Scourged

I'm not convinced that this would be an effective feint for a Raptors unit, but that's just because I'm applying a strict interpretation of the rules. Warp Strike specifically states that the rule is only applicable "during deployment." So yes, you could deploy the Raptors on the board, then immediately use Renascent Infiltration on them and put them into Strategic Reserves... but because the unit was not put into reserves during deployment, it would not have the ability to be placed anywhere on the board - it would be restricted to the Strategic Reserves board edges. So yes, you could, but giving up deep strike on Raptors (or other "deep strike" units) doesn't seem worth it. But I've never been the best rules lawyer, so if I'm wrong someone please correct me. Renascent Infiltration is still a great stratagem - and one of my favorites - but its power has been greatly reduced with the new book/rules: 6" instead of 3" away from enemies, it's used when a unit "is selected to move" instead of at the end of the Movement phase (so you can no longer Fall Back and use it), and is using Strategic Reserves instead of a baked-in deep strike for the unit. Small, subtle changes, but they add up to a very different application of the stratagem. More situational, but still useful in most any game: find the enemy's weaker board edge and then exploit it and punish them for it. There's still plenty of fun ways it can be used offensively, though: Using it to slingshot Troops up the board to try for sneaky Secondary scoring early in the game Getting chaincannon Havocs up the board faster to get in range for maximum shredding Being cheeky with melee Legionaries, Chosen, or Possessed Or, for a fun-but-dumb idea, sneaking a Master of Executions up the board for some backfield character hunting, lol

For those who've already mentioned it, I'm another one in the old lore camp. Thinking of the Alpha Legion as the little brother Legion is what always sold it for me. It made the fall to Chaos convincing, the way they followed Horus to the end. It made their adherence to unusual tactics understandable, because they wanted to prove themselves. There's a lot of stuff added by Forge World that I really like, little nuggets that really flush out their character. But I've never been impressed with anything that black library has done.

hey, um... life had other plans for me... just as things were calming... i tripped and fell and broke my shoulder. i'm going to be limited to one hand and a lot of pain for a while. it'll be at least a month before i can do much related to the hobby, including this thread. until then, its bed rest and meds for me. happy new year, all.

I'm sorry for my delay, folks. Life has been a bit nuts for a while. I'll wrap up this thread and start our new one soon, I promise.

I want to like it, but I'm not quite sold. But it my just be my own playstyle flavoring my opinions. I think one 30 man blob and one 5 marine squad, as you mention, is the better way (instead of 2 blobs). Or just two marine squads, if you have the terrain available to play hide and seek.

That's a good point - a built-in Perils defense. Could be neat. But the other relics still outshine the plate, at least to me. Speaking of, has anyone given the Wail a test drive? It seems like it could make for a good turn 2 ability, but I've yet to give it a go.

Thanks, Kierdale. You make a good point. This idea was started in 2012 (wow!), and a great deal of things have changed since then. A lot of these topics/themes have been done in the past, but are well worth a revisit. We have new writers, and new lore to work off of. There's plenty more potential for Inspiration there. I like it! But with that said, there's still plenty more time to submit a story for Blessings and Boons. We all can't let Aothaine go uncontested, can we? Where's the fun in that? Let's end the year with the bang of bolter rounds. Let us resolve to impress our patrons and earn their blessed gaze. And, as mentioned, any ideas that you have for topics in the coming future are always welcome. Tell us all what you would like to write about. Share the ideas you have been brewing in your Warp-tainted minds.

On an unrelated, more positive note... Sabotage is perhaps one of the bestest most awesomest stratagems ever. I've had a few games with our new rules so far, and have had a lot of fun with the tools we get. Headhunter is just so delightful, as is Scrambled Coordinates. But tonight, it a fun game with some mates, Sabotage got some work done. A ton of units were clustered around a wounded Rhino, and I delivered a crippling blow and it exploded. That, plus some wonderful D3 rolls for damage, and a ton of models just disappeared. It is literally the most satisfying command point I have ever spent. Also... for what it's worth... people just seem to be scared of Possessed, apparently. When you drop a squad of 10 of them onto the field, apparently that is a terrifying unit to behold, because the joint teammates I played against devoted a lot of shooting to take them down, despite the squad being -2 to hit (thanks Apostle!). So much fire was devoted to the squad. At the end of the day, they were blown off the table without being able to swing once. Lame, I know. But after two turns of concentrated shooting, they ate a ton of shots that other units didn't have to endure.

Well that is... about the level of writing I've come to expect from the Psychic Awakening books lately. On the bright side, that is literally the only Chaos "win" of all the events from our book, so that's nice? The other Legions just ended in stalemates/Imperium "wins" while at least our Legion forced the Exterminatus of a holy world, so that's cool. If only the story wasn't so... formulaic. Chaos shows up > wrecks the place > Imperium shows up > wrecks Chaos > things resolve. Too much Imperium plot armor going around... more than usual, it feels like. It'd be much nicer to have an actual story that was "Chaos showed up and just ruined us, guys, really... even the [insert Space Marine Chapter here] couldn't save us." Meh. Still neat, I guess... even if it locked behind the Collector's Edition 'paywall.' But, I think that goes more into the general design philosophy of Psychic Awakening as a whole. So far, ever narrative has read as "we have this great idea, but the Marketing Department has capped us to a 20 page max for lore, so lets really cut down this neat story to the barest of bare bones." Meh.

That idea has been stuck in my head for a day now. Having a pirate battery might be fun to build. It helps that Huron is a steal for who he is and what he costs... And that I have shadowspear models sitting around. It's pricier, but I'm looking at bringing Huron and a Prince as hqs. Huron is just too cool to ignore, and the Prince still synergizes with any AL units as long as they're the same breed of daemon. Huron as warlord even grants a free cp and main book relic, if I so choose. All for less than 500 points (before any special/heavy upgrades). I don't yet know what I'd bring in the AL 3/4 of the list yet - the plan is still in its infancy. But it could work...

In 1k Sons? Nah, not at all, really. Tzeentch Daemons offer a little bit of help, but probably not enough compared to the other Gods. Weaver is useful, and does stack with Cursed Earth (Possessed with storm shields...). Boon is... fun, I guess? If you're using it just for a bonus boost, it's amusing, but don't rely on it for a static boost. The Locus technically helps, since Possessed want to be in melee. But, again, it's unreliable. And the Icon of Flame is lol. Tzeentch Possessed can work, but any other flavor works better. My plans are similar to those raised by others. A group of ten using Forward Operatives, stringing a small conga line back to ensure an Apostle can give them an extra -1 to hit. Move 'em up, give 'em some Warptime, then crash the front lines turn 1. If you go first, great. If you go second, then you have a decently tough-ish blob (20 wounds, 2+ with cover, 5++, -2 to hit) holding a giant "Deal with Us" sign, and it makes it easier to pop Conceal on a different squad you want to keep alive. If they die, well, that sucks, but it means the remaining 90% of my army is probably fine, or at least in decent shape. And if they live and make a charge, even better. After that, for my personal usage, at this point I'm not focused on buffing them anymore. That Apostle can move toward another key unit and start giving it the -1 instead. That JP Sorcerer with Warptime can zoom around and slingshot someone else. And if I feel like bringing in some light Daemon support, Turn 2 is when they'd arrive anyway so they can take over. I love Greater Possessed, but using them to buff the little brothers, for me, has been a waste. Going from S5 to S6 hasn't been that big of a deal in most of my games. That being said... throwing a single GP around like a heat-seeking missile has been endlessly amusing. Even at 70 points it was a wonderful harassment. Now it's even better.

Don't forget... being Nurgle also unlock Miasma of Pestilence as a viable power to cast on them. To get super cheeky with it... bring a Master of Possession with the Bastion WT, and turn one use Chaos Familiar to swap Smite with Miasma. Then you could have a nice buff caster with the options of Miasma, Cursed Earth (probably not needed, honestly) and Infernal Power. Talk about a 24" zone of area denial. Perhaps a bit overkill, but it's nothing if not amusing.

I'm pleased with the changes. 17 points for Possessed just feels right. That puts them in league with an Intercessor... they lack the ranged damage, but have a bit more survivability, potential for buffing, and better melee damage. I think this is the spot they needed to be in all along. And at this price point, they come in very close to a squad of full-melee Berzerkers (all axes+swords, and a fist). I think it's a good fit. The Khorne Bunnies have all of the raw damage output, but the Daemon Bois are tankier. One is a hammer, the other an anvil. I like it. Cheaper Obliterators is just so wonderful. Again, 95 is what feels right for the model. And though it's not a Competitive™ choice, the double-scourge Helbrute dropping 20 points is very nice. 110 points for 11/12 S8 AP-2 D2 attacks is just so nice. I mean, sure, it'll get shot off the board turn one, I know. I've been there. But all of the cc 'brutes ending up cheaper is nice. And if you're crowding the field with other 'brutes and Daemon Engines... it'll be a nasty surprise if ignored. At this point, CSM Brigades might be a reasonable consideration (with the caveat of, as always, 'depending on your meta'). Our troops are far cheaper en masse. We can fill the FA slot for 60 points with three Spawn because... well, at least for me, I never use that slot. Will it overtake running a double battalion with one of them being Red Corsairs...? Eh, probably not, sadly. But maybe it will. I know it will for me. I'll gladly suffer 1 less CP such that all of the models on the field benefit from the new F&F goodies and a shared Legion. My last couple of lists (I rarely run the same list twice... in true Alpha Legion style) both saved approx. 175-185 points, so that's a nice chunk of savings right there. I'll gladly enjoy the extra freedom to fit a 10-man Possessed squad "for free" in my lists. Or whatever other unit(s) I feel like including as a bonus. Good times. The only thing that bugs me is that our DPw/W got cheaper AND the TS/DG versions got more expensive. I feel like one change or the other would have been a good way to go. Both adjustments just seems like an overcorrect.

As a bit of an administrative note... This topic will be the final one for 2019. As with the previous one, I felt that a full month would be a smart decision, given how busy so many of us will undoubtedly be for the next month. Then once the new year begins, we'll start it off right with a new Inspirational Friday 2020 thread. I look forward to seeing you all there. Also, let me take a second to offer a MASSIVE thank you to all you wonderful heretics who have contributed over the past year. It's been both an honor and a load of fun continuing this traditional thread here on B&C. Reading through all of your stories every few weeks is always a treat. I'd like to offer an early resolution and say that I'll be contributing more prose of my own next year, but we shall see how the Winds of Fate blow. Lastly, if any of you have ideas for future IF topics, let me know! I've got a list of ideas I'm still working from, and always try to keep adding to it. Any ideas that you all have for stories you'd like to tell are always welcome. And, if there are any topics from the past you'd like to revisit - especially for any such topics that sadly did not see entries - I think that'd great idea too. There's already a few from the years past I have my eye on. Once again, thank you all, and let us continue to be inspired.

Thank you for all for your entries in Inspirational Friday 2019: The Primordial Annihilator vs. the Ordo Hereticus Gederas delivered to us Light Begets Shadow. This was a treat, as it was a wonderful entry for both our current topic as well as our previous one! A small group of sisters learn - the hard way I might add - what it is that goes bump in the night. On a personal note, the penultimate sentence for this tale was my absolute favorite. Aothaine was next with Awakening. If nothing else, this story serves as a potent reminder to always check on the maintenance of your Gellar Fields. When lost in the Warp, pious faith can only save you for so long. For one unfortunate Sister, she learns the hard way which deity has dominion over her fate, and it may not be the God-Emperor after all… Torbenos joined our ranks with The Price of Genius. What should have been a simple retrieval mission turns into a fight for their lives - just another day in the life of the Adepta Sororitas. Yet, when it is the Heretic Astartes that bring the fight, lives are quite often forfeit. How much will the Sisters give to protect that which they came for? Lastly, Kierdale gave us The Survivor. To be the lone survivor of a Heretic Astartes assault is almost certainly a curse and not a blessing. Better to die than to be taken prisoner, which is the tortured fate our sole sister finds herself in. This had a fun moment that gave me little hints and vibes of The Last Church as the faithful speaks with the nonbeliever. And such a fun surprise at the end. I hereby close that topic but if anyone has more stories on that theme, at any time, please post them here with a suitable title. And so begins our second challenge of Inspirational Friday 2019: Blessings and Boons A season of gift giving is quickly approaching for us all. But as followers of the Dark Gods, many of us are already no strangers to the ‘gifts’ they choose to bestow upon us. That is the bargain, after all - we serve in the Ruinous designs, and they grant us with their boons when they see fit. But that which is a blessing in a God’s eyes is not often viewed the same through those of a mortal… For our topic, tell us of a Gift of Chaos. What form did it take? How was it earned? How and why did your patron God bestow it? And is it truly a gift, or more of a curse? Does your gift help or hinder? Does it raise you higher to the soaring pinnacle of Apotheosis, or is it dragging you down to the pits of Spawndom? If you’re looking for ideas beyond the obvious of our recent Codeces, I would point you to the old Realm of Chaos books. I know for certain that the list of boons in those books are quite lengthy and descriptive. In addition, though I can’t confirm this myself, I’m sure that Dark Heresy would have some fun ideas, as well as possibly Wrath & Glory. IF2019: Blessings and Boons runs until the 27th of December And who shall judge this new challenge? That decision lies with our current judge, Kierdale. The winner of IF2019: The Primordial Annihilator vs. the Ordo Hereticus shall claim the Octed amulet: And the honor of judging the next challenge. Let us be inspired.