In this issue: In the Spot Light:
Steam Roller:
2 Codex Reviews!
We take a closer look at the man known as Deep Strike Dave + 2 Mystery ones
Review of the clubs first Warmahordes tourney
Reviews of the Dark Angels and Elder Codex’s by Nick Jones
Editorial Canterbury Crusaders Team
Editor: Lawrence Arnold Designer Lawrence Arnold Staff Writers: Lawrence Arnold, Stephen Reynolds, Jay Newell, David Sylvester, Mike Hutchinson, James Pottinger and Nick Jones
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the third issue of the Canterbury Crusaders Magazine. With so much going on at the club this issue is coming a little later than we intended so we have decided to roll in to a Christmas / New Year issue. Once again a massive thanks to every one for your articles , really its all down to you guys that send stuff in as without you there would not be much to put in this mag , I am just the trained monkey that puts it all together. We have plenty of articles to read again this time along with some more pics of your great models, we have got a new in the spot lights as well as a two mystery ones, as well as some game and book reviews. So all that is left for me to say is all of us at the Canterbury Crusaders wish you a very merry Christmas and here is to another great year of gaming. See you in issue 4
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In the Spot Light Taking the plunge this issue in to the spot light is David known to many as Deep Strike Dave Please tell us a bit about yourself ?
My name is David and I’ve been a member of the club for about 4 years now. I used to play several times a week then when my friends went to Uni, we only ended up playing a few times a year even after they graduated. I was looking for a club to join and found out about this club from GW Canterbury. What do you do for a living ? I’m Finance Manager for a manufacturing company. We make industrial laundry machines for the big hotels – like Ironers for ironing bedsheets and also sterilizers for hospitals. We also still occasionally make foundry machines for making large castings. As well as the accounts, I also look after all the IT for the company and do HR too. No, they don’t pay me enough! When you’re not moving plastic around a table what do you like to do in your spare time ? I race go-karts a couple of times a month and I’ve won our club championship for the past 8 years running. The wife always says I only seem to like expensive hobbies! Other than that, mostly I like going out and drinking beer or playing video games. I also play guitar and drums, but neither particularly well. And of course I spend a lot of time painting models. I seem to have a bit of a reputation for the speed I can paint. What is your favourite movie and why ? Hmm, tricksy. I’m not sure I have a real favourite, but I love all the LOTR films, the Star Wars films (ep4-6 obviously) and all the Bond films. Oh and Team America. What is your favourite book and why? Any of our Nigella cookbooks. Mmmm…Nigella Name one piece of technology you couldn't live without ?
My satnav. No more trying to read a map in the dark! If trapped on a desert Island what 3 items would you take with you?
A boat, a map and a compass How did you get in to war gamming ? It was via a friend from school. He was playing Man O’War in the lunch hour and it looked interesting. He then told me about 40k and that was that. This would be around 1992. What was the first model that you ever brought ? It was a couple at the same time actually 1) a blister pack of 2 Ork heavy weapon boyz – one with a heavy flamer and the other with a heavy plasma gun and 2) a blister of Mk6 space marines. The orks I still have though they haven’t been used for years. The marines now form my command squad. They’ve been through several colour schemes over the years, but Fairy PowerSpray sorted that out when I decided to make them into Crimson Fists a few years ago.
Mystery in the Spot Light
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“Mystery in the Spot light” posts all the same questions as in the spot light but to an unknown member of the club. Whoever is the first to work out who this regular club member is gets to be in the spot light for the next issue, so let’s see what our mystery guest has to say.
What do you do for a living ? “ I work for central government based in east Kent” When you’re not moving plastic around a table what do you like to do in your spare time ? “Paint more plastic to move around the table and watch films” What is your favourite movie and why? “Zulu, just because it is so British ” What is your favourite book and why? “Double Eagle, I have read it 4 or 5 times now and I never get bored of it, why I like it , not sure I think it’s because it breaks away from the normal black library books” Name one piece of technology you couldn't live without? “My Car , without it it’s a bit of a walk anywhere” If trapped on a desert Island what 3 items would you take with you? “Axe, tinder box to start fires with and an umbrella” How did you get in to war gamming? “I originally started building air fix kits with my granddad, and it sort of evolved from that , I was always much more in to the painting and modelling side than the playing ” What was the first model that you ever brought? “Not counting air fix kit , a squad of Tallarn desert raiders , which I still have 17 years latter” If you could be anything or anyone from the world of Warhammer fantasy or Warhammer 40k universes what would you be and why ? “A space wolf lord riding a thunder wolf, because everything is better when you can ride a wolf the size of a rhino in to battle lol”
Enter the Black Library Fist of Demetrius Part 2 of The Macharian Crusade Trilogy by William King A Review by Nick Jones
Ok, so following on from my review of Angel of Fire last year, I figured that I’d take the plunge and order the hardback copy of Fist of Demetrius when it came out this summer, so that I could provide all you good people with my thoughts. For those of you who did not catch my review of the first book, this is a trilogy chronicling various events during the course of Lord Solar Macharius’s career and providing snapshot insights into his life. Rather than being told from Macharius’s perspective, King has chosen to tell the story from the point of view of Leo Lemuel. Interestingly, this book also has a counterpoint narrative, told from the perspective of Lord Ashterioth, a Dark Eldar Archon. The timeline has jumped 10 years since the events of Angel of Fire and now sees Leo, Anton and Ivan part of Macharius’s personal bodyguard, and therefore in close proximity to him at all times. The Macharian Crusade is now in full swing and nearing its apex, with multiple battle groups cutting a swathe through vast interstellar territories, reclaiming worlds by the bucket load. Macharius is also starting to encounter resentment, jealousy and fear amongst the Imperial bureaucracy as a result of his overwhelming success. The events of the book resolve around Macharius’s quest for the titular “Fist of Demetrius”. This is an Astartes relic from the time of the Great Crusade, which Macharius seeks for use in political bargaining and power plays. Unfortunately Macharius crosses paths with Lord Ashterioth, who is seeking access to a webway vault, sealed since the time of the fall, in order to seize an Eldar artefact of great power. This meeting causes the plans of both parties to rapidly go awry. So, basically, this is Imperial Guard versus Dark Eldar, with a few Space Wolves thrown in for good measure. That’s right, everyone’s favourite space Vikings are present and accounted for. I guess that King just couldn’t help himself. Obviously it’s not Ragnar this time. That wouldn’t fit the timeline. No, this time it is Logan Grimnar, the great wolf himself, albeit some time before he ascended to that rank.
This book definitely has a slightly different feel to Angel of Fire. Because Leo is present at more of Macharius’s meetings and personal actions, you definitely get a better picture of Macharius and what he was up against in terms of Imperial bureaucracy and intrigue, although his motives still aren’t altogether clear. So, as a result the book is less distant to the larger events. It also gives an insight into the thoughts and motives of a Dark Eldar Archon, which is the first time that I’ve read anything from their point of view, although Path of Renegade and Path of the Incubus, by Andy Chambers, are on my shelf awaiting my attention. There is plenty of action to keep the pages turning and I certainly never got bored reading the book. My criticism is in fact that I wish it had been longer, that it had dwelt more on the detail of the intrigue surrounding Macharius, rather than so much on the battles. I guess it just doesn’t quite have the depth of plot, or character development, that I’d like to see from a really intelligent, well written book. I know King is capable of much more and this still feels a little half hearted. Unfortunately, the narrative style that King has chosen, telling the story from the point of view of a bodyguard, does not lend itself to this sort of in depth analysis of motives and political shenanigans. It leaves me wishing that he’d chosen Inquisitor Heironymus Drake as the narrator instead, if not Macharius himself. In the final analysis though, this is an entertaining read and well worth picking up, especially if you’re interested in the period of Imperial “history”. However, again, it’s probably not worth rushing out to buy the hard back edition. Wait for the paperback to come out in Summer 2014.
Do you have a subject you would like to write about? If so speak to one of the writing staff and we can include your article in the next issue.
From the Archives Welcome to ‘From the Archives’ a look back at old products from GW that are lost to the mists of time and fond memories. Last issue we looked back at Chaos Gate and keeping in that theme this issue is going to be on another computer game Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000. The game was released in 1997 so only a year before Chaos Gate, the graphics of Final Liberation where not as good as chaos gate, but the game play was so radically different, where in chaos game you had at max a company of space marines and that was only on the final level in Final Liberation you took command of entire armies of guards men as well as the most powerful Titians that the imperium has to offer.
The campaign features a non-linear story line where the player controls the Imperial forces to liberate the planet of Volistad from the menace of Ork raiders. The territory controlled at each stage determines the points available for the replacement and repair of units that you command . The winning of certain maps granted access to certain specialist units such as super heavy tanks or Titans. It also includes live action cut scenes mixed with CGI.
The game like all 40k based games of the time war turned based, with the imperial commander you the player taking your go to command what forces you had , in the first few missions this was a detachment of space marines and then you moved on to the imperial guard as the space marine up and leave , as they seem to do when every they feel like it in 40k. The marine forces were more to get you use to the game play and how the system worked, it was heavily based on the table top version of epic so it was a great way to learn how to play that game or at the very least the basics. Once you had done your missions with the marines the real fun began with as with taking control of the guard the guns got bigger, from leman russ battle tanks right up to shadow sword supper heavies , in latter mission you got Titians which was so much fun it was unreal, please remember this is mid 90’s so we did not have the stuff like there is today, some of you reading this might not have even been born when this game came out so gives us old vets a break, we liked the old day
I come now to only bad bit I remember, shooting at things was a nightmare. With huge armies the map was massive and you had to click on the unit you wished to shoot then find the enemy unit you wanted to shoot and click on it, not that hard you say but it really was. To be more dramatic the game tracked the shot made so you would spend a fair bit of time following lasgun shots across the map, was fun when they hit orks though as they would jump up in the air and fall over making a funny dyeing noise. As is any game you have the chance to miss and the shot would just impact the ground either near or miles away from where you wanted, not a problem when its a lasgun shot but when you fire off your titian vortex missile and the thing disappears over the horizon never to been again it was a bit of a kick in the teeth. The game did include units that current players may not be familiar with such as knight Paladins shown in the screen shot to the left. A Knight is a small combat walker of the Adeptus Mechanicus that is a oneman version of a Titan though smaller than even the smallest class of true Titan, the Warhound-class Scout Titan used by the Titan Legions. Knights where normally deploy in squadrons comprised of several of these war machines. The most common type of a Knight is about nine metres tall, with its head serving as the cockpit. Knights are the smallest and weakest of Mechanicus walkers, but they still are formidable and fearsome machines. Though these have fallen out of the fluff of the 40k Universe mainly to be replaced by the afore mentioned Warhound, I personally think these might make a comeback to the universe and the table top, with nearly every faction currently getting a large walker or vehicle I don’t see it out of the realms of possibility that the imperial guard in their new book could get one. So remember you heard it here first.
Clearly the scale is a little out compared to that rhino but you get the idea
The Stormhammer was another that many players might not be falimair with. It is a super-heavy tank of the Imperial Guard and is the rarest variant of the Baneblade super-heavy tank.( so rare in fact there are no rules for it ). It is one of the most powerful tanks ever deployed by the Imperium in terms of its pure firepower on the battlefield, and it is believed to be the most heavily armed tank currently used by the Imperium of Man's armed forces during the 41st Millennium.
The ancient Stormhammer was the Mechanicum's first adaptation of the Baneblade chassis specifically designed to counter large mobs of infantry, , especially the innumerable waves of Ork Boyz. The Stormhammer sports two large independent turrets, each equipped with twin-linked Battle Cannons. In addition, the Stormhammer possesses a secondary armament of between four and eight twin-linked Heavy Bolters. If the situation warrants it, some of the Heavy Bolters can be swapped out for Heavy Flamers or Lascannons to augment the Stormhammer's tactical flexibility.
Now all this sounds cool, but the thing that I think is the best thing about final liberation was the cut scenes , above I mentioned live action cut scenes with CGI and they were great. To the left is a screen shot of commissar Holt and the ultramarine commander, you might think that this blends does not work , but I certainly think it does , in fact the CGI is not far off that of the Ultramarine movie that was realised a few years ago , they even had guys in Ork suits to act those part out. At the very least please be a judge for yourself and follow this link to all the cut scenes on you tube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9ETvbhQMPQ&list=PL35154D428E5B7D99
I hope that you have enjoyed this fond look back at Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000. Next time: Battle Fleet Gothic
Club Dice
Well they are finally here, the long awaited club dice are now ready for order, so make sure you pick your up soon as they are selling fast with over 250 sold in the first week of pre orders.
Dice are being sold at 50p each, so for 10 dice its £5 , 15 its £7.50, 20 its £10 etc, etc , and you can order as many as you like, the highest so far is 50 in one order. The clubs goblin logo is engraved in place of the 6 on a standard 16mm dice , and yes you may notice that he is carrying his standard dice marked with a 3 , this means its only Canterbury Crusader dice that you can roll a 9 on one d6, 6 for the goblin and 3 for the dice he is carrying , see perfectly legal and all above board , little bit of a problem for leadership rolls but everything has to balance out some where
Just encase you were wondering what 500 dice look like in one place here is a photo I snapped just for that purpose.
Codex Dark Angels Review Codex Space Marines Beta, or Something More? A review by Nick Jones
Anyone who knows me will know that dark green is my preferred shade of marine. I’ve been a Dark Angels player for over 7 years now and have played hundreds of games (winning a fair few) using the old Codex Dark Angels, doggedly persisting with a codex that everyone had pretty much discarded as under-powered, bland, restrictive and outclassed in every way by the regular Codex Space Marines. In fact, the most common criticism levelled at the old codex was that it was effectively a beta test version of Codex Space Marines, with that codex doing virtually everything that Codex Dark Angels could do, but better and cheaper, with more flexibility. In January this year Dark Angels players were given a new codex and a raft of new miniatures and options, and I think it’s fair to say that everyone agreed that, despite it being the worst proof read codex in history, Dark Angels had a chunk of unique flavour back in their list. 8 months later Codex Space Marines has hit the shelves with its own raft of new toys and options. So, are Dark Angels back to where they were before, a beta test for vanilla Space Marines, or is it worth passing over Codex Space Marines in favour of picking up and using Codex Dark Angels?
The Things That Are the Same So, both codecies are all about space marines. That means that they inevitably share a significant number of unit entries and options. In the last edition of the codecies, vanilla space marines trumped Dark Angels in virtually every area, being almost universally cheaper and/or better equipped and sometimes having better profiles. Not so this time. There is consistency in profiles and, of all the units in common between the two codecies, only 3 differ in points. Terminator captains differ by 10pts, scouts differ by 1pt each (but only if you don’t upgrade them to carry sniper rifles) and Land Raider Redeemers differ by 5 points. All of the differences favour vanilla space marines, but it’s hardly going to make a huge difference on the table top unless you happen to have constructed your whole army from those units. The odd option here and there also differs by 5 points or less, but again, it’s marginal and nothing like what Dark Angels had to endure before. In fact, take an entire space marine company in power armour, including command section and transports and it will cost exactly the same number of points in both books. This is as it should be. That Which Makes Dark Angels Unique So, if your basic marine line company costs the same number of points, what is it that makes Dark Angels unique? Well, first and foremost it is the first and second companies, those who wear bone or black. Then there are your character options and finally the subtleties of army wide special rules.
Ravenwing Let’s start with the second company, the Ravenwing. Most of the entries for these guys live in the Fast Attack section, as you might expect, being a bike and speeder/flier mounted company. With the combination of either Sammael or Azrael, the Ravenwing provides you with the option of fielding a fully mounted army. Now that’s not unique, as vanilla space marines can do it as well (arguably White Scars do it better). Basic Ravenwing bikers cost 6pts more that their vanilla equivalents and for that gain a teleport homer and the hit & run and scouts special rules. You also get a unique unit organisation that can include up to 6 bikes, an attack bike and a land speeder. Due to the way the Ravenwing Combat squads rule works, a full squad is a minimum of three units for victory point purposes and potentially four scoring units (but only if taken as a fast attack choice for the Scouring mission), for one selection from the force organisation. So it has its plus side and its negative side. Ravenwing support squadrons are identical to vanilla Land Speeder squadrons in every way. However, Dark Angels do have access to two unique variants of the Land Speeder, namely the Dark Shroud and the Vengeance. The Dark Shroud is a support vehicle through and through, which affects the game mainly through its enhancement of the Ravenwing units around it, giving them stealth and a boost to winning combats. The Vengeance, however, is an out and out offensive weapon, mounting a plasma battery that can either fire three plasma cannon shots or one large blast. It costs a huge amount of points though, for something so fragile and there is a significant chance it will blow itself up if it fires in three shot mode. The Dark Angel fliers also fall under the province of the Ravenwing. There are two options, the Nephilim and the Dark Talon. The Nephilim is a ground attack fighter, let’s make that clear. It can go toe to toe with another flyer if absolutely required, but it lacks the punch to deal with the seriously tough flyers out there, like the Hell Drake. It’s also quite expensive compared with other flyers in the game and the Avenger Mega Bolter lacks the AP3 punch that other mega bolters in the game had been granted, which disappointed many. However, used wisely against ground based vehicles, this is still a flyer with reasonable potential. The Dark Talon is quite a difficult unit to get to grips with. Its weaponry is very much ground attack based and is nothing much to write home about on the outright damage front. However, the effects of the stasis bomb and the blind rule for the rift cannon can make things a lot easier for units assaulting on the ground. The biggest disappointment with the rift cannon was that it didn’t live up to the fluff, wherein it was described as being capable of ripping a hole in the side of a space station. Hardly what you’d expect to be written about a S5 AP- weapon. Finally, you have the Black Knights, who are veteran bikers and can also form command squads. For twice the cost of a vanilla marine biker you get a huge amount of kit. As well as veteran stats you get a shorter ranged twin-linked plasma gun, an additional rending melee weapon, all the equipment and special rules of a standard Ravenwing biker and skilled rider on top. This is a seriously hard-hitting, short-ranged firefight and melee unit, and robust with it, as long as you’re not facing a Hell Drake or other cover and power armour ignoring nasty. Some might question why these guys are in the Fast Attack section rather than in Elites, but it matters little when you can take them out of the force organisation as a command squad (now FAQ’d to be up to 5 strong), oddly costing 2 points less per model as a bonus. Vanilla space marines can only field veteran bikers as part of a command squad and although that unit is 13pts cheaper per model, it is far less well equipped, so Black Knights are well worth the extra cost.
Deathwing Moving on to the Deathwing and here we do have something that vanilla space marines can’t replicate; terminators as troops. Again, a special character is needed to achieve this and in this case it is either Azrael or Belial. Deathwing terminators are somewhat better than regular terminators as well. Not only can you choose to make a Deathwing Assault with them, guaranteeing that they turn up when you want, but they also count their weapons are twinlinked on the turn they arrive and they are fearless and have preferred enemy chaos space marines. On top of all that, one model can split fire. Add to that the fact that the unit can choose any and all terminator weapons, plus the unique option of plasma cannons. All of this, for just 20pts more than a regular terminator squad, makes them well worth it. Then there are Deathwing Knights, perhaps the best single wound terminators in the game. Armed with power mauls and storm shields, with WS5 and boasting the ability to raise their toughness and that of accompanying characters by 1, precision strike in melee and make hammer of wrath attacks, on top all the rules for normal Deathwing Terminators, these are a very nasty assault unit indeed. Add in that once per game they can boost their power mauls to S10 AP2 and that the AP of their weapons is improved by 1 against chaos space marines, in all modes, and you have unit that has all the advantages of thunder hammer and storm shield terminators, but without the initiative penalties. In fact, toe to toe against the same number t/h & s/s termies, a unit of Deathingwing Knights will kill, on average, more than half of their opponents before they get a chance to strike back, if they use their smite attack.
Finally we have Deathwing Command Squads, another unit that vanilla marines can’t replicate. These have all the advantages of a regular Deathwing unit, but also have normal command squad options and access to the Deathwing banner, which grants +1 attack to all inner circle models within 6”. That makes them a seriously nasty melee unit as well, especially as unlike the Grey Knight banner that has the same effect, the Deathwing banner doesn’t replace a weapon, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the bearer.
Characters Moving on to characters and you have five special character choices to select from, plus the option of an Interrogator-Chaplain, who is a great option (better than a company master in my opinion) and very thematic for the Dark Angels. Chapter Master Azrael is expensive, but he unlocks both Ravenwing and Deathwing as troops and boosts the leadership of all Dark Angels to 10. His wargear is good, but not spectacular. Chief Librarian Ezekiel is mastery level 3 and has a unique power that is great for neutering multi wound models. He also boosts the weapon skill of nearby units. He is a reasonable points cost as well, for what you get. Master Interrogator-Chaplain Asmodai is unfortunately something of a waste of points, as all you get in addition to a normal interrogator-chaplain is the Blades of Reason, which is an instant death causing specialist melee weapon with no AP. Hardly worth the additional points he costs. In the old codex Belial was a somewhat poor special character as he had little to differentiate him from a normal terminator captain, but he was relatively cheap. In this codex he has increased in points substantially, but he has also gained a lot. He and his Deathwing unit do not scatter when arriving from deep strike and his sword now has fleshbane. This makes the lightning claw option virtually superfluous, although the thunder hammer and storm shield option still has some merit. Finally, Sammael is the only agent of the Imperium to have a jetbike and it’s pretty cool, giving him a plasma cannon. His sword is AP2, which is very useful, but if he upgrades to ride Sableclaw, his Land Speeder, he can’t use it, so it’s somewhat wasted. If ever a vehicle should have been given the chariot rules, this was it! This was a wasted opportunity in my opinion. The Rest There is one other unit that doesn’t quite match up with codex space marines, which is the company veterans squad. This unit has a mixture of the options available to Vanguard and Sternguard veterans, plus a few more besides, but without the special ammo or heroic intervention rules, or access to jump packs. The result is a very flexible unit that is probably best biased towards melee. I’ve always had a soft spot for this unit and often find people under estimate it. That is, until it slams home in melee and rips its opponent to shreds with sheer volume of attacks, especially when supported by a chaplain. Then there is the army wide special rule Grim Resolve, Combat Tactics: Dark Angels if you like. This is stubborn but with the addition of a rule prohibiting the use of the “Our weapons are useless” rule. This brings back the stubborn, no retreat nature of Dark Angels from the 3rd edition codex. The Warlord traits table also reinforces the theme of Dark Angels, balancing holding at all costs with determined pursuit of a single minded goal. Dark Angels’ librarians also have access to the Divination psychic deck, instead of biomancy, which could be beneficial, depending on your style of play and what you roll up. In terms of unique equipment, the Dark Angels have access to seven unique banners, various special issue oddities and a range of relics. These are well themed to the army, and, if carefully considered and used, can be worth taking. But they are generally very expensive, which means it can be very easy to fail to get your points’ worth of benefit from them. The same that can be said for most of the “relic” type wargear in 6 th edition codecies.
What Dark Angels Miss Out On Well, with all the unique units that Dark Angels now have, it is inevitable that they miss out on many that vanilla space marines have access to. Always has it been this way. The list is actually quite long: generic chapter masters, honour guard, masters of the forge, land speeder storms, vanguard and sternguard veterans, ironclad dreadnoughts, centurions, storm talons, scout bikers, thunderfire cannons, stalkers, hunters and storm ravens. There is some juicy stuff in that list, which would certainly make you think twice before discarding vanilla space marines in favour of Dark Angels, and that’s before you consider graviton weapons and chapter tactics. Centurions with grav cannons and grav amps, especially, are seemingly the power unit of choice at the moment. Should the Dark Angels feel jealous of vanilla space marines? Well perhaps, but equally vanilla space marines have a fair number of reasons to be jealous of Dark Angels too. And let’s face it, with the way the allied and formation rules work now, it’s perfectly possible to blend the two lists together to get what you want. The Final Analysis The Dark Angels codex has merit and it most certainly is not a beta test version for Codex Space Marines any longer. In fact, it would be easy to argue that, for those who frequently face Chaos Space Marines, codex Dark Angels is the superior choice. Dark Angels now have sufficient unique units and a definite playing style that genuinely warrants their own codex. Could they have added more? Well yes, there were opportunities for plasma weaponry on Predators, attack bike squadrons with access to lascannons and plasma cannons, a different artillery piece and many others. Some of which are positively supported by the fiction that has been written. However, you’ve got to leave room for expansion in the next codex right? The codex, as it stands, rewards a synergistic approach to list building and play, with many units only giving their best when combined with others in certain ways. That means that there is plenty of scope to play around with your lists, tweaking here and there and trying out new combinations, without the codex quickly feeling stale. It is eminently feasible to build lists that are entirely based around either the Deathwing or the Ravenwing that would be great fun to play. However, where the army really excels is in the combination of all the elements of the Dark Angels chapter. It is then that the traitor and the heretic shall come to know true fear!
Club Apocalypse day in Photos
Hutchinson’s Almanac of Constellational Oddities and Disruptions - Mike Hutchinson I often play games of Warhammer with more than two players. Whilst fun, ending with a definite winner in a sensible timeframe can something be tough, and more often than not, games tend to end when one person has to pack up, and final scores are unclear. This can be unsatisfying, even to the most uncompetitive of us. This scenario is designed to work well in multiplayer games: to force a resolution and to encourage aggressive and cinematic play. Each player is awarded "hero points" for heroic deeds they carry out. The maximum points available are for slaying an opposing general in a challenge with your general, so get stuck in! Cowardice will get you nothing. It will be said: this scenario does bias armies with combat oriented characters. With that disclaimer…
Warhammer Fantasy Battle – Scenerio: “Legendary Deeds” Armies: Equal size armies to an agreed point value Battlefield: Standard rules, mutually agreed terrain Deployment: Standard rules, set up 24” apart, or any mutually agreeable setup Special rules: None. Game length: The game lasts until one player reaches his Hero Points target, up to a maximum of 7 turns Who goes first: Standard rules Victory Conditions: Divide your army points value by 100; this is your Hero Points target. The first player to hit their target wins, and the game ends immediately. E.g. If an army is chosen to 2,500pts, the player wins the moment he collects 25 hero points. When more than two players are present, rank runners up in order of their hero point totals. Hero Points Hero points are awarded for the following daring deeds: CHALLENGES 5pts killing a character in a challenge 3pts killing a champion in a challenge +3pts underdog bonus in a challenge (I.e. champion kills hero, or hero kills lord) BREAKING CHARACTERS FROM COMBAT 3pts character, or a unit containing one or more characters, breaks or destroys a unit containing one or more enemy characters in the combat phase 5pts wizard or hero panics or destroys a character or a unit containing one or more enemy characters in the magic and shooting phase MONSTERS 3pts monster breaks or destroys an enemy character, or breaks or destroys a unit containing one or more enemy characters, in the combat phase 3pts character, or a unit containing one or more characters, breaks or destroys a enemy monster in the combat phase 5pts wizard or hero panics or destroys enemy monster in the magic or shooting phase THE GENERAL BONUS +2pts if your general does the deed, or it is an opposing general that you panic or slay
Warmachine and Hordes Steam Roller Tournament A Review by Stephen Reynolds In October 2013, Canterbury Crusaders hosted its first Warmachine/Hordes event. We opened the tournament to gamers county-wide and even managed to snag a few players from outside of Kent, who came down especially for the day! We decided on a casual, 4-round tournament and with our Journeyman League finishing in the same month, we ran the tourney at the League’s end points level.
Each player was allowed up to 2 lists at the 35pt limit. Once the teething troubles were out the way we had 23 out of our target of 28 players – no mean feat for a first Warmahordes event! And with the help of Pressganger Alex from Hastings, who managed the administration side of things, the tournament’s organisers were also able to take part. With a wide range of factions in attendance, everyone except Skorne and Mercenaries had at least one player running them. Only a couple of power casters were produced, and even they were run in unconventional rather than high-level tourney lists. objectives. First to 5 Control Points is the winner. A single Colossal put in an appearance (Hyperion, Retribution of Scyrah). The tournament’s Steamroller missions generally involved holding zones/flags or destroying First to 5 Control Points is the winner. Tie-breaks are resolved with a combination of Control Points and the points value of enemy troops killed. Missions are very well-balanced, and as ever with Warmahordes you can ignore the objective and go straight for a ‘caster kill’ against the opponents general. After 4 rounds of chaos and carnage a victor emerged in the form of Dave Shiers, with his Cryx pairing of pAsphyxious and Mortenebra Tier 4. 2nd and 3rd place were taken respectively by Luke Sykes (Cygnar, eCaine and Kara Sloan) and John Hawley (Protectorate of Menoth, Testament of Menoth).
Best Painted Army was won by Danny May with his Farrow, Best Flag by Maria Wieland with the Retribution of Scyrah and Best Objective by Mike Pollards’ Khadoran faction. Plans are already afoot for next year, including changing the format to a charity event known as Foodmachine. Players can gain advantages such as stat-boosts, rerolls, taking out of faction models in their army lists, by donating a tin of food or the like. The tournament will still be casual but means we can do something we enjoy whilst donating to a worthy cause.
Canterbury Crusaders have also been in touch with other clubs across the South East about running joint and team Warmahordes events for next year. The hobby is very big up North and it's great to see it getting a foothold in the South East at last! Let’s round the article off by saying thank-you to the people who helped make the event possible.
Firstly to Alex, for running the thing on the day. He was initially scheduled to compete but when our original Pressganger couldn’t attend he stepped into the breach. Secondly to the Canterbury Crusaders club, not only for embracing Warmahordes wholeheartedly this year (in January there were 2 of us; now there are over 12!) but also for the use of their terrain and contributing towards the prize fund. Thirdly, a big thank you to everyone who attended and made the day so much fun! We hope to see you all next year!
Tales of Fail Welcome to the second Tales of Fail, In this issue I will be coving a fail that though I was involved in was far from responsible for, for this fail we enter the world of the RPG in the form of Only War. For those of you who do not know Only War is a RPG game produced by Fantasy Flight who also make the massively successful Death Watch and Black Crusade RPG’s. Only war is a little different in that rather than space marines you play a lowly guardsmen’s, which in game terms means if an Ork looks at you your likely to die. So let me set the scene for you, the merry band of guardsmen and women in this case where the Vallan 121st Armoured Recon regiment, 1st squad , they are currently on a the death world of Vallan 6. The squad consisted of a Sergeant (Stephen) who was back at base after suffering a concussion in the crash landing of the imperial lifter taking the squad down to the planet, which also wiped out squads 2 and 3. Corporal (Jay) who was the squads special weapons guy, Medic (David) who was the squads only women, a Storm trooper (Ethan) who nearly lost his foot in a training exercise against servitors , yes servitors , this was after jamming his hell gun on the roll of a 98 on a d100 and then thinking trying to stab it with a knife was a good idea, a Techpriest (Wes) the only tech priest it would seem that can’t find his ass from his elbow with a map, I have never seen anyone fail so many perception checks, Ogryn (Nick) Who had the highest intelligence rating out of the squad (that should give you an idea of what this squad was like), the Ratling (Joe) who was missing for this week so is blameless and last but not least a Heavy Gunner (David aka Jackel) A heavy weapons specialist who the squad had rescued at the landing pad but currently has a broken arm. So there is the squad already to kick some Ork ass, I will also mention that being an Armoured Recon regiment they had their own Chimera with an auto cannon known as “Sally” never let an Ogryn name anything
So now I have given you the back ground on to the mission, as GM I set them the task to find a coms relay in the jungle and to secure it , simple enough task I was not throwing anything major at them just a chance for a little action to. So after 2 attempts to find it on a map they set off, when they reached the area (Shown above) they decided to do some recon as this was an area with known Ork activity. Pulling up to the clearing but keeping Sally in the tree line after a quick meeting it was determined that they would proceed on foot in find out what they were dealing with. It was starting to turn from dusk in to night so the light was not very good, still this should not have proved as much of a problem as it did to identify what was in the clearing , after no less than half the squad rolling and failing their rolls, to spot anything some one finally passed but only just , so I described an large open clearing that at its centre had the coms relay that they were looking for but it was clear that the power was out, between the coms replay and themselves there was a partly ruined chain linked fence with holes in it forming a perimeter 100m out from the relay and that this was 100m from themselves and that around the relay they could see vague shapes in the dark moving about. So not being silly and rushing out all guns blazing they decided to find out what these 10 objects where , after all they could have been another guard squad seeking shelter, it was a death would after all you don’t want to be sleeping outside. This raised my spirits as they planning everything really well and I had high hopes that this was going to be a good encounter. That sadly was dashed soon after by the failure of every one once again to make a successful perception check, that is 6 people failing 12 rolls, the worst was it was not even failing by a little it was getting 70 and 80 when they needed 40 or 50, so I was noting going to be that generous.
So with me giving no extra information up due to such poor rolls, a wise choice was made to get closer and try and get a better view. So leaving all the non-player characters (NPC’S), the Ogryn (not the most stealthy at the best of time that one) the storm trooper, and tech priest behind, to set up a fire base in the event that the contact turned out to be hostile. The medic, the corporal and the injured heavy gunner set off and a low run so not to draw attention to themselves. It should be noted the heavy gunner was from this death word so it was figured he would be better at identifying things. Once they got close to the chain link fence they all decided to throw themselves to the ground in a dramatic fashion, so I thought I would make them roll and agility test to pull this off, after all they are running in low light with full equipment driving on to unknown ground near a chain link fence which if hit could alert anything in the area. Two of them land like cats not making a sound sadly the Heavy gunner was not so lucky rolling I think somewhere in the high 80’s and ran full pelt in to the chain link fence creating a loud noise and then falling to the floor as well. This receives groans of now what from the rest of his team as they look to me to see what foulness is about to fall on them. Thinking quick I make the Heavy gunner take another agility roll, this gets me some odd looks as if to say why, “He still has a broken arm doesn’t he?” “I want to see if he lands on it and lets out a massive scream” This is greeted by some concerned looks but luckily the gunner makes his rolls and lands on his back with little noise. A held breath by the squad is let out. Rolling a perception for the unknown figures the squad get a bit of luck as the sound of a guardsman running in to a chain link fence and falling to the ground is not enough to get their attention. So recon time again once again the forward 3 guys fail all of their rolls and have to use the last reroll the gunner has to finally identify the figures as a squad of Orks. So with the recon mission to end all recon missions they fell back to the chimera, what should have been achieved by one successful perception roll about an hour before turned in to a sketch from the 3 stooges. I would like to point out they did take the comps relay and killed all the Orks with no loss of life, but it was not easy, deciding to turn the high powered lamp on the chimera on to the Orks to daze them they still managed to miss most of their initial shots and over the course of the engagement the corporal managed to fire two grenades from his launcher so fair off course them went over the building missing the Orks by a mile , broad side of a barn comes to mind, they also managed to jam the heavy bolter again , that gun spent more time jammed than firing in the whole only war campaign and the auto cannon on the chimera got jammed but that was down to my poor dice rolls so I will let them off. Should be noted that the Ogryn turned his own fair shares of Orks to red mist with his ripper gun , that boy can certainly shoot Needless to say if you want a recon mission undertaken please think twice before hiring the Vallan 121st Armoured Recon regiment
Army Showcase For this first ever Army Showcase we take a closer look at one of the clubs best known armies David’s Crimson Fists, so over to the man himself for his army in his words. For this month’s issue, I thought I’d do a little writeup on my Space marine army. Many of you will have seen it at the club, and many of you will have trounced it too! As you will see, every model is in Mk6 armour. The markings I’ve used on these models are taken from a variety of sources. Some of it is taken from the 5th Ed Space Marine codex, and some from the original Space Marine Painting Guide which came with the old Space Marine Paint Set.
For example, the V-shaped markings on the left wrist and helmet of the sergeants is from the old guide, the company and squad number is shown on the right knee pad (as per the 5th ed codex for Mk6 marines). The apothecary and chaplains are based on 5th ed colour schemes whilst the techmarine is again original with the yellow clawed hand on the shoulder pad
First of all, we have the HQ sections: Assume the Spanish accent, “Eeey, Pedro!” Technically, he’s in Mk7 armour, but the addition of a Mk6 helmet from the Imperial/Crimson Fists bits pack and he’s just about acceptable. I have the 25th anniversary model which I intend to proxy as Pedro (once he’s painted) as the Mk7 armour offends my sensibilities.
Next up is the warlord I would normally use, my Master of the Forge He rides a Jetbike (counts as bike) and is armed with a conversion beamer. The beamer is actually a Chaos conversion beamer as that was what I had in my bits box. I removed the chaos iconography, replaced the bolt pistol hand with a modern plastic open hand and jobs a good’un
On rare occasions, I bring out this chap. This is a terminator librarian from 1989. Rather than the old Force Axe, he has a Force Rod which was taken from a 2nd ed Epistolery. The reason for the rod was because back in 2nd Edition, a Force Rod could hold 3 warp cards compared with 2 for a Force Axe and 1 for a Force Sword. ( Should also be noted that this model is older than some of the members that come to the club , and if that don’t make you feel I don’t know what will lol ) This is the Command Squad. I’ve never actually used them outside of an Apocalypse game, but that chap with the banner and the chap with the power fist were in the first blister of marines I ever bought. The captain at the front is actually a Lieutenant Commander. His backpack was taken from the power armour version of Calgar with the banner pole chopped off.
And here’s the WIP shot of the squad where you can see the bits I used
The torsos are those old metal Mk6 marines. The shoulder pads and backpacks are from the Imperial/Crimson Fist upgrade kits and the rest are plastic parts from the modern command squad set. The banner top is a tank icon. With all that lead and white metal, these guys are pretty weighty. Here’s my collection of tactical squads. The ones that are painted anyway, I have another 2 squads of these
And then the devastators
At the moment, just two of my terminator squads are painted so here they are:
This squad is made up of a 3rd Edition terminator captain which I use as the sergeant, 2 metal terminators from 1994 and 2 from 1989
This second squad is all 1989 models. The Assault cannon guys pose might be familiar to some as it is a copy of how GW did their Blood Angels one all those years ago. I’ve lost the little shield that goes on the assault cannon arm over the years. And so finally, here’s a little shot of a good portion of my army as it stands complete with some of the tanks. This photo is more representative of the actual colour blue as some of the other photos have been affected by the flash on the camera. Since this photo was taken, the Mk1 landspeeders have been repainted and added to the list to accompany the Mk2 one you can make out in the picture, the bike squad (shown only undercoated here) is finished and there’s the addition of two storm talons, a stormraven and a squad of centurions, all with Mk6 crew of course!
If you enjoyed this little showcase, maybe next time I’ll show you my rather more modern Nurgle daemons or if you prefer the classics, my Tyranids. Thank you very much to David for this first army show case, if you would like to see your models in the next issue please let me know and we can make it happen.
Letters from Whitechapel Review by Lawrence Arnold
A killer stalks the streets of Whitechapel and it’s your job to catch him. Letters from Whitechapel is a thematically engrossing board game of deduction and bluffing in which one player takes the role of the infamous Jack the Ripper, while up to five other players are detectives working together to pursue him through Victorian London. After committing his horrible murders, Jack must outmanoeuvre the detectives in the tangled streets of the Whitechapel District. Meanwhile, the detectives must use clever deduction and their superior numbers to hunt Jack the Ripper down before he can kill again or elude them forever.
The games is produced by the Fantasy Flight company which tells you the quality is going to be good and they certainly do not disappoint with this game. As with other fantasy flight games that I have played (Talisman and Relic) the rules are simple to learn but take time to master which I think leads to a great feeling of achievement with the game as everything is not handed to you on a platter, you must work hard to figure out the best way to use your resources but the best tool at your disposal in your mind. The game is for 2 to 6 players, 1 person taking on the role of Jack the Ripper who has the job to murder 5 women over 4 nights (game rounds) and at the end of each night make it back to his hide out which can be located anywhere on the board and known only to jack. Following the history of the original murders Jack is required to murder one woman on the first night, one on the second night, two on the third and one on the final night. This is the only way for jack to win the game, it’s all or nothing which I think is a nice touch and certainly ensures some interesting game play as there is no playing it safe if you want to win as Jack. The other 5 players are the detectives and police officers of the Whitechapel District of London tasked with bringing this gruesome killer to justice.
The board (shown left) is an accurate recreation of white chapel in the 1880’s with the accurate locations of the murder scenes marked on the board in red. Now the eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that there are 7 murder scenes on the board and jack is credited with 5 murders. The other two murder sites are those of Emma Smith who was attacked at the corner of Osborn Street and Brick lane, she survived only to die the next day, the second is Martha Tabram who was killed at George yard. While this is historical accurate which I think is a nice touch on the part of the developers it helps with the game mechanics. At the start of each night Jack places a set number of white counters with a red dot on the bottom as well as some fully white counters, all of these represent potential murder victims but only the ones with a red mark can killed but the location of these is only know to Jack. The head of detectives for the night (this is determined at the start of each night by the flipping of the Boss card) then places down black counters representing the police these are marked like the murder counters and only certain ones are marked as police officers, the idea behind this is that there is a an air of the unknown when the game starts as to the location of officers and victims. Once the black markers representing the officers are placed Jack then reveals the tokens he has placed and removes any blank ones from the board and replaces the red marked ones with the counters for the victims. The game can then starts by Jack choosing one of these potential victims to kill, or he can try and uncover the location of the police officer. He does this by turning over one of the police counters, if there is a coloured mark on the underside then it is the location of an officer and jack will know not to kill in this area, if its black Jack knows that it is a decoy counter and its safer to murder in this area as it will take the officers longer to get there. Jack is able to do this five times but for each time he does it the officers get to move all the victim counters one space, this is normally closer to their own officers. So by uncovering the location off officers Jack makes it easier for himself as he knows where they will start and can plan around them, but at the same time it gets harder because each turn he delays to search for officers his victims get closer to their protectors. It becomes a fine line of when to kill a victim to early and you could start near a police officer making it easier for them to track you down, kill to late and you might know where all the officers are if you’re lucky, (remember you can only search five times and there are seven possible counters where the police can be hiding) but all your victims might only be a few spaces away from an officer. Once a victim has been killed she is removed and a red counter is placed on the spot where she died, the other victim counters are removed from the board and the officers are placed then the hunt is then on. This is far from easy as there is no counter on the board to represent Jack. I know you’re thinking how does that work but stay with me while I explain. It’s the officer’s job to search white chapel and pick up jacks trail of clues and try to close in and arrest him.
The only place the police know Jack has certainly been is the murder site marked in red (see the photo to the right) but every space that jacks moves to on his way to his secret hide out he leaves a clue . The officers can search the numbered circles they are next to too find these clues, if Jack has that numbered circle written down on his paper there has been a clue found on this space. This is marked with a yellow counter which if you find enough of them you can clearly see the route that jack has taken. The problem is the officers have to try and find this trail to start with and it’s very easy to lose them in the streets and back rounds of Whitechapel , this is where the game really comes in to its own as a tense game of Cat and Mouse starts. Jack has the added advantage of knowing where all the police are on the board and hearing how they are going to plan their next move, the police just have to grope around in the dark in the hope of picking up some clues and hoping they can see a pattern and a direction that the killer has gone off in. This can be made much harder if the player playing Jack decides to take them on a merry dance (Something I have done many times lol ) and not take the quickest route home. This is repeated till either Jack is caught by the detectives, Jacks runs out of turns to get home on one of the nights, or Jack kills all of his victims over the 4 nights and wins , only one Jack has made it home safe on all four nights and won ( Yes it was me ). It’s easier for the police to win but they certainly have to work for it, I have played this a few times now as Jack and as a Detective and I can certainly say it is as exciting and engaging in both roles, as part of a team you work together plotting routes and strategies, as Jack you watch as the officers dance to your merry tune. I have played a great many games and I have never had such a sense of satisfaction on wining and losing a game, it’s just great fun all round. So if you feel like you want to give it a go please let me know and I will gladly bring it down the club just ask these guys what they think of it. And Yes if you play as Jack the hat is mandatory them is the Rules
Club in Photos
Mystery in the Spot Light
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With this being a special bumper end of year issue we have a bonus “Mystery in the Spot light” for you all to enjoy. As with the other “Mystery in the spot light” whoever is the first to work out who this regular club member is gets to be in the spot light for the next issue, so let’s see what our mystery guest has to say.
Please tell us a bit about yourself ? I'm 28 years old, married and have a daughter aged 5 who started school in September. Been wargaming for over 16 years. What do you do for a living ? Civil Servant - If I tell you anymore I'd have to shoot you. When you’re not moving plastic around a table what do you like to do in your spare time? Playing my Xbox, watching films and running around in the woods dressed as a giant lizard attacking people…That’s LARP not some strange past time I'm likely to get arrested for. What is your favourite movie and why? Difficult one…Depends on my mood but a toss-up between Starship Troopers (politically and morally thought provoking whilst shooting the crap out of aliens), ALIENS (you know why) or LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring (great fantasy movie unburdened by the massive battles that overshadowed the other 2). What is your favourite book and why? The Relic (made a terrible movie version). First part of the book is a detective story the second part is a monster story. Again thought provoking from an ethical standpoint whilst captioning enough action in the later part to keep the reader entertained. Name one piece of technology you couldn't live without ? Phone? Mobile internet and a contract are a great thing. If trapped on a desert Island what 3 items would you take with you? Items or people? I'll refrain from the rude answer involving people. TV, Xbox, Some sort of radar dish that allowed me to wirelessly connect to the internet…Damn no power generator…A spade, a machete and lots of rope. How did you get in to war gamming ? Friend showed me some little plastic models his parents bought him and I was hooked age 12…GW's typical target audience these days I guess that makes me a successful statistic :P What was the first model that you ever brought ? Plastic box of High Elf Archers/Spearmen (the one with 4 of each in) from what Warhammer Fantasy 3rd edition? If you could be anything or anyone from the world of Warhammer fantasy or Warhammer 40k what would you be and why ? Matt Ward…I write nonsense and get paid for it? Oh you mean a character…Matt Ward…he's so outrageous he can't be real surely? Fine I'll write something serious…Sigmar? Let's be fair in his origin story he's practically Conan with a magical hammer what's not to love?
Children of Isha Rejoice A Codex Eldar Review By Nick Jones
So, after 7 years of living with a codex that was a test bed for a new format, the Eldar finally received some Codex love in the summer. As an Eldar player of over a dozen years, here are my thoughts on this new era. So, what was so wrong with the old codex, causing it to fall out of favour with players? Well the main issues tended to be theme, flexibility and unbalanced cost, not to mention a large amount of jealousy towards their dark kin once that codex finally turned up 3 years ago. The problem was that Eldar players had been somewhat spoilt for choice in the previous editions, with not only the basic codex, but also the Craftworld Eldar supplement enabling well themed armies.
The 4th edition codex threw all that into a single book, enabling every Eldar army to access certain previously themed options, but at the same time taking away some favoured options, especially for Ulthwe players like me. Suddenly all those Black Guardians were looking somewhat forlorn and Seer Councils were being disbanded everywhere. There was also an imbalance in stats and points costs with the Dark Eldar. “Why should the dark kin be better in almost every respect for just 1 point more, and have access to cheaper lance weapons?” wailed every Eldar player in the world! So, guardians and guardian crewed vehicles suffered from poor ballistic skill and expensive anti –tank weaponry. The only dedicated transport was too expensive for massed use and Howling Banshees suffered from the lack of an assault transport and being too fragile to survive long on foot. Added to all of that, the most psychic race in the galaxy (excepting Tyranids perhaps) were outclassed by many other armies. Eldar armies therefore tended to become focused in towards just a few builds that stood any sort of chance against more modern codecies and iconic Eldar units got left on the shelf. The question is, did the new codex fix any of these problems? Let’s take a look at the codex and find out.
The Fluff Well this section of the book is actually rather shorter than in most codecies due to the fact that the Eldar have so many unit types to fit into the bestiary section of the book. However, the background material is well written and offers more insight into the Eldar than perhaps has been the case in recent editions of the codex. Even as a veteran Eldar player, who has read all the associated fiction, this section still offered some new titbits of information and refreshed some lore that I’d not read in many years. But in all honesty, I cannot deny that I was left wanting more depth even so.
The Bestiary Well Eldar are one of the best established and well fleshed out armies in the 40k universe, with a huge selection of units to choose from. 34 in fact. What more could they possibly add right? As it turns out, quite a lot actually. There is a new special character, a new generic HQ choice, a new elite choice, 2 new fast attack choices and a new heavy support choice, plus formal inclusion of the Night Spinner. Quite a haul really, for such an established codex. Illic Nightspear is an Eldar assassin of some note, but costs a shed load of points. Perhaps his best feature is the ability to upgrade rangers to pathfinders, which makes them rather nasty, if also rather costly. A great choice for Alaitoc themed armies. The Spiritseer is a midlevel psyker who not only provides access to Wraith units as troops for Iyanden themed armies, but also enhances their effectiveness. On a secondary note the Spiritseer’s access to runes of battle also introduces the option of including the benefits of those powers in nonguardian units. Following on the Iyanden theme are Wraithblades, a rock hard melee unit of Wraithguard. Beware though, their low number of attacks makes these guys elite killers rather than capable of taking on hordes. There is also the little problem of how to deliver them into melee. Next are the two flyers. The Crimson Hunter is perhaps the best anti-flyer aircraft in the game. Four strength 8 Ap2 shots with re-rolls for penetration against flyers, plus the option to upgrade to ballistic skill 5 means that even Helldrakes have something to fear. The Hemlock on the other hand is something completely different. It is dedicated to infantry hunting and literally scaring units off of the board. Both suffer from being very vulnerable however, due to low armour values. This is one thing the final new unit certainly does not suffer from. The Wraithknight is basically a mini titan. Immune to strength 4 or less, with loads of wounds and good armour, plus the potential for an invulnerable save, this is a pretty tasty unit. However, there is certainly no hiding it, as it towers over everything else in the main game, including the Riptide. The thing it fears the most is the humble Dark Eldar warrior, who can knock it down in short order due splinter weapons being poisoned.
So what are the big changes to existing units? Well firstly and most importantly, the basic profile of a guardian changed to be equal to that of a Dark Eldar warrior in every respect. Suddenly half of the army is substantially more effective and less reliant on psychic assistance. With access to scatter lasers and shuriken cannons, Eldar have always been a shooty army, but now they excel at it. Ulthwe players rejoice! Secondly, the standard aspect warrior profile stayed the same and now only exceeds that of a guardian in leadership. This may seem a little surprising to most, as it leaves little room for differentiation other than through special rules and equipment. Other than that the changes to profiles are minor and sparse. The Rules Here is where the biggest changes have come to aid Eldar in becoming more mobile and harder hitting. The Battle Focus rule allows most Eldar to run and shoot in the same shooting phase, in either order. Even Warwalkers can do it. That’s a huge advantage, especially considering the predominance of short ranged weaponry in the list and the benefits of the fleet rule on top. Shuriken weaponry has gained the ability to ignore armour saves, and automatically wound, on a wounding roll of 6. This makes the most common class of weaponry for the Eldar a lot more dangerous for armies that rely on their armour to keep them save. Monofilament weapons are also rather nasty, having gained some special rules that make them rather more effective against low initiative troops and vehicles, in addition to a similar rule to shuriken weapons regarding ignoring armour saves. Most aspect warrior units now have extra special rules included in their standard cost, so that they aren’t reliant on an exarch to access them for the benefit of the unit. Exarch powers are instead more focused on improving the abilities of the exarch themselves, which is somewhat more logical. I mean, why would a unit of Striking Scorpions suddenly forget how to move through cover just because their Exarch has died? The Eldar psychic powers are more varied and better (mainly due to increased ranges), especially for Warlocks and Spiritseers due to the dual use of the runes of battle powers. Each of these powers can be used to enhance your own troops or curse your opponent’s. The biggest drawback though is that Warlocks now no longer get to use their powers without a psychic test and, due to their relatively low leadership, they can no longer really be counted on when needed. Then there is the set of rules that has formed a craze that is sweeping the nation. Waveserpent spam. The Waveserpent’s shield is now capable of being used as a weapon and the consensus of opinion is that it’s the bee’s knees due to the high strength, high rate of fire (if you’re lucky with your dice roll) and its ability to ignore cover (but not armour saves of any level). It’s also pretty good in defensive mode.
The Army List This is where you get to the crux of things. All of these fancy new rules and units are only any good if they cost the right number of points and can be combined flexibly. As one might expect, given the stat increases, almost all of the guardian based units have increased in points to reflect their increased effectiveness. However, the rise is minimal and more than worth the benefit. Meanwhile heavy weapon costs have generally fallen, which opens up the flexibility to include more anti-tank weapons without crippling the rest of your list. To balance the lethality of the new rules for the Waveserpent, it is now even more expensive than it was before, but this is justified. It’s just a shame that there isn’t another less powerful dedicated transport to choose from. No units have changed slot, so there is plenty of flexibility. Wraithguard and Wraithblades don’t need to be 10 strong units to be troops any more, you just need the Spiritseer, so that makes taking them as troops a lot less prohibitive, and flexible, since they’re no longer too big a unit to be able to take a dedicated transport. Changes to points costs elsewhere are minimal, but where they do occur, they are fair given the extra rules gained by the units.
The Verdict Well, it’s a great codex and has really rejuvenated my interest in the Eldar, especially as an Ulthwe player. I know that it has spawned a number of “internet” lists that are considered all powerful, but I actually think there are plenty of options in the book to keep any general interested and tinkering for years to come. In my opinion, the book has fixed all of the issues that I had with the old codex except two. The Waveserpent is still too expensive to use en mass as a dedicated transport and Howling Banshees still really need an assault transport to enable them to actually get into combat before being blasted to pieces. But you can’t have it all!!
On the Web On the web looks at things that you may not know about that are out there big World Wide Web that are certainly worth a look. So let’s kick off by looking the Flash Gitz animation. Some of you may be aware of these guys and their great videos on you tube. They have down two awesome space hulk vids , it’s very tongue in cheek and pokes fun at everything about 40k and Space hulk make sure you check out the Trials of Draigo. Make sure to check out the Inside GW Video Links Here : Space Hulk 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4tmNhtf8ks Space Hulk 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOrdOl6xoRc Inside GW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zSxQnZ3TM8 Trails of Draigo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfJUi4cB4oc It should be noted that these Videos are not for the young as they do contain swearing and some adult themes, don’t say I did not warn you . And following on nicely from the last Flash Gitz animation (that’s if you watched them in the order above of course) is the Lord Inquisitor. This is an amazing animation that is going to be a short movie about Inquisitor Coteaz. I cannot state how cool this looks so please check out the links to the main site below. Here is the address to the main website, I think you will be amazed http://thelordinquisitor.com/
Link to the YouTube vid as well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7glPda2Lcc
Club Event Diary 2014 In a random fit of organisation here is what you can expect to see at the club in terms of planned events. This may be subject to change, and there is still plenty of opportunity to run extra events especially on a Saturday, but this should act as a good guide to the first six months of the year. Red = Deathwatch going on Green = Specialist Games Night Bold = Saturday Game ( All in bold = Inter-club event). Quarter 1 : 7/1/14 – Club Re-opens, Normal Gaming. 14/1/14 21/1/14 28/1/14 – Steamroller 15pt Min Event 4/2/14 – Deathwatch Starts 11/2/14 18/2/14 Start of WFB event 22/2/14 WFB sat Event as well as games with Xpress Games 25/2/14 WFB Event 4/3/14 - WFB Event 11/3/14 – WFB event Finale 18/3/14 25/3/14 Quarter 2: 1/4/14 - Start of Necromunda Event 8/4/14 - Necromunda Event 14/4/14 - Necromunda Event 22/4/14 - Necromunda Event 26/4/14 - Necromunda Event finale 29/4/14 6/5/14 13/5/14 20/5/14 - Warmahordes Event 27/5/14 - Warmahordes Event 3/6/14 - Warmahordes Event 10/6/14 - Warmahordes Event 17/6/14 24/6/14 28/6/14 – Malifaux Tournament with Thanet Club
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