The Monday Post

Okay, school's league is fast approaching. The shirts are embroidered, the kilts packed, armies ready (ish) and gaming tools ready. My only problem is which army to take. Stick with my beloved space communists or try and take the Emperor's light to the farthest reaches of space? My Drake Lords (salamanders second founding) feel more competitive but my heart lies with Tau.
Here's the marine list anyway, what do you think?

Librarian = 100
Tactical squad (10 men), multimelta, flamer = 170
Scout squad (5 men), missile launcher, melta bombs = 90
Scout squad (5 men), missile launcher, melta bombs = 90
Devastator squad (5 men), 4 missile launchers = 150
Total = 600

I'll probably toss a coin on the day to decide but either way I'm sure I'll have fun. Until then, "Unto the Anvil Brothers" and "For the Greater Good"!
Ko'vash

The Monday Post

Well, first of all, this is post 50! Yay!

Okay now that's over, onto the more interesting things. The school league playtesting took a turn for the better this weekend. An after school gaming afternoon ran into an all night, non-stop practice session resulting in over a dozen games. The Eldar list I'm planning to take to school league was given a thorough going over, going up against guard, marines, nids and even my own Tau. Luckless Xenos, the club's resident Eldar expert, being kind enough to teach me the way of Saim Hann, something I'm hugely thankful for. I'm starting to really like the feel of the army, the speed and the ability to strike with accuracy and then just fade away. I suppose the fact that I've always enjoyed playing elven armies comes into it a bit. Another good factor of using such a fragile army is the way it forces you to think really hard about your tactics. I've no doubt that the almost overly cautious manner I'm having to play in will increase my skill with my other armies. While I have no plans to bring my Eldar up to a 1500 any time soon, getting a taste of what they can do at the moment (they're still a 4th ed codex) I wouldn't rule it out in the far future.
Ko'vash

The Monday Post

 A school league update

Okay so school league is just over a week a way, I thought I'd give you a little update and what's been done and what still needs to be done. So far I've finalised my list, gathered all the models and painted most of them. The piranhas still need painting as do the four of the kroot. I'm feeling a lot more confident, not sure if that's a good thing, this time round. I've rethought some of my tactics and ironed out some kinks in my army. I'm starting to realise Tau do very well in small points games due to the high number of units you can fit in. It's amusing seeing how small some of my team mates armies are. Then again, Luckless Xenos' army gets bigger as the game goes on. Overall, I think this time I'll be better prepared and I'm certainly looking forward to it. I'll try and get another update in before I go and I'll definitely take some pictures when I'm in Nottingham.

Ko'vash

The Monday Post

My Tau are really gathering steam at the moment. I've put the marines aside for now so I can focus on winning games with my Tau and properly getting to know the army. One of the main things that started me on Tau was the Hammerhead gunship and it's still something that makes me really glad I chose the pioneering space communists. The thrill of destroying a battle tank with the railgun in one turn and obliterating a unit of infantry with it in the next is still a fundamental part of 40k for me.
One thing that always crops up when I'm discussing lists with people is the fact that I use two Hammerheads instead of units of Broadsides. I've found that although Broadsides win on sheer tank killing power, the versatility of the Hammerhead railgun is far more useful. I have won countless games with a well placed submunition blast taking an objective holding Troops choice out of the game. The mobility of the tank is another huge bonus. Equipping it with a multitracker allows you to "fly" it 12" and blast away with the main gun. This is perfect for getting side shots on Leman Russes and other such well armoured targets. I usually deploy my Hammerheads on the flanks. From here they get the above mentioned side shots, but also provide valuable mobile cover for my Deathrains. The Hammerhead is also less vulnerable to small arms fire with it's high front armour and good side armour. The one key thing to remember is that your main weapon is a turret weapon. It can swivel to point at your target. Always position the tank so it's front armour is facing the greatest threat. This can mean the difference between killing that nasty enemy vehicle, and having your prized tank a smoking wreck.
Ko'vash

The Monday Post

I played a big game against my friends on Saturday and it left me thinking about Tau Battlesuits

When we play these big games, one person is designated "evil overlord" and they make as many points as they can (usually about 4,000). The other two then combine their armies to equal this amount. 

Luckless Xenos was given overlord duty and so I set about making a 2,000 point list.

The first things I knew I wanted to include were my ten XV8 Battlesuits. Not Terminators, Battlesuits. And as the game progressed I quickly realised how good a choice that had been. Okay they didn't kill as much and a unit got wiped out by genestealers but it was a lot of fun moving and firing that many Crisis Suits. 

When I started Tau, I read the entry at the start of the codex, which says along the lines of "The main Tau appeal is Battlesuits". I read this at age twelve and thought "No way, it's all about the tanks and the Fire Warriors". Now, four years on it's all about the Battlesuits. I currently have nine in my 1500 point army with a spare Shas'O but I'm looking to add more. True Fire Warriors and tanks have their appeal but there's nothing quite like popping out of cover and blasting a light tank, marine squad, etc to pieces and then leaping back into cover, sitting back and watching the look of disbelief spread across you're opponent's face. When people see that I play Tau and say "How can you play Tau?", I just look at my Battlesuits and reply "How can you not?"

Ko'vash

The Monday Post

Okay so Schools league has been postponed but we're still keeping up the list testing. Tonight I got in a 600 point game against some Space Wolves. We played a Spearhead deployment with 3 objectives in a line, pretty much at right angles to our deployment zones my opponent deployed first in his corner:

I castled up in the opposite corner and infiltrated my Kroot to the opposite side, something I would later regret.

 My army castled up. The Sha'el providing much needed leadership to a unit of Fire Warriors.

The Monday Post

First of all hello.
And now to business.
Schools league is coming up (this Saturday!), and the list (here) is finalised. I'm pleased with it. Out of nine games it has won eight, including tabling two opponents with no losses and the Hammerhead has never died.
All this 600 point playing was beginning to wear me done a bit, so I decided to get back to 1500s, but unfortunately my game was called off at the last second. I have though, some pictures of other members of the school league team testing some lists:
A meltagun armed Grey Hunter

The Monday Post

Today's Monday Post is some work in progress pictures of various models I acquired over the festive period.
This is my captain, armed with a thunder hammer and bolter (I don't see what people have against giving your H.Q. choice a bolter, bolters are cool)

 The Thunder hammer was made from green stuff, high elf banner cross bars and a Tau fusion blaster. The base model is the Master of the Recruits. The head is from the Vindicator Techmarine.

The Monday Post

Today The Monday Post is about recycling old models.

Being a teenager and still at school, I find I play Warhammer on a budget. While sure it would be nice to buy the new, shiny GW kits, I usually find I can make do with some converted older ones. An example is my thunder hammer and storm shield terminator squad (pictures pending). A brand new squad would've cost me £25 odd pounds. My friend dislikes the old terminators (of which I already have 5, power fists and an assault cannon) and was after a tank for his marines. My Predator constantly fails me in games, missing its targets, failing to penetrate, getting killed really easily, etc. We agreed we would trade the respective models and save ourselves some money.

The Monday Post

This Monday Post is about my approach to choosing a new army.

When I start a new army there are three deciding factors. Is the army made up of cool models, how can I construct a story for this army or what is this army's background like?

The Monday Post

It's Eldar month this November!!!

The Monday Post

The Salamanders list has now been finalised! (Loud cheering etc.) 

 After weeks of theorising, math-hammer and debate I have come up with this.

The Monday Post (Yes I know it's Tuesday!)

Here is my weekly post. I know it should be posted on Monday but I got back late and didn't have time to write it yesterday. So here it is.
Yesterdays game was an interesting one, the first game I have ever played were both sides wanted 2nd turn. I lost to Luckles Xenos's Saim Hann but it left me with some new ideas about how to deploy and combat mech.

The Monday post

I'll begin with an apology. I don't have a battle report this Monday as after thinking over the game it didn't seem exciting enough to right a report about. Instead I have some pictures of my elves. I hope they suffice.

My Alter kindred noble. although he's not quite as good under 8th he's still one of the most flexible choices in my wood elf army.

The Monday Battle Report

This is a battle report between my Tau and a friends space wolves. I hope to get a report up each Monday giving a brief description and highlights of my weekly battle at my gaming club (I'm still working on a snappier title).

I deployed most my death-rains in the bottom right corner of the board, next to my objective, along with my stealth suits and commander, spreading them to prevent drop pods. My kroot formed a screen and my hammerheads deployed on the opposite side of the board. My opponent deployed his long fangs fairly centrally and his wolf guard terminators and Njal Stormcaller on  his objective. I stole the initiative and went first.