A big kick in da teef!

...sigh...

The new codex in a nutshell.

Ork players have soldiered on for years with a waaaaaay out of date codex, then this weekend got a new codex only to find that da boyz were beaten over the head with a nerf bat. I'm not one to jump on teh interwebz hate wagon, but gee thanks GW. I haven't gone thru all of the minute details yet, but here's a summary of what I've read thus far:


The Good:


• All Boyz units can be upgraded to Ard Boyz, not just one unit. Whilst expensive, at least it allows orks to have a chance to survive when faced with anything other than a stiff breeze.
• Lotsa Meks! Not taking up an HQ slot much like SM Techmarines meanz Meks everywhere! I still miss the old mek mobs from waaaaaay back, and thus I have a lot of them.
• My Orc Shaman-turned-40k-ork-Weirdboy now has a 'Force Femur' instead of just holding a big bone, lol!

GW, now in partnership with Kromlech...

• Runterdz don't have to have Squighounds, so SCHULTZ!!!, my Kromlech Runtherd is now equipped accurately. Also Grot prods are pretty good now.

Lining up for these sort of blitzkreigs will fare no better than they did before...

• Thanks to a hasty WD article, I can still use my Looted wagons!

There will be NO more of this ignoring da oomies right in front us bullshit anymore!!!

• Tankbustas got a good change to Glory hogs (no more getting gunned down by a squad in point blank range cause there's a tank way behind them, as happened last week). Bomb squigs no longer go off in the unit, and they FINALLY GOT TANK HUNTER!!!! They can also take a Trukk as a dedicated transport. So these guys won't be as much of a disappointment anymore (I hope). This looks like the ONLY unit that has dramatically improved (probably because they were so bad before...).

I'm okay with there being no new models for these as I already have three which are nicely converted I think.

• Buggies have outflank now!


In the 'meh' category we have the new Mob rule. Still don't quite have my head wrapped around it, but the old one worked really well which is exactly why it needed fixing, right?


The Bad...or rather the Ugly (Its hard to tell where there's a difference):


• The new dataslate layout kinda sucks. I guess GW really liked Apoc and also likes shoving that game style down our throats...

Aww, sad little Kan...

• Killa Kans are 15 points more, and for that cost they got an odd form of panic tests, and their Klaws dropped to S7. Sure that still scares infantry, but landraiders will no longer keep their distance (which was always nice).

I hope he paid into his 401k...

• A SM Vet. Sgt. armed with a power maul can easily get the Warlord VP if a Warboss is armed with a power klaw (like so many, many of them are). Unless of course he's a special character or in mega armor, then the BEST saves he can get is 4+ with a 6+ FNP. Seriously? They weren't fragile enough before that they needed to be even more fragile in a challenge? Any Marine commander, loyalist or Chaos is going to eat these guys for lunch in challenges!

Turn dat turret around you git!

• Forgeworld has this  lovely little rule on the Avenger strike fighter called: defensive tail gunner. Basically the tail gunner can shoot at a different target than the pilot as he's facing the opposite direction. Makes so much sense. The Grot gunner rule on the other hand? Nope, same as before. Guess we'll see nothing but dakka jets (despite it's needed waaaaugh nerf) and the occasionally Burna bomma with its turret ALWAYS facing forward. The Blitz bomma's tail gunner is purely ornamental i guess (not that it could hurt the many Imperial front AV12 aircraft out there).

Sorry Neverness, but you'll NEVER see a deff rolla on this now!

• KFF's range and Deff Rollas, and Nob character shenanigans were also nerfed, but personally I'm for all of those as such shenanigans always annoyed me.

S3 would make sense if Ork still has scrawny little arms like these...

• Orks are STILL the S3, I2, SV6+ (on average) HTH army that has to rely on massed BS2 shooting and surviving horrific amounts of attrition via sheer numbers to have some semblance of achieving victory. Which, is kinda one dimensional in strategy. It would've been nice for Trukk boy units to be anything but suicide units with little hope of achieving anything before actually suffering said suicide.

• Fuck I don't know what else...the more I read, the less enthusiastic I am about it.


In the end I'll keep Da Groop as I really like the fluff and look of them. I'm sure they'll win here and there, but it'll be a serious struggle and those wins will not be frequent...kinda like the old codex, only it'll be even harder to do now.

:-(

Edit: It also annoys me that the photo gallery in the codex is almost entirely Bad Moons. Guess the other clans really don't matter...

My last game with the old Ork codex.

With that thought outta the way, I can forget the past decade with a codex I didn't much like, and (if all of the rumors prove true) can look forward to many more years with a new codex I won't like. lol, my love/hate relationship with the orks continues on I guess.

Anyways, RTVor--uh, I mean Archon Voril and Kushial came over to the house for a Carnage game with my GF and I. 1K points each, 7th ed, all battle-forged armies.

The battlefield, with the glow globe as the objective.

Kushial's Astra Militarum/IG deployment.

Voril's all Wraithguard/Lord/Knight army which was quickly dubbed the 'That Guy' army...lol.

The Fem Fa'Tau's Deployment.

Da Green tide, crammed into every square inch of my deployment zone!

Looks like that Grot lost some sort of bet...

The Tau kick things off with some shooting to little effect...

The Eldar quickly take aim at the Tau! Curiously I didn't get a pic of Kushial's initial moves...

...but, Da Orks quickly disperse after multiple IG templates landed amongst them! Though I was relieved to find out that the Wyvern only fires small templates! Whew!

The Grotzooka starts inflicting losses amongst the IG's advance, but they doggedly keep on coming!

The Fem Fa'Tau's commander watches the Eldar advance her way with trepidation...

BOOM goes Longstrider's Hammerhead! 1st Blood to Voril.

Well folks, it took many months (they're a new edition to my army) of suffering thru the long hated 'Glory Hogs' rule, but my Tankbustas (in the battlewagon) finally blew up a tank!

Not sure why I took this pic, but the Grotzooka was kicking ass and it came out good, so here it is. :-)

DarkStrider's Devilfish (from which neither she, nor her squad would ever disembark) arrives in the enemy's backfield.

Do you see that? And here there was a BoLS post arguing that the Eldar are the good guys just the other day...guess that issue is settled, lol.

I believe these took out the Tau's Commander this turn.

After winning the roll off amongst ourselves to deploy Kushial's 'misplaced' deep strikers, I won and figured the Eldar ought to have to deal with them.

Here comes Da Lord Commissar (with Powerfist)...

Curses! Da Oomies immobilize da Battlewagon with plasma guns!

Da green skinned wave continues to expand, with the grots putting considerable pressure on the Pathfinders who can't seem to kill enough of the little buggers!

Remember we're Glory Hogs, so ignore da oomies who are about to shoot us (a lot!), der's a tank over dere...

Despite a cautious advance with constant fire, the Firewarriors are also having issues with the oncoming horde of greenskins...

Darkstrider programmed her Devilfish's drones well...2 hull points and shaken for a turn!

Wraithlords with dual flamers, very dangerous!

This beastie charging into combat seems like overkill. That said, the first round was a tied combat with 1 wound a piece.

It took 2 rounds, but da red Kan took out the Commissar in HTH. (Note: the much smaller Tankbusta unit due to IG shooting, the bloo kan took care of them though!)

The ork wave continues moving and shooting in all directions...

Whilst the Wraithknight finally stomps the Scions into paste!

With the end coming at the end of turn 5 (no, we didn't have a turn 6), da boys were about 3 and 1/16" away from the objective, damnit! So Voril took the win with 1st blood and a Warlord kill.

Kushial surveying the carnage (literally).

With the battle over, we enjoyed a post-game dinner afterwards out on the deck (looks like Kushial's threatening me with the tongs!).

It was a good time as expected, and not a bad finish for the old Ork codex. I'll be getting the new one this coming weekend, and will see just what all that will effect/alter with my beloved ork army.

My first game of 6th ed with a psychic phase...

...seriously, that's what it felt like. Color me unimpressed, though I suppose the transition from one edition to the next will be quite easy even though I still don't want to have to buy an $85 rule book 2 years too early. Meh.

Neither of us had the Maelstrom cards so we just plays a standard mission, big guns never tire, 1500 points, Eldar/Exodites vs. Necrons. Whilst I lost, I fared better than I predicted as my army has serious problems with heavy armor (and I for the most part ignored the vehicles). That said the charging forward wave of Wraiths escorted by a Destroyer Lord ran head long into the 'Bladestorm sweet spot' with devastating results. By my opponent's guesstimate, I gunned down about 500 points or so of Wraiths in the first turn! The Lord and a few more wraiths died soon after...

The Eldar apparently don't like croissants...

What a novel concept! Tell me Necron players: How many of these 'worthless' sprues have you thrown out over the years?

After my Dragon Knights (Wraithguard with D-Scyths) came on from reserve and annihilated the rampaging horde of Scarabs, the Necron army decided that they really didn't like them and the whole Necron army attacked the squad and wiped them out!

About the only other real highlight was a Guardian Squad's missile launcher gunner deciding he had skyfire. The ML rolled nothing but 6's to hit and penetrate the flying croissants for 2 turns (before being pie plated by the Monolith). The results were one stunned/ignored but still lost a hull point, and the other jinking to safety. Which is about as good as any actual skyfiring unit I've ever had has managed to do in a game thus far...

All in all, it was a fun game even though (as stated above) I was completely unimpressed by the new edition.

Iyanden joins the fray...

o/

Sorry for the lousy photo, but we're currently experiencing 'technical difficulties' at home, and I only had time for a quick iPhone pic. :-/

A few weeks back I purchased this Wraithlord on ebay for a mere $10, shipping included! Nicely painted and converted, I can only assume its abysmally low price (it was a 'buy it now' type auction) was due to being an old metal model. Yeah whatever, it looks pretty damned good to me! Especially the custom base where its standing on a space marine dreadnought's front carapace (also made of metal) and holding one of said dreadnought's CCWs in one hand!

Whilst I was going to paint my Harlequins to match it (initially), I decided against that as they really ought to be a rainbow of colors. That, and due to their continual failure to really accomplish ANYTHING on the table top, they're rather low on my painting priority list. So once more perusing ebay I won another surprisingly cheap auction (the regular bidding type this time) of 14 Dire Avengers. Going along with 'teh interwebz' apparent dislike of metal minis, I got them for a mere $20 (most of which was shipping costs from Canada)!

What do 5 new plastic ones cost, $30-something? ($35, I just checked) 'New' is a relative term as they are compared to these models, though they were 10 for the same approximate price before being repackaged into a 'new' thinner box…

Several of the models are actually Guardians and not Dire Avengers, but no matter as the high crested helms easily fit the Avenger aesthetic. One will be used as an Iyanden Autarch, three will join my Eldar Corsairs to serve as my Corsair Prince's Bladesworn (more on them in a future post), and the remaining 10 will serve as Iyanden Dire Avengers.

As you can see, I've already painted two. The female 'Guardian-turned-Dire Avenger' will serve as the squad's Exarch. She doesn't have any weaponry other than the standard Avenger Shuriken cat (btw she can't have that pistol, not that it really serves any useful purpose). Dire Avengers (counter attack aside) really aren't kitted out for close combat anyhow, kinda like a SM Tac. squad. That said, she will have the 'Disarming Strike' Exarch power as it seems like an oh-so-appropriate 'the Eldar say: Fuck You Mon'keigh' type of maneuver.

Basically Disarming Strike works like this: in a challenge, prior to blows being struck, the Exarch and her opponent each roll a D6 (the Exarch adding a +1 if her WS is higher than her opponent's) and if the Exarch's total is higher, she turns one of the enemy's weapons into a CCW for that turn. True, she can still be killed by a CCW, but a SM Sgt. getting his powerfist 'switched off' for a turn is certainly an amusing prospect!

lol, anyways, ll told my little Iyanden contingent clocks in at 380 points, and cost a mere $30, which as stated above is the less than a box of 5 plastic Dire Avengers. They also give my Eldar army its first and only Heavy Support choice, they bring my troops alloment up to 6(!) units, and the army itself up to 1500 points w/o the need to ally with the Eldar Corsairs. I plan to give them their battlefield debut this weekend where they will no doubt die horribly as new models so often do...

And game night EXPLODES...

...in ATTENDANCE!!!!

lol, WOW! There were damned near, if not over 30 people at this past weekend's game night. Not only that, Hobbytown's outdoor RC track had an equal number of people out racing at night! The owners stopped by and were grinning like idiots at the turnout! I've not seen gaming turnouts like this since I lived in Florida, mainly as Orlando has a much more substantial gamer population than rural north eastern Tennessee.

Games played were:

At least one game of 6th ed 40k (possibly 2, not sure what the guys at one table were playing).
1 massive 6 (or maybe 8) player 7th ed 40k game!
2 tables of Warmahordes
1 table playing Euro-style board games
1 table playing  Infinity
and (my) table playing Classic Battletech. In hindsight we ought to have taken photos as we had a brutal, point blank slugfest involving a Fafnir and 2 Hunchbacks (none of which survived the game). I won ultimately. :-D

Here's a few pics from the night:

People everywhere!

Curiously, despite their absence from this side of the table, I can only describe this mess as: Chaos!!!

Skylar has either (1) fallen asleep during the enemy's movement phase, (2) Is weeping at his losses, or (3) is sexting with his girlfriend. (I'm betting its #3...lol.)

More pics of this oh so pretty army!

Infinity. Hoss beat the snot out of the 2 guys he was teaching. BAD HOSS!!! That's no way to get them to play again!!!

Its so nice to see a married couple working out their differences via a game of Warmahordes!

Not to mention their kids playing nearby, turning gaming Warmahordes into quality family time!