Monday, August 29, 2011

Drumroll Please...

Just thought I might take a moment to introduce myself before I start posting wildly and you're all left sitting there wondering who I am and if I have any credibility.

I have been War gaming for 2 years now this fall. While this may not be a long time to many of you veterans I must say that my first army was Daemonhunters (now Codex: Grey Knights) which in my opinion should have had a stamp across the front cover labeling it “Warhammer 40k: HARD MODE”. Needless to say, I got my face stomped plenty of times before I started winning any games. In an army where your basic troop model is 25 pts and your squad leader is 50 pts base you either learn fast or don’t learn at all. So I quickly began to learn basic and advanced tactica for 40k (some of my first opponents being gojira’s longfang Space Wolves and braverifle’s aptly named “Chester” of Daemons consisting almost completely of Bloodcrushers).

Facing such opponents taught me quickly how to utilize my highly costed PAGKs to their full potential. While I had read up on Silent Requiem’s “Way of the Water Warrior” I found myself having tons of PAGK models at my disposal and lacking in funds to purchase land raiders. So I quickly fell into a play style of infantry based combat. Whilst this tend to be rather amazing against other infantry based list with a stock Stormbolter, WS5, S6, and True Grit…I quickly realized how difficult mechanized enemies would be to tackle.

After having moderate success with footslogging GKs against mechanized armies I began to play Tyranids (upon stumbling onto a deal I could not refuse…i.e. 13,000 pts in bugs for $300) and was suddenly overwhelmed by the amount of bodies I could throw on a board. Tyranids only served to reinforce my already growing belief of strength in numbers…not only could I not take rhinos for GKs but rather I didn’t want to…1 transport meant (keeping in mind daemonhunter rhinos were 50 pts) 2 less wounds, a turn or so of 4 less stormbolter shots and 4 less attacks, now whilst a transport might defend against the loss of more than these wounds…sometimes it did not…and so I could not justify vehicles for power armored units. Back to bugs, I got Tyranids as a 5th edition codex…so I guess me never having 85 pt carnifexes made me appreciate the book a little bit more than the existing Tyranid player. I got to learn the book without having to relearn the army. Tyranids made me reach one important realization above all others.

OPTIONS ARE GOOD

…and not only are options good, they’re better if you have them in game instead of only in unit selection. Tyranids brought with them special rules like FnP, Infiltrate, and Outflank, as well as many different movement types and force multipliers. Tyranids, when used correctly can choose who buffs what and when and where they do it. You can build a single list and emphasis the protection or destructive capabilities of a single unit simply by choosing to do so mid game.

Then Grand Strategy was born. A single ability to choose from four emphases and apply them to most any unit you take. Gorgeous. And Grey Knights had all sorts of useful tools like teleport packs that could be combined with the aforementioned Grand Strategy to give you…options. And in the creation of this ability we have really seen the birth of the true water army. Land raiders are no longer a necessity as Grey Knights have the mobility or numbers they needed in order to accomplish the goals you deem they should handle. My play style and I are all about adaptability, in list building and mid game, I have learned how to counter the curveballs by allowing myself the freedom to do so.

As you may have guessed from the above, I am very against net-lists and generally against single purposed units that have little to no flexibility.

I will soon post more on:
-Tyranid Unit Choice
-Tyranid Movement Tactica
-Modernized Grey Knight Water Tactica
-The Downfall of Net-listing

If you ever have any questions or topics you would like to hear about, especially concerning my two armies, be sure to message me and I will usually respond in a timely manner.

~ductvader

9 comments:

  1. Why thank you...good to see I've already snagged a reader on my first ever blog post.

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  2. I just added you all to our blog roll as well. Let the DFG crew know if you ever need anything!

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  3. Ha, ironically I stumbled across your new blog independent of OST. I was in GR a few days back and was trying to find a place to get an out of towner game in. I scoured your old forum and really could get any grasp on the Battle Barn. When do you play? It looked like fridays, but is that the only day? You guys are not a store, so you only have one or two nights you open?

    When I was growing up in Jackson we had a place like that called The Battleground. Usually they would open on Wednesday and Friday and rented out the basement of the old JCPenny's building downtown. They weren't a store, but sold some soda and snacks and had a cover charge to pay the bills. Are you guys similar to that?

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  4. Forum site: http://www.battlebarn.com/index.php

    To avoid spammers and spambots you will have to register to our forum and once you're accepted you will be able to see the barn location and times.

    Generally though, we are open every friday from 7pm to 1am seems to be about the latest. We may occasionally have a saturday gaming day as well. We do sell pop (usually coke and mountain dew) and we actually have monthly dues.

    Dues are $5 a month or $2 a night if you can only make it a night or two in a month.

    We are not a store but rather a devoted gamer has opened and started renovating his barn for the purposes of war gaming.

    I would recommend you register on our forum.

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  5. Welcome to the blogsphere guys, I added you to the blogroll on Craftworld Lansing. I hope I can make it out there to play with you guys. Its hard getting to Lansing since I moved to Ypsi.

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  6. Welcome to the blogsphere, I have added you to my blogroll on Commissar Dave Praetorian IV Coy.

    Wow what a way to jump into the hobby straight in at the deep end with what I think is a difficult army to play with. Hat's off to you sir you seem to have grasped them.

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  7. Thanks all...I appreciate your well wishing comments.

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