Anyway, for those of you who might have missed it, here is my initial 500 points:

HQ:
Inquisitor Coteaz

Troops:
9 Warrior Acolytes with 2 Meltaguns and 7 Bolters
- Chimera with Multilaser and Heavy Flamer

6 Deathcult Assassins and 1 Crusader
- Rhino

Heavy Support:
Dreadnaught with 2 Twin Linked Autocannons and Psybolts

For the deathcults I used Dark Elf Corsairs from fantasy. I have seen people use Dark Eldar Wyches as well, but I didn’t want to use any existing 40k models to prevent confusion. The Crusader is a Bretonian Man-at-Arms with some purity seals thrown on him. Weird how a piece of paper and a wax seal makes him seem from the future… Finally for the Acolytes I used Cadian guardsmen, replacing their flashlights with bolters or meltagun bits I ordered from eBay. The autocannons for the Dread are of course from the Aegis Defense lines that Bill and I happen to have bought a bunch of back when planetstrike came out. Otherwise, everything else is pretty standard stuff.

So far I am pretty happy with my army, though I am still adjusting to the poor BS of the Henchmen squads. While the Deathcult have failed to do much so far, I have mostly fought shooting heavy armies so they are usually get shot down before reaching their target. However, Coteaz will often make back those points once he gets in close combat, assuming the enemy doesn’t have a powerfist. I wont get into the specifics, but the next 500 points will add quite a few more henchmen squads and Chimeras. It will be by far the largest phase of the army in terms of how many models i will need to paint. Hopefully I can complete them in time.

I am really looking forward to continuing the league and the completion of my 1500 Inquisition army!

Greetings folks!  Just a quick update here as promised in Episode 10.  We are in the process of recording Episode 11 right now to be aired this Friday, the 11th.  We’re covering some info from Mechanicon as well as our take on the Exterminatus DLC for the Space Marine video game, good stuff you don’t want to miss.  Additionally, Episode 12 will cover the Necrons in all their glory (actually, probably not all of it as it may take a few episodes to get a good feel for them) so stay tuned!

In the meantime, I thought you might like to check out a few pictures Bill snapped from Mechanicon, enjoy!

Better late than never they say … which doesn’t apply all the time by the way, like for the antidote …

During the last podcast you may have heard me mention the use of magnets.  Sgt. Presto came about when I purchased the Space Marine Commander Box.  Inside the box there were a whole bunch of weapon load out options and I felt like I could use them all.  So not wanting to have to buy another 6 boxes to get all the loadouts I wanted, I went and purchased some Rare Earth Magnets.  Using some low level artsy skills, I was able to use green stuff and the magnets and along with pinning the wrist and guns.  I was then able to give Sgt. Presto a large variety of loadouts.  Also with using the magnets I am able to make an almost infinite amount of dynamic poses.

It took far too long but I finally got around to sorting through and resizing the rest of my pictures from Berks Spring Assault II.  Enjoy!

This is the battle report from my 4th game at the Berks Spring Assault.  I played against the second Chaos Marine player of the day, who had an exceptionally painted Khorne theme throughout his entire army.  I was playing Eldar of course though the list I brought to the tournament was slightly different then what I showed in my earlier post.

My list: Eldar

• Farseer with Doom and Runes of Warding
• The Avatar of Khaine
• 5 Dire Avengers in a Wave Serpent with a TL Missile Launcher, a Shuriken Cannon, and Spirit Stones
• 6 Jetbikes with 2 Shuriken Cannons
• Vyper with Scatter Laser and Shuriken Cannon
• Vyper with Scatter Laser and Shuriken Cannon

• War Walkers with Dual Shuriken Cannons
• Wraithlord with Scatter Laser and Missile Launcher

Opponent’s List: Chaos Marines

• Daemon Prince with the Mark of Khorne
• Chaos Lord with Mark of Khorne, Daemon Weapon, Melta Bombs, and a TL Bolter
• 5 Khorne Berzerkers with 2 plasma pistols and a Skull Champion with a power weapon and plasma pistol in a Rhino
• 5 Khorne Berzerkers with 2 plasma pistols and a Skull Champion with a power fist and plasma pistol in a Rhino
• Defiler with 2 Close combat weapons

I personally play Chaos as well, so I am going into this game knowing what all of his units can and can’t do.  I see that besides the Battle Cannon on the Defiler, he has almost no ranged attack power.  Instead, all of his strength is in his melee attack ability.  I have the Avatar which can stand up to the Berzerkers without too much of a problem but the Daemon Prince and the Lord will be able to do a lot more damage.  My plan is to throw the Avatar into combat as soon as possible and tie up a few of his units for as long as I can.  Hopefully he can last a few turns and allow the rest of my army to pick off his mobility (the Rhinos) and destroy the Defiler.  If I can do this then my fast army can run circles around him and stay out of his melee range.  Yay turbo-boost and Flat-out!

The mission objective is rolled at the beginning of the game.  We roll high and determine that it is Table Corners.  Deployment is Pitched battle.  The Game is set at 6 turns.  Chaos wins the roll and decides to go first, I do not try to seize the initiative.

Deployment:

The Chaos Marines setup along their 12 inch deployment line, hoping to get in assault range ASAP.
The Eldar setup the Avatar in the center, with the Wraithlord and Wave Serpent (filled with Dire Avengers and Farseer) to the left.  The War Walkers and a Vyper setup behind a build to block LoS.

The Eldar Jetbikes and another Vyper setup on the right side behind some trees to get a cover save from the Battle Cannon.

Chaos 1:

Both Rhinos move the full 12 inches and pop smoke.  The Daemon Prince moves 6 and runs 4.  The Defiler stays put and fires at the Jetbikes, the shot scatters away.

Eldar 1:

Avatar moves 6 around the cover, the Jetbikes and Vypers move up to get side armor shots.

The War Walkers comes out on the right side of the building, while the other Vyper swings around the left side (you can barely see the nose).

In shooting, the entire Eldar army unloads on the Chaos Rhinos and 1 shot on the Defiler.  Every shot except 2 either fail to glance or are saved via cover.  Those 2 shots do manage to immobilize and destroy the TL bolter on the right Rhino.

After shooting, the Jetbikes use their special move in the Assault phase to pull back behind cover.  The Rhino with the white dice on top is the one that was damaged.

Chaos 2

The Chaos Lord and a Berzerker squad with the fist deploy from the untouched Rhino.  The Defiler moves ahead 6 inches.  The empty Rhino moves up between ruins with the Daemon Prince behind it.

In shooting, the Defiler fires at and hits the War Walkers.  It manages to penetrate 1, but its cover save negates it.  The Khorne Berzerkers unload several shots into the Avatar including 3 plasma pistols, all fail to wound him.

The Lord and Berzerkers then assault the Avatar, whose initiative 6 allows him to attack first and kill 2 Berzerkers.  The Lord manages to strike back and wound him 3 times, but only 1 save is missed.  The rest of the Berzerkers fail to wound him at all except for the Skull Champion, who manages to wound him once with the Power Fist.  Combat is tied and the combatants stay locked.

Eldar 2

The Farseer is finally in range and Dooms the Daemon Prince.  The Jetbikes move back into firing position, while both Vypers move on the opposite edges of the field, aiming for side armor.  The Wraithlord also move up slightly, while the War Walkers stay put.

In shooting, the Vyper on the far left manages to immobilize the Defiler and then the War Walkers rain down on it with 18 Shuriken Cannon shot and are able to destroy the Battle Cannon.  Meanwhile the right Vyper, Jetbikes, and Wraithlord concentrate fire on the Doomed Daemon Prince, bringing him down to just 1 wound left.  The Wave Serpent fires at the immobilized Rhino but can only stun it.

In assault, the Avatar kills off all the remaining Berzerkers while the Chaos Lord rolls a “1″ for the Daemon weapon and does nothing.  He takes 4 fearless saves and fails 1.

Chaos 3

The Daemon Prince moves on top of the terrain in the center of the map (we could not get the model to stand so that white die is where he should be).  The second squad of Berzerkers deploy into terrain from the immobilized Rhino.  The empty Rhino approaches the War Walkers.

In shooting the Khorne Berzerkers fire at the right Vyper, causing it to be immobilized and destroying the Scatter Laser.  They then charge it and destroy it in close combat.  In the middle of the field, the Avatar finishes off the Chaos Lord before he can strike back.

Eldar 3

Once again the Farseer Dooms the Daemon Prince.  The left Vyper continues to move up the side of the field, the War Walkers back off from the Rhino, while the Wraithlord begins to approach it.  The Avatar moves further in the middle while the Jetbikes prepare to lay into the Berzerkers who destroyed the Vyper.

In shooting, the Avatar uses his melta attack against the Daemon Prince, banishing him to the warp.  The War Walkers unload into the Rhino in front of them, wrecking it.  Both the Jetbikes and Wave Serpent fire at the remaining Berzerkers, killing 3.

Any shots from the Vyper and Wraithlord into the Defiler are ignored by Demonic Possession.

Chaos 4

The remaining Berzerkers move closer to the Jetbikes.  The Defiler continues to be immobilized with its 2 close combat weapons.

Eldar 4

Not much movement left, the left Vyper moves close to the Defiler to try and get a rear shot.  The War Walkers move in range of the Defiler.  Finally the Wraithlord falls over repeatedly in terrain.

In shooting, the Avatar wrecks the final Rhino.  The Jetbikes finish off the last of the Khorne Berzerkers.  The Wraithlord, Wave Serpent, and Vyper all concentrate fire on the Defiler and cannot get more then a Crew Stunned.  Finally the War Walkers fire into it and manage to destroy both Close Combat weapons… but the Defiler still lives.

Chaos 5

Nothing…

Eldar 5

The Jetbikes turbo-boost to claim the upper right corner.  Finally the Wraithlord closes on the Defiler and destroys it with a Missile.

Victory to the Eldar!

MVP: All in all I was very happy with the Avatar’s performance the most.  He really held his own in close combat, killing Khorne Berzerkers, a Chaos Lord, and finishing off the Daemon Prince.  The 4×4 tables used in the tournament really helped him get in combat throughout my time playing.  He only failed to do a lot of damage in 1 game.  Unfortunately, he is often just too slow to use in a normal game.

I hope you enjoyed the report.  Stay tuned for our first official podcast which includes another battle report from the Tournament.

This is no lie

It is with bitter-sweet words that I write that the Berks Spring Assault II tournament has come and gone.  Those that read some of our earlier posts will know that the Berks PA Gaming Club held the event this past weekend on Saturday, May 14th.  50 players participated in 100 games of Warhammer 40k and from where I was standing (which was all over the place), everything seemed butter smooth.  My proverbial hat is off to Mike and his staff of helpers for making my first ever 40k tournament experience a truly great one.  I also want to call out all of the players that gamed that day for being a great bunch of people.  Everyone was social and friendly, good times were had by all.

OK now on to our stuff.  With the tournament behind us, Bill, Opy and I are now fully working on the very first episode of the Turn 8 podcast.  With so much content and information gathered at Berks it takes time to sort through it all so this is our teaser trailer of sorts.  I have an hour and a half worth of video, 215 pictures and four documented matches between Opy and his opponents to sort through.  Keep an eye here for more galleries of photos and our first podcast episode to air this weekend.  Opy also has a Battle Report blog post in the works and we will be making posts to our Youtube channel with a Video Battle Report on the “Battle for Planet Shale” (Opy and Bill’s pre-berks test game).  Additional videos showing the Berks tournament and a Video Battle Report from Berks will be coming in the next few weeks.

Until then, enjoy the photos!

Sir, we have a problem ...

Opy and I were able to get one play test in before the Berks Spring Assault II.  It was a good battle right to the end.  The Eldar ended up winning by holding one objective and contesting the other.

At the start of the game I believe my deployment was a bit flawed.  I set my Thunderfire cannon too far away and I also failed to account for the victory points game style.  I was playing by normal 5th edition rules from the start and trying too hard to take out all Eldar troops so, at best, all they could do is tie.  By the time I was reminded about that, it was already turn 4 and much too late to take out the Avatar and the Wraithlord.

The Space Marines ultimately fell to the monstrous creatures as they were unable to take them out effectively.  All my Drop Pods came down just where I wanted them too and they were able to cut down some Eldar firepower.  The Dreads, after their initial turn, were then taken out with ease by the Avatar and the Wraithlord.  My Drop Pod with He’Stan was able to drop right behind the Wave Serpent and hit the rear armor.  Eventually they forced the Eldar to do an Emergency Disembark where He’Stan and the squad first blasted, then squished the Farseer with a Powerfist.

My scouts, sitting on one objective survived, a ton of Eldar shooting with their 2+ cover save(Camo Cloaks and Bolster Defenses).  When I was reminded about the game being all about victory points and not normal 5th edition rules I did get one turn of blasting the Wraithlord and I was able to get it down to one wound.  If only I shot at that thing more I might have been able to hold on.  Oh well.

My Tactical squad gets the MVP as they popped the Wave serpent the turn they came down and crushed the squad inside and the Eldar HQ.  The Space marines lost by only about 50 points so not too shabby.  A few minor adjustments in my deployment and play style and this battle could have gone the other way.

Putting aside my extreme hatred for Opy and the Eldar.  I wanted to help him do well at the Berks Spring tournament, so I created a 1000 point Space Marine list to help play test his army.  The Space Marines were my first army from my early days of playing Warhammer 40k and I always liked the Ultra Marines from their look, their fluff, their everything.  There has to be a reason they are on all the boxes right?

I used this army before to win a local tournament so I thought I’d bring it back as I’m probably 90% sure I’d be bringing this list if I was headed to the tournament.

My list includes:

• Forgefather Vulkan He’stan
• A Drop Pod with a Dreadnought inside with Multi-Melta and a Heavy Flamer.
• A Drop Pod with a Dreadnought inside with Multi-Melta and a Heavy Flamer.
• A Drop Pod with a 10 man Tactical Squad.  Sgt with Powerfist and 2 marines with a Melta and Multi-Melta
• A Squad of 9 Scouts.  8 with sniper rifles and 1 with a Heavy Bolter with Hellfire Shells.
• A Thunderfire Cannon

My Idea with this army is to take out any troop transports as fast as possible and use the Dreads as an “in your face” distraction from the get go.  With Vulkan making all Meltas, Flamers and Heavy Flamers twin linked that should go pretty well.  If the enemy has any big creatures, I want to use the snipers and the hellfire shells to cut it down.  Then use the Thunderfire cannon to punch a hole in any troops he may have sitting on an objective and use the Tech Marine’s Bolster Defences rule to keep my troops safe.

Hopefully I can get together with him this week before the tournament so we can try it.  If we do we’ll be sure to bring you all the aftermath report (as long as I win).

Greetings everyone, Opy here.  As Rich stated earlier, I will be playing in the Berks Spring Assault II as my main army, the Eldar.  While they are not my first 40K army, the Eldar quickly became my favorite back when their last codex came out in 2006.

I have been thinking long and hard about my army composition for the upcoming tournament.  I didn’t think the Eldar’s usual tournament build of Dire Avengers, Fire Dragons, Wave Serpents, and Fire Prisms would work as the rules for this event are a bit different.  For starters the Elite, Fast, and Heavy slots are all limited to 0-2.  In addition, the tables are only 4′ by 4′ and all of the missions use Victory Points (in conjunction with objectives and modified kill points rules).  These factors really forced me to think outside the box and after many, many lists I finally decided on one to try.

My list includes:

• Farseer with Guide and Runes of Warding
• The Avatar of Khaine
• Dire Avengers in a Wave Serpent with Scatter Lasers and a Shuriken Cannon
• Jetbikers with 2 Shuriken Cannons
• Vyper with Scatter Laser and Shuriken Cannon
• War Walkers with Dual Scatter Lasers
• Wraithlord with Brightlance and Missile Launcher

I have a feeling this army will win big or loose big, depending on the first few turns.  My theme was to build up as many strength 6 shots as possible and to try and fit in some fun units I haven’t used in a while, namely the Avatar, Bikes, Vyper, and Wraithlord.  In all I have 44 strength 6 shots, 1 missile, 1 lance, and 1 melta (Avatar).  The Avatar can also provide some close combat relief as the small board will almost guarantee some hand to hand combat and the Farseer to be able to shut down any psykers I encounter.

I look forward to playing this Saturday and getting in some good matches for our battle report on our first episode.  See ya then!