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:

Silver & Gold and Other Army Lists

The 40kUK Podcast are currently instigating a hobby event called “Age of Armies”, you can find out more about it here. But suffice to say it’s an army building challenge requiring you to build and paint a new army over the course of the year with a view to bringing it to a tournament at the end of the year, possibly the Autumn Throne of Skulls.

I’ve always wanted to do one of these events but they’ve always seemed to fall at times that weren’t convenient for one reason or another but this time, I’ve just finished my Tyranids, my Marines are just expanding into 6^th edition and my Orks may never surface again ... so I quite fancy doing something new. The premise is that you acquire the equivalent of £50 worth of models for your army each month which is pretty achievable I think but what I really like about this is the intention for everyone involved to attend a tournament together at the end of the challenge. This sounds like a lot of fun.

The big question though, is what army should I do? I’ve been really tempted to do a Chaos Marines (Khorne) Primary with Ork Allies army because I have always loved the Chaos Marines from a fluff perspective and it would give my Orks a focus again. However I pretty much have all the Ork models I’d need painted up so that’s probably a no-go from the point of view of this challenge.

The list I’d considered at 1850pts was:

Rolling Less Than 10 on 3D6 and Other Stories

Parasite of Mortrex

A BLOG WARS 4 TALE

Strap yourselves in readers and grab some popcorn, this is a long one and it’s going to get emotional!

This weekend saw Blog Wars 4 take place at the Eye of the Storm venue in Mansfield (part of the Maunsfeld Games store). This is an event the Blog has always tried to support but, thanks to a poorly scheduled holiday, I’d not been able to attend the last one so I was really looking forward to making a come-back at the first one of 6th Edition!

I had promised that, as a penance for missing Blog Wars 3, I would re-double my efforts to get my Tyranids completed in time for this tournament and thanks to some late night painting sessions (concluding at 1:30am on Friday night) I managed to put the following list on the table (complete with 15 ripper bases – which never saw the light of day!)

Parasite of Mortrex
Tyranid Prime w. 2x Boneswords & Scything Talons
2x Zoanthropes
2x Zoanthropes
10x Termagants
10x Termagants
Tervigon w. Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, 3 Powers
Tervigon w. Crushing Claws, Toxin Sacs, Adrenal Glands, 3 Powers
6x Raveners w. Rending Claws
2x Carnifexes w 2x Twin-Linked Devourers (w. Brainleech Worms) eachTrygon

A section of the Hive Fleet

Blog Wars requires you to field a unique or special character as it’s only list composition restriction, this is something I quite like and has previously seen my Ghazghull face off against Commissar Yarrick in an epic smack-down for all the marbles (on the bottom table). We were playing 3 games with the objectives and deployments pre-set as part of the rules pack. If you want to read all the details about the tournament you can have a look at the From the Fang blog (who organise the event) here.

So, on to the games and a day that would see 3D6 leadership tests loom large in my fortunes:

Game 1 vs Dark Eldar/Eldar - Greg Pikos
Crusade (5 objectives) / Vanguard Deployment

The Baron
Haemonculus
5x Wracks
5x Warriors w. Blaster in Venom w. 2x Splinter Cannons
5x Warriors w. Blaster in Venom w. 2x Splinter Cannons
13x Hellions w. Helliarch
6x Reavers w 2x Heat Lance
s6x Reavers w 2x Heat Lances
Ravager
Ravager
Voidraven Bomber

Aegis Defence Line w. Quad-gun

Farseer w. Runes of Warding & 1 Power
5x Rangers
3x War Walkers w 2x Scatter Lasers each

Greg's Circus themed Dark Eldar

OK, multiple objectives, I like that, I know where I am with objective missions; Dark Eldar with a Runes of Warding Farseer ally, not so good, lots of poison shots and table-wide psychic defense which is really going to put a damper on my day. 

I got to pick table edge and deploy 3 of the objectives but I lost first turn, not actually all that bad in an objective game but he would get the first opportunity to unleash all his dakka at me. I deployed fairly conservatively knowing that as we both had speed I could well get off a first turn charge with a bit of luck. 

Speaking of luck, Greg forgot to cast Prescience so his War Walkers were not as devastating as they could have been. His Reavers jockeyed for position and the Baron led his Hellions forward with a couple of cheeky pain tokens and ran for cover in a ruin in the middle of the building. I advanced and took out a Venom with a volley from the Carnifex unit (1st Blood) and typically one of my Tervigons bunged up after spawning only 5 ‘gants. The Hellions looked threatening and would certainly get a charge off in the next turn so I decided to risk attempting a pre-emptive charge against them with the Parasite and his Raveners. A roll of 11 got me in comfortably but I’d be striking last thanks to the lack of grenades. At this point luck was clearly on my side because his entire unit (with the extra attack combat drugs) managed to kill off only 1 Ravener and one of those wounds was caused by overwatch fire, I should also mention that I made five 5+ saves on the Raveners. My return flurry accounted for 4 hellions and the Baron (Warlord) who managed to fail his very first Shadow-field save. I win by 4 But the Hellions hold firm thanks to a nice low leadership roll!

After all that Greg looked somewhat deflated, perhaps he had forgotten about the monumental amount of firepower he still had at his disposal, and this turn those War Walkers would be Twin-Linked! The opening salvo vapourised my Trygon with wounds to spare and he also managed to knock a couple of wounds of the Tervigon on my left flank, those Reavers were also getting worryingly close. We then returned to the epic combat in the centre this time it was much closer but I still managed to win combat by two wounds and that proved to the boo much for the Hellions who ran and were cut down by the Parasite and his 4 remaining Raveners who had a bone to pick with a Farseer.

My turn saw the last Venom over-killed by the Carnifex Unit and a slow advance by the rest of the Horde. I forgot to mention that in turn one I only got two psychic powers off and put wounds on 3 Zoanthropes and a Tervigon thanks to Perils from the Runes of Warding so I had decided not to risk casting anything in Turn 2 as I was very pleased to be well within strike range of the Farseer and his unit of Racks behind their Aegis Defence Line with the Parasite and his rampaging Raveners. The combat was short and sweet the Eldar broke, ran and were cut down, but that left me vulnerable out in the open and at the mercy of Rangers, warriors and the Quad Gun (the War Walkers could also be brought to bear if necessary).

As expected, Greg made short work of the Parasite and his squad and, now that I’d also lost the Trygon as well (who took two squads of gants with him), that really took the punch out of my army. The wounded Tervigon on the left flank fell to Hellion fire and the one in the centre was brought down to its last wound by the War Walkers. I was very much back on the back-foot and trying to figure out how I was going to salvage a draw out of this.

I was able to swamp an objective at the back of the board with my remaining ‘gants but his Reavers were able to assault into the unit to contest (need to work on my placement). Greg was able to take an objective behind his defence line, uncontested, with the Rangers and also held an objective with a small warrior squad on my left flank. My remaining Tervigon was, however, within strike range of this, so I charged in and easily wiped the squad for what I thought was a solid draw. Unfortunately I had forgotten that his Reavers were still in combat with a single termagant very close to the same objective. If I’d have realised, I’d have charged my two remaining Zoanthropes into the combat, but as it was he easily took care of the Termagant and consolidated far enough to contest the objective.

The game ended in a 9-16 loss but it was an extremely enjoyable game which swung back and forth on almost every turn and really could have gone either way. Credit to Greg, he played a blinder and didn't let the early loss of his big Hellion unit get too him. 

Game 2 vs Necrons – Michael Towers
The Relic / Hammer & Anvil Deployment

Imotekh the Stormlord 
Overlord w res orb 
Royal Court: Harbinger of Eternity w. Chronometron; Harbinger of Despair w. Veil; Lord w. Mindshackle Scarabs & Warscythe 
Royal Court: Harbinger of Eternity w. Chronometron; Harbinger of Despair w. Veil; Lord w. Mindschackle Scarabs & Warscythe 
20x Warriors 
20 x Warriors 
5x Warriors w. Night Scythe 
5x Warriors w. Night Scythe 
5x Warriors w. Night Scythe 
5x Warriors w. Night Scythe 

I’ve got to admit that I felt pretty confident about this one. Michael and I had played recently, in game 1 of the last Open War, and I was keen for revenge. I felt this list was less difficult to deal with because the Spyders, Scarabs and Wraiths that he’d brought to Open War were no more, also I managed to get first turn so I knew I had a great chance of getting to the relic with some spawned ‘gants on turn one and putting myself in a strong position early. As it turns out I was not prepared for the trixy-ness and down-right shooty-ness of this list.

Turn 1 - Lookin Good!

As planned I moved up on turn 1, putting my ‘gants in easy strike range of the Relic with the rest of the army in support and the Raveners with the Parasite partially in front to provide a screen. Michael had placed both of his blob squads right at the back of the board, well out of my range. However on his turn he Veiled right behind my lines and decimated the two back-most ‘gant units (First Blood). This, combined with a particularly devastating round of lightning strikes from Imotekh (including 6 hits on the Parasite’s squad – I took my chances saving 4 on the Parasite and passing the other two to Raveners who couldn’t make their 5+) lead to a pretty successful turn for Michael.

Fortunately his veil shenanigans had put both units in range of most of my army so I levelled all available guns at the squad with the least cover and took it down to a manageable size for my Poison/Furious Charge ‘gants and a Tervigon to charge. The combat was a great success and the unit was wiped but the Lord stood back up.

On Michael’s turn two he got 3 of his Croissants (Night Scythes) on to the board and they took no time in focussing down the ‘gant squad on the Relic and taking a couple of wounds off a Tervigon. Imotekh’s lightning storm put another 6 strength 8 hits on the Parasite’s unit wiping it. Bad times but to make matters even worse he also put 4 wounds on my Trygon which was finished off by the left over Night Scythe shooting. This was starting to look bad. The solo Lord charged back into the Tervigon who passed his Mindshackle test and put the Lord back down, only for him to stand back up! Most annoying!

Turn 3 started off with my Tervigon in the centre spawning another 10 ‘gants onto the Relic, and this time I could get it to the one at the back giving me the chance to at least move it towards my swarm next turn. Next I decided that Imotekh had done quite enough damage so I levelled as much firepower as I could at his squad but his 2+ save combined with amazing we’ll be back rolls saw only a handful of warriors dead, on the up-side I did manage to get his Chronometron Cryptek who did not get back up – bonus!

The death of the Trygon meant that I only had a unit of 10 ‘gants in charge range of Imotekh’s squad but I wanted to at least tie them up for the big fellah’s who would be in range next turn. Those brave Termagants made the charge but the combination of withering overwatch fire and Warscythes put a swift end to their efforts and Imotekh was free to reposition next turn. The same could not be said of the solo Lord who was swamped under ‘gants who were less than effective but ensured that he could not charge the Tervigon next turn.

Thankfully Night Fight ended on this turn so no more evil lightning. I’d smugly positioned so that the Night Scythes could not get another volley off ... so instead they dropped off their Warrior units, this combined with the 4th Night Scythe turning up to lend some firepower, and Imotekh’s squad (he’d veiled back to the edge of his deployment zone) saw my Termagant squad with the Relic wiped again!

I was running a bit short of troops now and I’d lost a fair amount of punch from the army. However all of his troop units (bar the one in the newly arrived Night Scythe) were in the open and I gambled to try and wipe all of the 5-man units and put a hurting on Imotekh. My Prime detatched from the Carnifexes and charged the unit on my right flank (wiping them), my Carnifexes overkilled the rear-most unit and I put a unit of ‘gants in tenuous charge range of the nearest (which they failed). The Tervigon in the center fired his Cluster spines at Imotekh’s squad and did enough wounds to knock over the Veil Cryptek who failed to get up – nice! Sadly though a fair number of the warriors did get up which meant that Imotekh still had about 8 warriors with him and the other Lord, quite a daunting prospect. At the back of my deployment zone the solo Lord was still alive and kicking so my Warp Speed buffed (+1) Tervigon piled into him and in an epic simultaneous combat they both fell ... and neither got back up. Probably not worth the sacrifice of a Tervigon given my current position and lack of troops but it did feel good to see that 2 come up on the dice!

The surviving Warriors took to their Night Scythes and fled the board, knowing they would be back next turn. Imotekh advanced and his unit and the remaining Night Scythe continued to pour fire into my remaining ‘gants leaving none alive.

The game was in the balance but with very few troops left I felt right on the back foot, despite having good table position I could not continue to take the firepower those Night Scythes could dish out. I buffed up my remaining Tervigon (with only 2 wounds left) with Endurance and Iron Arm (+3) and went for the Relic, I put everything I had left, the Carnifexes and the Tervigon’s Cluster Spines into Imotekh’s unit. Sadly 2+ saves combined with unerring we’ll be back rolls meant that this achieved exactly nothing and the Necrons just kept coming.

The Night Scythes returned but my T9 Tervigon laughed off their firepower without taking a wound so it was with a glimmer of hope that I accepted the charge of Imotekh’s squad. But this Tervigon was clearly convinced that these were not the Necrons he was looking for as he failed his Mind Shackle test and promptly killed himself.

So, end of turn 5, the Relic is unclaimed, Michael has First Blood so if it ends here, he has it by 1.

Erm, where'd everybody go?

We go to turn 6. One of Blog Wars special rules is that your Special Character is scoring, so as I have no other scoring units left, it’s up to the Tyranid Prime to show his quality. He jumps on the Relic and his trusty Carnifexes flank him boldly, again pouring an utterly ineffective 24 shots into Imotekh’s squad – they clearly have a destiny to fulfill! Michael disembarks everything and puts everything he has left into the fexes killing one and wounding the other, and so Imotekh’s unit charges. The overwatch is ineffective and a challenge is issued. Amazing I think, I decline forcing the Prime out of the combat and amazingly the Carnifex survives.

Again it comes down to another dice roll, I have the Relic so it’s 3-1 to me ... it’s a 5 so we go on! Damn!

This time the challenge is not issued so no hiding for the Prime, I pass my mind-shackle test but the Carnifex buys the farm leaving the Prime on his own for the last round of combat and all the marbles.

Sadly the Hive Mind has realised that Necrons do not make for good eating (not enough biomass to assimilate apparently) so the suddenly dull minded Prime fails his mind shackle test and removes his own last two wounds.

That’s the game, I’ve been tabled. It went from a game with only a few points in it either way to a 5-25 defeat and I’ve gotta be honest, that was pretty crushing and I had a somewhat frowny face on. I hope I wasn’t too outwardly grumpy because it was an epic game and Michael was a fantastic opponent who played a great strategy pretty much to perfection. He really knows his Necrons and is a lot of fun to play against, I hope I get a chance for revenge (again) in the next tournament we’re at! 

Game 3 vs Grey Knights – Nathaniel Gibbs (No Blog) 
Purge The Alien / Dawn of War Deployment 

Inquisitor Coteaz 
Grand Master w. MC Psycannon & Daemon Hammer, Psybolt Ammo 
10x Grey Knights w. 2x Psycannons, Psybolt Ammo, Rhino 
10x Terminators w. 2x Psycannnons, 3x Daemon Hammers, 7x Halberds, Psybolt Ammo
5x Interceptors w. Psycannons 
5x Interceptors w. Psycannons 
Dreadnought w. 2x Autocannon & Psybolt Ammo 
Dreadnought w. 2x Autocannon & Psybolt Ammo 
Nemesis Dreadknight w. Heavy Incinerator & Personal Teleporter 

These Grey Knights look somewhat "Custodeal"

No offence to Nathaniel (I know he’s a reader) but after the last game I was not in the best frame of mind for facing off against a gun-line with a huge, terrain-less kill zone in the middle. I took one look at his super-shooty Grey Knights and the table lay-out, briefly considered playing cagily around the terrain on the edges trying to deny kill points but then just thought f**k it I’ll clog his guns with my bodies and if I can get my Raveners into his Terminators I’ll take my chances.

Things did not start well when he gave me first turn and promptly stole the initiative without the need for Coteaz’s re-roll. A Zoanthrope unit vanished before they could send a distress signal to the mother ship (First Blood)! The rest of the bugs were left largely unscathed and he pushed his Terminators forward positively goading my Raveners to attempt a first turn charge.

And so the ‘nids charged like the Light Brigade into the waiting guns of some lovely gold Grey Knights.

I’ll not go blow-by-blow here because if you’ve made it this far you’re probably losing the will to live, but I will go through a few highlights. The Parasite and his crew made it into contact with the Terminators and managed to kill about 3 of them over two rounds of combat before getting punked by the Daemon Hammers.

The Carnifex unit was as reliable as ever, wiping out an Interceptor squad in a single volley and severely reducing the 10-man Strike Squad over two rounds of shooting before succumbing to combined weight of arms. The Prime was not present at that point however, as he had detached to try and sort out a Dreadknight who was tearing through the back field due to an inability to fail to activate his force weapon despite being in the Shadow of the Warp the whole time and so it was that he took down the Prime without the nid general being able to land a blow on the big fellah.

The rest is not worth the telling, suffice to say that it was all over by turn 4 as even the big bugs could not resist the weight of fire leveled at them. Another 5-25 defeat, this had not been a good day. But again Nathaniel was a great opponent, very likable chap who had the misfortune to catch me in a somewhat dispirited mood and not minded to put up much of a fight, hopefully I can give him a better game should we meet again. 

You’ll have read that Graham was battling away on the bottom table vying for another Wooden Spoon in a nip-and-tuck battle that attracted quite an audience towards the end. What he and everyone else in attendance didn't know was that me and my little rain cloud had quietly put the bottom of the table beyond doubt. So with two emphatic tablings to finish the day I took the dubious honour of the Wooden Spoon, the first certificate I’d laid my hands on at a tournament since picking up a Wooden Spoon for my very first tournament way back in 2009 at Open War 12.

What can I take away from this experience? Firstly it’s not as bad as it looks, my first game was excellent against an army list I really think was a bad match up for me on paper. Sure I got lucky to wipe the Hellions so easily and who knows what could have happened if I’d been a bit less cavalier with my Raveners after that. Also if I’d not missed that lone ’gant tied in with the Reavers I could have got a tie out of the game. Against the Necrons in game 2 the 5-25 scoreline does not do justice to how close the game was and but for a dice roll I’d have had it won (narrowly) at the end of turn 6. The Grey Knight game was a bit of a write-off but if I’d cared about the result I could have done a number of things differently, sorry again to Nathaniel – I’ll give you a better game next time.

I don’t know what you think but to my mind all of these opponents were pretty bad match-ups for me. I thought I had a good chance against the Necrons but they really surprised me with their resilience and sheer weight of fire-power, I need more practice against what is surely one of the more powerful Codices at this point in 6th.

I think the list is OK as it is, I’ll probably tweak it but it’s going to be hard to get rid of the Carnifexes because in 6 tournament games (Open War & Blog Wars) they have been nothing short of amazing. The Trygon was fantastic in Open War but did exactly nothing in any of these games also I think that Crushing Claws on the Tervigons is probably not worth the points. They can be fantastic but I really didn’t get the opportunity to use them enough for me to really think I’ll miss them to save 50pts.

The Zoanthropes were definitely a total bust, I can see the reason why some people like them but I had no luck getting them the powers they need to be force multipliers. In game 2, between the four of them I had Smite, Warp Speed, Iron Arm, Life Leech and a single Enfeeble, likewise in game 3 where one unit had Smite x2, Haemorage and Life Leech. The fact of the matter is that if you pull the less useful powers with the frequency that I seem to get them, you really start questioning why you are spending 240pts on two units of 2! In the future I’m going to drop them and rely on the Monstrous Psykers to buff themselves.

Lastly, the Parasite and the Raveners. I like both of these because you just don’t see them. I can’t deny that Gargoyles are simply better point for point than Raveners but I’m going to stick with them, at least until I’ve painted 20 Gargoyles! The Parasite’s problem is that I could have a Flying Hive Tyrant instead of him and I’m really struggling justifying not doing this to myself. I really like him in theory but I forgot about the toughness tests in the heat of battle so my 15 ripper bases stayed quietly in my case for the entire tournament. Though, to be honest the only game where this would have come significantly into play was game 1.

So, all in all expect a few small changes for the next tournament but by-and-large I am happy with the army and I’m not going to over-react to what was something of a “bad day at the office”! 

Roll on Blog Wars 5!

Thinking about Throne of Skulls - Reader input wanted

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what army I want to take to the July Throne of Skulls. Since my first Tournament over two years ago I haven't deviated from taking Wolves to a tournament and they have all been pretty samey, Rune Priests, Grey Hunters, Long Fangs, Rhinos. Its getting a bit boring if I'm honest.

So I have been thinking about two other options, the first being Grey Knights
so pros and cons
Pros

•  I have the majority of the models that I need for the list - some purchases would be required but it would be a lot cheaper than starting a whole new force
• They are one of the if not THE most competitive forces in the game at the moment and while it is considered a more friendly tournament I still want to try my best to win all my games (also I have a reputation to keep up as the worse thing about 40K :-) )
• They excel against the armies that I often struggle the most against which are nids and daemons
• They are in essence marines so I have experience in playing at least similar armies
• There are a lot of options for armies out of the codex and the vast majority of them are competitive

Cons

• They are marines so are they really the different army that I crave. I have always been driven by my love of the fluff as I have said many times on here but with the rumours of 6th and Chaos Legions I certainly plan on doing a Word Bearers force so that would take me to three Power Armour lists 
•  There will more than likely be more Grey Knight forces than any other which makes it more difficult to win a prize and certainly more difficult to win the whole thing.
• The list I plan on taking with the models I have in order to keep the cost low would be considered cheesy as ****

Heres the list for your perusal

Coteaz
Xenos Inquisitor - Rad and Psykotroke Grenades

1 Ven Psyfleman
1 Vindicaire
6 Purifiers 4 Halberds, 2 Psycannons 1 Rhino

4 3 man acolyte squads in Psybacks
1 5 man Death Cult Assasin Squad in a Psyback

3 Psyflemans

Its certainly a nasty list
16 Twin linked strength 8 shots
15 Twin linked strength 6 shots
2 Psycannons and plenty of heavy hitting from the death cult and Purifier squads

So the other thought is Necrons
Now I have no experience with the army, I still haven't played them or used them so it makes it difficult. I do know from reading blogs that they are a army that while good are hard to master. I also no from my own experiences of winter TOS and reading the break down of armies at the Spring one that there wasn't many Necron armies

So Pros

• They are brand new army for me, it will a completely different mindset and a challenge to get ready for it in time
• They will be fun to paint and model. The Airbrush will take much of the arduous task of undercoating them away and there are a lot of modelling opportunities with them.
• They are still a good army, a lot of people are having successes with them in tournaments

Cons

• I have no Necron models and it would be a fairly large investment of time and money to get them ready
• It would require some serious practise games in the coming weeks
• It might be difficult to get in the mindset of a new army

The list I have been thinking about starting with and then modifying as I look into the play style comes courtesy of Venerable Brother on the Sons of Sanguinius Blog and can be found here.

It consists of

Overlord - Warscythe, Mindshackle Scarabs, Command Barge - Gauss Cannon

Overlord - Warscythe, Mindshackle Scarabs, Command Barge - Gauss Cannon

Royal Court - 1 x Pulse

Royal Courts - 1 x Pulse and 1 x Veil

10 x Immortals, Gauss

5 x Warriors

5 x Warriors

5 x Warriors

5 x Warriors

8 x Scarabs

8 x Scarabs

Annihilation Barge

Annihilation Barge

Annihilation Barge

My big worry with this list is lack of heavy and consistent Anti tank, I've read over the codex entries a number of times and although I know other than Scarabs necrons can pop transports I just find it difficult to see. It is 5 AV 13 vehicles which is never nice to face at 1500 points.

My main thing is thinking would I mind facing this list with my Wolves, I wouldn't like it because I don't know enough about it but seeing those Warriors out in the open I'm not sure if I would dread it. Perhaps that is just the mindset I am in after all this time playing Marines that sit in their metal pill boxes and try and make it through the early turns.

I am really unsure on what to do readers and fellow bloggers, something new or something old? Would love your advice.

Monday Musings

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Sid

Kevin the Knight that is...

So, the Grey Knights won Adepticon and yay, there was a great gnashing of teeth in the 40K community and wails that they are overpowered and/or underpriced. Are they? Personally, I can't see it. In some ways, they are better than other Marines - Storm Bolters, Power Weapons (with the potential to become S5 and/or I6), unshakeable/unstunable vehicles, S8 Autocannon Dreads and ker-azy grenades. However, they're not a perfect army by any standards - lack of AP1, lack of range (Autocannon Dreads apart), reliance on psychic powers.

Basically tho, if you can beat Marines, then you can beat Grey Knights and you don't hear anyone complaining about Marines. Will GK popularity be a fad like "Leafblower" was? Well, I guess that depends on what 6th edition and the next codex brings...

The Future - Random Psychic Powers

Zarjazz

So, the latest 6th ed rumours are that 40K will be brought into line with WFB with regards to psychic powers. In WFB, you randomly select magic spells prior to each game. What would this mean for your Rune Priest? Well, it could mean that you've wasted 100+ points. Imagine drawing Thunderclap and Fury of the Wolf Spirits. Or how about Jaws of the World Wolf against Dark Eldar? Useful. It could well be the death of the Rune Priest. However, that's exactly why GW might do it. Everyone already has at least one Rune Priest model, here's a chance to sell something different.

Personally, I'd rather see the GK mechanic expanded so that you get a power for free and can then buy as many extra ones as you like for 5 points a power.

Sorry, a rather short Monday Musings this week. What do you guys make of Grey Knights? Any little tricks you've picked up for beating them. What do you think of randomly selecting psychic powers? What would be the "lore spell" for the Space Wolves? Maybe Stormcaller, like in 3rd ed...

Arena Of Death - Castellan Crowe vs Duke Sliscus

That's "Duke" Sliscus, savvy?

Time to return to the Arena Of Death, to pit these two 150 point characters against each other...

Pre-fight: Rather than rolling three times for The Duke's Combat Drugs, I'm going to do it just the once and apply to all rounds. A 5 and a 3 give him the choice of +1S or +1A. Since he wounds on 2s anyway, I'll go with Adrenalight; +1 attack.

Round 1 - Crowe on the Charge

Garran snapped off two shots from his Storm Bolter as he charged at Sliscus. One hit but it failed to wound as Crowe prepared his Rapier Strike. A 3 on the D3 gave him 4 I10 attacks. Two hit and a rending wound was caused. However, The Serpent's Shadow Field was equal to it. Despite having 5 attacks, Sliscus failed to hit Crowe. The Brotherhood Champion of the Purifier Order again dropped into the Rapier Strike stance.With just two attacks this time, he still managed to hit twice. Again, thanks to his skill as a Master Swordsman the hit was a rending one and Sliscus's Shadow Field couldn't save him this time. Wounded and without his protective shield, The Duke struck back. However, three hits and two wounds just bounced straight off Crowe's Artificer Armour. Still in the Rapier Strike stance, Crowe scored three hits. These translated into two wounds, one of which was rending. Only Sliscus's Ghostplate Armour could save him now... The regular wound was saved but needing a 6 on the invulnerable, could only manage a 3, putting The Serpent down.

Round 2 - Sliscus on the Charge

Slowly, deliberately, The Duke pulled his Blast Pistol from the holster. His aim was true and Castellan Crowe's Iron Halo wasn't up to the task of saving him. The Serpent had just claimed the record for fastest kill in the Arena of Death.

Round 3 - No Charge Bonus

Dropping into his favoured Rapier Strike stance, Crowe struck first. Two attacks, two rending hits. Both saved by the Shadow Field. From three hits back, The Duke could only wound once but it got past Crowe's armour. The pain was clearly getting to Garran as he failed to wound with either of his two hits. The Duke managed two further wounds and again, Crowe's Artificer Armour let him down. With the last of his strength, he attempted an Heroic Sacrifice. He passed the Leadership test with ease and then, needing just a 3, rolled a 5 to give us the first ever draw in the Arena of Death 

A draw? How about that? Some incredible dice rolls in round 3 there, including thee 1s out of four rolls at one point. Maybe Mick is right about these C&F dice being cursed (I knew that we shouldn't have made them out of albatross bone) Round 2 was also a bit of a damp squib as we didn't get to see effects of The Blade of Antwyr. From what I've seen though, neither of these characters are out and out combat monsters. With Crowe, you'd need to get him into a decent sized squad in order to maximise attacks with Sword Storm for him to really do anything and them you just run the rick of him being dragged down by weight of numbers. It seems like he really is just a tax so that you can take Purifiers as troops. Sliscus on the other hand is pretty survivable with his 2++ save and he could tip a combat with his numerous poisoned attacks. However, he is going to need back-up. Much like Crowe, he's more about what he brings to the rest of the army; you can build a pretty good list around his Combat Drug bonus and having free Deep Strike options on your vehicles. Plus, he's a pirate and pirates are cool.

Crowe? The Serpent? Come and sit by the hearth-side and tell us tales of derring-do where you've used either of these characters...

Arena Of Death - Draigo vs Dante

If he dies, he dies - Dra(i)go

Welcome back to the Arena of Death; it's been a while! Since it's been so long we'll have a quick re-cap of the concept. Two 40K characters enter the Arena of Death and only one leaves. We roll real life dice to determine the winner rather than mathammering it. We have three rounds so each character gets the chance to charge with the deciding round conferring no charge bonus. We also don't deal with petty things like combat resolution. So, without further ado, let's head off to the Arena...

Round 1 - Draigo on the charge

Kaldor raised the Titansword to acknowledge the crowd before levelling his Storm Bolter and beginning his charge. Two hits would have caused a Wound if not for Dante's Artificer Armour. As they clashed, it was Dante who swung first. However, even after a Master-Crafted re-roll he could only hit once and even then he failed to wound his tougher opponent. Striking back Draigo cast Hammerhand successfully. However, Draigo's response was equally poor, again only hitting once. Then, needing only 2s to wound, he failed. Dante then manged to hit but still couldn't wound. Draigo saw his chance. He hit with two of his three attacks and wounded with both. One was saved by Dante's Iron Halo but the other got through. The Grey Knight closed his eyes and muster his concentration. The power of the warp flowed down his Force Weapon and claimed Dante's life.

Round 2 - Dante on the Charge

Dante's Infernus Pistol spoke death but, despite hitting and wounding, it bounced off Draigo's Storm Shield. Hitting with four of his six attacks, Dante caused two wounds, one of which got past Draigo's Storm Shield. Striking back Draigo cast Hammerhand successfully and managed to ignore Dante's Death Mask (although it had already reduced him by 1 in terms of WS, W, I & A) He needed his Master-Crafting to manage even a single hit although it did would until deflected by Dante's Iron Halo. Dante caused three more hits but again couldn't wound. Draigo could see another opening. Two hits caused two wounds and neither could be stopped. Lord Kaldor Draigo again used the Emperor's Gift and put down Dante permanently.


Conclusions

Okay, first an admission. I assumed that Dante has Eternal Warrior when I picked the combatants for the Arena. If he had then his Deathmask of Sanguinius would have been a real equaliser here. As it was, we saw how poor Strength 4 Power Weapons can be (especially against T5) Having said that, Dante is probably going to make mincemeat of most regular squads and a lot of Independent Characters with his magic mask. Similarly, Draigo with easily obtainable S6 is going to do a lot of damage and WS7, T5, 2+, 3++ means he's not going to take much in return. The other thing about these characters is the army builds that they unlock - Paladin troops and Sanguinary Guard troops.

Anybody used either of these guys much? We'd love to hear your stories below the line...

The Knights of Ni

We want... a shrubbery

2+ is the new black

So, here is my Grey Knight list of 2+ goodness (oh, and don't worry Kirby, we all know that 3++ is really the new black)

HQ
Librarian, Sanctuary, Shrouding, Warp Rift, 3 Servo Skulls

Troops
10 Terminators, 2 Psycannons, Nemesis Warding Stave
10 Terminators, 2 Psycannons, Nemesis Warding Stave

Heavy Support
Nemesis Dreadknight,  Heavy Psycannon
Nemesis Dreadknight,  Heavy Psycannon
Nemesis Dreadknight,  Heavy Psycannon

That comes to 1630, so not quite enough to fit in an assassin. Instead, let's pimp up the units a bit. Psybolt ammo adds a bit extra shooting punch to the Terminators and a Brotherhood Banner gives everyone in the unit +1 attack and lets you automatically activate your Force Weapons (handy against all that 3D6 Eldar/Tyranid nonsense)

We shouldn't leave the Librarian out of this, so let's give him some shiny stuff too. A Master-Crafted Halberd, Digital Weapons, Psybolt ammo, The Quickening and Might of Titan use up the remaining points nicely. Okay, so the list in full...


HQ
Librarian, Sanctuary, Shrouding, Warp Rift, Quickening, Might of Titan, Master-Crafted Halberd, Psybolt Ammo, Digital Weapons, 3 Servo Skulls

Troops
10 Terminators, 2 Psycannons, Nemesis Warding Stave, Brotherhood Banner, Pysbolt Ammo
10 Terminators, 2 Psycannons, Nemesis Warding Stave, Brotherhood Banner, Psybolt Ammo

Heavy Support
Nemesis Dreadknight,  Heavy Psycannon
Nemesis Dreadknight,  Heavy Psycannon
Nemesis Dreadknight,  Heavy Psycannon

Pros

2+ - it's a big f-you to all the missile spam out there
Versatile - it's a list that's good at shooting and combat. Plus since everything can reliably Deep Strike using the Servo Skulls, it's got some good deployment options.
Cheap - it comes to about £175 from Dark Sphere 

Cons
Small - every guy who dies is keenly felt
Unfocused - The Dreadknights look cool and fit into the "2+" theme but would more Terminators be better? The Librarian with his grab-bag of powers also feels a little unfocused.

Terminator options

I'm also a little unsure of how to arm the Terminators. Currently I'm thinking

2x Storm Bolter/Sword
2x Storm Bolter/Halberd
2x Storm Bolter/Hammer
Psycannon/Sword
Psycannon/Halberd
Storm Bolter/Stave
Storm Bolter/Banner

Although I'm not sure what to give the Justicar. I really good at failing psychic tests so he's probably going to die quite quickly and I don't know whether I'd be better losing a Sword, a Halberd or a Hammer...

What do you think, could this list work? How would you arm the Terminators? What order would you take wounds on the squad?

We Eat Ham and Jam and SPAM-a-lot

During the break for lunch at Open War this weekend we got to discussing a silly Grey Knight list

and Keith (my game 2 opponent) said he expected to see it up on the blog this week, I don't like top let people down so here it is for your consideration:

HQ

Coteaz

Ordo Xenos Inquisitor (Rad Grenades, Lvl 1 Psychic Mastery w. Hammerhand)

TROOPS

2x 5-man Death Cult Assassin Squads

4x 3-man Warrior Acolyte Squads

FAST ATTACK

3x Storm Raven (TL Multi-Melta, TL Lascannon)

HEAVY SUPPORT

2x Land Raider

Land Raider Redeemer (Multi-Melta)

Pretty straightforward, Coteaz and the other Inquisitor go with the DCA squads, one in a Storm Raven, the other in the Redeemer. They plough forward in hope that they can take out something important. The other Squads hang out in the other four vehicles and add to the fire support and take objectives as necessary.

It's simple and could be very nasty if you can keep the Storm Ravens alive. If they get taken out early then you're in trouble. Simples.

It's a silly list that could cause problems for certain builds but is just as likely to be quickly taken to bits by others. I'd be interested to hear your feedback on it, I may try and make this a regular topic posting a list that's silly but possibly fun for your comments.

Monday Musings

The Future

I've seen the future man, it's murder

So, technically, I'm supposed to be saving up for a new house and a wedding. However, that hasn't stopped me thinking about buying some new toy soldiers. Reading all the new Necron rumours over at Faeit 212 this week has got me really excited about the new Necrons. However, then there's the Dark Elder which I'm still in love with. And then there's the Grey Knights. I really want to do a pre-heresy Thousand Sons army "counts as" Grey Knights. I either want to run a "2+" list with Terminators and Dreadknights as a f-you to the missile spam around at the moment or I'd write a piece of fluff about Magnus giving one of his sons a powerful, mystical sword to protect and then run a Purifier list.

Blogging

And I hope you like blogging too

Some exciting things happening at the blog this week (please note that excitement is relative, C&F can not be held responsible if you do not get excited by this week's content) There's a new feature on friday called, "Deep Thought" which will become semi-regular. I'm also going to start my long awaited (by me at least) Space Wolf "codex review" It will have all of the standard things like unit reviews and some more esoteric things too. All of it will be based on my practical experiences of playing the Space Wolves rather than what's good in theory.

We also see the return of the 10 week challenge. Now, this was an idea I had with the aim of becoming a better player - pick a list and stick with it for 10 games. The aim is to get to know the army inside out. I've been inspired to restart this by Dave with his triple Vindicator list which doesn't look optimal on paper but works because he's know it like the back of his hand.

Oh and I should hopefully finally get round to writing up Day 2 of the GW 40K doubles. I've been shamed by the speed that Mick and Andy have got their Ope War tournament reports up so I think I should finish that off since it was nearly two months ago now!!

Any thoughts about which second army I should start? Is there anything that you'd like to see on the blog that we don't do at the moment?

Open War 16 Recap - Game 2

Game 2 vs Grey Knights

HQ

Grand Master

ELITE

10-man Purifier Squad (Halberds, 2x Psycannons, Daemonhammer) in Rhino

TROOP

5-man Strike Squad (Psycannon) in Razorback w. Psybolt Ammo

2x 5-man Terminator Squad (Hammer, Psycannon, Halberds)

FAST ATTACK

Storm Raven (TL Multi Melta, TL Assault Cannon, Psybolt Ammo)

HEAVY SUPPORT

Land Raider

Dreadnought (Assault Cannon, Psybolt Ammo)

Another familiar face playing Grey Knights lined up across the table from me. Keith has been playing Grey Knights since they were Daemon Hunters and, in fact, he beat me with them the last time we played so I was out for revenge!

The mission was table quarters with a pitched battle deployment, I won first turn and picked a board edge with some elevation for my tanks and artillery. First turn was Dawn of War so I pushed forward with my units to take the centre of the table early, Keith sent his strike squad and a unit of Terminators in the Land Raider down my right flank, leaving his unit of Purifiers to hold the middle of his deployment zone.

I managed to crack the Razorback open and the Thunderfire Cannon gave it's usual love to the squishy contents and this time it would not be denied by armour saves. A single Gery Knight was left standing to be dispatched by a tactical combat squad a turn later.

Over on the left side of the board Keith's Storm Raven had arrived and disgorged it's Dreadnought and Terminator squad next to my Assault Terminators and Plasma-backs. The GKTs were dispatched with relative ease by the Assault Terminators and the Storm Raven was quickly immobilised and stun-locked (thanks to some awesome Psychic Hood action from my Librarian) until it was eventually wrecked a few turns later. The Dread caused a bit more trouble wrecking both Razorbacks before it fell to one of my Speeders.

My Assault Terminators gated off to take on the Purifiers (who they ended up wiping) and my combat squads on the left moved to secure the two quarters there. My right table quarter however, was where the game would be decided. His GM and Terminator Squad were behind a building deep in my deployment zone supported by the Land Raider with good LoS to my units. I had positioned my Preds and Speeders to protect the combat squad I had contesting the quarter, to the point where I didn't think Keith had a line of sight to them. Rather brilliantly though, Keith managed to get a shot on them with his Terminators, he killed two and they failed their leadership test fleeing off the table and giving Keith the quarter. Final score 17-13 WINNING DRAW

Last game report, same time tomorrow!

Open War 16 Recap – Game 1

This weekend was Open War 16, and since my wooden spoon performance back in Open War 12, I've been a real fan of the event. This year the usual suspects of Epic and Fantasy Battle were represented alongside 40k but the 40k numbers were down pretty significantly from last year, due in no small part to a little tournament called Throne of Skulls which was also being held this weekend. Despite the slightly lower numbers than usual, the Tournamnet was a great success with the usual high standard of play and sportsmanship I've come to expect. On with the details!

My list:

HQ

Librarian (TDA, SS w. Null Zone &Gate of Infinity)

ELITE

2x Dreadnought (2x TL Autocannon)

7-man Terminator Assault Squad (2xTHSS, 2x LC)

TROOPS

10-man Tactical Squad (Meltagun,Multi-Melta, Combi-Melta) in a Rhino

2x 5-man Tactical Squad in Razorback(TL, Plasmagun, Lascannon)

FAST ATTACK

Land Speeder (Heavy Bolter, TyphoonMissile Launcher)

Land Speeder (Multi-Melta TyphoonMissile Launcher)

HEAVY SUPPORT

2x Predators (Autocannon 2x Lascannon)

Thunderfire Cannon

Game 1 vs Grey Knights

HQ

Grand Master w. Psych-o-joke and RadGrenades and MC Psycannon

Librarian w. MoT, WR, Shroud, Sanc,and maybe a few others

ELITE

Venerable Dread w. 2x TL Autocannon &Psybolt Ammo

TROOP

6-man Terminator Squad (Hammer,Psycannon, Halberds)

2x 5-man Strike Squads (Psycannon) inRazorback w. Psybolt Ammo

HEAVY SUPPORT

2x Dread w. 2x TL Autocannon &Psybolt Ammo

Land Raider Crusader w. Psybolt Ammo

The mission was to control three objectives placed diagonally across the centre of the board. The deployment zones were set up diagonally 18” down from the top right-hand corner and 18” in from the bottom left corner. Kel got first turn and put me in a zone with little cover but a hill which gave me some elevation for my TFC and Preds. I've played Kel before and he really uses the terrain on the board in combination with shrouding to ensure that his critical units never having anything less than a 3+save from anything that shoots in their direction.

So what I'm trying to say in around-about way, is that this was an uphill struggle, made even more difficult by the fact that Kel's dice did not seem to roll 1's! For example, over the course of 2 turns, the TFC put 28 wounds on his 5-man terminator squad with resulted in 1 dead terminator and a wound on his Grand Master. In fact, over the course of the game those were the only wounds I put on that squad despite getting some close attention from the Preds and the Plasma-backs!!

But it wasn't all about my opponent's hot dice, I did have some measure of success, taking out a Dread, both Razorbacks and a Strike Squad. But at the end of the game all I had left was a Predator with an Autocannon and Kell had all of the objectives. Final score 8-25 LOSS

Game 2, same time tomorrow!

Stranger on the shores of fenris

Seems like ages since I've blogged anything or actually played 40k, holidays, birthdays, weddings and going back to school have all contributed to a very busy month with a lot of long nights.

However I have still been thinking about my armies and where I am going with them.

Open War is fast approaching and although I haven't had many warm up games I am well versed with my Wolf army and I expect no changes too it so that's that, 2 rune priests, grey hunters lead by pack leaders, 3 units of long fangs and an autocannon dread.

I have continued to think about my grey knights list and where I want to take it. I had always planned on only have a power armoured force maybe with a few henchmen chucked in but that was until I chanced across a list on bolter and chainsword that caught my eye so I had a think about modifying it and as always I welcome constructive criticism

The HQ's are a grand master with rad and psychotroke grenades and Coteaz

Elites are a 10 man paladin squad (with lots of toys) and a ven psfleman

Troops

a 10 man strike squad in a rhino with psycannons and hammers

and 2 3 man melta gun henchmen squads in rhinos

Heavy support is a god hammer land raider with a melta gun

So that's it, with average rolls on grand strategy you can have the paladins and ven dread as scoring units. The big deathstar unit scares me a little its a lot of points in one unit but I've come up against them and there is no doubt that they take some serious killing.

Re-formatted by C&F 10:40

Vanilla vs Chocolate

This week I played Mick's new Grey Knight list with an early version of my "AV13+" concept list done with Codex Space Marines. I've been playing Blood Bowl a lot recently so it was good to throw down for some 40K again, but as I've been on a break I thought that keeping the list and strategy simple would be to my benefit. So with this in mind focussing on the shooty side of things and keeping it simple would help to counter my ring-rustiness!

Codex Space Marines
HQ
Librarian (Null Zone, Avenger)
ELITE
2x Rifleman Dreadnoughts
Terminator Assault Squad (5x THSS in a Land Raider w. Lascannon & Heavy Bolter)
TROOPS
2x Tac Squads (Combi-Melta, Meltagun & Missile Launcher in Razorbacks)
Scouts (Camo Cloaks, 4 with Combat Blades, 1 with Missile Launcher)
FAST ATTACK
Landspeeder Storm
Heavy Flamer
HEAVY SUPPORT
2x Auto/Las Predators
1x Thunderfire Cannon

Codex Grey Knights
HQ
2x Ordo Xenos Inquisitors (Rad and Psychotroke Grenades and Hammerhand)
ELITE
2x Purifiers (7-man, 2x Psycannons, 4x Halberds and 1x Hammer, in Rhinos)
TROOPS
4x Strike Squads (5-man, 1xPsycannon in Psy-Backs)
HEAVY SUPPORT
3 Psyflemen Dreadnoughts

The mission was Annihilation with Spearhead deployment and horror of horrors, Mick got to go first. He spread out across the middle of his deployment zone so that he could get clear lines of sight down both flanks. I castled up with my Predators flanking the Land Raider and the Dreads and Razorbacks right behind them. The missile launcher combat squads and the Thunderfire Cannon were positioned on a hill in the back corner of my deployment zone.

As you may be able to guess this was not the most exciting game for a spectator but I have to say that I had not appreciated how interesting it can be to play a gun-line style game. It's much easier to control but you still need to be precise in your movements and target selection is everything.

The game was pretty bloody right from turn 1 with Mick's opening salvo causing a string of Damage Table results on my Predators, shaking both, and leaving one without it's Autocannon. He also blew up a razorback I hadn't completely screened with my tank wall. In return I managed to blow up a Dread and one of the Purifiers' Rhinos and shake a Psy-back. My Thunderfire cannon also managed to whittle down the Purifiers, now de-meched, to only 3 models so they were effectively out of the game as Mick wanted to protect their Kill Point.

I had smoked my two damaged Predators and used them to screen the remaining Razorback so Mick's next turn saw a similar 6” advance but his firepower was less effective, though he did manage to take a Lascannon off the intact Predator and shake one of my Dreads. My firing was more effective, I took out another Dread and one more Psy-Back, the Thunderfire cannon was less effective though only taking out a single Grey Knight.

It continued much like this for a couple more turns until Mick got his remaining Purifiers into charge range of my Land Raider. He was having frankly terrible luck with his Psycannons on cracking open my Land Raider, he didn't manage to get even a single glancing hit, so in went his Daemon Hammer- wielding Purifiers and I think managed to stun it … that was it. My shooting managed to take a few more vehicles as kill points but it was in Mick's next shooting phase where he finally caught a bit of a break.

At last the weight of fire directed at the Land Raider paid off and Mick managed to wreck it and I could not disembark my Terminators outside of charge ranged (though I did try). Purifiers with Psycotroke grenades are the scary prospect so I was not looking forward to my Assault Terminators taking the charge from them. Fortunately the dreaded 2 did not appear and my Terminators were only forced to go at I1, not exactly a handicap for THSS Terminators! I got away with one there and only lost a couple of Terminators and my Librarian, in return I caused 5 wounds winning the combat by one.

In the final turn I was able to wipe out the Purifiers and secure an 8-5KP victory. It should be noted that this was Mick's first game with the Grey Knights and he forgot a few crucial things that could have swung the combat with the Terminators. We chatted afterwards and I felt he played a bit conservatively as he could have possibly been more effective if he'd got to midfield more quickly to ensure the maximum amount of firepower could brought to bear.

Either way I was pleased with how I played and I felt that the AV13+ strategy was reasonably durable even though Mick had some very poor dice and should probably have taken out more of my tanks early on but for some poor damage table rolls. I'm going to stick with the concept as much as possible for a little while so I'll let you all know how it gets on in the future.

AV13+ the Answer to Grey Knights?

Grey Knights, they are the en-vogue army of the moment. The majority of builds rely on packing in a disgusting volume of anti-infantry fire power (S4-6) and a similarly nasty amount of anti-light armour firepower (S7-8). To take out anything tougher they are typically relying on rolling 6s with S7 rending weapons, not bad but not exactly awesome.

Some people will suggest that fielding massed Terminators is the answer but GKs really do torrent of fire better then almost any codex (IG being the exception). While they do not pack a significant amount of AP2 or better they can put out enough wounds on T4 infantry to force enough armour rolls to make even a 2+ armour save feel a little shaky!

The solution in my opinion is to out range their anti-infantry firepower and pack as much AV13+ armour to take advantage of their lack of an ability to effectively deal with it. I predominatly play Vanilla Marines and Blood Angels so here are my suggested lists for countering Grey Knights:

Blood Angels

HQ
Librarian
Shield and Sword
ELITES
Terminator Assault Squad
5x THSS
TROOPS
Assault Squad
5 Marines, Land Raider w. Lascannons, TL Heavy Bolter & Multi Melta
Assault Squad
5 w. Meltagun in Las/Plas Razorback
Assault Squad
5 w. Meltagun in Las/Plas Razorback
FAST ATTACK
Baal Predator
Assault Cannon & Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Baal Predator
Assault Cannon & Heavy Bolter Sponsons
HEAVY SUPPORT
Predator
Autocannon Turret, Lascannon Sponsons
Predator
Autocannon Turret, Lascannon Sponsons
Devastator Squad
10 w. 4x Missile Launcher

Basically AV13 & 14 to the front, Devs combat squaded at the back with the Razorback shielded by the Preds so they remain mobile for as long as possible. The Land Raider goes to the Terminators and the Assault Squad whose transport it is stay in reserve.

Space Marines

HQ
Librarian
TDA w. Stormshield, Null Zone and Avenger
ELITE
Dreadnought
2x TL Autocannon
Dreadnought
2x TL Autocannon
Terminator Assault Squad
5x THSS, Land Raider w. 2x TL Lascannon, TL Heavy Bolter
TROOP
Tactical Squad
10 w. Meltagun & Missile Launcher, Las/Plas Razorback
Tactical Squad
10 w. Meltagun & Missile Launcher, Las/Plas Razorback
FAST ATTACK
Land Speeder
Multimelta & Heavy Flamer
HEAVY SUPPORT
Predator
Autocannon Turret, Lascannon Sponsons
Predator
Autocannon Turret, Lascannon Sponsons
Thunderfire Cannon

Once again AV 13 and 14 to the fore, there's enough spread to cover the Dreads in Razorbacks is necessary, otherwise you should be able to severely disrupt a mech heavy GK army with the TFC able to take out small units once they are out of their transports. The Terminators jump out if the opposition gets close enough to threaten your lines. Keep the Speeder in reserve as it's the weak link in the list but could definitely be handy if you see a Land Raider lined up against you though any GK build should be able to take it out comfortably.

Neither list is particularly exciting and you might well say, IG could do it better, and you'd be right. But if you don't have an IG army I think either of these is a pretty viable option to give you a solid chance against a mid-field gunline GK army.