understood and how cool that was. The universe felt huge, and malleable, and exciting. As I've gotten older, that's diminished. Partly because I am older, and have been around the setting for years - that initial sense of wonder inevitably rubs off as you engage with the world that inspires it. But partly because so many of the gaps have been filled in over the years. I get the desire to expand and explore - I love a good fantasy map (and have both Narnia and Florin/Guilder framed in my dining room). But I miss the sense of mystery, false narratives, alternative perspectives and sheer unknowability that I felt in the early days, when everything was hints and clues and oblique references, most of which were just open-ended hooks that would never be picked up, and that was fine. Oddly, it's not even about what I personally know - I've not read the Heresy novels, but the fact that they exist, that the story is pinned down and defined - it removes the sense of mystery even if I don't know the facts myself. (Not sure that makes much sense, but I can't think how to describe it better.) So that's what I'd change.

Keeping up the momentum, here's a couple of jackals to round out a third unit (of five) - going to have to give Outlander another go soon.

I had a moment today... I was playing with a Brood Brothers Auxillia list for my Genestealer Cult, and started building it in the app (I use the free version, with the GSC codex unlocked). The Auxillia detachment gives the Cult access to some of the Imperial Guard units - turns out you can select them for the list, but can't see their stats unless you havr a Guard codex to unlock them. Which just feels a bit meh. I get that money is everything these days, but £40 extra to make full use of a Cults codex detachment in the app feels a bit much. (And, one assumes, a further £40 should I ever want to try out the Final Day detachment (which involves Tyranids)).

Maybe - easier to bring back, and a cheaper Abominant. I'm disappointed with the Primus change. It didn't feel like something that needed nerfing, especially as he couldn't accompany the aberrants or genestealers, or boost vehicle shooting. Just as I was about to try something other than Biosanctic, Host and Outlander both take a hit. Which is likely why I'm feeling a bit grumpy about the changes.

Fair. But at the same time, I suspect that most of our characters (even if it's our version of Yarrick, or whoever), have pretty substantial plot armour. They might get killed in battle, but they don't really die - they teleport back to the battle barge for emergency medical attention, or slink into the tunnels, or were knocked unconscious, or even taken hostage (generating a narrative hook for the next few games) - they'll be back next time, somehow. And if I really want to play a glorious last stand of a named character, I still can. Either I have to ignore the fact that they canonically died some other way; or I have to ignore that, canonically, they're very much alive and doing stuff and definitely aren't 'supposed' to be dead. Ultimately, characters 'die' on the tabletop all the time, so having any kind of consistent narrative always involves some element of fudging it.

Should my app have updated? I thought the early release was because the info had appeared on the app, but mine hasn't changed...