Top 3 unkillable units (1 day late)

So today's top 3 will be the top 3 hardest to kill units. These units will be selected for their complete resilience to small arms, and sometimes, ordinance fire. This category is non-HQ.

1. Chaos Plague Marines

These guys are 1st, no competition. For a measly 23 points, you get Toughness 5, a 3+ armor save, defensive grenades, and Feel no Pain. I have

seen these guys face down a charge from Ghazghkull Thraka, a bunch of Nobz, and a Warboss, and stay alive for 6 rounds of combat, while causing a pleasing amount of casualties. They are also nearly impervious to small-arms fire, and when entrenched in cover, it will take a heck of a lot to get them out, what with defensive grenades.

2. Chaos Demons Plaguebearers

Coming in second, these are pretty much Deepstriking Plague Marines, except for 8 points cheaper, with no power armor, and an invulnerable save. And some statistic changes. Okay, so not much like Plague Marines at all. Okay, well, they are a really good screening unit, being cheap enough to be disposable, except for that they won't die very easily. Overall, a very nice unit.

3. Imperial Guard Ogryn

A little pricey per model, but you still get some pretty good stuff with these guys, what with toughness 5 and 3 wounds. Take it from me, it takes some effort to kill these big dudes. They are a little more offensive than most unkillable units, with Furious Charge and those big guns that I can't remember the name of.

Collecting Space Wolves

As I have mentioned before, I play Chaos normally, but they were built with the intention of being more of a "friendly" army. However, I'm beginning to think about possibly entering a tournament or two, and the first army that came to mind were the Space Wolves. They have a similar play style to Chaos, except for everything is better. Besides, they look really cool! Seeing as the normal tourney size army in the nether regions of the known world where I come from is 1,750 points, you have room for some very nicely sized armies. The army list that I am going to collect to is fairly versatile, has a good model count, and is terrifying in combat, while also being competent from range.

Wolf Lord w/ Thunderwolf, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield, Wolftooth necklace, Saga of the Bear.

Wolf Lord w/ Thunderwolf, Wolf claw, Storm Shield, Wolftooth necklace, Saga of the Warrior Born.

Master of Runes w/ Jaws of the World Wolf, Tempest's wrath, meltabombs

5 Wolf Guard, all w/ Powerfist, Stormbolter

(x4) 7 Grey Hunters w/ Meltagun, Mark of the Wulfen, Wolf Standard, Rhino

10 Fenrisian Wolves

6 Long Fangs w/ 5 missile launchers, pack leader

So, the Wolf Guard will split amongst the Grey Hunter squads and the Long Fangs, the two Wolf Lords will join the Fenrisian Wolves to form a close combat juggernaut. Standard deployment for this army will be as follows; Long Fangs in the position which gives them the best line of sight to the battlefield, the rhinos with the Grey Hunters and the Master of Runes will deploy in a wall, with the Wolf Lords and Fenrisian wolves behind them. After that, general advance, pretty Space Wolf-ish stuff, aka, kill everything, show no mercy, loot and pillage, etc.

Tau Empire: Putting it all together

Over the last couple of days, I have discussed the ups, downs, tactics, and upgrades that you can use for various units. Now, It's time to put my money where my mouth is, and put all of that into one, mega-uber-destructor army. So, here goes:

Shas’el commander w/ Hard-wired multi-tracker, plasma rifle, Missile pod, hard-wired drone controller with 2 shield drones. 2 Crisis bodyguards w/ Hard wired multi-trackers, plasma rifles, missile pods, targeting arrays.

3 Crisis Battlesuits, all with twin-linked flamers, drone controller, 2 gun drones

(x3) 6 Fire Warriors w/ Devilfish APC w/ Disruption Pod, Smart Missile System, Targeting Array, Multi-tracker

2 Broadside battlesuits w/ Advanced stabilization Systems, Shas'vre w/ Hard-wired drone controller, 2 gun drones

(x2) Sky Ray w/ smart missile system, multi-tracker, targeting array, disruption pod

This is a very mobile, very shooty, and overall, very scary list. Deployment for this army is very simple. On the flank with the most cover, you deploy your Broadsides. Then, have all of your tanks in the center of the battlefield, in a wall that will demolish your enemy's army. What you do with the battlesuits is up to your personal preferences, but you usually want to advance with them, along with the rest of the army. Now, one last thing, which seems obvious, but bears repeating: Stay out of assault range of enemies at all times! Once in assault, this army is finished, but with some canny maneuvering, you can stay in rage with your weapons, while staying more than 6" away from the enemy.

Battle Report: Imperial Guard vs. Blood Angels

*Blurry dreadnoughts FTW*

So, it's time for the first battle report for our blog! Since it IS in fact the first, it should naturally be pretty...not awesome. As such, I forgot to take pictures and take many notes. Don't worry, I'll remember next time...

Anyway! I was playing my guard against my brother's Blood Angels. He is an excellent player, and definately knows what he's doing.

My Army List:

-Command Squad, 2 meltas, 2 flamers

-Psyker Battle Squadron, 1 overseer, 8 dudes

-Chimera, multilaser and heavy flamer

-Veterans, 3 meltaguns

-Chimera, multilaser and heavy flamer

-Veterans, 3 meltaguns

-Chimera, multilaser and heavy flamer

-Veterans, 3 meltaguns

-Chimera, multilaser and heavy flamer

-Penal Legion

-Penal Legion

-Penal Legion

-Vendetta, 3 TL lascannons, 2 heavy bolters

-Vendetta, 3 TL lascannons

-Collossus, siege mortar and heavy bolter

-Leman Russ, battle cannon and heavy bolter

His Army List:

-Dante

-Librarian, terminator armour, storm shield, knows blood lance and S10 power

-Assault Terminators, all 5 have thunder hammers and storm shields

-Sanguinary Priest, terminator armour, storm shield, power weapon

-Sanguinary Guard, 2 have infernus pistols

-10 man assault squad, split into 2 5 man squads. 1 had 2 meltaguns, 1 had a powerfist

-10 man assault squad, split into 2 5 man squads. 1 had 2 meltaguns, 1 had a powerfist

-5 man assault squad, 1 meltagun, 1 power fist

Mission: 3 objectives, pitched battle. We both rolled off, I got a 2 and he got a 6. He made me go first.

Deployment: Since I was going first, I spread out my forces a little bit. (4 chimeras in the middle with collossus behind them. Leman russ covering the flank, penal legion sit on objectives in wait.)I load my rending penal legion and command squad into vendettas to prepare for an alpha strike. We were both using our lists for the first time, so I expected standard deployment.

I was wrong, my mind went blank when he told me he was deep striking everything. As mechanized Imperial Guard, I was in a little bit of trouble.

Turn 1: I try to bubble-wrap my exposed vehicles with guardsmen, knowing that a ton of melta will be thrown at me next turn. Nothing to shoot at.

Turn 2: Further bubble-wrapping. I try to spread my tanks out a little bit to avoid blood lance. I zoom my vendettas to the left flank with my russ. I do this to prevent Dante from plopping behind it in cover, and to claim the cover save. It also gave them a good field of fire.

Thanks to the Descent of Angels rule, everything but a single 5 man assault squad comes in. No mishaps. Dante/sanguinary guard, terminators/librarian/priest, a power fist assault squad, and a dual meltagun assault squad plop on my right flank, which consists of my chimeras and my collossus. Another 5 man squad plops in front of my chimeras, while a power fist squad scatters back into the middle of the table. His shooting is rather bad, dante and the sanguinary guard blow up a chimera, and a dual meltagun squad stuns another chimera.

Turn 3: I figure that he will blow up and kill my veterans in the stunned chimera next turn, anyway, so I hop them out of their transport to shoot something. Between them and the other veteran squad on the right, there were 6 meltaguns going against Dante and the sanguinary guard. 3+ to hit...all 6 of them hit! 2+ to wound... all 6 wound! all of the sanguinary guard die, as well as Dante, who rolls a 2 on his invulerable save. Vendettas blast the terminators, killing 2. Collossus shells the assault squad that scattered backwards, killing 3 of them. Random multilaser fire kills an assault marine from the dual meltagun squad. Penal Legion and the only veteran squad still in its chimera shoot at the squad in front of them which is contesting the central objective, killing 3. The psychopath penal legion charge into the remaining 2 assault marines and wipe them out without casualties.

His final assault squad comes in, he drops it on his objective to claim it. His meltagun squad blows up the empty, stunned chimera, killing one of their own guys. Terminators multi-assault the 2 veteran squads that killed Dante. One of the veteran squads holds, and ties the terminators up in combat. The other veteran squad runs off of the table. He charges the 2-man powerfist squad into my psychopath penal legion. Tie combat, 1 marine dies as well as 1 psychopath.

Turn 4: Most of my stuff misses, but a few random marines die. The terminators manage to kill my remaining veterans.

His assault marines hide, terminators assault some chimeras, stunning and taking the multilaser off of one. His 4 man squad helps the single remaining assault sergeant kill the psychopath penal legion.

Turn 5: My shooting is almost completely ineffective. I kill a single marine from the 4 man squad. At this time, he has 3 terminators, 1 librarian, 1 priest, a 1 man assault squad, a 3 man assault squad and a 5 man assault squad hiding on his objective.

His turn is just as uneventful as mine, a chimera is immobilized. If the game ends, it will be a tie...

but it continues!

Turn 6:I take his 3 man squad down to 1 man. I pour tons of shots into his termies, managing to kill both the librarian as well a single terminator. That's enough for a leadership check! I attempt to use weaken resolve on his termies to make them flee and win me the game... double sixes! Perils of the warp...3 guys die and cost me the game if it ends here...

His single assault marine rushes to contest my objective, while his termies beat back my command squad (who got out to shoot at them), leaving none of my guys to contest the central objective which is being held by yet another 1 man assault marine...

The roll to see if the game ends...a 5, it continues. (phew!)

Turn 7: Between 3 meltaguns, a battle cannon, 3 heavy bolters, 3 twin linked lascannons and a multilaser, none of the terminators fall. Nothing is left but my lasgun penal legion...18 strength 3 shots fire at his termies...how many wounds? SEVEN! His sanguinary priest eats it, as well as a termy. The squad now consists of a single terminator...I use weaken resolve. He fails his leadership check since he is at leadership 4. A vendetta kills the 1 man assault squad contesting my objective. My rending penal legion leaps from their vendetta to charge the 1 man assault squad contesting my home objective. 31 rending attacks, 18 wounds, not a single roll of 6 to wound. He makes the 3 saves he must make to survive.

His turn, he can't do anything. His terminator is still running away, his 5 man squad is holding his objective, and his 1 man squad is tied up in combat. His 1 assault marine kills a penal legion guy, but is finally jabbed by a bunch of tiny knives.

Game Ends,

Imperial Guard:2

Blood Angels: 1

It was a close game, and both of us had horrible and good luck at the same time. Neither of us had used our lists before, but he almost had me. Now, this battle report is waaay too long and dry...next time I promise I'll just have pictures with captions.

Tau Empire Broadside Battlesuits

For the third installment in the Tau empire tactics series, we will look at Broadside Battlesuits Broadside Battlesuits are one of the most deadly anti-tank specialists in the game, being armed with the dreaded twin-linked Railgun. The Railgun is a very useful weapon, with 72" range, S10, AP1, Ordinance 1. I have seen one of these claim a total of 3 vehicle kills on one game. As a secondary weapon, the Broadsides have a Smart Missile System, allowing them to not automatically die to infantry. The one thing you have to do with these guys, is keep them mobile. This can be a problem when you're lugging Ordinance around, but never fear, for the Tau have a solution to that problem. Every Broadside in each team must take a Battlesuit Support system, and must take the same one. The one you want is Advanced Stabilization System, to make them slow and purposeful, meaning that, though they will move slowly, will be able to fire while moving. Here is the unit that I have concluded is the best one you can take:

2 Broadside battlesuits w/ Advanced stabilization Systems, Shas'vre w/ Hard-wired drone controller, 2 gun drones - 190 points

Because of the drones, this unit has a total of 6 wounds. Not bad for 190 points, 2 Railgun shots, and can fire on the move. The best thing you can do with this unit, is to keep it advancing in cover, while targeting enemy vehicles as priority. If enemies get too close, you can use your Smart Missile Systems, or if you think you can handle them, then by all means, assault.

Tau Empire Fire Warriors

In part two of the Tau Empire tactics, we will look at the meat of any Tau force; the fire Warriors. Let's look at the basic profile. Average ballistic skill, low weapon skill, low initiative, average everything else, and a healthy 4+ save. All in all, not a bad choice for 10 points per model. But then, you look a their weaponry, and it all becomes clear. A S5 AP5, 30" range rapid fire weapon, on a basic trooper? That is nice. They will tear up anything at range, but they will most likely fold under assault from even Imperial Guardsmen. Sound harsh? Possibly, but all true. Though, if you play your cards right, there shouldn't be anyone left to fight...

The cheapness of these models means you'll have plenty of room for your big, expensive Battlesuit teams, Sky Rays, and what not. Some of the other options available are not great. If you have a gunline army, a Markerlight could be awesome, as could a team Leader with a bonding knife, or something else. Probably the best option they can take is the Devilfish APC. One of the best transports in the game, it can carry up to 12 models, and even vanilla it can kick out 5 S5 shots, although, you should probably upgrade it with a Smart Missile System. Anyway, with all of this talking, i need to give you an example. So, here is what I believe is the optimal Fire Warrior team.

6 Fire Warriors w/ Devilfish APC w/ Disruption Pod, Smart Missile System, Targeting Array, Multi-tracker - 180 points

I would suggest taking about 3 squads like this in any given 1.5K list, they can kick out some nice firepower. The Devilfish takes up the majority of the 180 points, taking up 12o of them. But still, it is a 12-11-10 vehicle that has a 4+ cover save against any shots from over 12" away (Disruption Pod), can fire, but not move, like a Fast Vehicle (Multi-Tracker), meaning it can fire 7 strength 5 shots if it moves 6" or less (Smart Missile System), and it has a healthy BS of 4 (targeting array). All in all, a pretty good unit, can take out many transport vehicles, and infantry, and if necessary, the Fire Warriors inside can disembark, and add their fire to the volley.

Imperial Guard: Overall

Hey, folks!
All in all, Imperial Guard is likely the most powerful army in Warhammer 40,000 right now. While they aren't the cheesiest army (space wolves), their ability to fit a ton of firepower into a tiny amount of points is notable. The variety that they have is very nice, be it tanks or infantry. They have an interestingly wide variety of things that they succeed at. They have Penal Legion/Ogryns for close combat, Manticores and countless other tanks for crowd control, and then there's the multipurpose Veteran Squad. The Imperial Guard's most used troops choice is probably the Veteran Squad, as they may take up to 3 flamers, meltas, grenade launchers or plasma guns, in addition to a bunch of other toys.
The Imperial Guard also own the 'leafblower' list, which is known across the gaming community as possibly the most powerful list in warhammer 40,000 history. While taking 'leafblower' lists is highly frowned upon, (especially in competitive warhammer, oddly) it consists of: multiple vendetta gunships, a ton of chimera transports loaded with veterans, and a few artillery pieces (manticores preferrably).
While I.G. are slowly shrinking on the popularity table due to super-cheese armies like space wolves, and possibly blood angels, they are still clinging onto their title of 'best army' desperately.
Now that I've given a few funfacts about I.G., I will throw my current list up there. It really is more of a 'fun' list. While it contains slight similarity to the dreaded 'leafblower', it is VERY far from being that competitive.

1500 points-
HQ:
-Company Command Squad, 3 meltaguns, 1 flamer

Elites:
-Psyker Battle Squadron, 1 overseer, 8 psykers
-Chimera Transport, armed with multilaser and heavy flamer

Troops:
-Veteran Squad, 3 have meltaguns
-Chimera Transport, armed with multilaser and heavy flamer
-Veteran Squad, 3 have meltaguns
-Chimera Transport, armed with multilaser and heavy flamer
-Veteran Squad, 3 have meltaguns
-Chimera Transport, armed with multilaser and heavy flamer
-Penal Legion Squad
-Penal Legion Squad
-Penal Legion Squad

Fast Attack:
-Vendetta Gunship, 3 twin-linked lascannons
-Vendetta Gunship, 3 twin-linked lascannons

Heavy Support:
-Leman Russ Battle Tank, 1 heavy bolter and 1 battle cannon
-Collossus, armed with 1 heavy bolter and 1 collossus siege mortar

TOTAL: 1495 points

Tau Crisis Battlesuit Tactics

Okay, folks, today we will be discussing the elite of possibly the best ranged army in the game, the Tau Empire Crisis Battlesuits. In every Tau tournament army I have seen, it has included at least 2 squads of these guys, though I would suggest possibly 3, if you have the points. We all know that the average player will give his squads some Drones, and then the plasma rifle missile pod combo, but these are just two of the options that you can take. Let's look at weapons first. The oft-overlooked Fusion gun is cheap, but effective. The burst cannon is good, but there are better options. Taking a twin-linked flamer on them is a measly 6 points! also, If you do this, there is no need to take a multi-tracker, or a targeting array, allowing you to possibly splurge out and get some shield drones, instead of gun drones. Speaking of some of the upgrades, a combo I have seen, it is pricey pointswise, but is very much worth it, is the multi-tracker, targeting array, and then the missile pod/plasma rifle. Very pricey, but if you have the points, it's pretty good. Other than those two, Target Lock is cheap, and can be effective, you should usually include some drones to take wounds, Blacksun Filter isn't really worth it. A Bonding Knife isn't bad, and it's only 5 points, so why not? Anyway, here are the two battlesuit combos that I think are optimal. These are both assuming that you took a bodyguard of Crisis for your commander, and that they are armed with the plasma rifle/missile pod combo:

Crisis Squad 1:

3 Crisis Battlesuits, all with twin-linked flamers, drone controller, 2 gun drones - 153 points

This unit will be absolutely deadly against light infantry, such as Guardsmen, Orks, and Tyranids, and will even put a dent in Marines. It has a grand total of 12 wounds, and it isn't super expensive, either! the best way to use this, is to leave an obvious hole in your lines, and then when the enemy sends a horde to exploit it, you Deep Strike this beast right in front of it, and then flame their brains out. Once this is done, you usually want to jump behind cover.

Crisis Squad 2:

3 Crisis Battlesuits, all with Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, targeting array, hard-wired multi-tracker, hard wired drone controller, 1 gun drone - 246 points

This unit, though expensive, will absolutely devastate both infantry and tanks with too many accurate, high-strength shots. best use for this is to Deep Strike them next to a monstrous creature, take out the beastie in question, and then wade further into the fight. The other great thing about these units is that neither of them is terrible in combat, with strength 5 and 2 attacks, as well as a healthy 3+ armor save. Taking both of these in the same army, combined with a Commander with his bodyguard, some Fire Warriors in Devilfish, a couple of Broadsides, and a Sky Ray, and you have a problem on your hands.

Imperial Guard: Introduction

Hey, folks!

Over the next week or so, I will be doing a series of posts on my first army: Imperial Guard. These posts will give solid info on a few different playstyles with IG, and how to beat these playstyles. I will also make a few lists, and go into the strength and weaknesses of IG. My goal is to make 3-4 posts on them, and cover as much as I can. The first post in the series will likely be tomorrow, or later tonight.

Necron Tomb Stalker

Okay, so, I got this pic from the guys at the Space Wolves blog (http://space-wolves-grey.blogspot.com/) As they surmised, this is from the upcoming Necron codex, and has some good rules attached to it. They explain it better than I do, but it seems as though the Necron codex will be insect based. You need to check out Space Wolves, though, it was my inspiration for this blog. But anyway, Necrons. They have lain dormant for quite a while, after 5th edition took them from top army to bottom army. They can still win games, but just not as much. It seems as though this will be changed soon, however, if GW is already leaking pictures. I look forward to seeing more of the death-robots on tables soon.

Ork Nob Tactics

So, for the first Tactics article on My Brother, My Enemy, I'll be looking at Ork Nobz. My brother actually fields a very large squad of these in a truck, and don't get me wrong, it's a pain in the rear, but they aren't as effective as they could be. First let's just look at the basic stats. For 20 points, they are relatively cheap, with a good statline. Their one weakness seems to be their 6+ armor save. To rectify this, you're going to want to do one of three things; get Meganobz instead, put them in a Battlewagon, or, and this is the best option, put them all on Bikes. no matter what configuration you put them in, however, you need to give them a Painboy. I've played against a big squad of these guys led by a Painboy, and have decided that you need one. Another nice upgrade is the Waaagh! Banner, giving them a formidable WS5. Other upgrades are:

Bosspole: Useless, don't want to kill your own men.

Big Choppa: Mmmm, maybe, if you have the points.

Power Klaw: At least 3 of these in a mid-sized squad.

Stikkbombs: You'll probably be striking last anyway, but why not?

Twin Linked Shoota: Errr, no.

Kombi-Weapons: Possibly, if on foot.

Eavy Armor: Bikes are better, but I think it could be useful.

Ammo Runt: I don't think so.

Here is what I think is the optimised unit of Nobz:

7 Nobz w/ bikes, 3 power claws, Waaagh banner, painboy

Total points: 435 points.

Expensive, I know, but totally worth it. Toughness 5 and FNP makes them pretty much as hard as Plague Marines, and then you look at the 4+ armor, 4+ cover, and 3+ Invulnerable save if they turbo-boost, and see that they are pretty much unkillable, and will dish out some massive hurt, with each one with a choppa and slugga will do 5 S5 attacks on the charge, at I4. In fact, you could probably make an army with two of these, 2 Warbosses on bikes, to make these guys Troops, and then some boyz in trukks. That's a good list. I may have to look into this.

Top 3 coolest-looking units

So, how things will go here, is that every Wednesday, I will post the 3 units/armies/models that are top in the relevant categories. So, this week, it is all about models that either have a really cool paint scheme, cool model, or (most likely) both!

1. Blood Angels Lemartes

The old model was pretty awesome, but just look at this new one. Feast your eyes on it. As if Chaplains weren't cool enough already, they went and made one insane. Look me in the face, and tell me that isn't cool. Just look at me and say that.

Sculptor: Juan Diaz

Date of release: April 3rd, 2010.

2. Space Wolves Canis Wolfborn

Missing out only by a narrow margin of coolness, Canis is one of the new characters from the new Space Wolves codex. I don't know about you, but for me, the idea of howling drunk space marines riding into battle on a giant wolf is just cool.

Sculptor: Martin Footitt

Date of release: October 3rd, 2010

3. Blood Angels Gabriel Seth

Notice the Marine theme here? I think GW is a little biased towards the Sons of the Emperor, don't you? Anyway, Gabriel scrapes 3rd after two of his Spesh Mahween comrades for the beautifulness of his model. I really like the extreme forward momentum on this model, and his big chainsword as it swings forward to kill his enemies. Emperor protect those who get on the wrong side of this guy.

Sculptor: Juan Diaz

Date of Release: April 3, 2010

Thank You, and Welcome!

Hello, everyone, and welcome to My Brother, My Enemy. My (screen) name is Kasrkar, and I would just like to make this post to thank the very very VERY few of you reading this blog. We are going to attempt to gain more followers, but we wouldn't complain if anyone suggested us to a friend or two.
I would also like to thank The Verderer for allowing me to be a writer on his blog. I've known him for quite a while, and despite him being a heretical bastard, he has been a very good friend to me.
I play Imperial Guard and Eldar. My I.G. skillz are pretty l33t, and I am still learning the ropes of my smexi space elves.
Anywho, regardless of age, or how long you have been playing, I hope that My Brother, My Enemy can provide atleast a little bit of help or insight for you.
So here we go...

Standard Army List

Okay, here is my standard Chaos Space Marine list (1500):

Chaos Sorcerer w/ Lash of submission, Mark of Slaanesh, meltabombs

5 terminators w/ 5 chainfists, 4 combi-meltas, reaper autocannon, icon of Nurgle

9 Khorne Berzerkers w/ Skull Champion w/ Powerfist, personal icon, Chaos Rhino

9 thousand Sons w/ aspiring Sorcerer w/ Bolt of Change, personal icon, meltabombs, rhino

10 Plague Marines w/ 2 meltaguns, champion w/ powerfist, personal icon, rhino

Vindicator w/ Demonic Possession

It's not great, but it has won me plenty of games, and I like it!

Okay, so, My Brother, My enemy is a blog dedicated to sharing my ideas in Warhammer 40k for painting, gaming, tactics, army lists, pretty much everything about the hobby! My goal here is to be kind of like The Way of Saim-Hann, BoLS, etc. So, a little bit about me. I've been playing Warhammer 40k for about 3 years now, my current army is Chaos Space Marines, but very soon I hope to start on some Space Wolves. So, without further ado...