Last night I took a smaller version of Khuster's Cav out to test the potency of the Libbies, and my death star command squad. It was a 1500 list, so I only took 3 ML 2 Libbies, and the core of KC.
My friend Dave brought his Tau, which included a buffy commander, a unit of Crisis suits, couple units of Fire Warriors (each with the new support drone), three Broadsides, and a Riptide. Not a bad force. He had enough marker drones to make me sweat, but I knew my death star unit would give everything he had some hassle.
I ended up learning a few things from the inevitable defeat. First, I am still struggling with my deployment. He had no template weapons, so I should have stacked everything at the line to rush forward. But I didn't, and ended up turbo-boosting half my army in the first round to get in range. I have to work on that.
I also have to work on playing to the end game. I get caught up in the battle the first few rounds, and then have to play catch up to try and win, while Dave knew what needed to be done from the get go, and won the game because of it.
I love my psykers. Before now, I didn't even touch them, because I thought they weren't worth the points. But now I love them. Especially this Librarius Enclave! I stacked them with Iron Hands chapter tactics, and put all three in with Khuster and the Command Squad. The Iron Hands get to add 1 to their FNP rolls, so with the Apothecary, they get FNP 4+ and have IWND! Not bad to stuff into a squad carrying Storm Shields. All said, he only managed to peel off one veteran and put a single wound on a Libby (who gained it back the next round). It helped that they also had Invisibility each round.
Dave played his cards very well, pushing instakill hits like my Orbital Strike to the drones through Look Out Sir, and soaking a good amount of damage to Invulnerable saves and FNP from his stims. I have to play better to my strengths and his weaknesses. I felt scattered and confused for most of the battle, and only killed most of his drones, when I should have racked up more destruction on the table.
In the end, I conceded when our time ran out in turn three. I had too few bikes to tie for objectives, and he already had me 0-3 in KPs. So it was a hard loss, but I can only really blame myself.
I need more time with this army, and I need to learn from my lessons and start winning. This army has the potential to be competitive, but not if I keep making big mistakes.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Saturday, October 31, 2015
The Storm 2016 - 7 months and Counting...
Long time, no see my friends!
Life is slowing down now again (we have a newborn this year, our first) and it's time to start planning for the next Storm of Silence in Spokane, WA. In 2016 it will be held in May, so I have a bit over 7 months to get things ready.
Here's where I stand now:
First, I have a fully painted 1850 point Khuster's Cav list, but it's been a long time since I've used it, and it has never been truly competitive. So I am going to piece it out, trying to stay with the theme, but make it more of a challenge for folks. It needs a new list.
Second, I love the horse scheme on some of the bikes, but not all of them. So a lot are getting repainted. I also have a lot of mold lines on a couple of them, so some of them are getting a second (or third) go around with some filing.
Third, I have to buy, build, and paint some new units. Well, that's not entirely true. I don't intend on buying anything new, I want to use what I have now. Might have to buy new paints though. But I do have to build and paint some models.
So what am I doing with the list? Well, first off, I have a core group of units that I don't want to mess with. They are the heart and soul of the army, and I just can't bring myself to change them (aside from required codex changes):
HQ - Khuster (Chapter Master, SM Bike, Artificer Armor, Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer)
EL - Command Squad (5x Veterans on bikes, Apothecary, Storm Shields, Grav/Meltas, Company Standard)
TR - Red Squad (6 bikers, Grav pistol Sergeant, Melta/Grav gun)
TR - Blue Squad (6 bikers, Grav pistol Sergeant, Melta/Grav gun)
TR - Green Squad (6 bikers, Grav pistol Sergeant, Melta/Grav gun)
TR - Violet Squad (6 bikers, Grav pistol Sergeant, Melta/Grav gun)
That's about 1150 points, with some options left out incase my opponents think they can get one over on me.
So I have 700 points to play around with. In the past, The Storm and The Harvester have been limited to two detatchments total, but with changes to the ITC from earlier this year, it's now up to three detatchments, which gives me some room to play.
My biggest weakness in this army is firepower. I've tried the Tau Firesupport Cadre, but with the amount of bikes I have, and the Allies rules, it becomes a logistical nightmare. Don't get me wrong, I love being able to pound my opponents with artillery before charging the bikes into the fray, but I'm not at the level to command that list yet.
I've played around with some Skitarii units, and I love the Ironstrider Cavaliers formation. So I put one into the list. There's a lot of mods to the model to get it more of the theme than Skitarii. Right now, it's just 3 models, with one built, one opened, and one still in the celophane. Lots of work there, but it only eats up 185 points (I picked all the fun options), leaving about 515 to add more.
So what to do with the 515 left over? I know I need some more firepower, and I'd also like to have some more points for a couple more Sydonian Dragoons, if possible.
My ideas, and what I am thinking -
Classic Khuster - 3 Landspeeders, Scouts, more bikes, etc. This is fun (my Conestoga style Landspeeders are awesome looking) but not really a solution. Scouts give me another Objective Secured unit, and Landspeeders give me some mobile firepower platforms, but both are pretty crunchy, and I've tried it before. Best for appearance, not gameplay.
Artillery - Thunderfire Cannons. Loads of firepower, and I can trick them out to look like US Cavalry field artillery. Also leaves me with enough points to get more Dragoons. I like this option, I will have to play with it some more. But I would have to hand make the cannons and techmarines. Doable, but lots of work. Also, TFCs are not very mobile, and I like the mobility of my army. Good for gameplay, good for appearance (I hope).
Heavy Air Cav - 2x Stormravens. This would answer my firepower problems, eventually. Let me be very honest here, I hate using reserves. I do not like having part of my army sitting around for a few turns, and I've never had much success with it either. The only reason I want the Dragoons is because I can roll on turn 1, that I'm okay with. So I'm rating this Bad for gameplay, bad for appearance (Can't think of a Khuster themed aircraft to save my life).
Knight - I can fit a Knight in here as a Lord of War, as well as enough points for another Ironstrider Ballistarii with Lascannons. I'm not sold on the Knights as units. I faced a couple in the last Storm, and it went down pretty fast. But I see a lot of them, so maybe it's time to hop on the band wagon. The downside is that I'd have to buy a Knight and another Ballistarii kit, or make them. More work than the cannons option. I'm going to say Okay for gameplay, okay for appearance.
I'll have to decide soon, and get a few test games in as well.
Life is slowing down now again (we have a newborn this year, our first) and it's time to start planning for the next Storm of Silence in Spokane, WA. In 2016 it will be held in May, so I have a bit over 7 months to get things ready.
Here's where I stand now:
First, I have a fully painted 1850 point Khuster's Cav list, but it's been a long time since I've used it, and it has never been truly competitive. So I am going to piece it out, trying to stay with the theme, but make it more of a challenge for folks. It needs a new list.
Second, I love the horse scheme on some of the bikes, but not all of them. So a lot are getting repainted. I also have a lot of mold lines on a couple of them, so some of them are getting a second (or third) go around with some filing.
Third, I have to buy, build, and paint some new units. Well, that's not entirely true. I don't intend on buying anything new, I want to use what I have now. Might have to buy new paints though. But I do have to build and paint some models.
So what am I doing with the list? Well, first off, I have a core group of units that I don't want to mess with. They are the heart and soul of the army, and I just can't bring myself to change them (aside from required codex changes):
HQ - Khuster (Chapter Master, SM Bike, Artificer Armor, Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer)
EL - Command Squad (5x Veterans on bikes, Apothecary, Storm Shields, Grav/Meltas, Company Standard)
TR - Red Squad (6 bikers, Grav pistol Sergeant, Melta/Grav gun)
TR - Blue Squad (6 bikers, Grav pistol Sergeant, Melta/Grav gun)
TR - Green Squad (6 bikers, Grav pistol Sergeant, Melta/Grav gun)
TR - Violet Squad (6 bikers, Grav pistol Sergeant, Melta/Grav gun)
That's about 1150 points, with some options left out incase my opponents think they can get one over on me.
So I have 700 points to play around with. In the past, The Storm and The Harvester have been limited to two detatchments total, but with changes to the ITC from earlier this year, it's now up to three detatchments, which gives me some room to play.
My biggest weakness in this army is firepower. I've tried the Tau Firesupport Cadre, but with the amount of bikes I have, and the Allies rules, it becomes a logistical nightmare. Don't get me wrong, I love being able to pound my opponents with artillery before charging the bikes into the fray, but I'm not at the level to command that list yet.
I've played around with some Skitarii units, and I love the Ironstrider Cavaliers formation. So I put one into the list. There's a lot of mods to the model to get it more of the theme than Skitarii. Right now, it's just 3 models, with one built, one opened, and one still in the celophane. Lots of work there, but it only eats up 185 points (I picked all the fun options), leaving about 515 to add more.
So what to do with the 515 left over? I know I need some more firepower, and I'd also like to have some more points for a couple more Sydonian Dragoons, if possible.
My ideas, and what I am thinking -
Classic Khuster - 3 Landspeeders, Scouts, more bikes, etc. This is fun (my Conestoga style Landspeeders are awesome looking) but not really a solution. Scouts give me another Objective Secured unit, and Landspeeders give me some mobile firepower platforms, but both are pretty crunchy, and I've tried it before. Best for appearance, not gameplay.
Artillery - Thunderfire Cannons. Loads of firepower, and I can trick them out to look like US Cavalry field artillery. Also leaves me with enough points to get more Dragoons. I like this option, I will have to play with it some more. But I would have to hand make the cannons and techmarines. Doable, but lots of work. Also, TFCs are not very mobile, and I like the mobility of my army. Good for gameplay, good for appearance (I hope).
Heavy Air Cav - 2x Stormravens. This would answer my firepower problems, eventually. Let me be very honest here, I hate using reserves. I do not like having part of my army sitting around for a few turns, and I've never had much success with it either. The only reason I want the Dragoons is because I can roll on turn 1, that I'm okay with. So I'm rating this Bad for gameplay, bad for appearance (Can't think of a Khuster themed aircraft to save my life).
Knight - I can fit a Knight in here as a Lord of War, as well as enough points for another Ironstrider Ballistarii with Lascannons. I'm not sold on the Knights as units. I faced a couple in the last Storm, and it went down pretty fast. But I see a lot of them, so maybe it's time to hop on the band wagon. The downside is that I'd have to buy a Knight and another Ballistarii kit, or make them. More work than the cannons option. I'm going to say Okay for gameplay, okay for appearance.
I'll have to decide soon, and get a few test games in as well.
Friday, January 2, 2015
Of Swords and Silicone
Last night was my day off, and I managed to get in some painting and a new project.
Alas, not a new army theme, but a way to cast molds of those hard to come by bits.
A quick trip to one of the local craft stores to get some plasticard (styrene) sheets to build my drop pod with, and I quickly found out two interesting things.
1) There appears to be a lack of styrene in pretty much every hobby store in town.
2) The big local game store had a mold and resin kit for sale.
I've seen the kits online before, but they are not present when I go to buy in the store. So I grabbed it while I had the chance, and went home to cast some molds.
I figured I'd cast two halves of each othe special weapons I wanted to have, and a couple bitz I'm running short of. I'm also going to cast any sprues I get in the mean time. The mold finally cured this morning, and I made a couple test grav guns, which were kinda of flimsy but okay. Seems my mix was off because they took almost an hour to set. I'll have to work on that.
I also managed to finish my D&D 5th edition dragonborn model, Whipthorn Icescale. I also attempted my first freehand on his shield, and I think it turned out well!
Alas, not a new army theme, but a way to cast molds of those hard to come by bits.
A quick trip to one of the local craft stores to get some plasticard (styrene) sheets to build my drop pod with, and I quickly found out two interesting things.
1) There appears to be a lack of styrene in pretty much every hobby store in town.
2) The big local game store had a mold and resin kit for sale.
I've seen the kits online before, but they are not present when I go to buy in the store. So I grabbed it while I had the chance, and went home to cast some molds.
I figured I'd cast two halves of each othe special weapons I wanted to have, and a couple bitz I'm running short of. I'm also going to cast any sprues I get in the mean time. The mold finally cured this morning, and I made a couple test grav guns, which were kinda of flimsy but okay. Seems my mix was off because they took almost an hour to set. I'll have to work on that.
I also managed to finish my D&D 5th edition dragonborn model, Whipthorn Icescale. I also attempted my first freehand on his shield, and I think it turned out well!
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