Rogue

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...

The September update has arrived, and the Cults are in the firing line - more nerfs than pluses, I think. Points - Ridgerunners go up to 95/model (but stay at 170 for a pair). - Jackals go up to 85 for five (but still 150 for 10). - Abominant drops 10 to 85. - Primus drops 10 to 70 (and gets a nerf...) - Metamorphs drop 10 to 70 for fives, and drop 20 to 140 for tens. - Genestealers drop 10 to 140 for tens (but fives are unchanged). Resurgence Points Aberrants cost just 4 points to bring back small units (which makes the overall maths much easier, as almost everything is a multiple of two now). Stratagems - Various stratagems that manipulate ambush markers change to be a bit useful again. - The Host stratagem Primed and Readied goes up to 2CP. And Return to the Shadows move to the end of the enemy fight phase, only works if you're not in engagement range, but doesn't require that you're attacked. (In effect, you can no longer skip off the table as soon as the enemy shoot you - you have to stick it out for the whole shooting and fight phases). Other And the Primus loses full rerolls, replacing it with +1 to hit. That's a straight downgrade. Feels like some very targeted nerfs for the Host of Ascenion build with big blocks of Neophytes jumping in and out, and a general quality of life reduction around rhe Ridgerunners and Primus. Given my own success rate at the moment, I'm not sure I really needed things to get trickier, but it was the units I almost always take in every list, so I'm ot surprised they got a bit smushed. What do we all think about the changes?

I'm okay with characters getting killed. I'm also a fan of Arthur C Clarke, and his particular approach to science fiction. It's not uncommon for Clarke's protagonists to die at the end of a novel - it's part of the narrative cycle, and if we're telling their story, then the story isn't complete until they can no longer influence it. So in the same way, the death of Yarrick, or Tycho, or whoever - that's part of their story. It enhances their narrative rather than diminishing it. And there's nothing stopping me playing 'historical' games, set within that character's lifetime. Or even 'What If...?' scenarios - these two couldn't have met on the battlefield, but what if they had?

Hello. I don't think this is rules fishing, but ignore me if it is. I'm curious to know what the highest 'sustained hits x' number is. I don't need to know entire weapon profiles or the like, just the sustained hits number. It's for some maths I'm playing around with. Thanks.

And whilst I'm on a roll - here are three aberrants, taking me to 15 in total (not entirely sure why I stalled on a dozen, but there we are).

A trio of aberrants. For some reason, I'd ended up with a dozen painted, so this rounds me out to 15. Coupled with August's biophagi, it opens up the possibility of three rockgrinders full of lethal hits aberrants :)

They look great. That's a very nice blue tone, and the shading on the skin looks so smooth.

Hmm. In my defence, I have managed to paint the complete HeroQuest set, a BloodBowl team, a Ridgerunner and a Goliath Rockgrinder since I last posted.... And most recently, these two 'assistants' to my Biophagus - they're extra Biophagi in game-terms, but there's only space for one mad scientist in the Brotherhood (and I liked the look of the killteam arms).

I've had a few quiet days, and have spent some of the time putting together a pair of trainee Biophagi (see here with their boss). It means I can make more use of the Biosanctic detachment rules. (The arms are from the broodbrother killteam kit; the bodies are standard neophytes.)

Hey Ulfast - thanks for asking. There's been a lot going on recently. On the positive side, I've been painting a lot of not-40k stuff - all of the HeroQuest box, and I'm currently finishing off a Wood Elf BloodBowl team (just a treeman to go (and a pair of back-up catchers, if I can ever track them down on ebay)). On the less positive side, life's been a struggle for a while, and that's really dented my capacity for things like blogs and updates. Even painting and playing has been hard work. The Brotherhood is still ticking over, and continues to fight off the vanguard tendrils of an approaching hive fleet; and hopefully I'll find the energy at some point to pick up some of the extras again.