Ok, this is a post in which I would like some comments.
Like many people in the hobby, I've run into a bit of a brick wall when it comes to getting the motivation to paint. I still enjoy playing, I still want to paint but I struggle at the moment to sit down and get much of it actually done.
Normally when I paint I like to stick some music on. The noise helps me focus and drown everything else out so I can get down to painting.
So, what I'm asking is 'what works for you?' Feel free to leave a comment or two about helps you get in the mood to paint, what helps you to get motivated and focussed.
Monday, 11 July 2011
Thursday, 7 July 2011
A Discussion on Wolf Scouts
Wolf Scouts are probably one of the trickier units in the Space Wolves codex to play effectively, because depending on what you want to do with them you can't rely on them.
If you're reading this, its more than likely that you about their special rule 'Behind Enemy Lines'. This adds the unreliability of the reserve rule with an extra unreliable rule-which allows them to turn up from any table edge. Don't get me wrong, this has the potential to be amazing-take for example my game against the Sisters of Battle earlier in this blog. My Wolf Scouts turned up not on the most advantageous turn, but they came on from the best possible side for me to disrupt my opponent (my roll didnt allow me to pick my table edge). However, this could have gone pretty badly for me and they could either have not turned up at all or turned up on the wrong side of the board and done nothing all game.
There are three things you can do to get round this (in my opinion, I'm sure there are other options that I haven't considered). One is to make the scout squad small and cheap, which means that if you roll badly they won't be too much of a waste of points. I did this during my game by having a 5 man scout squad with a melta gun. These have the potential to be effective if you roll even vaguely well.
Another option is take options for the scout squad that are useful no matter where they pop up-this does mean your squad will be a bit of a jack of all trades, but that depends on your playing style.
The other option is not to bother with behind enemy lines at all and just deploy via infiltrate. Again, this depends on how you equip your squad.
Meltacide squads
The Meltacide squad is typically a small squad of scouts with very few thrills and a meltagun. The idea is that this squad appears using behind enemy lines, shoots a tank with its melta gun and then get shoot. While this is a valid use of the squad, I think it doesn't do this squad justice.
This squad has the potential to be a fantastic speed bump, not just the suicidal use of a melta gun. I've found (not just through playing that game against Sisters of Battle) that this squad actually does better against infantry units than tanks. If it hits, the melta gun is virtually a guaranteed kill against most infantry models and the sheer number of attacks you get from a relatively small amount of models can put a dent into even a power armoured unit.
But the unpredictability of behind enemy lines means that keeping this squad small and cheap will minimise any bad rolls for you.
I would however love to be able to run two of these squads, see how well they work in tandem.
If you're reading this, its more than likely that you about their special rule 'Behind Enemy Lines'. This adds the unreliability of the reserve rule with an extra unreliable rule-which allows them to turn up from any table edge. Don't get me wrong, this has the potential to be amazing-take for example my game against the Sisters of Battle earlier in this blog. My Wolf Scouts turned up not on the most advantageous turn, but they came on from the best possible side for me to disrupt my opponent (my roll didnt allow me to pick my table edge). However, this could have gone pretty badly for me and they could either have not turned up at all or turned up on the wrong side of the board and done nothing all game.
There are three things you can do to get round this (in my opinion, I'm sure there are other options that I haven't considered). One is to make the scout squad small and cheap, which means that if you roll badly they won't be too much of a waste of points. I did this during my game by having a 5 man scout squad with a melta gun. These have the potential to be effective if you roll even vaguely well.
Another option is take options for the scout squad that are useful no matter where they pop up-this does mean your squad will be a bit of a jack of all trades, but that depends on your playing style.
The other option is not to bother with behind enemy lines at all and just deploy via infiltrate. Again, this depends on how you equip your squad.
Meltacide squads
The Meltacide squad is typically a small squad of scouts with very few thrills and a meltagun. The idea is that this squad appears using behind enemy lines, shoots a tank with its melta gun and then get shoot. While this is a valid use of the squad, I think it doesn't do this squad justice.
This squad has the potential to be a fantastic speed bump, not just the suicidal use of a melta gun. I've found (not just through playing that game against Sisters of Battle) that this squad actually does better against infantry units than tanks. If it hits, the melta gun is virtually a guaranteed kill against most infantry models and the sheer number of attacks you get from a relatively small amount of models can put a dent into even a power armoured unit.
But the unpredictability of behind enemy lines means that keeping this squad small and cheap will minimise any bad rolls for you.
I would however love to be able to run two of these squads, see how well they work in tandem.
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Game against Sisters of Battle
Well, due to real life getting in the way this is a little later than I thought it would be.
Firstly, my army was a little different than I had planned. Instead of the terminators and drop pod; I took a dreadnought with 2 twin linked autocannons, 5 wolf scouts with a meltagun and 1 extra long fang with a missile launcher for each of the 3 packs. They did a lot better than my terminators have in previous games.
My opponents army was something like this.
Canoness with eviscerator and jump pack, accompanied by a unit of Seraphim with a sister superior wielding an eviscerator.
A 2nd canoness with eviscerator, accompanied by a unit of flamer wielding dominions in an immolator.
3 Units of Sisters of battle, with 2 meltaguns in each and riding in Rhinos
1 Unit of Retributors with heavy bolters
1 Exorcist
This army had a lot of faith points throughout the game, I dont think the total dropped below 10 and he was regularly using them. The acts of faith that make armour saves invunerable or gives shooting attacks rending is surprisingly scary to be on the opposite side of.
I didn't get the chance to take any photos, as both of our armies are in the process of being painted (I am annoyingly slow at painting).
The game started with Rhino's moving very quickly towards each other, then getting immobilised. By the end of the game I think only one vehicle had more than 2 turns of actual movement.
One piece of advice, never underestimate the ability of heavy bolters to disable a Rhino. His retributor squad armed with heavy bolters did more in the game than his Exorcist, disabling all of my Rhino's during the course of the game.
5 man wolf scout squads with a melta gun are awesome. They are a little cheesy, taking a meltacide squad, but they can definately be worth their points. Mine came on right next to the Canoness and Dominion squad. At this point, there where only 4 sisters with flamers left. If this squad had reached the rest of my army it would have wreaked havoc, 4 rending flamers would have demolished a lot of my squads. My 5 man scout squad not only managed to hold up a unit that was close to 3 times their points value, they managed to beat it. On the charge, this unit pumps out 14 strength 4 weapon skill attacks, which is 2 more than a basic 5 man Marine tactical squad. Coupled with the melta gun, this squad can really punch above its weight.
My Long Fangs did as well as I thought they would. 3 Squads of 4 and the dreadnought in a 2 storey building. This was a frightening prospect for my opponent, firing a lot of krak missiles at a lot of units throughout the game. My firebase was then assaulted by the jump pack canoness and seraphim. This is a surprisingly nasty unit for a shooting unit to face. Eventually they where driven off by a lot of bolter fire from my Grey Hunters, but not before putting a serious dent into my firebase.
Speaking of Grey Hunters, they did amazing for me like they always do. They managed to run rampant through all that they touched, but the sheer weight of fire I had to go through did put a serious dent in the numbers. At the end of the game I had a little over a packs worth of Grey Hunters left. While Grey Hunters do well in combat, you need to make sure that they are protected afterwards, otherwise they will get shot up.
The Exorcist on paper is frightening, d6 Strength 8 AP1 shots a turn with a ballistic skill of 4. Theres a lot to be scared of. However, one thing to remember is that its still only a d6 worth of shots, as shown by my opponent who in 3 turns rolled 1 for the number of shots and missed with them. They have the potential to be dangerous against Wolves, by being very effective at damaging Rhinos. This slows our speed down and forces us to play the game at the pace of the Sisters player. This is obviously a bad idea. However, like most things, they are better in high numbers. If do find yourself on the opposite side of the board from an Exorcist or two, my advice is to use the cover to try and protect your Rhinos as much as possible, otherwise you're likely to have a bad day with them.
Retributors: Don't underestimate them. Well not the most dangerous looking unit around, but 4 heavy bolters coupled with acts of faith, espically in cover, is a threat that needs to be dealt with. 12 Strength 5 shots against Rhino's is another issue that needs to be dealt with, as even needing a 6 to glance, its going to happen.
So, my advice is to not underestimate the Sisters of Battle. The acts of faith are one of the most dangerous things in the codex, because of the variety of abilities. Also, like us, they are an army that works best at mid range so that is where they are most effective. Don't let them suck you into playing their game-play to your strengths. The thing that we have over them is the fact that all of our units are good in combat, even Long Fangs combined with the counter attack special rule can do reasonably. Have a plan, stick to it and if in doubt an overwhelming application of force never hurts.
Firstly, my army was a little different than I had planned. Instead of the terminators and drop pod; I took a dreadnought with 2 twin linked autocannons, 5 wolf scouts with a meltagun and 1 extra long fang with a missile launcher for each of the 3 packs. They did a lot better than my terminators have in previous games.
My opponents army was something like this.
Canoness with eviscerator and jump pack, accompanied by a unit of Seraphim with a sister superior wielding an eviscerator.
A 2nd canoness with eviscerator, accompanied by a unit of flamer wielding dominions in an immolator.
3 Units of Sisters of battle, with 2 meltaguns in each and riding in Rhinos
1 Unit of Retributors with heavy bolters
1 Exorcist
This army had a lot of faith points throughout the game, I dont think the total dropped below 10 and he was regularly using them. The acts of faith that make armour saves invunerable or gives shooting attacks rending is surprisingly scary to be on the opposite side of.
I didn't get the chance to take any photos, as both of our armies are in the process of being painted (I am annoyingly slow at painting).
The game started with Rhino's moving very quickly towards each other, then getting immobilised. By the end of the game I think only one vehicle had more than 2 turns of actual movement.
One piece of advice, never underestimate the ability of heavy bolters to disable a Rhino. His retributor squad armed with heavy bolters did more in the game than his Exorcist, disabling all of my Rhino's during the course of the game.
5 man wolf scout squads with a melta gun are awesome. They are a little cheesy, taking a meltacide squad, but they can definately be worth their points. Mine came on right next to the Canoness and Dominion squad. At this point, there where only 4 sisters with flamers left. If this squad had reached the rest of my army it would have wreaked havoc, 4 rending flamers would have demolished a lot of my squads. My 5 man scout squad not only managed to hold up a unit that was close to 3 times their points value, they managed to beat it. On the charge, this unit pumps out 14 strength 4 weapon skill attacks, which is 2 more than a basic 5 man Marine tactical squad. Coupled with the melta gun, this squad can really punch above its weight.
My Long Fangs did as well as I thought they would. 3 Squads of 4 and the dreadnought in a 2 storey building. This was a frightening prospect for my opponent, firing a lot of krak missiles at a lot of units throughout the game. My firebase was then assaulted by the jump pack canoness and seraphim. This is a surprisingly nasty unit for a shooting unit to face. Eventually they where driven off by a lot of bolter fire from my Grey Hunters, but not before putting a serious dent into my firebase.
Speaking of Grey Hunters, they did amazing for me like they always do. They managed to run rampant through all that they touched, but the sheer weight of fire I had to go through did put a serious dent in the numbers. At the end of the game I had a little over a packs worth of Grey Hunters left. While Grey Hunters do well in combat, you need to make sure that they are protected afterwards, otherwise they will get shot up.
The Exorcist on paper is frightening, d6 Strength 8 AP1 shots a turn with a ballistic skill of 4. Theres a lot to be scared of. However, one thing to remember is that its still only a d6 worth of shots, as shown by my opponent who in 3 turns rolled 1 for the number of shots and missed with them. They have the potential to be dangerous against Wolves, by being very effective at damaging Rhinos. This slows our speed down and forces us to play the game at the pace of the Sisters player. This is obviously a bad idea. However, like most things, they are better in high numbers. If do find yourself on the opposite side of the board from an Exorcist or two, my advice is to use the cover to try and protect your Rhinos as much as possible, otherwise you're likely to have a bad day with them.
Retributors: Don't underestimate them. Well not the most dangerous looking unit around, but 4 heavy bolters coupled with acts of faith, espically in cover, is a threat that needs to be dealt with. 12 Strength 5 shots against Rhino's is another issue that needs to be dealt with, as even needing a 6 to glance, its going to happen.
So, my advice is to not underestimate the Sisters of Battle. The acts of faith are one of the most dangerous things in the codex, because of the variety of abilities. Also, like us, they are an army that works best at mid range so that is where they are most effective. Don't let them suck you into playing their game-play to your strengths. The thing that we have over them is the fact that all of our units are good in combat, even Long Fangs combined with the counter attack special rule can do reasonably. Have a plan, stick to it and if in doubt an overwhelming application of force never hurts.
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