Hey, guys. So I, Grandpa Rhino, am gonna continue something that Jaybie abandoned a long time ago called the weekly three. Basically every wednesday I'm gonna have the top three of whatever I pick, cool models, cool armies, guys with the biggest guns, etc. If you guys want you can leave comments in the current one, on what you want me to do it about next week. This week I'm doing the top 3 coolest looking 40k models. Lets get started!


And the third place prize goes to...

   

The Eldar Harlequin Death Jester!



This guy is one of my all time favorite models. I just love the jacket, bones, and ridiculously enormous gun. I also like him more in this paint scheme. You know a guy is scary when all the armor he needs is his grandpa's skull.

And the second place prize goes to...

Dark Angel's Ezekiel, Chief Libarian.

I think this model really shows alot of the awesomeness of space marines. He's too cool for a helmet, has the book and robes to tell you he's smart too, and he has a freaking huge sword. Whats not to like?

And the first place prize goes to....

Space Marine's "That Captian who really deserves a name"

I am a big fan of this model, he isn't quite up to full glory in this picture, but it's the best I could get. Anyway, this guy really does deserve a name. He shall be henceforth known as Scarface. But instead of saying "Say hello to my little friend." He says "Say hello to my little friends. Their names are pointy, and pointier."

Thats it for this week. What do you wanna see a top 3 of next week?





A Quick Update

Hey folks, Kasrkar here with a quick update.

I sincerely apologize for my absense in the blog lately, but I'm finally escaping from the laziness that prevented my posting for about 3 months or so. Before I get back to posting my regular things, I figure I should sum up a few of the important events that have happened 40k-wise.


First, right off the bat, you may have noticed the picture above displaying chaos daemons. That is because I have acquired a small army (roughly 1000 points) of daemons. I may or may not have mentioned this, but I made a promise to Jaybie and my brother that I would use my tournament winnings on creating a new army, instead of feeding the hellish cheese-storm that is my imperial guard. I've attended about 5 tourneys since I last posted (yeah...sorry about that), placing in 3 of them, and getting 4th in the other two. This allowed me to feed the daemons pretty quickly.
All I can say about daemons right now is that playing them is kind of frightening, and their success is probably more reliant on dice than any other army.


Next, while hanging out at my local 40k store the last few times, I've heard from a couple of people that I've basically become one of the best players in the state. I'm kind of skeptical, since I play IG, and there isn't exactly a high talent requirement for that army, but this is still pretty cool to hear.
I'm being compared mostly to a space wolf player named John. I've played against John several times, and he could certainly classify as a power gamer. He is, however, a super nice guy once you get past the first few games. He is so far the only player who has managed to beat my IG in a solo tournament. He kicked my ass in our first two games, but in our most recent game, I gave him a thorough stomping (near tabling) in a mission that was obviously and heavily in his favor.

Another name that's come up a lot lately is Alan, AKA Blackmoor. He plays grey knights, and if you're reading this, It's a fair bet that you know who he is, as he has a very nice blog, himself. In my first ever tournament, I got a tiebreaker victory against him with my IG, getting me 2nd place and him 3rd place. He's also, however, the only player to ever defeat my 'Simple Lasagna' style of footdar. Alan actually took 1st place home at a local GT just the other day.
Anyway, I'll leave that at that. I don't mean to stroke my ego with this, but I have to admit it is kind of a neat thing to hear.


For the final part of this update, I would like to welcome GrandpaRhino to the blog. He's been a good buddy of mine for a long time, and he recently moved across the country. His arrival to the blog has been pretty responsible for me and Mr. Jaybie getting back on track with posting, as well, which I appreciate.

Anyway, I'll look into posting some things about the daemons soon. I will be out of town until Friday, but I can write something up soon.
Cheers,
Kasrkar

Anti-Netlist tactics: Lysander Hammertime

Hello, all, and I know I haven't been posting for a while, but MBME will be back with a vengeance after a not-so-short summer vacation. We might even have some painting/conversion articles, I know the three of us have been painting like devils (Well, at least the other two...)

But anyway, today I will start a series of tactics exploring different netlists, and how best to defeat them. The first one, as the title explains, is the most feared Lysander list.

List Overview:

The list is based around Captain Darnath Lysander, as the name suggests. In addition to this rock-hard hero, usually is added a Librarian with stormshield, 2 squads of hammernators with Land Raiders, and finally some tactical marines in transports, or scouts. All in all a very difficult list to beat.

The counter:

There are several different ways to beat this type of list. The most effective way, in the words of Advice Guardsman, is:

I have seen Lysander and his squad butcher their way through 6 nob bikers, and 2 warbosses. Then 30 boyz come along. Dead Lysander.

The other option is more widely usable by many different types of power-armored armies. Send up sever expendable melta squads, blow the raiders sky-high, then blow them away with frag missiles, lascannons, whatever is necessary.

The best counter-army:

The best counter army is without a doubt Venomspam Dark Eldar. Lances can blow up the raiders by turn 1-2, and then your 100-odd splinter shots can do the rest. Since the two land raider termie squads are going to suck up a lot of points, a Lysander army will have very little to threaten your Ravagers at range, since the easiest way to counter Venomspam is to take down the Ravagers (Venomspam! 9 lances to 0 lances in 3 shots!).

Anyway, that's it for this week's Netlist beating tactics. So, feedback? Am I the next Tony Kopach, or am I just an idiot spitting out more junk with which to pollute the internet.

Black Templars. Why they're the bomb.

As you may have guessed from the name, this is a post about black templars. What to do and what not to do, how to maximise your army's capability, and some simple speculation on how beautiful they are.

OK. So, to fill you in on what you probably know, Black Templars are a 4th edition codex. This has ups and downs wich I'll explain later. Also, in my opinion, black templars are the coolest looking space marines out there, with dark angels as a close second.

Lets start with what makes them good, and what makes them less good. Less good first. Sorry tournament goers, this is 4th edition, your Rhinos are 50 points, your Heavy Bolter Razors are 70, your Lascannon Razors are 90, and your only other transport option is a Land Raider, but have no fear, we make up for it. In the book, a lot of wargear is different, but this is fixed by FAQ. Generally everything is now what it would be in a 5th ed codex, but at fourth edition prices. Except storm shields, witch are now always 15 points from the armory, and a 10 point upgrade instead of 3 on assault marines.

Now we've moved into the good, I'll do that. The first thing I should explain is righteous zeal. What it is is a rule representing your guys getting really pissed when their buddy dies. Basically you have to take a leadership test for any casualties at all, not a quarter dead, however, if you pass this test, you consolidate up to d6 inches towards your opponent. It says up to so that your enemy can't kill one guy and make you run shouting off an objective in the last turn. Crusader Seals let you opt to reroll the d6, wich is nice. This move isn't affected by terrain, and it counts as the unit hasn't moved for purposes of heavy/rapid fire weapons.

#2 The Emporer's Champion, my favorite, and one of the best HQs in 40k. Is it cause he's a hulking wolf man with an axe? Is it because he's a scary man with stats way too high for a psyker? Or is it simply because his name is Lysander? No, no, and no. This guy isnt a close combat beast. Though he isnt shabby with 4 s6 i5 power weapon attakcs on the charge. What makes this guy great is vows. You pick one of these babies as part of your Champion's unit entry.

The first one is "Uphold the honor of the emporer" I've used this before in small games and had fun, but I wouldn't use it in bigger ones. It's the cheapest at 10 points, totaling your Champ at 100. What it does is gives all your infantry on the field a 6+ Invul save. "Why wouldn't you use that Grandpa Rhino? Thats Awesome!" Patience child. It also makes it so no one, including vehicles can benefit from cover. And since cover makes the world go round in 5th, this is huge. Another bonus effect is that nobody can ever be pinned. Believe me its fun in a tiny game to have that dreadnought arm bounce off a space marine. But not worth it if you have a single tank in your list.

The second is "Abhor the Witch, destroy the witch." This one is more interesting. If the enemy has a psyker in his list, all your guys, including vehicles, make a d6 inch righteous zeal move before the game starts, after scouts. Also it gives everybody on the table a 5+ save against psykic powers targeting them. You can use and abuse this if you want. It's probably the second most popular of the vows. By the way I'm listing these in order of points costs, and this one is 20.

The third is "Suffer not the Unclean to Live." Which in my opinion, isnt really worth taking, but let me explain. What it does is it gives all your guys +1 Strength, but they strike at -1 intitiative. It affects dreadnoughts, not neophytes, and is not cumulative with furious charge. It dosen't say which is cancelled, but I assume its the furious charge. Thats pretty much it for this one. I don't recomend it. S5 all the time is nice, but you'll usually like that I4 more. And ruins your wonderful furious charge guys. 35 for this one.

The fourth and finally is "Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Odds." I always take this baby. It's increadible. It gives every guy in your army who attacks in close combat prefered enemy. Which is huge. You can no longer wiff an important assault, your guys do way more damage than average marines, and the only downside is you have to charge whenever you get the option, wich believe me, ends up being alot like the movie Yes Man. 50 points but definately worth it in my opinion.

#3 Crusader Squads, these are your one and only troops choice. But they can do any job. Trust me. The really cool thing about these guys is the number of guys limit is 5-10 Initiates (Space marines) AND 0-10 Neophytes (Scouts) you can't take more neophytes than initiates. Now, this means three things. One, you can have a freaking 20 man squad! The second, you can have scouts as 10 point just as good as initiates in close combat filler. The problem with these guys is 4+ armor and 3 Ws/Bs, but hey, one dies and your d6 inches closer to assault range! The third is that you have no sergeant, so your power fist only has one attack without charging. Oh well. The other good thing is the weapon selection is one 4th Ed priced heavy weapon or 1 4th Ed priced close combat weapon, and one special weapon, no required number of guys. Also, everybody can have close combat weapon/bolt pistol. So I usually use 5 initiates, 4 neophytes, 1 power fist, one melta, in a rhino w/ smoke launchers. This comes in at 195 points. A ten man rhino squad of grey hunters is 215. Mine win in combat pretty much every time. Believe me, when your talking about troops, that 20 points goes a long way. In fifth edition you need to have around 4 usually. Thats 100 points saved. That could buy you quite a bit.

#4 Veteran Skills, all of the elites in your army can either purchase, or have veteran skills. This leads to some awesome stuff. Sword Brethren can suddenly have Infiltrate, Counter Attack, or Furious Charge. Wich btw, don't look at Sword Brethren as expensive. The extra three points is for the special rule, and they can also take some really cool weaponry. Your Dreadnought can have tank hunter or furious charge. This means either a I5 Dread assaulting, or a tank crusher with a twin linked s10 lascannon, and a s9 krak missle. However, you have to make them venerable to get this option, a twenty point upgrade. I honestly don't take dreads too often. As they dont quite suit my play-style. But I have used both the options above and they've performed fine. Shooty termies can have furious charge or tank hunters. Also they can take two big guns. This usually means 4 s9 tank killing shots. And sometimes means 8 s7 rending anti-tank shots, and 8 s6 rending ap4 anti infantry shots. I like the second more. 8+7+Rending=more than 4+9. And where it really gets insane is your assault termies. With lightning claws, these bad boys have 4 I5 S5 reroll to hit reroll to wound power weapon attacks on the charge each. This will demolish anything. Also storm shield guys are good for taking those ap hits and killing big stuff. Remember that these thunder hammers reroll to hit. They have less attacks but will destroy anything they decide is too cocky. I take six, three with each equipment option, and one with crusader seals, so that can't wiff either.

Thats about it for the really insane stuff. Other little things are vindys are 125, but predator anhialators are 145, and typhoons are 70. Also vindys can get power of the machine spirit for 30 points. which is awesome. Basically means demonic possesion and blood angel speed combined. Without the 18 inch option. Oh, Chaplains are cool again, I5, and can take cool wargear. Marshalls are also very cool. When you take one your entire army uses his leadership. Cool wargear, one downside is he dosent come with an iron halo, and they are pricey to buy. When I use a marshall I use him with terminator honours (+1 attack) and thunder hammer and storm shield. This guy is 160 points, when you have him with a command squad they can all take veteran skills. Witch can mean 5 s9 reroll to hit attacks on the charge. Pretty dang cool if you ask me. You can also buy something to make him eternal warrior.

So in conclusion, Templars are awesome, can be great at anything, but they blow you away as a close combat army. Also, pretty dang spiffy lookin'. You just have to be careful cause they're an out-dated book. So bikes, assault marines, all those perfectly good space marines, are way overpriced. But once you get the hang of it, an absolutely amazing army. Goodbye, from Grandpa Rhino

Battle Report! Black Templars Vrs. Orks (Pictures)

Hey there readers, this is Grandpa Rhino giving you my first battle report. I found a Games Workshop to play at, and went over today to find a game. I got there kinda early so there weren't many people around, but after a while I found someone to play with. His name was Brian and he had orks with him. So we decided to play a 1000 point game. Here are the lists we used

Black Templars
HQ: Emporer's Champion, Accept any challenge, no matter the odds.----------------------140

Elite: 6 Sword Brethren Assault Terminators, 3 w/Thunder Hammer-Storm Shield, all with FC vet' skill, 1 with crusader seals-------------------------------------------------------------------------260

Troop: 5 Initiates, 4 Neophytes, 1 Power fist, 1 melta gun, Rhino w/Smoke Launchers--198
5 Initiates, 4 Neophytes, 1 Power fist, 1 melta gun, Rhino w/Smoke Launchers-----------198

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Typhoon--------------------------------------------------------------70

Heavy Support: Vindicator w/ Smoke Launchers, and a dozer blade------------------------133

Orks (I don't know the ork codex too well so a I dont know the point costs and a thing or two might be a little off, but I think this is what he had.)
HQ: Warboss w/ Twin Linked Shoota, Attack Squig, Boss Pole, and Heavy Armor

Elite: 5 Lootas w/ a Kombi-Melta

Troop: 9 Nobs w/ Heavy Armor, 8 Big Choppas, 9 Stikkbombs, one with Boss Pole, kombi-Skorcha and Power Claw
-30 Ork Boys w/ 3 big shootas and a Nob w/ Power Claw and Boss Pole
-10 Ork boys

Fast Attack: 5 Deffkoptas w/ Twin Linked Rokkits

OK. So, the mission was Dawn of war, Base Objectives. The tables at this place are pretty awesome. He won the roll off and took first turn. His Objective is in the tan building under the green template on the right, and mine is just to the right of the measuring tape on the left.

He deployed all his boys in the building with his objective, and the nob squad in the reddish brick building on the left. Based off his list, and deployment, it was time to guess. How was this guy gonna play this game. As he started his first turn it became obvious he expected his nob squad to be invincible. See how they're all in the open in the picture above. Also this picture dosent show it too well but he brought his lootas and koptas on this turn. The lootas are in his building and his koptas are on the left flank. I expected him to rush with everything but the lootas and 10 ork boys. I was really concerned about the potential firepower of the koptas.

On my turn one all my stuff came on. I realized we had both made a mistake. Me, in my guess of his plan, him, in his plan. He was moving up with the 10 man instead of the 30. I was overjoyed. Anyway, on with the report. I was really afraid of the damage those koptas could do to my boxes, and I didn't want to use my smoke yet. So I tried to spook em by killing one or two with the land speeder, and getting them to get closer and shoot at that. Sadly, the 41st millenium space marines decided night vision goggles are for dandys. Things went much better on my left though. I figured I should show him just how puny his nobs are. My vindicator got a direct hit and killed seven! Boom goes the mushroom.

Top o' turn two he forgot to fall for my tricks, and wrecked my championless rhino. Those dang green space plants.

The remainder of the Ork's infantry were almost to the Black Templar Line!  It was time to act. The rhino and vindicator moved aside to target the two nobs and let the Sword Brethren through. And on the left flank there was a Crusader squad that had a rhino driver to avenge.

The vindicator finished blowing up nobs, and I won both assaults. Two of my termies died though. That Warboss packs a punch!

Now I needed to counter attack. I didn't just destroy 70 percent of his army for a tie. I started moving up the termies behind the Champ rhino but then realised the enemy has no ap2. Yay!

Now its time some glory! I need to get in to that objective. My vindy and typhoon kill about ten ork boys. I knew that rhino wouldnt last long and I needed the troops inside. So my two lone termies, charged into 20 ork boys. Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Odds. They killed about seven. And guess what... They lived! the picture above is actually my enemy's turn after I assaulted. The lootas had 3 targets. smoked rhino, unpenabble vindy, or worthless speeder. Me: "I dare you to shoot the speeder." Him: "You know what? I'm gonna fucking get a kill." and does it. The speeder got imobilized and shaken. In the assault, I killed 3 orks and a nob. But both termies died like heroes.

The Emporer's Champion and his squad assault the remaining 10 orks. And wiped them out. The lootas shot but were unable to do anything. With avenging some termies in mind, the Emporer's Champ detatched and bolt pistoled one loota, then assaulted and killed the remaining four. A tableing victory!

All in all this was a fun game for me. Not so much for my opponent, who later I found out was new to playing orks. I think in his place I would have put the nob in the ten man, and the warboss in the 30, and gone to work. Also I wouldnt have been such a dumbdonkey with the nobs. I gave him some tips, and hopefully next time he'll be the one dishing out the punishment. Basically what happened was my plan from the start was based on knowing that the defender has the advantage. He was going to rush with everything, and if I sat back I had the jump on his offensive force. then I could counter attack to his objective. I didnt try to seize because I needed to make sure I had the charge. Or things would have gone bad. I expected him to move up as far as possible first turn, maybe even in range for me charge on mine, it wasnt quite so but you get the idea. Also for objectives its always great to have that final push. Especially in dawn of war where first turn killing is limited. I assaulted the 20 man with my two termies cause I needed to tie em up so my troops could get to the objective before the game ended (Cutting through 20 orks would have slowed them down) and to minimal resistance. Anyway, It was a fun, cinematic game, and my opponent was a cool guy. When it comes down to it, isn't that what matters?

Introduction

Hey everybody, my name is Granda Rhino, and I just became a new author to the blog. Jaybie Kasrkar and I have been playing 40k for a year or two now. However, all good things must come to an end. I just moved across country. So now I'll be the East Coast wing. Hopefully soon I'll find a place to play and get some battle reports to ya. Little about myself: I play black templars, I've completed the Kasrkar 40k prodogy school, and Im alergic to Wolf Scouts.