Rogue

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...

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?