Oaths, the beginning

Oath Overview:

The goal of oaths is simply motivation. It’s to get you to do something you’ve wanted to do, but haven’t had the chance to. I know we can all be lazy, and I’m not a shining example for completed projects. I think we can all admit that a bit of peer pressure helps you get stuff done.

I think oaths should, at most, take up 4 hours a week. That doesn’t mean that it needs to take that long, but expect to spend that amount of time. And, feel free to do it all in one week, or break it up to 30 minutes a day. It’s up to you, and how you work best.

Oath Requirements:

The goal of the oaths is to assemble, prime and paint a unit (but mostly just paint something). If you don’t want to do this, please check the Substitutions header below

You must complete a legal unit. You know like 5 CSM or 10 ork boyz. Don't go too crazy, like 30 ork boyz, or 55 Guardsmen, unless you think you can manage it. Do something you think you can manage. You can add to your oath later, if you get done too fast. And don't worry, it can be a unit that isn't yours, and you're getting paid to paint. You may also oath something that can be in the slot, like Ork Nobz can be a Troops choice, if you take a Warboss. The wargear options do NOT have to be legal, nor does unit composition. For example, you could oath 5 regular Space Marines one month, without a sergeant or flamer one month, then do another 5, this time with a sergeant, a flamer and a missile launcher, the next month.

Substitutions:

If you are unable or unwilling to paint a unit, look at some of these instead.

Terrain –
I can’t stress this enough. Good terrain is just as good as a painted unit. And, terrain is good to have. Some of us need certain types of terrain, like Jungle. Or, area terrain. If you want to play a Cities of Death mission, you need to have ruins. There’s no way around that. Terrain can be easily made with household items. Soup cans, cardboard from a cereal box and some glue can be grain silo. Or, bits of sprue can be made into barricades. If you want, I can split the cost of things like foam, paint, sand and the like.

Blog Stuff –
I really want to make our blog look awesome. This can be an easy way to complete an oath. Pick a topic you think you can write about. Be it tactics, painting, unit uses, product and/or book reviews, etc. I know you all have something you’d like to do for the blog, and this can be good way to get you motivated to do it. You could also do artwork, links, and etc.

Troops –
You can ALWAYS sub in a unit of Troops for an oath, no matter what. You have a max of 6 Troop choices, and if you’re going to break them up in to smaller chunks, like in the examples above, you might not get a whole one finished before we move onto Elites, Heavy Support, Fast Attack, and HQ. Troops are also very important for holding objectives, so you may end up with all of your slots full.

Transports –
Transports can be included in the month’s normal oath, as part of the unit. However, they can also be substituted for the month’s normal choice. Some armies are transport heavy, and vehicles can take more time to complete than regular models.

Things We Can All Use –
I’d really like to have some things we could all use. To name a few; roster sheets (with space to include all of the stats, special rules, wargear, and page numbers for a unit), reference cards for special rules, a shooting and assault flow chart, etc. We could all use these. If you have the spare time, why not?

Art and Short Stories –
I know some of us have creative talents. Why not draw us as the leaders of our respective races? Or, write some fluff for your army? I’m not saying you have to name your models, or anything that ludicrous, but I think we could add a bit more flavor to our games. Plus, it would be awesome for when we do campaigns.

Large Projects –
I know one of us has been building a table for the better part of a year. Get off your ass, and get it done! In this case, oath just a part of the project at a time. Glue the boards together one month, then drill and vanish it the next. Or, make an army box/carrying case for your army. Maybe you have a large conversion project you want to do, but it’s going to take time or money to do.

Markers –
I think we can use some markers, be it objective markers, kill counters, turn counters, or army specific markers, like markerlights. There are Cities of Death stratagems that could use markers. If you have bits and bases, it’s easy to do. You can also use paper. Whatever you choose to do, make it look good.

Oath Start and End Dates:

Your oath must be declared by the 1st of the month. (This means emailing, or making a blog post to everyone else with a suitable line like, ”I, Captain Pete, do hereby oath to complete 10 Imperial Guardsmen by June 31st, or may the Warp take and damn my soul!”) If you want, you can oath a week in advance, and start work then. Oaths must be completed by the end of the month, be it the 31st, the 30th or the 28th. On the 8th, 15th and 22nd of each month, send a picture to the rest of us with your progress, if you want to. We’ll root for you, or shake our heads in shame each week. Either way, we all know where each other is at. On the last day of the month (or when you complete your oath, whichever comes first), send pictures of your triumph or utter failure to everyone. Kudos and/or ridicule to follow, as warranted.

Prizes:
After we complete the first oath cycle, I think we could do prizes. I’m not sure how to work it, but if you think it’s a good idea, let me know.

Oath Manager:
I’m not sure if I’m the best person to put oath things up on the blog, nor do I have the time to write little blurbs for everyone. I would like someone with a bit more time and internet skills to manage the updates and stuff. If no one wants to, I’ll give it a shot. But, don’t be surprised if it never gets done. If you really want to, I suppose you could oath manage everyone’s oaths, as an oath. You know, if you want to be a big douche like that….

Extra credit –
I’m going to include this in our oaths. The oath manager comes up with some special thing to add to the Oaths. For example, it could be ‘wounded warriors’ which means in some part of your oath, you have include someone who’s been wounded in battle. These can be a subtle as you want, just make sure to point it out to the rest of us. This is easy for those of us who are buying things for the challenge, or who haven’t build the thing yet.

Points –
You will receive points for doing the following:

Making an oath – One point
Completing an oath – One point
Including the extra credit – One Point

This means you can earn 3 points per month. The person who has the most points at the end of the year wins. What they win, well, we haven’t got that part figured out yet.

Imperial Guard Overview

Getting started with the Imperial Guard:

Okay, I’m the guy who plays Guard. I’ve spent too much damn money, and get my ass kicked, but I do read about them a lot and I’ve at least played a few games. Let’s get started.

What regiment/army are you thinking about playing? Are you going to play one of the established ones? Cadians, Catachans, Moridans, Tallarns, Steel Legion, Death Korps of Krieg, or Elysian drop troops? Keep in mind, only Cadians and Catachans are made in plastic, and DKoK and the drop troops are made by Forge World. I hope you’re made of money. Are you going to create your own regiment? Or, maybe go for some traitor Guard? Kit bashing could make these possible and awesome.

Speaking of being made of money, the Guard doesn’t do anything by halves. “Go big, or go home” is a phrase I’d use to describe buying stuff for the Guard. The Guard can put out a lot of guys, a lot of vehicles and pretty much fill up a board with models. 100+ troops in one unit, 9 tanks, 9 artillery pieces, 9 Sentinels, and Chimeras for everyone! This costs a lot of money. I strongly advise you come up with a plan for your army before you buy things. Also, hit up eBay and online stores, so you can stretch that dollar that you’ve foolishly decided to spend on little plastic space men.

Continuing this line of thought, let’s talk about the army you want to build. There are two major schools of thought for the Guard: horde and mechanized.

Horde means filling the board with as many guys as you can. The Guard can fit more troops into a troops slot than the Orks. I believe that they can put more guys in one slot then any other army in the game. That’s pretty powerful. As the Guard is a mostly ‘shooty’ army, you try to overwhelm the enemy with quantity of shots, not exactly quality of shots. Combine this with orders and the ability to take a ton of special weapons, and you can cause a lot of damage. However, it should be said that this tactic has drawbacks. Assaults, out-flanking, deep striking and vehicles can really ruin this army. Oddly enough, using some special characters and some other units, this army style can be turned into a melee monster. No joke.

The other major school of thought is the mechanized Guard. By taking veteran trooper squads, you can make a smaller force that packs a lot of special weapons. Combine this with the ability to take a Chimera with every squad, and you can see where this is going. Some people want to take as many squadrons of Valkyries/Vendettas as you can and put the squads as you can. If you want to be a real dick, take minimum amount of troops and HQ, then as many tanks as you can. This is a ‘dick move’ and I will never talk to you if you do this. This army style may be a good idea, if you want to run one of the all-metal armies.

Okay, let’s begin a breakdown of the codex:

Starting with your HQ, you’ve got some interesting options.

Company Command Squad.
The command squad is very versatile. You can make them into a close-combat unit, an anti-tank unit, anti-infantry unit, or a jack-of-all-trades unit. With the upgrade characters, you can totally change your army. With advisors, you can screw around with reserves and make sure your officer won’t die quickly.

Lord Commissar.
The Lord Commissar is an independent character, with the normal commissar abilities, plus a few others. With his stats, he can hold his own in close combat, and provide a boost to any unit he joins. The Lord Commissar is the only way to give one to a veteran unit a commissar.

Commissar Yarrick
Commissar Yarrick is one of the few stand-alone special characters in the codex. He’s got a whole bunch of special rules, and is one tough son of a bitch. I haven’t used him, but I’ve heard he can be a good unit for a melee army.

Primaris Psyker
Another unit I haven’t used, but does have some good powers. Lighting Arc isn’t great, but could cause havoc against another Guard army, or against Orks. Nightshroud looks decent, and could protect an important unit on its way to where it can do the most good.

Priests
Priests are something you can take without taking up a slot. Considering what they do, this is awesome. For 45 points, you can re-roll close combat attacks. Perfect for most armies. Add the Eviscerator, with that sweet, sweet AP boost, and I can see many an army using these guys.

Techpriests
Another non-slot unit, these guys are damn near required for a mechanized army. They can repair vehicles. With their little servitor buddies, they have a pretty good chance to pull it off. Lots of power fist hits coming from this unit.

Moving on to Elites;

Ogryns
It’s a shame these guys cost so much now. A decent close combat unit, with some fun fluff, I’d really like to use them. But, with a point cost of 130, I’m not finding the points for them. I’ve heard a Yarrick/Ogryn combo is pretty good, but that’s a huge point total. Also, they’re metal, so they cost a lot, money wise.

Rattlings
These little buggers look pretty awesome. Stealth and sniper rifles is a very good combination. The only drawback is their low leadership, but there’s not much to be done about that. I’d put them in cover, with a good field of fire and just plink away at whatever comes in range.

Psyker Battle squad
Okay. There are only metal models for these guys. That’s why you won’t see a lot of them on the board. If they made a plastic box for them, I’d have a unit of them. They can wreak havoc, just like their HQ cousin, but they drop like flies. The Weaken Resolve power, combine with Rattlings, that can make units flee off the board like nothing else out there.

Storm trooper squad
I have a unit of these guys. I’ve only used them once. They cost as much as Space Marines, with worse armor and weapon skills. However, they can have a dramatic effect in the game. They can re-roll deep strike, or infiltrate, or have the scout rule. With the ability to take two special weapons, I’d like to deep strike a small unit, with two flamers. It’s a throw-away unit, but they might do some major damage before being killed.

Guardsman Marbo
This is our second non-upgrade character. I haven’t used him, but most people use him as a one-shot demo charge. He’s decent in melee, with a poison weapon, has a demo charge and a sniper pistol, and can appear anywhere on the board, as long as it’s over 1” away from an enemy unit. All this can be yours for 65 points.

And, we get started on Troops. Remember, you need two troops for most battles

Infantry Platoon
The infantry platoon is composed of the following ‘sub-units’ each of which can operate independently. 1 command squad, 2-5 infantry squads, 0-5 heavy weapons squads, 0-2 special weapon squads, and 0-1 conscript squads. Yeah. You can add commissars to the command squad and each infantry squad, as well as give them chimeras. Each infantry squad can take a special weapon and a heavy weapon. Just think about how many lascannons you can put in just one platoon. This is where to go for a horde army.

Veteran Squad
The Veteran squad is the backbone of the mechanized army. They can take three special weapons and one heavy weapon, can take doctrines, which can give them better armor, camo cloaks or melta bombs. They can also take a chimera. They can also shoot better then the regular joes above. The downside is the small unit size, and crappy armor.

Penal Legion squad
Ever wanted an army of the most vicious criminals the Imperium has to offer? Well, here you are. I’ve never used these guys, but they can be a good close-combat unit. Mind you, you’ll randomly get a boost from a roll, but they all help in close combat. This is also one of the few units that can’t take a chimera.

Moving on to Fast Attack

Sentinel Squadrons
For the sake of simplicity, I’m just going to roll scout and armored Sentinels into one entry. Scout Sentinels have the Scout rule, allowing them to out-flank. They can carry multi-lasers, autocannons, heavy flamers and lascannons. Armored Sentinels loose the Scout rule, but get +1 to their front armor. They can also carry plasma cannons. I have a bunch of these, but not for any tactical reason, I just like them. However, they can be used to come in from the side and harass enemy transports and cause all sorts of minor mayhem. But, think of them as speed bumps. There’s a lot better units in fast attack, as you’ll see.

Rough Rider Squad
Okay, in the world of Warhammer 40k, they use cavalry. And, as I’m sure you can imagine, it doesn’t work all that well. They can do some awesome things, but it just doesn’t justify the point cost. Oh, and you have to buy them one at a time. Plus, they’re metal models. I imagine you could do some conversions, but I just don’t see the point.

Hellhound Squadron
There are three different types of Hellhounds: a flamer one, a melta one, and a poison one. With the ability to take three in a squadron, you can put out a lot of these suckers. The flamer one is great for hordes, the melta one is good for anti-tank, and the poison one has AP 3, wounds on a 2+. That’s a marine killer. Plus, they’re not too expensive, 100-130 points each.

Valkyrie/Vendetta Squadrons
Again, to keep things simple, I’ve combined these two units in one entry. They both have Scout, Deep Strike, Grav Chute Insertion, as well as being fast skimmers. Yep, 24” movement a turn. For 30 points more, you can use Vendettas, which have 3 twin linked lascannons, making a perfect tank hunting unit. Combined with a transport capacity of 12 models, a lot of people use them for hauling around veteran squads packing 3 Meltaguns.

And, finally, Heavy Support…..

Leman Russ Squadron
The Leman Russ squadron can be made up of any three of the following variants; Leman Russ Battle Tank, Exterminator, Vanquisher, Eradicator, Demolisher, Punisher, and Executioner. You can also take sponsons, hull mounted weapons, and pintle mounted weapons. The Russ can also fire its turret weapon, in addition to other weapons it can fire, EVEN IF THE WEAPON IS ORDINANCE! Keep in mind, some of these variants aren’t the best (the Punisher comes to mind), and if you stack the thing with weapons, it’s going to get expensive.

Hydra Flak Tank Battery
The Hydra Flak Tank could be pretty badass, except for the fact that GW hasn’t made a model for it. Long distance autocannons, twin linked, that can cut through skimmer’s cover saves, I wish they made reasonable way to convert them.

Ordinance Battery
This is your chance to get some long-range ordinance weapons. They include, the Basilisk, the Medusa, the Colossus and the Griffon. Each has their advantages, with the Basilisk has the longest range, the Medusa can smash armor, the Colossus can ignore cover saves and the Griffon has a shorter range, but is way cheaper.

Manticore Rocket Launcher
One of the two units in this section that doesn’t come in a squadron, the Manticore only has four rockets it can fire. But, they have the following profile: Range: 24”-120” S:10 AP:4 Ordinance, Barrage D3, Large Blast. Not bad, but I’d rather have a slot for three tanks.

Death Strike Missile Launcher
Again, only one vehicle in this slot. But, this thing is a monster. It randomly fires its gigantic missile, and when it does, things go ‘boom.’ If I were made of money, I’d buy a few of these and use them in Apocalypse games.

Whew. That took forever. I didn’t do a complete detailed run-down, because that would take even longer. Maybe I’ll be doing that another time. This is just a guide for the units that are out there, and what I see. I strongly advise you to read other sources online.

In conclusion, I’ll give the basic advice: Buy the codex, read the codex, play a game or three, then plan out what kind of army you want to run. I’d strongly advise you to pick up the battleforce, unless you’re going to use one of the metal armies. Build a 500 point army, then paint it. I can’t stress that last part enough. Just look at my previous entry. Once you’ve done that, proxy the units you’re thinking about using. Once you’re sure of what you want to buy, hit up eBay, craigslist and online stores, and get what you need.

For the Emperor!

Captain Pete's Project List

I've been getting back to my Warhammer stuff, and I was trying to figure out exactly what I needed to do to 'finish' all of the stuff I have. What follows is the result. Yep. I need more free time...

(List updated on 04/0513)

Assembly list:
2.5 ork trucks
1 Leman Russ
3 ork bikers

Conversion list:
1 Imperial ‘speed boat’

Repair list:
5 Imperial sentinels (need to be stripped)
1 Imperial commissar
1 Ork painboy
1 Chaos lord
3 Chaos Space Marines
? Chaos Daemons
? Ork boyz and Nobs
15 Ork Deffkoptas
1 Ork Weirdboy

Painting list:

Misc:
1 Imperial Bastion
33 SpineSpur minis

Chaos –

Gray Wraiths: Finishing touches FINISHED!
22 Chaos Space marines
10 Chaos Terminators
1 Chaos Lord in Terminator armor with lightning claws

Flayers: Basecoat finished
15 out of 24 Chaos marines
10 Daemons
10 Possessed Chaos Space Marines
1 Chaos lord

Apostles of the Apocalypse
20 Chaos Space Marines
1 Chaos Dreadnaught
3 Obliterators
1 Chaos Sorcerer
5 Chaos Raptors

Vehicles: (color scheme not yet determined, tracks need to be added/repaired)
2 Chaos Rhinos
2 Demolishers
1 Land Raider

Orks –
15 Deffkoptas (see above)
6 Bikers (see above)
4 trukks (see above)
2 Warbosses
1 Weirdboy (see above)
1 Painboy (see above)
24 Nobs
8 Lootas
2 Meks
5 Burnas
19 Shoota boyz
8 Big Shoota boyz
3 Rokkit Launcha boyz
88 Slugga boyz (44 need to be primed)
5 Grotz (metal)


Imperial Guard – All models need to be primed, stripped or repaired
3 Leman Russ tanks
1 Demolisher
1 Eradicator
1 Chimera
8 Sentinels (see above)
2 Basilisks (1 needs stripping and minor repairs)
3 Commissars (see above, 1 needs stripping)
1 Techpriest (metal)
4 Medics (metal)
3 Senior Officers (metal)
1 Colonel Schaffer
6 Junior Officers (metal)
3 Wounded Guardsmen (metal)
3 Standard Bearers (metal)
3 Ogryns (metal)
3 Vox Casters (metal)
2 Snipers (metal)
6 Plasma Gunners (metal)
9 Melta Gunners (metal)
23 Stormtoopers, including 2 Sgts, 5 grenade launchers, 4 flamers, 1 plasma gun, 1 melta gun and 10 regular troops (metal)
1 Creed (metal)
2 'at attention' Guardsmen (metal)
12 Heavy Weapon teams (all of which need to be primed and/or stripped)
6 Flamers
3 Grenade Launchers
9 Vox Casters
11 Sergeants
1 Officer
1 Standard Bearer
1 Medic
1 Sniper
92 Guardsmen
10 Guardsmen (Catachan, including Sergeant)
2 Priests (metal)
1 Lord Castellan Creed

Sisters of Battle - (need priming)
1 Inquisitor
1 Vindicare Assassin
1 Acolyte
1 Sister Dialogius
1 Crusader
1 Servo Skull
2 Sisters Superior (need stripping)
4 Sisters with flamers (need stripping)
15 Sisters of Battle (4 need backpacks)

battle rep time

Shas'el Maen'go listened to the Kroot grumble as the expeditionary force made their way through the overgrown ruins of what must have been a village before time and abandonment had their way with it. "Why are we exploring the world? There is nothing to fight here" One said to another in their odd language of clicks and screeches.
"Because we are upholding our end of a bargain." Responded the battlesuit commander. "The Eldar have lent us certain items and books that gave our researchers much insight into the nature of what the humans call Chaos and the Warp. But these materials must be returned. Somewhere in this sector there are a cluster of Webway gates that open a route to the Eldars Black Library, we must journey there and return these items. The Farseer who lent them mentioned something about "terrible fines" if we do not."
"We are here to ensure the Webway portals remain unused by those not authorized." As he spoke the expeditionary force crossed a hill and came in sight of their objective, a cluster of 4 distinctive Wraithbone structures stood surrounded by ruins and forested patches, of greater interest were the other beings here, charging for the portals from all directions were a mixture of tanks and foot soldiers, human foot soldiers.
"Arm weapons! Pathfinders forward! We must drive them back at once for the Greater Good!

The battle to Return the Books to the Black Library had begun. This was a 4 way 750 point battle using the army lists posted earlier. 4 objectives with kill points used as a tie breaker. We are all relatively new to the game so kinda made stuff up as we went so far as having a 4 way game. We rolled initiative anew after each cycle of turns so the play by play will be a bit odd looking.

Due to the objective layout, the fight turned into more of a pair of 1v1 matches than anything else, Tau fought Chaos, and IG fought Space Marines, I (Tau) took a few potshots at IG as well but was usually too far away from SM to do anything.

I deployed everything except the suits which I held in reserve for deep striking. Kroot squad went right on the objective, which was smack in the middle of a nice thick piece of forest terrain, they would remain there all game, Fire Warrior squad occupied another bit of terrain nearby and the space in between was occupied by the Devilfish, had Pathfinders a little bit behind the FW if I recall, Hammerhead deployed as far away as I could from anyone, there was no LOS blocking terrain so it didn't matter much where it ended up.

Chaos deployed at the objective nearest mine, which was in a corner, DP towards middle of board, Vindicators on the sides and rhinos between them, there was a good bit of cover there so maneuverability was kinda gimped, which saved my butt.

IG deployed in a sorta gunline on the table edge, command chimera close to the corner, the Leman Russ, objective, Leman Russ, and Armored Sentinel a little more towards the middle of table. 

SM deployed opposite IG, combat squadded the 10 man squad and loaded up the 8 man with Captain in a Rhino, the Dreads deployed forward where they could attempt to come to grips with the IG armor relatively quickly. the combat squadded SM deployed on either side of the objective.

Turn one
IG
Started things off with some pie plates, all shooting was mostly ineffective, killed one marine and shook the assault cannon dread

Chaos
Fired he own pie plates, Kroot went to ground but lost one, FW lost one but stayed standing up, there was no movement whatsoever, this was her biggest mistake and Cap'n Pete declared the DP a waste of money (he bought it as a present)

SM
Moved everyone except combat squads forward, firing immobilized the Sentinel, Hunter Killer fired but either missed or failed to Pen.

Tau
Pathfinders lit DP up, mass firing took 2 wounds off it, Hammerhead stunned a Vindicator but was ignored to to Demonic Possession.

Turn 2
Tau won this one, this time immobilizing rightmost Vindicator and wounding the DP again, one more to go, Commander and Stealth suits came in, Stealth Suits aiming for a fusion shot on the nearest Leman Russ, they scattered out of range. Commander came in between me and the SM deployment, and accomplished nothing.

Chaos, Some moving this time! due to terrain and the immobilized Vindi, there was only room to get one Rhino out, so she camped the other on her objective, DP moved up as well and stunned the Devilfish. Shooting killed another Kroot, another FW

IG, got a vet squad in I believe, which took up position at the objective, shooting shook a dread, the assault cannon one again I believe, and a battle cannon shot succeeded at spotting and hitting my Stealth Suits, they bit it.

SM
Everything moves forward again, in shooting the melta dread blew up the command chimera, they save versus pinning but subsequent shooting whittles the squad down to force a moral check, they fail and fall back 11 inches off the board, so much for orders.

Turn 3

Chaos
DP stops being interested in the Fish and tears into the Fire Warriors, killing 3, they predictably do nothing back but do pass their leadership, other shooting weapon destroys and immobilizes devilfish turning it into a piece of terrain for the rest of the game, as no interest was shown in killing it off.

IG
The remaining squad comes on and takes position next to the middle Leman Russ Tanks kill the Assault Cannon Dread, a battle cannon shot also scatters back and kills a guardsmen. Another SM dies in the back to Plasma or something.

SM
Melta dread Assaults nearest LR, wrecking it, this was bad actually as due to the terrain there is no quick way in to the objective for his infantry in the rhino. They unload and begin trudging over anyway, the Dread needs to move for this to work though. shooting kills a single quardsman.

Tau
Hammerhead wrecks a rhino, Kroot firing kills 2 of the squad that piled out, the DP finishes of the Fire Warriors.

Turn 4

SM
shooting kills a guardsmen, Dread assaults and kills another, nothing more.

IG
Leman Russ kills the remains of one of the combat squads on Blabbadons objective, Plasma from the sentinel kills 2 from the other. And an autocannon shot gets one more. Guardsmen immobilize Dread in combat, now there is no way in to the objective.

Tau
Burst cannon fire from the Hammerhead finishes the Demon Prince. Commander suit takes a shot at some guardsmen, killing 2

Chaos
Shooting kills one Kroot

Turn 5

Chaos
in shooting and assault manage to kill 3 total Kroot, they pass leadership and are locked

IG
Finish off the marines in the backfield, and kill one from the disembarked squad. Assault see weapon destroyed on the DCCW and one guard die.

Tau
Commander blows up unengaged Vet Squad, they fail lead and flee 11 inches off the board again. the Kroot/CSM fight kills one each, the drones off the devilfish join in for some reason but do nothing.

SM
Load up into the Rhino and book for their own objective, nothing happens in assault.

Turn 6

SM still gunning for the objective, they unload the squad and are just in reach to reclaim it, another guard dies to the dread.

IG, kill about half the marines with shooting, the Guard squad finally gets wiped out in assault

Tau, railguns Leman Russ, immobilizing it, yay. The assault draws with no wounds on either side.

Chaos, nothing happens, assault draws.

Turn 7
IG gun down 2 more marines, leaving only the captain, not being infantry he can only contest. his own objective now

Tau
Nada, all shots miss or are ignored by demonic possession, and assault draws.

Chaos, finally looses the last marine in combat, securing my objective

SM
Immobilized Dread meltas the sentinel.

So, end of game we have
Tau 1 objective, 4 KP
Chaos 1 objective, 1 KP
SM contested objective, 5 kp
IG no objective,(their holders died against the Dread and the Russ was the next closest unit, can't hold and outside 3 inches anyway) 5 KP


My end game thoughts:
I got lucky on my end with Chaos not moving on the first turn. Gave me a free turn of shooting at the DP and was the difference between me sorta winning or getting eaten and wiped off the board.

I still am experimenting with weapon loadout on my commander, the AFP was pretty darn lackluster, I think I'll just take a flamer if I require anti infantry in the future.

My Stealth Suits failed me hard, they literally scattered maybe 1/4 an inch too far back for me to shoot the tank, then failed miserably at living, I don't think I can run these without shield drones anymore

Chaos was way too cautious, not much more to say about that.

IG didn't have enough troops, but the big problem was the location of the Chimera at the beginning, it had no room to maneuver and was caught in a corner, with orders that fight may have gone dramatically different

SM were also not aggressive enough I think, I always figure even vanilla marines will tear apart guardsmen in assault so if you have a chance at it don't bother shooting and just charge in there. Hard to outshoot Guard anyway. Real bad luck with the immobilized dread though, if that didn't happen, or it exploded, they coulda got in and captured the IG objective with no trouble.

No more 4 way battles though, too damn long.

Chaos space marine army list

The big battle is this afternoon, I thought I should probably post my army list before Pano kills me. I am still a noob when it comes to actually playing 40k (I have been a fan of the novels for much longer) so Pete actually made this list for me.

HQ
Daemon Prince -110
Wings +20

Troops
Chaos space marines -15 each (5 total) -75
Meltagun +10 Mark of Slaanesh +20
Transport-35
Daemonic possession +20

Chaos space marines -15 each (5 total) -75
Meltagun +10 Mark of Slaanesh +20
Transport-35
Daemonic possession +20

Heavy Support
Vindicator -125
Twin linked bolter +5
Daemonic possession +20

Vindicator -125
Twin linked bolter +5
Daemonic possession +20

Space Marine List

1x Captain with powersword 115pts

1 10 man tac squad with 1 melta and 1 launcher 175pts
sergeant with chainsword

1 8 man tac squad with melta 143 pts
sergeant with powerweapon

1 dreadnought with assault cannon, missile launcher and extra armor 140

1 dreadnought with extra armor 120

1 rhino with hunter killer 45 pts

Updated Tau list

Well, little change to the list as I got a new purchase today, now we have.
Commander
Shas'el 50
AFP 20
Missile Pod 12
Targeting array 10
HW multi tracker 5
Stim injector 10
HW drone controller 0
Bonding knife 5
shield drone 15
total: 127

Elite
3 suit Stealth team 90
fusion blaster 2
3x targeting array 30
total 122

fast attack
4 man pathfinder squad 48
total 48

Pathfinder Devilfish 80
disruption pod 5
total 85


Troops
12 man fire warrior team 120



10 man Kroot squad 70
total 190

Heavy support
Hammerhead Gunship 90
Railgun 50
Burst cannons 10
Disruption pod 5
multi tracker 10
Target lock 10
total 175

Grand total 747

Imperial Guard 750 Army List

Joining in on the army list bandwagon, here's mine. I figured I'd want some high AP, seeing as we have both Chaos Space Marines, and normal Space Marines. I'm I bit worried about having such a low model count for IG, but Battle Cannon spam should be fun.

HQ-

Company Command Squad - 50
Grenade Launchers x2 +10
Trasport -
Chimera 55
Heavy Stubber +10

Total: 125

Troops-
Veteran Squad - 70
Autocannon +10

Total: 80

Veteran Squad - 70
Autocannon +10

Total: 80

Fast Attack-
Armored Sentinel - 55
Plasma Cannon + 20

Total: 75

Heavy Support-
Leman Russ - 150
Lascannon +15
Heavy Bolter Sponsons +20
Heavy Stubber +10

Total: 195

Leman Russ - 150
Lascannon +15
Heavy Bolter Sponsons +20
Heavy Stubber +10

Total: 195

Grand Total: 750

Tau list 750 points

We have a game coming up next week and I thought I'd post my list. If there is a unit type missing it is likely cause I don't have it. The only thing subject to change is if I happen to get another devilfish in between then and now.

Commander
Shas'el 50
AFP 20
Plasma Rifle 20
Targeting array 10
HW multi tracker 5
Stim injector 10
HW drone controller 0
Bonding knife 5
shield drone 15
total: 135

Elite
3 suit Stealth team 90
Team leader 5
fusion blaster 2
bonding knife 5
3x targeting array 30
total 132

fast attack
4 man pathfinder squad 48
Shas'ui 10
bonding knife 5
total 63

Pathfinder Devilfish 80
disruption pod 5
seeker missile 10
total 95

Troops
12 man fire warrior team 120
shas'ui 10
bonding knife 5

6 man fire warrior team 60

6 man fire warrior team 60

10 man Kroot squad 70
total 325

Grand total 750 on the dot.

If I manage to get another fish before then I will probably mix up the troop choice a bit, maybe drop the Kroot and combine my 2 small squads into another largish squad to load em up, we'll see how it works out.

How To Strip Paint.

How to strip paint:

Stripping paint is easier than you think. It’s helpful to know, when you buy used models. Here’s a list of what you’ll need:

• A container you don’t care about
• Tooth brushes
• Dental tools/picks/sewing needles
• A x-acto knife you don’t care about
• Stripping agent (I’ll list them in a sec)
• Latex gloves
• A towel

Stripping Agents:
When it comes to these, there are two things that work on both plastics and metals, without damaging them. Simple Green, the concentrated stuff, is what most people recommend. But, I’ve found something cheaper: L.A.’s Totally Awesome. You can find it at the Dollar Tree for a buck a bottle. I advise you to pick up two or three, as the bottles are rather small. Regardless of what you choose, both work just as well in my experience. Whatever you use, it’s all ‘gunk’ to me. (Note: some people say you can use acetone, but I haven’t tried it. Be warned, if can melt plastics if exposed too long. Personally, I use L.A.’s and be done with it.)

To start off, take the models you want, put them in your tub, and leave them there for about 24 hours. If they sit there a week, that’ll be fine too. Once they’ve soaked, you should notice the paint is loose. On metals, the paint with start coming off before you even touch the model, but if left too long (like a month) they may start tarnishing. Not a big deal, as your primer will cover it.

Now, put on your gloves. I strongly suggest you have a few pairs, because the Simple Green/L.A.’s is an irritant on your skin. And, you’re going to poke holes in your gloves. Once you’ve got the gloves on, just reach in and take out a model. Go ahead, pick one. Make sure you’ve got a towel laid down in the area you’re going to be working in. Keep in mind, this stuff is going to spatter everywhere, so do this somewhere away from electronics and etc.

Start with brushing the model with your tooth brush. Keep in mind the liquid is going to make a film of bubbles. That’s fine, just dunk the model in the ‘gunk.’ This should remove the bubbles. Hopefully, you’ve taken a few layers of paint off, if it doesn’t, do it a few more times. Once you’ve taken off the layers, start going at the crevices with your dental tools. You should be able to just scrape the paint off. If you leave any paint in the details, it’ll obscure them when you repaint the model. Get out as much as you can, without damaging the model.

If the paint is stuck on flat areas, take the hobby/X-acto knife and carefully scrape with the blade. Good news is, if you missed the mould lines before, you’ll get them now.

After a while, the ‘gunk’ is going to dry up. Just give the models a quick dip, to keep the paint loose. Also, keep repeating the steps above as needed. Metal models just need a scrub and pick at the places the brush can’t touch. Plastics, on the other hand, can be hours of work. For whatever reason, the ‘gunk’ doesn’t work that well on plastics. I’m not a chemist or anything, so I can’t tell you why. Also, gloss enamels are going to be much harder to remove, and may need a few sessions of soaking and cleaning.

You will be able to remove most paint off of the models. Only metals, and then only with a lot of work, can you remove 100% of the paint. But, if you can take off a lot of it, it won’t show up when you re-primer and paint it.

After one batch, the gunk is going to get murky. That’s cool, it works just fine cloudy. I think you’ll want to change the liquid every 100 models or so, but I leave that up to you. When it’s time to dump it out, just send it down the drain. I’d recommend you get a cheap metal strainer, and drain through that. A lot of little doo-dads pop off when you’re cleaning, and they might end up in the container.

All told, this can cost you as little as $10. If you’re using Simple green, buying a new container, and getting dental tools, it will go higher. However, you don’t really need to buy any more stuff after the initial purchase.

Introduction

Hello and welcome to Bearers of the Word!

This is a blog by a group of Portland (Oregon) Warhammer 40k players. In this blog, we’ll be sharing battle reports, how-to articles, reviews of products, books, and units.

We’re not going to be some rumor-mill, reposting things that we don’t have confirmation on. Okay, well, maybe a few rumors here and there.

Our goal is to mostly to write for ourselves. We don’t care what you think us, or our projects. Pretty much, if you don't like it, kiss my fat white ass.

For right now, most of the pictures you will see posted will be full of unpainted models. Beginning in March, we are starting an oath system, like many on internet forums, to fight off the grey tide. We’ll be posting our oath rules, and progress reports.

DISCLAIMER:
We don’t own any trademarked items, and the items belong to their respective owners. If we use a picture that belongs to you, we will attempt to credit you for it, and will remove it at your request.
Any pictures we take belong to us, and we would ask that you let us know you’re spreading them around.
Any thoughts or opinions belong to us, and are our sole responsibility. You can disagree with them all you want.