The King is Dead! Long Live the King!

A Plasma Gun, a Plasma Gun! My kingdom for a Plasma Gun

Back in 5th edition, Melta was king. Cheaper than Plasma and better against vehicles, it was a no brainer. However, in 6th, Rapid Fire is better, cover is worse, Wound Allocation has changed and you can now glance vehicles to death. Also, with Power Weapons being AP3, we're probably going to be seeing more Terminators. So, therein lies the question - is this the age of Plasma?

Well, yes. And no. Plasma does look a lot more useful in this edition so I think we'll see a corresponding increase in its use. However, Melta is still the king of anti-tank. Plus, it also has that additional point of strength which is crucial in bypassing FNP and causing instant death on T4 models.

From a personal point of view, I think I'll be going 50:50 with Melta and Plasma rather than all Melta as in the last edition.

Moving to Plasma? Sticking with Melta? Trying Flamers for their D3 auto-hits on Overwatch? Let us know...

Monday Musings - The Death of Scouts

Scouting in 6th

When I first saw that Accute Senses allowed a re-roll on the board-edge for Outfalnking, my mind started racing. What would that mean for BEL on Wolf Scouts? If we could re-roll that, it would practically guarantee that they would arrive on the board edge that we wanted them to. However, upon reading the Reserve rules, you're not allowed to Assault on the turn that you arrive. No more charging into parking lots. No more tying up enemy heavy weapons teams.

So, the question is; Are BEL Scouts still useful as a disruption unit? Your enemy still has the decision to make - do I turn around and deal with the Scouts before they charge or do I ignore them?

And, they still have the option of Infiltrating of course.

So, it looks like Wolf Scouts might be slightly weaker in 6th ed than they were in 5th. I certainly can't see myself taking two packs anymore that's for sure...

Reserves in General

I've also been thinking about Graham's Null Deployment Tyranid army. Not only can the Genestealers not assault directly from outflanking (making them even more Bolter bait-y) but now you can only put half of your army into reserve anyway. Can't say I'm a huge fan of this as it removes options.

(The end of brackets)

T5(4) is no more. So, Bikes are now natural T5 as are Plague Marines and Nob Bikers. Yes, Nob Bikers! Once seen as "broken", then not, 6th ed could be the time they make a comeback. With natural T5 you need S10 to deny them FNP which means most of the time they'll be getting a 4++ cover save and a 5+ FNP.

Flakk Missiles

Ah, go on then, I'll wade into this one. I always thought that 40K was a permissive ruleset - ie they have to specifically say that you can do something before you can. Nowhere does it explicitly say that Space Wolves get Flakk Missiles nor that they get the opportunity to purchase them as an upgrade.

Don't get me wrong, I think this will change and I think it will change quickly. The question is, how many points for you pay for the option? Flyers look pretty sweet in the new rules and it's only a matter of time before we start seeing mass flyboys at tournaments. How much to try and shoot one down? 2 points a model? 5?

To scout or not to scout? Any reservations about the new reserve rules? What do the new toughness rules mean for BIDMAS? And pound your Flakk Missile, two pound your pair...

Everything FAQ'd except for 1 thing - Brilliant job GW

All in all life seems pretty sweet and people seem happy with the new rule book.

I would say Space Wolves have been fortunate to come out of it so well, only thing that’s really got worse is a chaplain with his lack of AP3.

However we still have the question of Flak missiles,
The internet seems to be broken into two factions so let me explain both sides

The rule book entry for Missiles specifically says that missile launchers can have the option of an upgrade to flak missiles which have the sky flier rule while the stats at the back of the rule book give Missile Launchers 3 types of ammo, frag, krak and flak (Not all types of missiles have that).

The FAQ then says that if there are any differences between the Codex weapon and the main rule book that you should use the main rule book stats.

Some are taking this upon themselves to say that Missile Launchers have frak straight off some are saying we must wait for the new codex. Personally to begin with I was in the latter group, however the more I think about it and the lack of the entry for other variants of missile perhaps so.

So what do you think? Whose side are you on?

6th Edition Rules!

For me, sixth edition is already a major success - page 405, line seven to be exact. It reveals that, far from being Nid-food, Squats are apparently alive and well and living happily ever after in the loving care of the Adeptus Terra. We are NOT Demiurg. All that remains is for a Codex to be released, and we'll all be very grateful. That is all. Oh, and the rest of the rulebook is pretty great too!

First impressions

I picked up the new 6th ed rule book this morning from a surprisingly busy Warhammer World. I've spent an hour or do reading through it and here are my initial thoughts... You get a lot of rule book for £45. Obviously, for that price you expect a weighty tome and you certainly get one. As before, it's a bit unwieldy to be getting out at tournaments so I expect the forthcoming mini-rule book will prove to be very popular. There's going to be a lot of confusion in the first few weeks of play. This is always the case with a new edition but I think some of the subtle changes will take some getting used to. I'm thinking here of things like cover now being 5+, FNP being 5+ but now working against AP1 & AP2 and Acute Senses now giving a re-roll on outflank edge rather than letting you re-roll night fighting distance. The other change that's going to take some getting used to is the "nearest man" wound allocation rule. There will be no more just sticking the Meltagun guy at the front as you get out of vehicles anymore. The game in general feels like subtle changes to 5th rather than sweeping changes, although I need to play a few games before I can be sure or that. In fact one thing 6th has done is re-energise my interest in the hobby which is good. I'm also looking forward to see how long it takes the Internet to "break" the new edition...

A answer to an earlier question - what are Wolves going to do about Air support?

I think this was the main question for me.

However people have now got their hands on the rule book and substantiating reports are telling us that we are going to do exactly what we did before shoot the hell out of them with missile launchers.

Just to cover the source I have now read this on Bolter and Chainsword on a thread that seems to have been given the hammer already and on the Warhammer Forums.

Missile launchers now have a third type of ammo which is flak. It’s at strength 7 Ap4 and allows missiles to hit fliers at normal AP.

So we have lost a point of strength but with hull points (and I think I am right in thinking that all fliers have 2) it doesn't matter so much because you can glance a vehicle to death.

Did the ubiquitous missile launcher just become even better and did 3 squads of long fangs become even more needed? I would say so


Happy days

A new army for a new edition

2 more sleeps to go (unless of course you head to Warhammer world for the midnight opening, what do they think this is Call of Duty?)

So with 2 days to go a challenge has been set by Dan our resident campaign man at the first company veterans.

Many of the Veterans will be starting a Tale of 4 gamers style challenge which is being used to get more of us having a new army.

I've said many times on here that I would like to start a new army, I've toyed with the idea of Necrons, Traitor Guard and Grey Knights but I haven't finished anything.

My painting this year as with my blogging and my gaming has really ground to a halt. Wedding planning and extra work has put a stop to that sort of thing so Dan's challenge is exactly what I need.

The plan is to paint 200-300 points each month to build up to a 1750 point army with the idea suggested that at the end of it the group attends a tournament together.

You get a three points for completing your monthly painting oath (building, basing and painting), there is a bonus point for the person with the best painted models, there is a point for completing a game and each month there is a bonus task, these range from putting together fluff to building a diorama.

What army to pick then?
The rumourville is already churning over the inclusion of Chaos Space marines in the box set and for that reason I think I will be going with them.

I've always said my gaming is strongly influenced by my reading and throughout the Horus Heresy I have found the Renegades to be far more interesting than the Loyalists the only problem is I don't find the codex colourful enough to want to build an army so it’s a risk going for them.


Are they going to get the new codex that has been promised? Is it going to be legions rather than warbands? And if so what legion to go for?

The legion that has stood out for me in the Heresy has been the Word Bearers but the baron already has dibbs on them, do I go Word Bearer to Word Bearer with him or look for someone else?

Certainly needs thinking about.


So are you planning a new army for the new edition or just adapting what you have?

Look forward to seeing replies.