Classic Tribal Wars: Efreets


The efreet deck is a bit limited on creature selection. There are only so many efreet's in print. However the few that do exist are quite powerful. Old school favorites like the Serendib Efreet and Ydwen Efreet are quality undercosted beaters. The elusive Frenetic and Rainbow Efreet's are very difficult to get rid of because of their phasing abilities.

Efreets - Classic Tribal Wars

Spells

3 Echoing Truth
4 Fire/Ice
4 Prophetic Bolt
4 Force of Will

Creatures

4 Frenetic Efreet
3 Rainbow Efreet
4 Ydwen Efreet
4 Serendib Efreet
4 Wildfire Emissary
1 Capricious Efreet

Land

4 Scalding Tarn
3 Wooded Foothills
4 Volcanic Island
4 Steam Vents
1 Reflecting Pool
4 Ghitu Encampment
2 Mountain
1 Island
2 Wasteland

Backing up the creature selection are staples from the blue/red toolbox. Echoing truth is an excellent permanent removal choice that also has the added benefit of harming token decks by removing dupes from play. Fire/Ice is a great utility or removal spell. Force of Will provides protection against threats that we otherwise cannot deal with. Prophetic Bolt is a potent removal option that replaces itself and let's us search for necessary answers.

This deck can come out quick in the damage race and maintain that advantage with evasion. It has trouble dealing with large threats but with just enough tempo and reach can often finish off an opponent before major threats enter the battlefield.

Rules: GW on Allies rules change? We were just kidding.

So Yes the Truth Hurts has the story over here. The gist? Remember those changes GW posted on their website that we covered here? Well they didn't really mean it. Now we have on record that GW was just trying to offer the codices for free and doing so as a PDF does not invalidate the existing codices. That means allies are not officially removed from tournament play. At least as far as GW is concerned.

That's great by the way. We appreciate the clarification on this. That said what the hell were they thinking scrubbing the allies rules from the PDF in the first place? It was such a hatchet job and so poorly done I hope they think better about the next time they change something like that and understand how it can impact tournament play.

See GW we actually do pay attention to this stuff and when you do something like that with zero commentary and are completely inconsistent about it we are going to notice. We're also going to complain when you do something like this because we want a coherent and consistent rule-set.

It's good they basically decided against their initial stupid decision. What we have now is a clunky precedent where codex only trumps PDF if you own it. That's pretty sloppy but I suppose it's a cleaner ruling than how GW has approached these types of rulings in the past, and that is simply saying nothing at all.

For our tournaments we''ll be allowing allies unless INAT decides otherwise.

Army: What I would have taken to the ConQuest GT

So the conquest GT kicks off this weekend to zero fanfare. What was supposed to be a 5 round GT over 2 days at a posh upscale hotel became a 4 round event over the course of one day at some recreation hall.

No air conditioning aside, this was a disaster in planning of the greatest magnitude. They didn't like the light turnout for the event so their response is to shave a day from the event and change the venue to cut costs.

Stay classy guys. Your brand is shot. I recommend disbanding your little gaming club and starting over without telling anyone.

Obviously I don't have a problem with 4 rounds of gaming in a day. But this thing is a 2,000 point tourney. The rounds are 2 and a half hours. That's over 10 hours of continuous 40k on a Saturday. I guess I'm just not hardcore enough. I consider that schedule to be masochistic. I've decided to just not bother.

I'm local mind you, so I may stop by and snap some photos in the early rounds. That's about it. I have zero interest in playing in this event, golden ticket be damned.

For those who are playing. Even if only 10 people end up showing you'll certainly earn your ticket. It will be grueling to be sure. Godspeed.

So here's the list I painted up and won't be playing for this tournament.

Mech Orks - 2000

HQ

Big Mek (Kustom Force Field)
Ghazghull Thraka

Troops

Nobz x 3 (Combi-Skorcha x3) w Battlewagon (Red Paint, Deffrolla, Big Shoota, Armor Plates)
Boyz x 19 (Shootas) w Nob (Power Klaw, Bosspole)
Boyz x 19 (Shootas) w Nob (Power Klaw, Bosspole)
Boyz x 30 (Shootas, Big Shoota x3) w Nob (Power Klaw, Bosspole)
Gretchin x10

Heavy Support

Battlewagon (Red Paint, Deffrolla, Big Shoota, Armor Plates)
Battlewagon (Red Paint, Deffrolla, Big Shoota, Armor Plates)
Kannonz x 3 (Ammo Runt x 3) Extra Crew x1

Fast Attack

Warbuggy x2 (TL Rockitt x2)
Warbuggy x2 (TL Rockitt x2)
Warbuggy x2 (TL Rockitt x2)

Elite

Loota x14
Loota x5
Loota x5

What makes this different from my previous mech ork lists is that I've opted to dump the 4th wagon for additional shooting and I've upped the loota count for more anti-tank. I think at 2,000 points Orks need to respect the glass cannon armies and the only way to do that is to match their shooting as best you can. You aren't going to outshoot guard or Tau, but if you can make them deal with enough threats in your backfield your wagons can run them over. If they focus on the wagons you'll simply shoot them to death.

I've dumped the deathstar nobz for a unit that's far less threatening. My 6-7 man units just weren't doing what I needed them to. They would stomp on MC's well but never matched up to the Thunder Hammer terminators that they were designed to beat. This small unit can still hurt an enemy troop and the skorcha's can flambe a horde unit if needed. Ghazghkull is in this list and can tie up a deathstar if necessary. We also get the 6" waagh which I think is important.

To stay troop relevant I'm using a 30 man boy unit on the ground. It will run to the center of the table and camp objectives. If they shell it I go to ground. If they don't respect it they get assaulted.

I'm pleased with this list. A pity I won't be playing it this weekend. Perhaps I'll log some games with it in the near future.

Rules: GW on the 'Ard Boyz finals, "you will be able to use allies."

So as we discussed yesterday in this post, GW re-released the Daemon Hunter and Witch Hunter codices in digital form and scrubbed a couple of pages from the codices containing the allies ruleset.

Since GW is a closed vault when it comes to actual useful information pertaining to the ruleset of 40k we can only speculate on what the hell they were thinking. Initial speculation was that this rules change was done to nerf IG and their nefarious usage of mystics, particularly for the 'Ard Boyz finals.

Does such a drastic rules change done in such a sloppy manner and abrupt way make sense? It does not, and is awarded no style points. That said one might sympathize with GW if they were somehow concerned that IG was running rampant all over 'Ard Boyz and dominating the tournament scene. An IG on IG finals in every region would be slap in the face to any perceived game balance.

So we ban allies because that somehow makes IG go from decent to overpowered? Not likely. That's actually a ludicrous assumption. That aside the idea is sound right? To balance the important upcoming highly publicized 'Ard boyz tournament right? A rule change at the 11th hour would make sense if they wanted that tournament to be affected right?

Nope.

From GW:

Flag this messageDemonhunters and Witchhunters in the Ardboyz finalsThursday, June 24, 2010 8:44 AM From: "Brendan Bell" Add sender to ContactsTo: undisclosed-recipientsHello,

There have been a number of questions regarding Demonhunters and Witchhunters and allies for the 2010 40K Ard Boyz Finals. The Finals will use the printed rules that were used in the first two rounds; you will be able to use allies. Thanks, Brendan


So all of these changes were done under the cover of darkness at the 11th hour and with no explanation it wasn't even done for 'Ard Boyz?

Was this done to screw over casual table top gamers? To throw RTT circuit's into chaos? To give INAT FAQ another 5 pages of content?

These codices are deprecated anyway. If we don't make these rules changes to impact major tournaments then why bother? Just let the codex run it's course and abolish allies upon the next publication when you actually have a real writing and editing team.

This company is completely incoherent at times.

Rules: GW Nerfs the Daemon Hunters and Witch Hunters codices. We think. Grey Knights now carry walkie-talkies.

So there are a number of blog entries floating around that claim the Witch Hunters and Daemon Hunter codices have been nerfed. I guess GW has released PDF updates to the DH and WH codices under the cover of darkness with no explanation.

The gist? No more allies. We think. We're not exactly sure. It appears the Daemon Hunter codex was scrubbed of any mention of allies. The Witch Hunters codex? Partially scrubbed? There is still an allies sidebar but no mention of the rules in the text. I'm under the assumption these new releases (which are almost impossible to find on their website by the way) will indeed trump the print versions. Of course they are released with no fanfare and zero commentary from GW. They have been scrubbed with the same quality of a Steven Spielberg E.T. re-release. Grey Knights were an already borderline unplayable army. Now they lack allies, along with the decent inquisitor combo they had going for them. Walkie-talkies have replaced their nemesis force weapons.

Was this really necessary? Were grey knights and witch hunters really dominating the 'Ard Boyz tournament season? These codices are so antiquated and have been for so long now why change this rule now? Why not just wait until we can release a proper codex update and then give the entire army an overhaul.

How much fail do we have on GW's part when a PDF update to an existing pair of codices creates more questions than it answered? Where is the commentary on this from an official source?

More to come on this. Maybe.


Update 11:48 AM PST:

This from a thread over at Dakka:

1. French version is renumbered, and HAS the missing two pages.

2. Spanish version has the old page numbers, and is missing the two pages.

3. English, German and Italian versions have renumbered pages and are missing the two pages.

4. There is no Japanese version.



I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow, since today's GW news says that they'll talk more about today's "great" release.

So they aren't nerfed in France but are nerfed in other languages? Was this an intentional nerf or were they just releasing the PDF's because they are no longer available in stores? Was the intent only to nerf IG from taking allies but not from DH or WH inducting guard? Did they inadvertently nerf DH in the process?

When Wizards of the Coast bans a card in Magic: the Gathering we get a three page dissertation from the game designers explaining why the ban occurred along with tournament data to back it up. When GW makes a rules change we get a complete train wreck that has no clarification or consistency.

Neat.

Classic Tribal Wars: Vampires

Making a vampire tribal deck pre-Zendikar was a difficult endeavor. You were looking at a number of high casting cost creatures without a whole lot of utility. Sengir Vampire, Moroii and Skeletal Vampire were your all-stars. M10 introduced the powerful Vampire Nocturnus, but it wasn't really until Zendikar that the most efficient members of the tribe showed up. Lots of cheap powerful creatures to fill the 2 slot, and powerful cost effective creatures like the Vampire Nighthawk and Malakir Bloodwitch.

Mono color decks like this can also be challenging in an environment without sideboards. You have to be very careful that your deck can't get color hosed out of the game. Black can leverage hand destruction and artifacts to deal with the necessary problem cards.

Vampires - Classic Tribal Wars


Spells

4 Thoughtseize
3 Urge to Feed
3 Nevinyrral's Disk

Creatures

4 Vampire Hexmage
4 Kalstria Highborn
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Vampire Nocturnus
4 Malakir Bloodwitch

Land

4 Marsh Flats
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Wasteland
2 Mutavault
2 Cabal Coffers
11 Swamp
1 Dark Depths

This deck closely resembles the Vampire decks we saw at Pro-Tour San Juan just recently. It obviously has a more powerful pool of cards to draw from though. This deck employs Vampire Nocturnus as a potent weapon to augment the creatures in the deck significantly. Thoughtseize is a more powerful replacement for Inquisition of Kozilek. Nevinyrral's Disk an important staple to deal with problematic permanents that mono-black couldn't otherwise deal with. We also have access to Mutavault, Dark Depth's to combo with Hexmage and Cabal Coffers which allows us to ratchet up the power level further.

The rest of the creatures are right out of Zendikar block constructed: The highborn, gatekeeper and aforementioned nighthawk and bloodwitch.

Vampires is a very powerful tribe and this deck illustrates that while maintaining a strong tribal theme and even employing some cool soft combos. It's a solid deck for the format.

Warhammer Fantasy Battles 8th Edition Rule Book: Because books are meant to be viewed and not purchased

So the Warhammer Fantasy Battles book is now available for pre-order here. It's a staggering $75.

Don't get confused here. The 75 dollar sticker isn't some kind of fluffy deluxe edition with a nice hardcover, leather binding, tassels or a pretty carrying satchel (satchel?). No those are available here and here to the tune of $124.

No the basic core rulebook for Warhammer Fantasy Battles is 75 bucks. Deal with it I guess. We're supposedly willing to pay it according to GW's market research. For those of you who don't want to dig through a PDF I'll post the money paragraph (pun intended).

"The business model all our businesses follow is that of the niche marketer. Niches have some wonderful natural advantages. They are largely protected from macro economic factors, their customers are dedicated and loyal, and price isn't the number one consideration. To retain those advantages it is vital to have high quality products and services, and vital that the business should keep its focus and specialisation. The tabletop fantasy wargames niche that we have built at Games Workshop over the years has these advantages, and we do work very hard to provide the right products, the right services and to retain management's focus on our specialised offer."

To be fair to the price, the book is massive. It's chocked full of photographs. We're more interested in pretty pictures than we are actual content apparently. Thus justifying the substantial cost of the basic rulebook in the eye's of GW.

I don't currently play Warhammer Fantasy Battles. I'm not sure if I want to try 8th edition. My impression of 7th edition is that it's a terrible game. I'm interested to see if 8th edition is a major improvement. However a $75 rulebook I may not even want doesn't help me want to play the game or even try it out. I certainly won't be buying the book just to have it. I'll be considering acquiring it only after hearing input from other people regarding whether it's a quality game or not.

Here's a hint GW: Try making your rulebooks as a low margin product or loss leader so you know, people new to the game might actually want to buy it, read it, and then buy your other products with massive margins, you know like the plastic models that are required to play? It was good enough for Dungeons and Dragons to do this and they didn't even have models to sell. Their core rulebooks back in 3rd edition? Twenty bucks on release (ok fine we can adjust for inflation and call it 25 or even 30) but still dirt cheap. $75 for the basic rulebook? That's cost prohibitive to new players or those on the fence. I mean really isn't this rulebook just a massive hardcover White Dwarf magazine? Those magazines are essentially just an advertisement that people actually pay for. Again, feel free to release awesome rulebooks and charge a premium, but maybe make sure there is a cheaper core option for the newcomers who won't drop all their disposable income on gaming right off the bat before even attempting to buy a plastic model.

Perhaps I'll just wait for the 8th edition Battle of Skull Pass pocket rulebook. That rulebook is basically what I'm talking about. Still not sure about that though because that might require to drop another $80 on a bunch of plastic models I won't need.

More discussion on this topic over at Yes the Truth Hurts here. I'll be sure to let everyone know in which way I cave to this price point as soon as possible.

Classic Tribal Wars: Kobolds

Kobolds were a fun deck building challenge. It's an interesting exercise trying to take advantage of a zero casting cost creature while desperately trying to ensure they don't remain 0/1 weaklings for any longer than a turn.

I considered green as a color option for this deck. Green offered buff effects like Rancor and hand reload abilities like Harmonize. It's also notable that despite all the creatures being red this deck only really splashes it for a few spells. The deck ended up being mostly white. I chose that over green because it allowed for creature augmentation as well as quality removal and utility.

Kobolds - Classic Tribal Wars

Creatures

4 Crimson Kobolds
4 Crookshank Kobolds
4 Kobolds of Kher Keep
2 Kobold Overlord
4 Kobold Taskmaster
2 Mirror Entity

Spells

4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Shared Triumph
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Glory of Warfare
2 Ajani Goldmane

Lands

4 Arid Mesa
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Plateau
4 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Kher Keep
3 Mutavault
2 Wasteland

This deck features 12 zero casting cost kobolds and then taskmasters and overlords to buff them. I included Mirror Entity as a quality finisher that doubled as a strong buff. The mana intensity of the effect is less relevant when you can just dump kobolds into play at no cost.

On the utility side I use both plow and rings to deal with just about any threat. Shared Triumph is another efficient buff effect and I used that with Glory of Warfare and Ajani to make the Kobolds as threatening as possible. This deck can consistently ramp up to 3-4 power kobolds. They will indeed get larger if your opponent doesn't use his removal options wisely. Finally I included Sword of Fire and Ice. This deck can really capitalize quickly with card draw effects. It likes buff effects as well. The sword offers both and is another removal or reach option to boot.

A kobold deck can be a challenge. But this one rises to it. Like its fantastic namesake, this is a quality deck that can swarm the opposition handily if not treated with respect.

Classic Tribal Wars: Barbarians

I guess maybe I should do these in alphabetical order? It's not intentional but my next deck just so happens to be tribal Barbarians. B is for beat down.

Barbarians are a neglected tribe. They've had some solid contributors but kinda fell by the wayside compared to the likes of warriors, soldiers or knights. That doesn't make it a bad deck, but the quality cards aren't as obvious or as curve worthy.

Still, the tribe has some power. There are enough quality aggressive creatures to form the early core and then a host of legends that can really tie the deck together. Balthor the Stout is a personal barbarian glorious anthem that can attack/block and breath fire to boot. Lovisa Coldeyes can make the deck stomp quickly. Just note that her effect is global and not just limited to the barbarian tribe.

Red/Black works well for this tribe as it ties together the best of the creatures. It also offers great removal options like Terminate and Bituminous blast. The nature of this deck also allows for some powerful equipment that we can take advantage of.

Barbarians - Classic Tribal Wars

Creatures

4 Shivan Zombie
3 Balthor the Stout
4 Undead Gladiator
3 Jeska, Warrior Adept
2 Pardic Arsonist
2 Lovisa Coldeyes
2 Godo, Bandit Warlord

Spells

3 Thoughtseize
4 Terminate
1 Konda's Banner
1 Tenza, Godo's Maul
3 Bituminous Blast
3 Nevinyrral's Disk

Lands

4 Badlands
4 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Swamp
2 Mountain
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
2 Mutavault
2 Wasteland

The deck plays pretty straight forward. Get some early damage in with cheap creatures and then magnify them with buff effects with either additional legends that make your army more powerful or equipment that does the same. The Blast fits in nicely here and can remove a threat and accelerate a creature into play. I like Nevinyrral's disk for needed artifact and enchantment removal or as a necessary sweeper to deal with protection creatures.

This deck is land hungry and we're running 25 lands to address that need. 2 of them are mutavaults and can attack and block and as an added bonus benefit from both Balthor and Lovisa's buffs. We also benefit from a couple of quality legendary lands with can make any one of our 10 legendary creatures all the more powerful.

This deck can get out of hand for an opponent in a hurry. With careful play you can make this deck work for you.

Classic Tribal Wars: Aurochs!

I occasionally play Magic Online in the casual room (you're welcome to guess my screen name) and make it a habit of playing Classic Tribal Wars when I do. It's far and away my favorite format since it offers a lot of cool variations on deck construction without becoming entirely degenerate. Not that I hate competitive magic mind you, but if I'm going to do that I'll stick to tournaments and the Standard or Draft queues.

Classic Tribal Wars is not a perfect format. It still has a number of problem cards that I'd wish otherwise didn't exist (I'm looking at you Aether Vial). Regardless, despite some of the irritating elements of this format there is a lot of room for creativity. Today I present an outstanding example of this. I feature not Goblins nor Elves but rather Aurochs. Yes, I've created a cow deck.

Aurochs - Classic Tribal Wars

Creatures

4 Woodland Changeling
4 Bull Aurochs
4 Aurochs
4 Rimehorn Aurochs
4 Aurochs Herd

Spells

3 Fires of Yavimaya
4 Search for Tomorrow
3 Nameless Inversion
4 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Jund Charm

Land

2 Wooded Foothills
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Taiga
4 Bayou
2 Snow-Covered Mountain
4 Snow-Covered Forest
2 Snow-Covered Swamp
2 Wasteland
2 Mutavault

Aurochs are fun but not just because you get to kill your opponent with cows. They are fun because they are beefy (pun intended) creatures that can swing for a lot in larger numbers. One thing I wanted to accomplish was making sure they swing for as hard and as fast as possible. A great way to accomplish that is to make them hasted cows. Please see Fires of Yavimaya.

Of course the rules of tribal enforce the deck to be 33% creatures of the same type. Since only 16 Aurochs exist we have to cheat. The Lorwyn changelings let us to do that. Woodland changeling isn't a great card, but it lets the deck exist in this format. I'll take it. Backing up the cows we have some mana acceleration and fix and some removal options. Jund Charm is a nice sweeper that also can be used as growth effect on our trampling cows. Maelstrom pulse (or Putrefy if you're on a budget) works well for permanent removal that we can't otherwise deal with. I like Nameless inversion for my spot removal since I can fetch it with Auroch's Herd if necessary. It also turns my Auroch's Herd into a ball lightning in a pinch. Pretty slick.

So that's our cow level. Probably isn't going to beat goblins, but maybe on a good day. See you in the casual room.

Batrep: Space Marines vs Space Marines (1500)




KevinNash and I got to couple of quick games of 40k in last weekend. We both have been playing the same armies for quite a while, KevinNash with his Orks, and I with my Imperial Guard "Renegades" or Chaos Space Marines. We both have been slowly building some Space Marines and wanted to start testing out our potential lists. While mirror matches are often not very exciting, yet Space Marines are so popular it is something that is bound to occur on a somewhat regular basis.

KevinNash was playing the list posted here.

I brought the following, extremely similar list.

The Lists

Ultramarines (1500)

HQ

Librarian (Null Zone, Avenger)

Elite


Terminator Assault Squad (THSS x5) w Land Raider Crusader (Extra Armor, Multi Melta)

Troops


Tactical Squad x10 (Flamer, Missile Launcher) w Rhino
Tactical Squad x10 (Flamer, Missile Launcher) w Rhino
5x Scouts (4x Snipers, 1x Missile Launcher, Camo Cloaks)

Fast Attack

Land Speeder (Typhoon Missile Launcher)
Land Speeder (Typhoon Missile Launcher)

Heavy Support


Predator (Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons)
Predator (Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons)

So one can tell we have extremely similar lists.

We roll mission and deployment;

The Mission

Seize Ground - Pitched Battle

We roll for "initiative" and I win and choose to go first. This was a rare choice for me, since I usually like the ability to make a mad dash for objectives on the bottom of the turn on seize ground and capture and control, but I felt the ability to lay down some decent fire before KevinNash would gain me the advantage in this match up.

Deployment

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM


I also got to place the first objective, before we rolled for who chose and place sides. I put one in the forest on the bottom left. KevinNash place one in the forest on the top right. Finally, I placed one in the "ancient" ruins, in the lower center.

I line up on the left side, putting the scouts and one combat squad of marines with missile launcher in the forest with the objective. Everything else has a fair spread, with intent of keeping my fire lanes open for the predators and the speeders.

KevinNash lines up across from me. Placing a combat squad with a missile launcher in the forest on his side with the objective. The other squads are stacked behind the predators, inside their Razorbacks.

Quick note of the models we used: As we are both slowly growing these lists and don't want to over buy, we are doing some counts as here in the pictures. For me, I am using Chaos Rhinos and Chaos Predators as my Rhinos and Predators, the weapons build out matches for the most part, so easy to recognize. I am also using a Space Marine Captain as a Librarian, since my Librarian is currently out getting painted by Hulksmash. The twin-linked bolters on the Rhinos count as storm bolters in this game. KevinNash decided to use his immolators, from his Withchunter army, to count as his Razorbacks, where the weapons count as Lascannon/TL Plasma Guns. Nothing major, but just something to keep in mind when looking at the pictures.

KevinNash tries to seize but fails. I go first.

Top of Turn 1

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

Note pictures represent state of field after both of our turns. This pattern follows for all turns.


LRC moves up 6", Speeders do some minor repositioning, Rhinos move up slightly, trying to not be too aggressive so they can avoid the charge from the enemy terminators.

After a lot of shooting, I only manage to destroy the autocannon on one of the predators and shake one of the razorbacks.

Bottom of Turn 1


KevinNash just repositions his Razorbacks and Predators slightly. He stands fast with his LRC, keeping cover for his Speeders.

KevinNash unloads and immobilizes one of my speeders, destroys all weapons from the other speeder, stuns one of the rhinos, and destroys one of lascannons on a predator.

Top of Turn 2

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM


LRC moves up towards Predators and Terminators disembark, lining up for a multi-assault vs a Predator and a Razorback. The mobile, but weapon destroyed, Speeder moves onto the objective, mostly moving towards far objective to try to contest, but for now just blocking. Other Rhino moves up towards other object and also tries to block movement of enemy LRC, slightly.

Shooting immobilizes one of Nash's Speeders, Destroys a Razorback, and Destroys a Lascannon on a Razorback.

The Terminator assault wrecks a Predator and destroys the weapons on the Razorback and stuns it.

Bottom of Turn 2

Nash moves up his LRC and starts moving towards the center objective with the tactical marines that were in the destroyed razorback.

Nash's shooting face is lackluster, but manages to kill 4 Tac Marines in the Forest, leaving only the Missile Launcher, who makes his morale save. He also destroys the stormbolter on the rhino and immobilizes it.

Top of Turn 3


From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM


LRC presses into the Razorback line, making a risky move rolling over the wrecked predator, but makes it. The mobile speeder goes flat out towards the far enemy objective. My mobile rhino, moves up to support the other immobilized rhino and scouts.

Shooting proves fruitful as a lucky shot from the Predator Lascannons immobilize the enemy LRC. My immobile speeder gets a shot off at an enemy speeder and immobilizes it. More missiles destroy the weapon off another razorback.

The Terminators assault the Razorback again and destroy it, killing 2 of the marines inside.

Bottom of Turn 3


Nash's terminators disembark and move in to head towards contesting my objective. The other tac units move more towards the middle objective.

Nash's missile launcher on foot immobilizes the other speeder. Lots of other firing, but no results of significance. Bad rolls for Nash and good rolls for me.

The terminators are barely too far away to assault my scouts, so he is forced to assault the mobile rhino. He destroys it and the combat squad inside gives them dirty looks.

Top of Turn 4


From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM


So I have my terminators heading towards Nash's far objective. I turn and move my LRC into the ancient ruins to contest. Another dangerous roll, but I make it.

I see Nash's terminators about ready to contest my objective, so I go for broke. If I can kill enough terminators I can win. Fate is with me and with everything I have I kill 4 terminators. I think its OK, since he only has the librarian and a single TH/SS terminator that I can kill in Turn 5, after he hurts me a little with them. However, Nash rolls Boxcars on morale and they high tail it. The other Rhino is within 6" and no regroup.

Bottom of Turn 4


Nash is about ready to concede, since it is looking bleak, but he presses on for the sake of the battle report. He moves his far missile squad to avoid the charge from the Terminators next turn. He does some minor movement, but knows he cant crack open the LRC with his troops and all his big guns, except the multi-melta on the LRC is dead.

Nash shoots the LRC MM at my LRC and does nothing. He shoots what he can at my troops on my objective to hopefully force some sort of run, kills a few, but not enough.

Top of Turn 5


From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM

From Batrep 6_12_2010 SM v SM


I move my terminators to contest the far objective. I do some minor shooting and repositioning to secure the win.

I shoot a little more and thin out his troops.

Bottom of Turn 5

Nash knows he's done unless the game goes long, but even then its uphill. He plays what he can though and makes sure he can score the middle if he manages to kill the LRC. He shoots more at my troops but there are just too many, 3 units nearby and he is unable to contest.

We roll for game end, 2, and it ends.

AbsoluteBlue wins 1-0.

This game was a learning experience for both KevinNash and I. While we have both played against Space Marines several times, we have rarely played with them. We both made some mistakes, but we both had a lot of fun.

PC: Magic the Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers released for Steam


Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers has finally been released for Steam.

For those of us without Xbox 360's this is exciting, long awaited news. And yes this is a digital game. I play those sometimes. I also play Dawn of War and Dawn of War II.

If anyone wants to try out Magic: The Gathering this is a good starter game. It's also the only MTG game you'll ever be able to play for 10 bucks. Take advantage.

Batrep: Sprue Posse RTT 6/5 Featured Match - Tyranids vs Orks (1500)



The Lists

Ryan Shepard's Tyranids (1500)

HQ

Tervigon (Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs)

Troops

Tervigon (Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Onslaught)
Tervigon (Adrenal Glands, Toxin Sacs, Onslaught)
Termagant x 10
Termagant x 10

Heavy Support

Tyrannofex (Rupture Cannon)
Tyrannofex (Rupture Cannon)

Elite

Hive Guard x2
Hive Guard x2
Hive Guard x2

Levi Joos - Orks

HQ

Warbooss (Cybork, Attack Squig, Heavy Armor, Power Klaw)
Big Mek (Kustom Force Field, Power Klaw)

Elite

Loota x5
Loota x5
Loota x5

Troops

Nobz x7 (Cybork x7, Waagh Banner, Powerklaw x2, Big Choppa x2, Combi Rockitt x2, Bosspole x2, Ammo Runt x2) w Painboy
Boyz x18 (Shoota, Rockitt) w Nob (Powerklaw, Bosspole)
Boyz x11 (Slugga) w Nob (Powerklaw, Bosspole) w Trukk (Ram, Plank)
Gretchin x19 + Runtherd

Fast Attack

Deffkopta (TL Rockitt, Buzzsaw)

Heavy Support

Battlewagon (Deffrolla, Kannon, Plank, Riggers, Stikkbomb Chukka)
Battlewagon (Deffrolla, Kannon, Plank)

The Mission


Capture and Control - Pitched Battle

The Game

Tyranids win initiative and decide to go first. Orks choose not to sieze.

Deployment

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Objectives are pretty much placed in the far corners. Tyranids are mostly grouped up to protect their objective, with 1 Tervigon placed on far edge, positioned to take the Ork Objective. Ork Battlewagons deploy across from bulk of Tyranids. Ork Truck and Deffkopta are deployed on far edge to protect Ork Objective.

Scout Moves

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Deffkopta moves into cover, but takes a wound.

Top of Turn 1


From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Tervigon (a, far side), makes 9 gants, but rolls doubles. Tervigon (b) makes 10 gants. Tyranid army does some minor repositioning.

Hiveguard (a) shoots at Deffkopta, but misses. Hiveguard (b) shoots at Lootas (a) and kills 2. Hiveguard onslaughts and shoots at Lootas (a) and kills 1, leading towards them failing a leadership test and moving off board. Both T-Fexes shoot at wagon, yielding a glance in total, shaking it.

Bottom of Turn 1

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Ork Battlewagons, Truck, and Deffkopta move up towards Tyranids.

Lootas (b) shoot at Hiveguard (a) and kills 1. Lootas (c) shoot at Tervigon (c), nothing happens. Un-shaken wagon shoots at Hiveguard (a) and nothing happens. Boyz in the same wagon shoot at Hiveguard (a) and nothing happens. Kopta shoots at Gants and nothing happens.

Kopta assault gants and kills 1 gant. Gants hold.

Top of Turn 2

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Tyranids shuffle around some more. Tervigon (c) makes 15 gants, no doubles.

Tervigon (a) and gants shoot at Truck to no effect. T-Fexes shoot at Nob wagon, no effect. Hiveguard (c) shoots at Nob Wagon, glances, rolls a 6, which in Open Topped World yields a Wreck and Nobz fall out.

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Hiveguard (b) shoot at Nobz and kill 1. Hiveguard (c) shoot at Nobz and kill 1.

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Tervigon (c) assaults Truck but whiffs. Gants in assault with Kopta kill it.

Bottom of Turn 2

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Gretchin arrive from reserve and move onto Ork Objective. Mek wagon moves up. Truck shocks Tervigon (c) and Boyz disembark.

Orks Waugh!

Nobz run towards T-Fex. Lootas (b) kill Hivegaurd (c), destroying the unit. Lootas shoot at Tervigon (c) and do 2 wounds. Boyz shoot at Tervigon (c) and do nothing. Boyz in wagon shoot at gants and kill 3.

Nobz assault T-fex and gants. Nobz take 3 wounds, but kill everything in return.
Boyz assault Tervigon (a) and inflict 3 wounds, and 1 boy dies in return.

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Top of Turn 3

Tervigon (c) creates 8 gants. Tervigon (b) creates 11, but gets doubles. Rest of army has minor moves.

Remaining T-Fex immobilizes the Mek wagon. Gants and Hiveguard shoot at Nob unit but only kill 1 Nob.

Gants assault Boyz that are in assault with Tervigon, killing all of the Boyz.

Bottom of Turn 3


From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Nobz move up. Truck moves to try to block Tervigon (c) and Gants.

Boyz in Wagon shoot gants and kill 6. Wagon shoots and kills 1 gant.

Nobz assualt 3 units of gants and kill all 3 units.

Top of Turn 4


From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Tervigon (c) creates 13 more gants. Several units of gants start to swarm around Nobz.

Tervigon and Gants shoot at Gretchin on Ork Objective and kill enough to force leadership test. Gretchin fail LD7 test twice in a row and they run off table, leaving Ork Objective unscored.

2 different gant squads charge the Nobz, who are already in combat with 2 other squads onf gants, and kill all but 1 Nob and the Warboss.

Bottom of Turn 4

From SPRTT 0605 Batrep TvO


Time is running out and the Orks have no troops left near their own objective to score. Mek Wagon is still immobilized and Nob and Warboos stuck in assault with Gants, which they are now bound to lose.

Gants kill Nobz.

Time is out. Game Ends.

Tervigon as Troop is on Tyranid objective and base is big enough to prevent teh Nobz from contesting even if they did manage to escape the assault.

Tyranids Win 1-0.