Blog Wars 5 - Redemption!

This weekend saw the Claws and Fists crew attend another Blog Wars and, in my opinion, this was the best one yet!! With the recent unfortunate closure of the Eye of the Storm venue in Mansfield, the tournament was moved to the North West Gaming Centre in Stockport, more of a trek than I'm used to but only about a 90 minute drive so nothing to complain about really!

Then venue itself was perfect, plenty of space, great tables with nice terrain, friendly staff and all the other amenities you would expect. The tournament always has a great atmosphere thanks in no small part to Alex's (From the Fang) focus on keeping it a blogging community-centric event and this time was no different.

From my point of view I played 3 very enjoyable games against 3 very nice opponents with 3 very different armies; but before I give you a brief report on each game you'll probably want no know what I was taking:

Themed armies.

Warning: This post will meander and may not even come to a conclusion!

I had my first game with the new Eldar codex on Thursday and lost to a Necron list. I can't remember the exact list but it was Imotekh/Immortals/Night Scythes/Annihilator barges. It was a bad mission for me, bad deployment, I went second and I forgot a bunch of things including the fact that War Walkers have a 5+ invulnerable save now!

However, I've rejigged my list since and it's now much tougher. I dropped some stuff that was better in the old codex such as my Wraithlords and Dire Avengers but I've ended up with a much better but incredibly bland list. There is no theme to it, just a bunch of units thrown together.

I play an Alaitoc themed army, so that is the best place to look for inspiration. So what would an Alaitoc army normally consist of?:

Autarch/Avatar/Farseer/Pheonix Lords
Rangers/Pathfinders
Striking Scorpions
War Walkers
Harlequins
Warp Spiders
Jetbikes
Crimson Hunters/Vypers (I think so anyway)

These are all units that infiltrate, outflank, sneak around or use tricks to stay alive. Of course, all Eldar craftworlds have Wave Serpents, Falcons, Guardians and all the other units in the codex too, but that is to fill out not define its personality.

The thing that strikes me is how fragile the troops will be, especially with Heldrakes flying around crisping everything up. So I was thinking I could bring some Wave Serpents to pick up endangered rangers - but they can't have dedicated transports. Guardians can however...but if I take Guardians then I have this irrepressible urge to take the avatar to keep an eye on them.

And Harlequins - now there is a conundrum. They are fairly killy, although which numpty decided veil of tears should be a pyschic power?! Rending/I6/WS5/fusion guns are as good as ever, if a little expensive points wise in comparison to other units now. If I field them I will need something to support them.

I'm going to be bashing together some lists to try some combinations out until I find an army that suits my play style and has a theme I can relate to. Hopefully without losing too often in the process!

Off my painting table this week.

I've painted up a few new models for my Alaitoc Eldar.  I've done 3 Jetbikes, 2 Vypers (the models are old but great) and a Crimson Hunter. I know Vypers and possibly the CH are a little fragile and difficult to play but I've had some thoughts.

Firstly, how about Crystal Targeting Matrix on the Vypers? That should give me a 12" + 18" move then fire, I can rush down the flanks of the board and then hit side armour. Even the shuriken cannon is good for this. Or maybe a 60 point Bright Lance platform, BS4 is nice after all. The Starcannon is also interesting. Anyway, all weapons are magnetised so I can try some combinations.

Jetbikes - well, they're even better now so why not.

And the Crimson Hunter is just a beautiful model. If a little more NATO than Eldar :)

The next time I decide on such large areas of bone and/or yellow - I need a voice in my head to tell me to stop! I'm very pleased indeed with the stippled blue though, so much so that I'm using this style rather than edge highlighting on all my new stuff.

I'm thinking of running an Autarch with either a unit of Hawks of Spiders to give me the ability to alter reserve rolls. This thing is fragile but VERY deadly.

No weapons yet, trying to decide whether to them bone or something else at the moment. Also, I have the base to do, plenty of space to do something interesting...

Eldar army photos, just because.

I've dug my Eldar out and blown off the cobwebs. I've taken a handful of photos for posterity so they are here. Unfortunately I took absolutely no notice of Andrew's very good article on here about photography, so I apologise now for the poor quality! :-)

It's mainly a Beil-Tan force, you may notice some obvious things missing. No Autarch, Farseers or walkers, that is because I never got round to painting them! No Guardians of any variety. No Falcons/Fire Prisms/Vypers/Night Spinners. Finally, no support batteries, Wraithguard or Harlequins. So plenty of scope to expand it in the next couple of months.

I wanted to post the pictures simply because I was going to sell them but actually I'm really liking how they are painted - they shall be staying!

Squat Guard for Blog Wars 5

Just a quick post to share my army list for the Blog Wars 5 tournament: 

Plasma Vets FTW at Blog Wars 5!

 

CCS: Astropath; flamer; 2× plasma gun; carapace armour. 190
• Chimera

Storm Troopers: 2× meltagun. 105

Storm Troopers: 2× meltagun. 105

Veterans: 3× plasma gun; Grenadiers. 200
• Chimera

Veterans: flamer; 2× plasma gun; Grenadiers. 190
• Chimera

Veterans: flamer; 2× plasma gun; Grenadiers. 190
• Chimera

Veterans: 3× flamer; Grenadiers. 115

Vulture Gunship: Twin-Linked Punisher Gatling Cannon. 155

Vulture Gunship: Twin-Linked Punisher Gatling Cannon. 155

Leman Russ Punisher: Commander Pask; lascannon. 245

1 Hydra Flak Tank 75

1 Hydra Flak Tank 75

Aegis Defence Lines 50

1,850 points

Last Year's Squat Guard Army

 

Campaign games 1 & 2

The only hope for Armageddon??

The planet had been well prepared to meet the alien menace. Early warning signs had been heeded, the defences had been readied ... and still they came.

Demonstrating the kind of single-minded intelligence for which they were rightly feared, the Tyranids made planet-fall in areas rich in biomass: the jungles, industrial and other populated areas. They were quick to establish and reinforce a solid foot-hold on the planet and from there, they spread.

The PDF, bolstered by regiments of Imperial Guard, were quick to respond, meeting the enemy on the scorched plains to the south of the Hive City. In an engagement designed to divert the oncoming hoard away from the more populous outskirts of the Hive, a mobile force harried and harassed the implacable advance of the creatures. Days had passed with no word from this force, just an ever-present static on the Vox.