Dynamic Elves

On my recent Wood Elf tactics post I got a comment that seems to sum up peoples view of the new Wood Elves:

Ok granted HoDA's effect is amazing. However, the cost is not 30 points.

The true cost of HoDA is 105 points. A glade captain + HoDA.

There is no material reason to take a Glade captain (including BSB) other than to take HoDA. He's weak in CC, Arrow of Kurnous is a gimmick and a BSB is no help in any type of MSU army (which is the competitive only way to play WE).

The only decent Lords / Hero choices are spell casters, and HoDA on a BS4 Multiple shot for 30 points is not nearly as effective.

Now feel free to disagree, but think about your list for a second. What does that Glade Captain (or even worse: lord) really contribute? And would you be better off having taken 105 points worth of something else?

 Perhaps 5 more Waywatchers or 4 more Wild Riders.

HoDA is amazing, but the army is stronger without the one carrying it.

Now I am not singling this commenter out, indeed I encourage anyone who has a view about my posts be it a view that agrees with mine or disagrees to comment. But the above comment perfectly encapsulates the view many people have about the Wood Elves, that there is only one build that works and that anything that doesn’t fit into this build should be cast aside.

A Tactica All of its Own: The Hail of Doom Arrow Tactica

The Hail of Doom Arrow (or HODA for short) has been with the Wood Elf army for quite a while now. In the 3rd edition book it was a Scarloc only magic item, in the 6th ed book it was 30 point Enchanted Item that did 3d6 worth of strength 4 shots (it wasn't classified as a multiple shot item) and now its current version is a 30 point Enchanted Item that does 3d6 worth of strength 4 shots armour piercing shots (it is now a multiple shot item). It’s an time that many Wood Elf players take and its easy to see why. However there is one question all wood elf players who use the HODA must answer: When do I use it and who do I use it on? As I have been using the HODA pretty much as long as I have been playing Wood Elves allow me to give you my opinion on those two questions. 

While not actually a HODA we would all lime to think that they look like this

Who? 

Looking at the HODA’s profile many Wood Elf players may be tempted to fire it at all sorts of things. Monsters, Big Unis, Small Units, War Machines, Heavily Armoured Troops, Lightly Armoured Troops, Chariots. All of these are tempting targets for the HODA however I advise a more narrow selection of potential targets, Chaff or Small to Medium units. As tempting as it may be to fire the HODA at a Warmachine / Monster and wish for the required number of sixes to kill it this would be a waste of the HODA. I recommend firing it unis along the lines of Chaff, Empire Knights/ Elf Calvary (of all Armour Saves) or blocks of toughness 3 to 4 about 15 to 20 in size. The mina reasons for this is the random amount of shots, you simply cannot rely on the HODA to kill a Monster or War Machine as you need a huge number of shots to hit in order to have a chance at getting the high number of sixes required to wound. Similarly you need an equally high number of hits to transfer over to wounds to put a dent even in a moderately sized Horde (30+ models).

The Hunt Begins

+++++ Data Transmission Incoming +++++
+++++ Contents Magenta Level Secured +++++
+++++ Password Required +++++
+++++ Password ******* +++++
+++++ Access Granted, Welcome Inquisitor Malenciha +++++
+++++ Report on Parxis Engagement from Librarian Erstin +++++
+++++ Report Begins: Greetings Inquisitor. As you are aware Strike Force Epsilon has already encounter traitors in the Quarlous Sector (see my previous report on the
engagement with the heretical Pretorian 3^rd Fusiliers). After our first battle with these forces myself and my men were eager to hunt down those who had escaped the Emperor's Justice last time and destroy them. Our hunt lead us to the battle scared world of Parxis where we believed we may find information about our quarry, what we found  was far worse.

The Battlefield

The area where the engagement took place was also the location of a downed Aquila whose cogitators had vital information as to the where abouts of the  Pretorian 3^rd . As we approached the Battlefield our ships sensors detected the presence of others. As the reports from my squads came the first of our opponents were revealed: Blood Angels.

Where is The Koronus Expanse? And a Shoutout

Yesterday we had the first session of a Rouge Trader Role Play that i am running for a group of friends and having deiced to publish these sessions in a report style of post i did just that and wrote up the session and posted it. This morning i was reminded providing basic setting information would be a good idea, where were the session taking place, what was Port Wander? Where was the Kronus Exspane? Well thankfully the Rouge Trader Core Rule book has all those answers, and so i present to you the background setting that the Role Play is set in, enjoy.

The Koronus Expanse is the name given by Imperial authorities to a dangerous unexplored region of the Halo Stars beyond the Calixis Sector. The Expanse is accessed through the Koronus Passage, a treacherous but navigable route through the great warp storms that bar passage to the Halo Stars beyond the way station of Port Wander. As is true of the Calixis Sector itself, the Expanse was untouched by the God-Emperor’s Crusade many millennia ago—and so it is a realm of fearsome xenos, treasures beyond imagining, heathen worlds of men, and the echoes of ancient doom.

The Koronus Expanse in the the 41st Millennium is a scattered, partly explored region containing a few young colonies and vast natural wealth still barely exploited. Rogue Traders vie with one another for known resources, heedless of lives lost in the pursuit of riches, while a tentative attempt at Imperial colonisation follows in their wake. Drawn by the flow of wealth, pirates and servants of the Dark Gods have also slipped into the Expanse, eager to cast destruction upon the works of the God-Emperor’s faithful, living by what they wrest from dead hands, while the Expanse itself holds many secrets and native inhabitants no less dangerous.

Through the Maw: Rouge Trader Session 1

+++++ Incoming Data Transmission +++++
+++++ Password: ******** +++++
+++++ Welcome Admiral Gillam +++++
+++++ Loading report from Ensign Holt +++++
+++++ Report Begins +++++

Greetings Admiral from UCS 020, here follows my report on the actions of the Rouge Trader Pank and his crew during the first phase of their mission.
 
I met the Rouge Trader Pank and his crew at 13:00 PWST (Port Wander Standard Time). By this point they had already designed and named their ship and had gone throughout the Port acquiring gear that they believed they would need on their journey, Pank (The Rouge Trader) acquired a Jump Pack,  Jaydenicus (The ships medic and slightly unhinged missionary) tried to convince others to join the crew but failed, the Psyker Valerius (the ships Astropath) acquired a Melta gun that would be shipped to Evera  (our base of operations in Un Charted Sector 020). Finally Jaydenicus acquired a illegal Squig for the Kroot member of the crew, why he did so remains a mystery and perhaps the reason would only make sense to one such as he.

Upon their arrival back at office we had set aside for them i introduced myself and the role i would play on board the ship (your eyes and ears) and i informed them of the mission that you gave them (to recon UCS 020 and send back any and all information on the planets that lay within). Pank seemed to resent my assignment and place aboard his ship and tried to talk me down, he did not succeed.

The Exspanse Beckons: Rouge Trader Prologue

Welcome one and all to the Prologue of my Rouge Trader Campaign, allow me to explain this post and the ones that will follow it. I have been interested in Role Plays for some time and have even GMed a few. Last year I started watching a D and D series on Youtube by someone who goes by the name of Itmejp. JP does several Roleplay shows, with the first (and in my Opinion best) being called Role Plays original, now Roleplay Solum. He also does a show called Sawn song (a sci-fi show), R and D (where different Role Play systems mare tried out) and Vigil (an dungeon World Fantasy Role Play).

It is my opinion that these series are hands down the best entertainment ever published to Youtube and perhaps some of the best entertainment across all mediums. The players are all excellent at the characters they play and the interactions in the groups across all the shows are real and are thrill to watch. In addition the GMs/DMs are top rate, mentally flexible enough to keep up with what their players are doing whilst not being hide bound by the rules, the rules are there to give the players a fun time and can be bent and broken to achieve that goal. On top of that the things that happen on that show are simply amazing and simply don’t happen on TV shows, I would say that the series put out by JP and his group are better than Game of Thrones. If anyone is interested in checking out the series the link is here. I have found that listening to episodes while paint has been very relaxing and helps me to paint. If you like Role Plays then I highly recommend checking out the link, it will be worth your time.

The Bloody Road to Skitterleap

Skitterleap this year provides me with a chance to try out a new army. As frequent readers will know i am working on a Mono Khorne Chaos Demon army and have decided to enter it into Skitterleap. As this is a completely different army to the Wood Elves it requires me to practice like i never have practiced before, and practice i did last Thursday during my weekly games night. It just so happened that my regular oppoent Nicholas Jebson (of HMS Distraction fame) also had a new army that he wished to try out, and that army happened to be Dwarves (or Dwarfs if you are GW).

This game would be a big change for both of us as we both lacked a magic phase, which usually plays a big part in our games, Nick did still have some shooting power in his list but it wasn't nearly as maneuverable as he was use to. I had a Skullcannon, which is kinda similar to Trueflight Glade Guards/Scouts/Waywatchers. The game was 1000 points, Nick's List was made of:

Dragon slayer

grudge rune

thane

great weapon, gromril armour with the rune of stone and fortitude and the rune of spite

10 thunderers

handguns, heavy armour, shields

10 thunderers

handguns, heavy armour, shields

21 troll slayers

slayer axes

gyrocopter

gyrocopter

5 Rangers

Champion

My list was made of:

Hearld of Khorne

Lesser Gift

Healrd of Khorne

BSB

2x10 Bloodletters

Full Command

3 Bloodcrushers

Full Command and Banner of Swiftness

Skullcannon

We set up the table and the began rolling dice. Nick rolled a 5 on his Dwarfy Grudge thing and his army hated mine. I rolled a 6 on the lesser gift tabel giving my general Always Strikes First, yaaay.

Whats so Bad About Herohammer?

At the start of this week I hadn’t fully made up my mind on the End Times rules. I loved the lore update and liked the models but I was on the fence over the rules having said previously that I would ignore them, that wasn’t due to me disliking them that was due to me not planning on buying them.

I like to think I am a logical and rational person who can be swayed by decent arguments and logical thought and this is just what has happened with the End Times: Nagash rules. After listening to a few of my regular podcasts (most of whom talked about the book) I not only now plan on buying the End Times: Nasgash book but look forward to playing some End Times games, especially with the scenario set underground. I don’t plan on using the Lore of Undeath, as this would mean buying a whole new army, but things like the increased 50% lord and hero allocations are something I will be using.

And now we come to the heart of this post. Ever since the 50% lord and hero allocations were seen people have been saying that this is a 9th ed hint (which I still don’t buy. But am happy to be proved wrong) and that this heralds the return of Herohammer (Dun,dun,dun) which is apparently big and scary and we should stop playing WHFB because of it. But I don’t see the issue here, in other words what is wrong with having more lords and heroes on the field? Heroes can still only take 50 points of magic items and lords can only take 100 points, so its not like they got harder to kill, they are still as vulnerable to cannon balls, magic, snipers and miscasts as they were before. Yeah you may see more of them but all that means is changing your tactics and strategies to counter them. So what if you face a 2400 point Dark Elf army with 2 lords on Black Dragons, they can’t take the same magic items and that’s just less points that that player gets to spend on things like Warlocks and Bolt Throwers. And it’s not like 2 Black Dragon rider lords are un-killable, bog them down in infantry, flank and rear charge them and break them in combat, or just dance around them with Skirmish units or fast cav and pepper them to death, or just shoot them in the face with a cannon ball, that still works. I actually like the idea of being able to field a Dragon riding Wood Elf Glade Lord and a Level 4 Lifeweaver, that would be kinda cool.

Those Who Consort With Demons

+++++ Incoming Transmission +++++

+++++ Transmission Encrypted: Magenta Level Clearance required to access this message +++++

+++++ Password: ******** +++++

+++++ Access Granted +++++

+++++ Text Based Message from Inquisitor Malenciha to Librarian Erstin ++++++

+++++ Subject:  Heresy within the Pretorian 3^rd Fusiliers +++++

++++ Message Begins: Greetings Librarian.  After receiving your last message about rumours regarding Guard regiments summoning Demons to aid them in battle I was, at first, sceptical. In fact if it were anyone other than yourself (or any other member of your chapter) making these allegations then I would have them under investigation for fear they had gone insane, or worse, become tainted themselves. However I pursued these rumours and found, to my shock, that there is some truth to them. I have attached Pict Images of a battle between the insidious Eldar and the Pretorian 3^rd Fusiliers, where it appears the Fusiliers’s Psykers summon Demons to aid them in battle (These images are strictly for your eyes and your chapters eyes only, no one outside our organizations may know of their existence).

I advise you make haste to Pretorian 3^rd Fusiliers last known position and purge them.

The Emperor Protects

Inquisitor Malenciha of the Ordo Hereticus

+++++ Message Ends +++++

Pict Image from the 3rd's Engagement against the Eldar, note demons in the foreground appear to be working alongside the Troops of the 3rd, image quality attributed to Warp Energy

+++++ Report Loading +++++
+++++ Report Begins +++++
+++++ Here begins the report of Librarian Erstin of the Grey Knights and his Strike Force, and their engagement of the heretical Pretorian 3^rd Fusiliers, account begins:

After conversing with Inquisitor Malenciha on the subject of the heretical Pretorian 3^rd Fusiliers it was decided that the best course of action was for me to take my Strike Forces and engage the Demon Worshipers.

We made good speed to the unnamed planet where the heretics had gone to ground, we were alerted to this hideout by a member of the Officio Assassinorum who had been working with Inquisitor Malenciha.  After making planet fall we located their hideout with great ease for they gave no care to hiding themselves, believing themselves safe.

Recon pictures detailing the Heretics campsite and surroundings