Mantic's Biggest Problem

Mantic has done wonders for the wargaming community, easily able to claim the rights to savings thousands of hobbyists. Fans praise their involvement with the community, willingness to listen, adapt, and produce affordable miniatures. Unfortunately, that attention has come with some significant growing pains as well.

Kings of War Battle Report! Herd vs. Undead Master Crafted Special!

If you've wondered about Kings of War but not given it a shot - this video will definitely help you decide.

Looking at Deployment Strategies

A New Series

Today Master Crafted Gaming is starting a new series that aims to focus on the complexities of strategy and tactics available to players in Kings of War. Caleb and myself are very excited about the game and want to see more players getting involved. Part of that process is making the entry into a new type of game easier. This series will be a "KoW Tactica - 101" for those of you who have never played a fantasy wargame before.

You never know - the veterans out there may learn a thing or two themselves!

Why I am selling my 40K army and going all in with Kings of War...

Its been a while since I've blogged anything. So let me start by saying this "This will not be a dakka, I hate GW post". It'll be an explanation that I feel I need to share. I'm not getting out of war gaming rather just shifting my focus to another rule set. I have decided to focus on Kings of War. Let me tell you why. It's nothing like that YouTube video where the guy burns his army. Quite the contrary.

I am back to work at a retail management job. I work a lot. A lot. My last job was about 35 hours a week this one is like 55-60. Its brutal but I need to provide and I'm happy to be at work again. So my time is limited. I want to support a system that I feel rewards me as a customer. I want to support a company that cares about my involvement. Selfish? Sure. It's my needs though. I am not asking anyone else to follow my path.

I have decided to support Mantic due to the fact that they do care. Our YouTube channel got a response from Ronnie Renton today. That meant a lot to me. We didn't ask for free stuff but rather feedback. What can we do to help? We wanted to know. He got us in touch with his North American guy and good things will come from that. The Mantic forums are full of guys who want feedback about rules, points, issues and unforeseen scenarios. These guys don't get paid for this but rather due it to improve the game. That's huge, or to quote Trump "That's YUGE!!!" I'm American forgive me and my country for supporting this golden wig wearing sociopath. Moving on...

I decided I will no longer support companies that do not care about my interest in their products. So I will no longer own models or armies that i could possibly buy from that company again. That's all. Managing retail gives me a unique outlook on this. I need to know if a customer is unhappy. I cannot fix it otherwise. I actively ask my customers "what else?" I have to know, the customer who doesn't speak up and walks away you will never get that customer back. As much as the complainers drive me nuts it allows me to avoid the same issues with other customers.

It's not about negativity, rather its about putting my money where my mouth is. If KOW is so great and it is! Check out our YouTube channel to see the smile on my friggin face! I need to support Mantic with model purchases. They do not grow otherwise. Full stop end of story. We can as a community buy them out of rule books day in and day out but that wont get it done. We need to support them and other companies that are engaged with US! The WarMaHordes guys already got this down. We need to follow suit.

My time and money are a big deal to me. This is money I am not spending on my children and time I am not spending with my family. This is weekend trips I am not taking with them This is dinners I am missing due to playing a game. This is part of my life. I need to make sure that the resources I put into this are not wasted on those that do not deserve it. I just feel another British company deserves it and another doesn't. Its not due to wrongs being done to me mind you. GW never set out to hurt me. Never actively tried to sabotage my hobby, never sent me hate email when I had a customer compliant. Mantic has actively engaged me and demanded my feedback. That's why ultimately. If they don't care then that's OK. However my hobby money and time requires that they do care. Not everyone needs that. I do.

So I in the process of selling my Horus Heresy army.  I fully expect the transaction to process today. I'll be using that money to buy Mantic Ogres for my second KOW army. I'm thrilled about this. It's a new beginning for me. I can finally change up our batrps!! No more Herd vs Undead foreva!!! Thank Christ, our fans are like "awesome batreps keep'em coming but umm hey do you guys per chance have anything else you could play army wise?" Our response is always the same positive tone "NO! DONATE OR NO BATREPS FOR YOU!!" We don't actually say that... I think. Thanks for reading see you around the way....

Models or Games?

I find myself in a very interesting spot of my hobby life. Here I am, finally understanding the moniker Games Workshop has always adopted that, they are a model company who happens to make games.

How to conquer your friends objections to Kings of War...

So I hate that I have to write this article - but I have to. I have to one last time write about my ex-gf and all her bullshit. I hate that...simply because I'm happy now. I'm in a good place war gaming wise. Yet here I am bringing up this "girl" again. Gag... Here is why though.

Too many guys who played WFB are unsure what direction to go. They don't know if they should jump into Kings of War or hold out for the 9th edition pipe dream. So I am going to focus on their potential objections or maybe even your own objections to trying KOW.

1. 9th Age. The fans are taking over finally. It'll be balanced and just like old times. Well, sure... It'll also be almost totally dead and played out in 2 years. It doesn't have a future. I know some will say well Bloodbowl and Epic are still around. Yes they are - yet in 4 years of being actively involved in the scene; I haven't seen one game played. Its a tiny group of folks keeping it alive. Kudos to them. Here is the truth though. NO NEW PLAYERS. Its a dead rule set. It will not attract new players from FLGS or GW stores. Why would they try to sell a dead game. Think about it. Let it go I swear it'll be ok.

2. Magic and magic items are weak. Sure are. It is almost a forgettable phase of the game. Magic items are small boosts to units usually. Nothing game changing really. I want to ask though. Is that a bad thing? Frankly getting a unit purple sun'd off the table due to some hail mary, rim shot, lucky catastrophe pisses me off. You didn't out play me you got lucky. F.U. Also its nice to not see the same net list daemon prince kited out to bear, some death star stupid unit or you know what the god damn Hellheart Banner. F.U. To that to. I prefer it this way. Low magic means I can't rely on a lucky 6 dicing douche nozzle tabling me on turn 4 when I've clearly got him....ok, I need a beer. I'm clearly angry about this is the NORM in WFB. Its sad. I think KOW being low magic is superior. Ask yourself did you like when you dealt with a death star or some chump got lucky with the Dreaded 13th? No brainer here.

3. The fluff is different and my army is something else now. Well in WFB your army fluff is god damn dead so move on. Make up your own if you don't like Mantic's fluff and don't steal from Tolkien and Moorcock... I mean I don't know any company that did that....

4. I can't fight back when it isn't my turn and I want to make armor saves. This is a legit concern to many fellows and i understand it. I do. Keep in mind that mechanic only slows down the turn. Also the other guys doesn't get to do anything either. So it isn't just you. The armor save thing is hard to transition to. I'll be honest but the speed of the game makes up for it to me. I can't play 2-3 games of KOW in the same time you play 1 game of WFB. This is the most legit of the objections to me. Mainly due to the fact that I actually had these exact concerns.

 
5. I don't like leaving models in trays. I want to see the carnage. Well if this is a concern you have, I can only say one thing. Tell me what you liked about putting 80-150 models back into trays after a 3-4 hour game? Tell me about a time a tourney where your game went late and you were rushing to your next match and all your shit was out of the trays... Oh this is another F.U. Besides if you haven't seen how awesome multi-basing can look you are missing out sir.

6. The armies do not have flavor. This is true they do not have GAME BREAKING BS flavor. Instead they have a well balanced and very well thought out flavor. Its small flavor. You don't always need big flavor for something to be delicious. Ever had  sushi, I mean real sushi not rolls! Fish and rice its delish. Nothing over top and it is fantastic. My Herd army plays very similar to my Beastmen. Hits hard, no defense, is all about the chaff and doesn't grind well. I love it, all that and it is balanced to boot. 

All of the armies have a perfect amount of flavor. Be it Twilight Kin with vicious ( re roll 1's to wound), ogres with brutal (add 1 to nerve tests) or Undead with Lifeleech (regains wounds lost in battle). They all feel right. They all feel different and ultimately that's what flavor is. 

7. I don't want to buy any new books. Fair enough you've been burnt by GW. Good news you don't have to buy shit. Its all free, the rules and army lists. Oddly enough the army lists include points too!!
How awesome is that. Better part of this free rule thing is. They have been doing it for years. They are who GW is responding to with free Sigmar rules. They also have a free army building website.
Kow2.easyarmy.com shit you not. Free. Been free. Always gonna be free. 

8. The nerve mechanic. This is an objection but a selling point. Ever charge a unit of skaven slaves with an absolute beat stick unit? You wrack up 32 wounds and get ready to roll that morale check. Guess what? They are steadfast because they still have 3 ranks. F.U. F.U. F.Mother F-ing U. Nerve is amazing. Keep track of wounds roll against the units nerve value. If you busted them up the lower you need to roll to break them. Only double 1's can screw you. That's a 3% chance. I like those odds. 

9. I don't want to buy a new army. Good news you don't have to. Mantic has rules for every Warhammer army already. Yes they are still in beta but if you are Brets, Skaven or Beastmen you got new army comp already. You'll never get that from GW. More good news. Mantic has some miniatures and they are wicked affordable. Like 150 bucks American for 1000 points. That's a steal in the miniature world. Tell me if you could get a 2k WFB army for under 300. Seriously if you are buying new not possible. 

10. The community. Once again not an objection. What if I told you the Rules Committee was active on forums and DEMANDED feedback. Ok they "ask" but they ask for it alot. It feels demanding dammit!! Not really but wow what a change. They WANT to hear the unbalanced and the silly. They WANT to hear about the undercosted and overpowered. Matt and Dan are like Nazis (except for that whole jew killing, WW2 starting asshole thing). Ok they are nothing like Nazis more like dorks who are passionate about KOW. Is that a better analogy? Furthermore the Mantic forums are not filled with pestilence and venom. They are cordial and supportive. Its a wicked breath of fresh air.


The last one. Its different. I know it is and it sucks what happened. It happened though. We cannot dwell on it. Cannot. Our WFB armies are dead. Our narrative has been murdered. It was done for reasons I understand as a businessman. I really do. However that doesn't mean we have to take it. I haven't. I've let go. Mantic did something for all of us. GW freed us. Mantic is offering us a home. 

See you around the way...


Free rules here!!!
http://www.manticgames.com/free-rules.html
http://1drv.ms/1yvlGbQ
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nhZLDFOHUXC2MCA6NwYQWr0HF2mSyvEWIlNH4oCtBeQ/htmlview#gid=1243412207
https://manticforum.com/forum

Kings of War and the joy of realizing you are a terrible general...

So I've played 6 games of KOW since I've decided to switch to it. I think I'm 1-3-2 in those games. I know, I know win/loss isn't the be all end of how good you are but it is a good measuring stick. So real quick let me say this, in 6 games all but one was decided in turn 6 or 7. Lastly I had a absolute blast in every game. This speaks to a couple things to me balance and tactics. In short this game is incredibly balanced and I need to learn tactics.

So one of the things I love about movement trays in fantasy war gaming is the tactical aspect of it. The game is won or lost in the movement phase in KOW. No one unit, magic item or spell is gonna get you that win. You have to outplay and out maneuver the other guy (or girl I know, what a sexist thing for me to assume, send complaints to KOWROCKS@YOU'REAWHINEYDOUCHE.COM). So i played my first scenario games and what a huge difference that makes in playing. I have now played pillage, loot and domination. Each one had its own depth that I definitely need more practice in to really master this game. I thought I was below average/decent at fantasy movement. KOW has taught me this, WRONG I sucked!!! My movement game is soft, but I am working on it.

So in my loot scenario game I had a plan. I was going first (which was a huge component of the plan) and I was able to successfully capitalize on my plan. It was close but because the units in KOW were so balanced I won. I stuck to the plan and didn't try to get sexy with harebrained ideas or grand schemes of annihilation. I was able to screen the 3 units I was going to steal the objectives with (2 were successful) and was able to get them off the board to cement my first win. My opponent realized right after turn 1 what the gig was and tried to counter. His army was just a little to slow and I was able to keep the fast guys from getting to my loot thieves. YAY!! I WON!!! It hit me THOUGH, had I gone second my plan would likely not have worked. That was a lighting bolt. I need more games and I have a lot to learn.

My domination game was maybe the most fun I have ever played in any war gaming game PERIOD. It swung back and forth so many times late I just was at a loss as what to do. We ended up with a draw and he had a turn where a unit over its rout limit stuck, due to him rolling snake eyes. A tremendous moment in my life. There is a batrep of this game and it will be up later today. I'll link to it. It was just a blast and this was after I had already played 3 games of KOW and a 3.5 hour game of 40k. I should have been beat but KOW brings out the life in me.

The movement tactics of this game blow me away. So many combo moves, screening options and plans of attack that I am just awestruck. I look forward to the day when I feel I can play this competitively. I bought a model for my fantasy army. I haven't done that in over a year. Let that sink in. I am so excited to play KOW, I am buying shit! Huge day for me. I am already envisioning two tiered scenarios for games that I think would add even that much more strategy and depth to this beautiful game. I am re-reading this and realizing how much of a fanboy rant about the quality of KOW yet I am very OK with that. Mantic and this game deserve the spot in the light they have truly delivered a gift to all of us fantasy wargamers. If you are on the fence get down and come over to here. I swear you won't regret it.

Lastly this community has been lights out awesome. Our YouTube batrep had 1200+ views which is double our average batrep. I cannot say thank you enough to this community. Matt Gilbert from the Rules Committee is awesome over at Mantics Forums. He is pleasant, fast with responses and just a smidgen sarcastic (I think that might be crown rule in the UK though, so he may not have a choice)!
Alessio, the games creator liked my last blog post. That's awesome and if you think differently please shoot me your address so I can crap in your mailbox. Jerk. Dave from the Redstone Rumble reached out to me on dakka with positive words. Check out his tourney this October in you are anywhere near Alabama. I'm blown away buy the lack of nerd rage, table flip, set my army on fire, hate crime rants. So next post will be about about your objections to switching if you are unsure. I will address them fairly and with a lot of foul language. Kidding see you around the way...

Why I'm playing Kings of War and not 8th...

So this will not be a hate filled rant against GW. I say again will not be. Its been about 6 weeks I'd guess since Age of Sigmar rolled out. Let me be the first to say it's a fun game... To play with my 6 & 8 year old sons. It really is, they love it. I like seeing them move models and roll dice all while having a blast. I firmly believe it's going to do well for GW. I know, I know, what am I saying? It appeals to adults with children between 6-13. It is a real winner for selling models. So moving on.

Healthy Competition

I'm a big hockey fan. Correction...I'm a livid, eccentric hockey fan. The reason I like it? The combination of skill and passion it takes to play. The key element of that passion is the pure competition that is born from it.

And hot damn is it fun to win over your competition.

Try and grasp the intensity of this moment

The above photo is a rather mundane moment in hockey. This is a faceoff. In your run-of-the-mill NHL game you can expect to see 50 to 70 of these. Look at the intensity captured here. You can see the photographer probably snapped the shutter the moment he saw the ref drop the puck. 9.8m/s squared that puck has fallen and these guys are sprawling for it. Ice is spraying, they're focused, and it's intense. All this will result in...is momentary possession by either team.

You can feel the competition present in this photo.

My gripe with gamer's today is the shunning of competition. (Yes this is about wargaming, stay with me folks.) We have developed as a society to praise all as winners, regardless of performance. We even instill it into our kids as soon as they enter any form of competition because we're so afraid we're going to hurt their feelings.

Thanks for throwing the ball over the fence and blowing the game, Jenny.

If we maintained the fear of loss, we suddenly strive for more. A desire is born to do better than your perceived best. Then suddenly we experience personal growth and accomplishment. Could you imagine a world where every day you wake up with something new to accomplish? It's pretty hard to do so in any real context in a world that tells you no matter what you're a winner!

I love competition. It's a good thing. There are plenty of people who don't want to play competitive wargaming. Which seems absolutely bonkers to me, personally. Here is a direct competitive setting. You literally stand across from your opponent. It's almost as if these types of players would rather team up with their buddies and play a scripted baddie they mock out. Which truthfully makes me want to vomit.

Don't get carried away with what I'm saying here. There is a very big difference between win at all costs and genuine competition. I am simply saying bringing your best and being passionate about winning. For a company like Games Workshop, what does competition do for their business? I imagine a gamer passionate about competition will purchase more readily than one casually picking out their 5 man fluff unit. Just a hunch.

Five for fighting

One of my all time favorite moments in hockey was centered around a fight. Game 6 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals. The Penguins were playing against their ultimate rival in the Flyers. They were down in a game 3-0. Max Talbot got into a fight (not the one pictured above.)

Fights are common in hockey. Max is a good fighter. Max got his ass kicked. Driven to the ice and taken down. The Flyer's crowd went nuts, as they should. Instead of skating into the sin-bin quietly however, Mad Max made one simple gesture to the crowd...

Shhh...

Instead of taking it. He kept the competition alive. At a point where it seemed the game wasn't even modestly competitive any longer.

The Penguins rode a surge of emotion this brought on and won the game and series by scoring 5 straight goals...silencing the Flyer's crowd permanently for that season.

The Penguins won the Stanley Cup a few weeks later.

Competition can be triumphant. It's also very fun. Keep it in your wargames if at all possible.

Gamer with a lady... Oh yeah...

Reread that title and imagine I said that in a sexy voice and not my normal yinnzer, white trashy, accent. Trust me on that. So I have GF and she is a real life one too! Whoopy do right? Alot of gamers have spouses/wives/partners/donkeys/real dolls, so what's the big deal.

Well the big deal is that one my GF is hot. Two I got into 40k after we had dated for a couple years. See I didn't war game when she met me. I played RPGs but not tabletop stuff.  So its been a big adjustment for her. I didn't RPG that much maybe once every 2 months or so and it certainly didn't require the money and time this hobby does.

She's so unlucky... Like Kyle's dice!! She's purdy...

She at first was like "umm ok its weird" but now she is much more supportive because she sees the creative outlet it gives me. It is a way for me to decompress and veg out in a positive way. The hobby is my creative outlet. Without my life would be worse.

See I'm a angry guy. I hate. Alot. Like alot. Ok pretty much a monsoon of rage. See this comes from my days as a US Marine and a emotionally repressed male. I try to offset that rage with exercise and the hobby. That's another thing that the GF finds so odd about my involvement with Wargaming. See I'm a prick. I have zero real friends. No one can stand me. What is this psychobabble rant I'm on? Moving on... Yuck... Self reflection is gross.

So I'm angry, I have a hot GF and I war game. See my GF knows me as the angry, spiteful, Marine, with muscles. She doesn't see me as a dork. It's been a adjustment for her. The first time she saw me move little men and roll dice I think she died a little inside. This wasn't the guy who got the cops called on him as he threw her ex husbands lawn furniture and hockey equipment all over his yard as I behaved like a "epileptic gorilla". All because he called her a name. I know I'm soooo mature for my age... 38. It's embarrassing.

The first time my GF actually complimented my painting, I mean really said "that's really cool honey", was a huge breakthrough for us.

I was pretty proud of that, she went to art school and I'm have the artistic talent of a well "sociopath, Marine, with poor anger management skills".

The first time she watched a batrep I wont lie she might have cackled in my face for 18 minutes. Kinda brutal watching a wine drunk woman destroy your hobby and make light of the countless hours you spend on plastic miniatures. But she's really pretty and helps you realize that you can't take anything too serious in this life, because then you'll throw lawn furniture and stuff....

She loves to refer to my buddy Kyle as my boyfriend and she is totally implying a gay relationship. Before you get all butthurt and accuse her of behaving like the state of Indiana please understand, in May we went to Mexico with 5 of the gayest men to walk the streets of Pittsburgh. That's funny to her and I. Besides all my 40k buddies and I engage in homoerotic orgy of grey sex toys and super glue for lube. Holy cow that's graphic. I'm sure they'll edited that out. I think I'm trying to saying we aren't homophobes nothing like over compensation right????

She's cool with it though. She makes fun of it but its no different then how I make terribly inopportune jokes at every situation. It keeps us close. She has her whore train wreck friends and I have my fellow geeks.

Lastly, I have a busy mind. I get easily distracted by things. The hobby helps center me. Helps keep me on track. The GF sees this as the mist important part of it all. I'm not out l looking for "distractions" (tramps) because the hobby is more interesting. I have a reputation of being what medical doctors call "loose".  This was a huge hurdle when we first started dating. Can she trust me? Will I be faithful? Now she doesn't sweat that. She sees the herd of virgins I play war games with and realizes that no girl is gonna bust the cobwebs of their genitals.  So the hobby has certainly helped us there.

See you around the way....

Space marine Formations review... WHOA WTF IS THIS SKYHAMMER THING!!!Part 1

So real quick let me give a shout out to both my fans. Opps I forgot I don't have any. So I have the SM dex and I think a review of the formations is much needed. I'll cover chapter tactics too but the formations are where the meat will be, if there is any meat that is. Units didn't change alot outside of some price drops, scouts are BS/WS 4, vehicles can be taken as squadrons(and have rocking benefits) and grav cannons can be taken by tacts now. That's really it unit wise. On to the good stuff!! I'll be rating the formations of a scale of 1-5 Nostramen Chainglaives,
1 NCG -If you take this you already lost....
2 NCG- OHH you did it for fluff reasons that's cute
3 NCG- Obligatory you likely had to take it and were ok with it
4 NCG- Ohh someone is trying to win....
5 NCG- Just take a death star and get it over with I know what you are trying to do Kevin!!!(I actually don't know a Kevin)


Formations:
Galdius Strike Force
The main formation is a Gladius Strike Force and it must contain a demi-company and another axillary formation. Nice benefits from it you can use each of the combat doctrines once per game (which stack with UM!!) and if you take 2 demi-companies you get free transports, for any unit that can take one. YAY!!! You must pay for upgrades though. Its nice though, the bare minimum it will cost you (without upgrades mind you) is 334 for the D-C (demi-company) and 10th company task force (3-5 units of scouts) which will run you 165. So 499 for the GSF (Gladius Strike Force) minimum. That leaves alot of room for upgrades in a 1850 list. So the "Decurian" style is for sure here to stay. I like it. Let me break down the rest though instead of me jabbering my cock holster. I rate this 2-5 depending on the auxiliary formations and if you take a 2nd D-C.

Demi-Company
So we have seen the big boy so lets chat about the formations to make up your formations to make up your detachments to field for your army so you can play. I know that was a obnoxious thing to do but I think you liked it. OK D-C consists of 1 captain/chaplain, 0-1 command squad, 3 (min and max) tact squads, 1 either assault, bike, attack bike, land speeder or assault centurions, 1 either devastators or centurion squad and finally 0-1 of any type of dread. Jeez got all that. This formation gets ObSec and the ability to use the Tactical Doctrine once per game (remember they stack uses so its actually good). Now double that up and take a auxiliary formation and now FREE TRANSPORTS!! I know, I know you're saying "Hey you just said that"! I am aware but it frigging rules! That's a minimum of 6 free pods, rhinos or razorbacks and a max of 10! FREE!!! FREE!!! Rating 3 unless you take 2 then I give it a 4!

This is for Kyle....

Anti-Air Defense Force
It consists of 1 unit of hunters and a min squad of 2 stalkers. If the Hunter hits anything flying the stalkers get +1 BS to hit the same target. EHHH... EHHH... Now keep this tidbit in mind a unit of three stalkers gives you ignores cover. That doesn't suck. Now remember all three will be shooting at the same target. Its a squadron. Its solid but not game breaking.Gonna run you a minimum of 220 it looks like. I give it 1. I don't see it as better then 3 Stalkers.

1st Company Task Force
So this is 3-5 units of either Terminators, Assault Termies, Sternguard or Vanguard Vets in any combo. They get fear, fearless and all get preferred enemy against 1 unit selected at game beginning and any unit within 12" of  3 units get a -2 to their leadership. If you play Imperial Fists or Ultra Marines you will be re rolling 1's usually anyways. I give this a 2 and a 3 if you take Sternguard because they don't suck. This is one of the choices I would maybe use for my auxiliary requirement if I was running a GSF.

Strike Force Ultra. 
Just hold on, because this is one misleading formation. It looks awesome at first then you read it again... Here goes its 1 Terminator Captain, 2 Termi squads, 2 Assault Termi squads, 1 Venerable Dread, 1 Stromraven, 1 Land Raider Crusader or Redeemer. Its like almost 1200 points. They start coming in on turn 1 like normal reserves but per unit still, deep striking or disembarking termies get +1 shot for shooting weapons. Assault termies get +1 attack when disembarking. At first glance I was like whoa!!! Then I was like oh yeah storm bolters still suck. I give this 1 NCG if you take this formation its because you either really like fluff or you just don't know that you suck at playing 40k.

Reclusiam Command Squad
1 Chaplain and 1 Command Squad must be in a Razorback and the chappy cant leave the squad. Gets Crusader and any unit within 6" gets to re-roll all misses in the first round of CC. Shut the front door this blows. I am giving this -3 NCG's if you see someone playing this please snap a pic or video and share it on you tube so we can ridicule them to suicide.

10th Company Force
3-5 Scout squads or Scout Bike squads, 0-1 SGT Telion and any bike units must have cluster mines.
I really like this. Scouts are only 55 points and have a lot of options and USR's for that cost. Ohhh and they are BS/WS 4 again!! This is good. It gives you stealth if you deployed via infiltrate on the first game turn. Lasts until you move, run, charge, fall back or turbo boosts at all. That's right lasts the entire game until you move. Also gives you precision shots on the first game turn. Ehh. I like stacking stealth with either camo cloaks. This is a cheap formation though with a lot of benefits. This is a rock solid 4 NCG's to me. Fills out that auxiliary requirement for the GSF and leaves you a lot of points leftover.

Skyhammer your mamma formation:
That's the first 6 I'll do the next 6 tomorrow but let me cover a little tidbit leaking out today. The Skyhammer Formation went up for sale today. Yeah its not in the codex. Its a web exclusive.
Its 2 Drop Pods, 20 Devastators and 20 Assault Marines. Check it out here... Skyhammer and your dead... So you decide the turn it comes on to begin the game. Then the turn it comes on it gets these shitty command benefits....Dev's get RELENTLESS  and you take a super pinning test on 3D6... still with me? Remember those Assault Marines? Yeah they can charge the turn they deep strike. If they charge one of the units you super pinned they to RE-ROLL FAILED HITS AND WOUNDS ERMAGERWD!! Wow that's subtle GW's real subtle. That's really strong. Its not the be all end all like some want you to think it is but for sure it is damn good. Real quick you kit each unit of 5 Dev's with Grav Cannons at 35 each (245 total with pod) then take 5 man Assault units for 110 (jump packs and a PF on the Sgt). Why 5 man? Well if you have 32 mm bases deep striking 10 of them in is a real pain. Still though I'd take the formation just to have deep striking, RELENTLESS dev's. The grav cannons will do work!! That's 20 grav shots at 24". That would erase a Wraithknight (11.67 AP2 wounds to be exact) or 4.14 Immobilized results (which is actually 7 HP due the immobilized stacking) to any vehicle. That would wreck most anything in the game. So yeah that's pretty good. I ordered three sets...

See you around the way...

When a new dex drops...

The Baskin Robbins of 40k armies

We as a community have a real tendency to spazz. If its too good we hurl screams of OP, BS, rage quit, table flip,nonsense. If it isn't good enough we hurl screams of UP, BS, rage quit, table flip,nonsense. Either way we only have one reaction usually. If you play the army your pumped. If you don't its fire from the skies.

Breathe.... Take another one. Ok take one more. As I write this the dex is leaking all over the web. I see a lot of good and little bad.


Some highlights so far to me.
1. 2 X Demi-Company is the truth. Base formation is like 1050 points and now you get all free transports. I think that rocks.
2. Scouts got WS/BS 4. Nice.
3. Vindy, Pred, Whirlwind, Thunderfire Cannon squads have all nice rules if you have 3 of them. Very nice.
4. Dreads in squads!! Wait no they still are just average...
5. Ultra Marines chapter tactics and Black Templar too. Holy smokes.
6. Cents got cheaper. They didn't need that however.
7. Termies cheaper. Sadly wont matter though.
8. The power level looks solid at first glance.
9. Mother frigging Grav weapons everywhere now.
10. Now maybe I wont see painted blue, green, black, yellow "White Scars" armies.


Some low lights I see.
1. If you play SW or BA. I could see where the dread changes and scout tweaks would give you a case of butthurt. If you don't get a FAQ that's beyond weak.  
2. Many of the formations are far to costly to field for the benefit. I love the terminator strike one. It starts at almost 1100 points though. Ehhh...
3. Raven guard still are the worst chapter. Sorry Sons of Corax.
4. The obvious power build is screaming at us. UM tactics with 2 Demi-Companies and Calgar. That's 3 of one chapter tactic and 2 of the others. ARMY WIDE. Think about that. Oh and the whole army is objective secured. With free transports. Gag...


So why do I care? I play this sweet HH Night Lords army right. Well the reason is I want to start getting into competition play again. Just as a challenge to myself. It'll also give me better access and experience to the ever evolving 40k meta. Which in turn will make me a better player. Also none of these a&*hole tourney organizers will accept 30k armies. Makes me bitter. They are nice guys I don't mean that. I kinda do...

I'll be posting some video reviews to the MasterCrafted Youtube page Friday night/saturday. Please check them out here:
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCpUodTbAv0XfqvwwG2cBHuA

See you around the way...

This is B.S.!!! My codex is only 2 years old...

To Kill a Primarch

The Sons of a God

The reason we dig the Horus Heresy era stuff so much is because of guys like this. Primarch's in Warhammer are true heroes. You look at a silly HQ slot and scoff after seeing the meaty bits of these guys. With stats that surpass even Vampire Lords or Greater Daemons, they are demi-gods of battle. With Forge World cranking out ever more of these stunning character models, everyone is looking to get in on the action.

Is GW digging a hole?

What does the past show us about future releases?

That's a long way down.

I read an article over on BoLS this morning about the pace of releases and how it's hard for players to know the rules with so many new releases. I think there was a lot of merit to the assessment and one of the better articles BoLS has put out recently.

Warhammer 40k 8th Edition?

An Unusual Change

For the longest time, the discussion in the community was how every newly released Codex was being toned down. I heard over and over among friends and online boards, "You wanted balance, this is the cost!" That cost was being defined as special rules only deriving from the Big Rule Book.

Flavor was found in the supplements and expansions that were released as companions to the Codex. Formations and unique detachments brought special point-tax free rules to go along with building your army. If you wanted an edge, you needed to follow these new army structures.

Courtesy of Lexicanum

Eldar and Destroyer Weapons

Destroyer Weapons in 7th Edition 40k

As of this mid April morning in 2015, the game of Warhammer 40k is changing rapidly. There is a wildfire of unrest spreading through the community over Eldar getting access to "D" weapons or Destroyer Weapons in this new codex. Now that we will be seeing them in prevalence I think it's time we discuss what Destroyer weapons do to the game.

So THAT'S how it's done...

Dark Eldar Don't Suck

I hear so often how poor the Dark Eldar 2014 codex is. How it got nerfed in all the wrong ways. How there are only a few units you can win with. It's all rather depressing. To top it off there isn't much out there in the way of strategy support for DE players. They're not all over the place like other top tier armies. To be honest right now that's what has me so into them. It is also the position of gaming that makes them the most dangerous.

Sanguinary Guard vs. Death Company

Sanguinary Guard vs. Death Company

In a highly competitive Elite slot for Blood Angels, two of the more popular options in 7th edition armies are Sanguinary Guard or Death Company.

Into the thick of things

How competitive is close combat in 7th edition 40k?

There's a nip in the air. I sense a change on the horizon. Close combat is going to start becoming far more competitive in games of 40k.

Truthfully? It seems out of place to claim a phase of the game could actually become dominant after years of subtlety. Especially after no rule changes. Yet I sense it coming.

Starting a new army part 6... Building that first list

This is where I have struggled the most since taking on this army. I debate and list build and list build and delete and scour the book again and list build and compare it to meta and scrap it and evaluate mathhammer and list build and go on torrent of fire to compare it to GT lists and I think you're getting the point. Its agony. Why is the list so hard to build? For me its several reasons. Here we go.

Fluffbunnies - A Mad Proposal

Lonestarr here again folks, and this time I'm coming at you with something different this time on Fluffbunnies.

In celebration of The Walking Dead's return to TV this Sunday I've cooked up a special addition to your Killteam games. Now of course you don't have to be a fan of the Walking Dead to enjoy zombies but hey it doesn't hurt either. So here's my first 'Mutator' for Killteam.

Killteam Mutator: Zombies!!!

Just a bunch of wild and crazy guys!!!

So you want to be an Astarte's: The secret hell you're wishing on yourself.

Hey everyone, Lonestarr here again with a new look into the fluffy world of 40k.

Today we're gonna look at everyone's favorite army, Space Marines! Even as a filthy xenos player  I can admit these guys are badass. Awesome toys, awesome armor, and awesome rules. Wouldn't it just be the best to be one of these powerarmor clad harbingers of the Emperor?

Wwweeellllll about that...

This is what I wanna be when I grow up.

Your Next Purchase

Like most of us, I am a little too addicted to the hobby. I could spend hours obsessing over what my next purchase will be. I literally scour my options, add them to carts, dump them, then subsequently get bombarded with emails reminding me that I left items in my cart.

The Horror

Starting a New Army Part...whatever... Curze

So I ordered Curze right before xmas. You maybe asking "Curze, what's a Curze?" That pain you feel was my right hand up against your head. That sound you hear is called "ringing" that's what happens when a Night Lords fanboy slams his palm into your ear when you ask. What's a Curze?

This is a Curze.



My Experience with Nagash

Practical Magic

Because green colored light/energy is always for bad guys.

There was a massive part of me that was hesitant to play with Nagash. In my opinion, most special characters in the Vampire Counts book aren't worth their points. I can easily make a more competitive Lord by customizing one on my own. On top of that, I could take two of these monsters for the cost of 1 Nagash.

Necrons Rising

Confirmations coming in!

New Cover

The Internet is a buzz with Necron codex sightings. We are seeing posts from users who have spotted the book pop up across blogs and sites left and right.

Playing a new army part 3... Leaping

So for both of you reading this. I did it I made the leap. I jumped feet first into the Night Lords. I made a decision last Thursday night to do it. I couldn’t shake my desire for this army. I had to have them. Had to. So I also made the decision that 2 armies is the right amount for me. I knew my Beastmen weren't going anywhere.

Playing the Best Codex

Playing the best codex. Deal with it.

It's a transport, it's a tank, it's fast, it jinks, it's a gunboat, it's...Ohh crap I can't kill it.

So I am an Eldar player. I know already what your thinking,"Hello power gamer..." That's not why I play them. I picked them up June/July 2012. I see the smoke coming from your ears. Yes that is when the new codex dropped and yes that was part of the reason I decided to play them again. 

Formations in 7th Edition 40k

       The restrictions of the Force Organization Chart are dead. If you still think you have to play by making a list tied to an HQ and 2 Troops you're still thinking in editions prior to Warhammer 40k 7th.

       Formations are now offered for most new armies. These provide free rule additions to units included and still allow those units to be customized while also not taking up those ever-so-precious  Force Org. slots. Let me explain how this is awesome.