My last post was about the Land Raider I received for Christmas a few days ago, my desire to turn it into a Land Raider Achilles and my frustration when I learned that Forge World was only selling a complete conversion kit of the model and not just the conversion parts.
I e-mailed Forge World a few minutes ago and actually got a very quick response!
Here's what I asked:
Q: Hello, there! I just received GW's Land Raider kit for
Christmas and quickly entered your website in order to purchase the Land Raider
Achilles conversion kit. Unfortunately I found out that you guys only have a
complete kit for the Land Raider Achilles which has the plastic Land Raider
sprues and then all the resin conversion pieces needed for the conversion. Is
it possible for me to order just the resin pieces for a different price or do I
have to wait for a release of the conversion kit. More importantly, are you
aware if a conversion kit is ever going to be released and if it might be
coming out soon?
A: Hi,
Thanks
for your e-mail. We do not sell a conversion kit of the Achilles, because of
the amount of plastic that is replaced by the resin parts. Like the MkIIb and
the Deimos Rhino, it wouldn’t be cost-effective as a conversion kit
compared to the complete kit that we currently sell.
Regards,
Ead
Brown
Customer
Service Manager
Forge
World
So unfortunately for me there's no hope and reason to wait for the conversion kit to come out.. but this has only increased my desire to possess a Land Raider Achilles... Damn, I even have the perfect name for it as well..
So.. does anyone wanna trade their Land Raider Achilles for a Land Raider NiB? I'll pay the difference. ;D
Until then... I'll be working on a super secret project that will change the way you play Space Wolves FOREVER.
P.S: Check out the sweet candy cane-wielding Santa Skarvald up top! Thank you, Frozencore Joe.
On Saturday the local Games Workshop had a Secret Santa gift "giveaway"-thing!
I drew the name of a really good friend o' mine whose I.G plasmacide Chimera spam list has been terrorizing all the little kids at the store. Though to be fair, my Space Wolves are not too excited about facing his little metal boxes. Same goes for my Orkz.
I gifted him the joy of having to put together 20 Cadian Shock Troops and then a Lord Commissar to lead them. ;D
And then he gave me a Land Raider!
Turns out we drew each others' names!! ;D
I love Land Raiders.. but unfortunately I don't get to use them very often. I actually already have one - it's a Land Raider Crusader. And I'm pretty sure I've used him only once in a normal game of 40k to transport a bunch of angry Blood Claws with Arjac Rockfist. It's cool and what not, but I guess I don't like fielding it because it's not painted. I don't really remember how I sprayed my other vehicles.. hehe..
Now.. where I've used my Land Raider a bunch is in games of Apocalypse.
As a Land Raider Achilles.
Yeah.. yeah. I know. Cheese. But it is so AWESOME to put something on the table knowing that it can actually survive despite all the scary templates, lances, meltas and other anti-tank shenanigans that are being thrown your way. I mean, come on. A THUNDERFIRE CANNON. And two twin-linked multi-melta sponsons :-O! Honestly, the Thunderfire Cannon is the only thing that I would gladly steal from Codex: Space Marines (okay, maybe the Land Speeder Storm school bus for our sweet Wolf Scouts to ride in..).
It has the word "thunder" in it, people!
So that's why I put the Land Raider kit in my list. The plan was to order the Forge World kit for the Land Raider Achilles and then convert it. But it wasn't until I sat on my computer all ready to order some resin crack until I realized that the only way to purchas the LR Achilles from Forge World is.. as a COMPLETE KIT. Basically they are selling a plastic Land Raider kit plus all the resin conversion parts that I actually need to make an Achilles. Well that sucks. Now I'm "stuck" with a Land Raider until Forge World decides to release only the conversion kit like they have done with all the other Land Raider variants. <_< I'm not spending all that cash in one big lump sum, you know? And I definitely don't want another Crusader or a Redeemer..
There's always the Orky option, though. Instead of waiting I could just unleash the Big Mek inside me and convert the Land Raider into (or is it "to"? Any Grammar Nazis out there?) an Ork Vehicle of some kind. Maybe a Battlewagon.. or something of the super heavy variety? Any ideas?
Maybe you guys could help me with this decision?
Do I..
A) Wait for the Forge World conversion kit to come out and then make the Land Raider Achilles?
Super excited, folks!
The elusive and crafty Brian from A Gentleman's Ones and my good ole buddy and co-blogger (although he as been *cough*silent*cough* lately) Frozencore Joe are stopping by the 'burbs for a day of Special Operations: Killzone play-testing. Basically the thing you should all be doing right now.
It's like.. buying Christmas presents. For yourself. For FREE.
Literally.. you can win stuff by playing games. Here's how.
As I already said.. I'm hyped. It has been a while since I got the chance to move models across the table and today should be a pretty exciting event. Will finally be able to play against Brian - for the first time, nonetheless.
We are going to hopefully play-test some of the new changes and just see how the game is flowing.. so to speak. Hopefully we'll be able to cull as many things not working as intended today.
What list am I bringing? Well, I'll be giving the Silensurz a spin, but this time the list is revised and I'll be playing with some new options. So here's my list:
Da Silensurz Unnamed Team Leader - Deffkopta with twin-linked big shoota
Thermal Imaging (grants Acute Senses), Penetrator Rounds and Hard to Kill (grants Feel No Pain)
Unnamed Deffkopta - Deffkopta with twin-linked big shoota
Thermal Imaging (grants Acute Senses), Penetrator Rounds
Unnamed Ork Boy Nob - 'eavy armour
Stealth Suit (grants Stealth, Scout and Move Through Cover), Smoke Grenades
Unnamed Killa Kan - big shoota
Targeter
DAKKA! With the removal of the special weapon limit and concept this list now has even more dakka. There are 8 big shootas and two of them are twin-linked. My older list had no Deffkoptaz and instead had more infantry and Nobz - all of my five big-shootas were essentially twin-linked due to Crack Shot and my Nobz had Stealth Suits. However, with Crack Shot costing double the points (it went from 5 pts. to 10 pts.) and with Stealth Suits being limited issue equipment my old list had to go..
So - less foot-sloggin, but still enough. Less Stealth across the board but a way of granting it with the Smoke Grenades. However I'll be getting more maneuverability due to my Deffkoptas. I'm actually kind of excited to use them, ebcause they are really jacks of all trades, at least in Killzone.
I'd say that my shooting power is about the same. I'm just trading volume for accuracy.. or is it the other way around? ;D
With the list above I'm trying to address the following issues (most of which came up as I was writing the list):
Can a Walker be the Team Leader?
Does the Close Combat Accessories general equipment upgrade count as a Close Combat Weapon for Walkers using Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons?
Can Smoke Grenades affect Walkers?
Can Walkers take the Medipack or Hard to Kill equipment and skill?
Can Walkers even benefit from Feel no Pain?
Because Walkers can move and shoot all of their weapons, can they also fire Grenades of any kind, in addition to their regular weapons?
Do Smoke Grenades count as shooting a weapon?
I'll be taking tons of notes and pictures throughout the day and hopefully I'll be able to deliver a Killzone update today or tomorrow!
That's right, my super sexy followers - A GIVEAWAY.
There's going to be yet another awesome giveaway over at A Gentleman's Ones and this time instead of an unaerodynamic flying shoebox Stormraven you'll be competing for a full-sized 6x4 Zuzzy textured mat.
Now you can practice the landing of your Stormraven while making funny noises on this sweet mat, that you get to paint and play sweet games of whatever the heck you want. You could even be creative and use it for.. well.. I dunno.. playing games of Special Operations: Killzone. It's like a Realm of Battle table.. except portable.. easier to paint.. pre-primed black.. and FREE.
I can't stress this enough - we need YOU to help US by play-testing Killzone. A LOT.
See, we have all these crazy ideas.. all the time.. and we spend a lot of time on Skype discussing, balancing, measuring, cutting, typing, formatting - all for you. We really want people to enjoy Killzone, we really want it to stick around and be a fast-paced, cinematic way to immerse yourselves in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
That's why we need you to play games while we are reshaping the rules of the game, guys. We need your input. All of it. We need to know what we are doing right, but we also know what we are doing wrong.
Do certain things need to change? Do certain things need to go the way of the dodo bird?
If you ever thought to yourself "Man, I wish I was involved in the rules-writing process of this system!" then this is your chance to chip in by rolling some dice and moving a bunch of plastic dudesmen.
Oh, and you can totally win sweet prizes by doing so. Don't miss out!
I've censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet-- a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/19279/uncensor
████ law █████ be the █████████ of the end, my ███████. █████ of the ████ █████ ██████████, all of ████ ████████ ███████████ ████████ ████ do no ████ to you, me or ████ the ███████ ████████████ █████ are ███████ ███████████ and ███████ our █████. Do we ██████ ████ to ████ ████ ████ █████? Do we ████ to ██████ a ████████, █████████ ████████ ████ it has ██████ ████ an █████████ ████ of our █████? █████████ the ████████ ████ be ████ the █████████ and it has ████████ ██████. The ████████ █████ ████ to be █████████ to all of us in the old █████, but ████ it ██████ "█████████" to ███████ and ████ ███████ ██████ ████ ███████ to █████ ██████████ and █████. ████ the █████ ██████ ███████ and ██████ █████ use its ████ ███████████ to ███████ █████ █████, ████████ and ██████.. █████ ████? The ██████████ now has ███████ ████ ████ as ████ and ██████ ████ all █████ ███████████ are ███████ █████ by ███████ or if ████ are not ████ are not █████████. The ████ ████████ to the TV. Are we █████ to █████ the ████ to ██████ to our ███████ ████████? NO. We are not. ████ the ██████████ and █████ ██████████. If ████ ██████ █████ ████ BE █████. █████ ████ be █████████. The ██████ ████ ██████ ████████ ████ be ███████ ████████ to the ██████ of the ██████.
Well, after getting pulverized by Jarred's I.G list during the second game it was obvious that I wasn't going to win.
SADNESS DOUGHNUTS!
Not that I had any real hope of doing so, but the pressure was gone to say the least. I think of it as that sweet treat that helps you deal with the bitterness of defeat. Hmm.. the phrase "sadness doughnut" comes to mind, but I'm not sure why..
Honestly I had my ass handed to me and I just don't think that I could ever suffer a bigger defeat. ? Now I was just going to play against other Imperial forces, because lets face it, Xenos players just don't even bother to show up at tournaments.. Right? Right?
Wrong.
Enter Clay McCarty's beautifully painted and converted Kabal of the Crystal Spider! One of the few Xeno players at the tournament, Clay managed to surprise everyone with an astonishing aesthetics and a brutal virulent Dark Eldar list! Clay's army had a lot of bright colors - greens and sweet-looking purple were all over the place. His Venoms were all converted and looked very, very different due to some minor conversions and different painted patterns! Not to mention that every model was on a scenic base, even his fully built-from-scratch Razorwing was on one and it was atteched to it with a metal screw! Check a picture I took of his army during one of the first turns of our game and see for yourself:
Clay McCarty's Kabal of the Crystal Spider
Our game was incredibly brutal and kept on switching from slow-paced to fast-paced turn after turn.. after turn. And as always I failed to take a lot of pictures, especially during this game. I have to say, though, Clay's army is by far the best looking army I have ever had the chance to face against.
Yet, just because his army was painted beautifully it didn't mean that his list was inferior. On the contrary, Clay ran a !@#$%^& scary-ass ultra-shooty list. Literally there were hundreds of tiny poisonous splinters every turn, a bunch of tiny but vicious Venoms with small, but deadly cargoes. Oh, and a 20-man Hellion blob lead by THE Baron. :-O
This was my first game against the new Dark Eldar to boot as well..
I knew what I had to do in theory, but was I going to be able to pull it off in practice? We'll see if good ole Skarvald the Troll-faced had it in him after the jump..
After winning my first game I took a deep breath and took my well-deserved 1 hour break. I didn't have a huge victory so I didn't expect to face the worst. Basically I was just hoping for anything but I.G or Grey Knights. And of course, my opponent just happened to be an I.G player. Was I doomed?
Enter Jarred Saxman's Imperial Guard! The fact that the I.G codex is still one of the armies out there says enough about the book itself. The Imperial Guard players have been able to use the versatility, efficiency and specialization to face every meta (ugh, how I hate this word..). Superior firepower in both volume and templates, durable and cheap vehicles, more troops than anyone else and the right tools for any job make the I.G an amazing codex that can face and beat any opponent.
CLICK HERE!
With plenty of meltagun and plasma Veteran Squads, two very efficient triple twin-linked lascannon Vendettas, a Mandicore, two Hydras, a Leman Russ Executioner and a scary Psyker Battle Squad, Jarred's list was the Wolfsbane to my Space Wolves. I did, however, put up a fight despite being outclassed in everything and Jarred proved to be a very skilled and pleasant opponent to play against. I don't face I.G with my Space Wolves on a regular basis and never on such a level, but I believe that I've learned a few very important lessons.
Click on the image on the right for Jarred's list.
I had to obtain a Scanner STC in order to present to you his entire list... There was no way I was going to type out the whole shebang. Noooo way..
Round 2
Sort of like this...
Grinder
This mission follows all the normal rules for games of Warhammer 40,000
as outlined in the Organizing a Battle chapter of the Warhammer 40,000
rulebook (e.g, Ending the Game [p. 90], Seize the Initiative! [p.92], Mission Special Rules [pp.94-95], etc.), except as already noted in your tournament rules packed and described below.
Game Length:
This game cannot end before the 6th turn.
Deployment:
This mission employs the Dawn of War deployment. (See p. 93 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.)
Primary Objective (4 points)
Follow the Capture and Controlmission rules defined on p. 91 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
Secondary Objective (3 points) Table Quarters: Divide the table into four equal quarters by drawing an imaginary line from the center point of each table edge to the center points of the opposite table edge. Players claim a table quarter by having more Victory Points’ worth of units - including at least one Scoring Unit - in the quarter than their opponent. (The Victory Points rules are on p. 300 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.) A player that has at least as many Victory Points’ worth of units in a quarter as their opponent but without any Scoring Units has successfully contested that quarter.
A unit can only contest or claim a single table quarters, no matter how many quarters it actually straddles. A unit that is capable of contesting or claiming more than one table quarter will contest or claim the quarter where the majority of the unit resides. If you cannot determine in which quarter the majority of a unit resides, the owning player must randomly determine which quarter the units “counts as” claiming or contesting.
The player that claims the most table quarters wins this Objective.
Tertiary Objective (2 points) Victory Points: Accumulate at least 250 Victory Points more than your opponent. Employ the Victory Points rules from p. 300 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook Reference.
Foreshadowing... isn't it? ;D
Deployment: Huzzah! I got to deploy and pick tables sides! Basically I picked the side with the most "cover" and LoS-shenanigans.. which was still not enough. Nothing protects you from scouting-super-fast-Vendettas with three twin-linked lascannons. Going first was a small advantage, I guess - especially against I.G, but Dawn of War meant that none of my real firepower was going to be able to shoot on turn 1 (the one big disadvantage of Long Fangs - Heavy weapons.. ) and my Thunderwolves were going to be far, far away from all of Jarred's firebase.
I deployed two Rhinos. One of them had my Rune Priest.
My opponent then deployed a single Chimera with a Plasma Vet Squad or was it the Company Command Squad? Storm Troopers were going to Deep Strike and Gunnery Sergeant Harker was outflanking with a Meltagun Vet Squad.
My Turn 1
Dawn War makes for some pretty boring first turns. This one was not an exception. All of my Rhinos came in from the board and so did the two units of Long Fangs with Missile Launchers. The Thunderwolves with Skarvald the Troll-faced started huffing and puffing from the table edge - seeking to go around the LoS-blocking platform kind of in the middle. Two of my Rhinos were on the right flank - headed straight for his objective. The other two were on the left flank protecting mine. The only thing that could have shot at the Chimera in the middle was my Rune Priest but he failed to see it even with Acute Senses..
Jarred's Turn 1:
Time for some delicious-delicious canned meat! Vendettas moved full speed ahead going for my left flank while "castling up"his Manticore behind two Hydras and a bunch of Chimeras. And yes, one of them had the dreaded Psyker Battle Squad. A Leman Russ EXECUTIONER with an Executioner Plasma Cannon and two Plasma Cannon sponsons was slowly driving towards me as well. Fuck...
Almost no shooting from the I.G. Thanks, Dawn of War.
My Turn 2
Alright. Time for all the Rhinos one the right flank to move flat out and pretty much hug his objective. What could possibly go wrong.. At least it was going to be a small distraction. The Thunderwolves kept on moving, all spread out because they knew that the Manticore was out to get them..
My shooting produced a stunned Vendetta (I think) and a wrecked Hydra. Possibly some more shaken results.
Jarred's Turn 2
All of his reserves arrived. Storm Troopers with two Meltaguns Deep Struck and got a nice position close to one of my Rhinos. Harker's squad arrived on the right next to my two Rhinos and two Chimeras were sent to support him. The Leman Russ moved straight ahead. Vendettas did what Vendettas did best and started shooting at my Vindicator, making a mockery of him. He had no weapon, basically.
The Manticore killed 1 or 2 Thunderwolves with its S10 AP4 templates of DOOM, but praise the Allfather the Psyker Battle Squad was an inch away from messing with their mind.
Harker and his lads (all of them had names on their bases.. one of them was Bunny!) melta'd the crap out of one of my Rhinos, but nothing else managed to draw line of sight to my Grey Hunters because they used the wreckage for cover.
Storm Troopers shot at something.. Not sure if they killed anything.
Leman Russ Battle Tank killed 4 out of 6 Long Fangs and made them run for their lives but not far enough to run off the board. They were the lads from the foreshadowing picture.
My Turn 3 My Rhino-less Grey Hunters surrounded Harker. Thunderwolves moved around things not sure where to commit. I should have put them in Reserve.. The other right flank Rhino shot some Meltas at a nearby Chimera but failed to do anything. Rune Priest (whose Rhino was also kaput) shot at the Psyker Battle Squad but Living Lightning failed to do anything.
Not that even glancing was going to do anything, really.. Weaken Resolve is not even a Shooting Power, which means that Jarred could move 12" to get in 32'' range.. or move out of my 24'' Psyker Protection bubble.
Vindicator tank shocked a Hydra, doing nothing..
I managed to shoot a Vendetta with some lucky Long Fang missiles, though. The other one I stunned. Oh, and I didn't even bother with the Leman Russ. AV14 on the front meant it was going to have its way with my Space Wolves. Kind of ironic considering their very own Primarch made the Leman Russ Battle Tanks viable and famous, huh?
Some pistol shots and an assault later and Harker was the only survivor. However he managed to pass a Leadership check and a bunch of Armor/FNP saves, getting stuck in close combat with my Grey Hunters. Great success, right?
NOPE. Chuck Testa.
Jarred's Turn 3 Psyker Battle Squad got in range of my Thunderwolves. Chimeras were zipping left and right supporting vital objectives and units.. you know.. I.G stuff and what-not. The Leman Russ just stayed there - he was already in range of all my juicy bits. A unit of Plasma Vets disembarked from the Vendetta and the Stormtroopers embarked in it.
I think his shooting pretty much got rid of all of my Vehicles, except an immobilized Rhino. The last Rhino on the right got wrecked by some melta guns inside a nearby Chimera and the Grey Hunters got pinned. :(
A Long Fang squad got squished leaving only two actual Missile Launcher dudes hiding out of LoS.
The assault against Harker? A huge failure. He actually won and we stayed in combat. Bad juju... Bad, bad juju.
The Thunderwolves got molested again by the Manticore, leaving only 2 Thunderwolves, who then got their Resolves Weakenes by the Psyker Battle Squad and started running like crazy.. but not off the board.
My Turn 4
Things were not going my way. Too much firepower, too many things to deal with and not enough firepower on my side to deal with any actual threats. Not to mention that my Thunderwolves got pretty much neutered.. and a very important Grey Hunter squad got pinned. BUT I didn't give up.
The single remaining Thunderwolf rolled triple Gentleman's Ones for his running distance, putting him close to a Guardsman squad next to my immobilized Rhino. The guys from the Rhino disembarked and shot their meltas at the nearby Vendetta, hoping to be able to multi-assault some Guardsmen if things didn't go as planned.. but they did... and the Vendetta went KABOOM. But then my Grey Hunters were in the open.
Vindicator tank shocked a Chimera.. doing nothing.
The rest is pretty much a blur, really.
I finally disintegrated Harker in close combat, but it was far too late... Far... too.. late.
Jarred's Turn 4
Jarred didn't have to move much. Tons of plasma quickly decreased my numbers.. in all squads. And it wasn't plasma guns.. it was hot-shot lasguns. Or meltas. Or plasma cannons. Even with some cover the volume of fire got the best of me.. The now out of combat squad of Grey Hunters got almost wiped out and the big pinned unit of pinned Grey Hunters got plasma'd and then targeted by Weaken Resolve.. and they ran. With at least two more turns left in the game (Grinder, remember? At least 6 turns...) it meant that everything I had near his objective marker was going to be double-dead.
Tons of plasma also obliterated my Rune Priest's unit, leaving the HQ and 1-2 dudes left.
Turn 5
This was going to be the last turn of the game. I spent a few minutes trying to come up with some kind of a scenario. ANYTHING, that could have scored me ANY points, you know? But I just couldn't see it happening. I just didn't have the right tools. Where were the Wolf Scouts to get rid of his Manticore and/or Hydras.. and/or Psyker Battle Squad? Where were the Lascannons to deal reliably with Armor 12+?
Not in my list, obviously.
The Thunderwolf rolled triple Gentleman's Ones again! Yaaay... D; With what was left of my firepower I tried to at least get rid of his Company Command Squad.. but bolter fire and frag missiles didn't cut it, since his unit was inside a forest.
Jarred's Turn 5
One of Jarred's sweet Objective Markers!
I am not really sure what happened exactly.. but it was pretty much clean-up time. What didn't die was sent running away by the Psyker Battle Squad and Jarred just moved his units, securing his own Capture and Control Objective, securing more Table Quarters.. and obviously dominating me in the Victory Points Tertiary objective.
LOSS
What a great game, though. I definitely need to play more against I.G. This game was definitely an uphill battle from the very start and did shed some light on some things that I need to change in my 1850 list, but I'll go over it after I'm done with the tournament coverage.
Jarred was a very smart and efficient player who never lost track of the objectives and clearly had a plan throughout the entire game! Definitely a worthy opponent that taught me a few very important lessons while kicking my ass. Yeah, losing sucks, but I think it was an important loss for me.. since it doesn't happen to me that often.
Thank you, Jarred for the brutal, merciless game! Hope to play you again one day.. ;P
And here's this battle report's music video:
My last post was about the Land Raider I received for Christmas a few days ago, my desire to turn it into a Land Raider Achilles and my frustration when I learned that Forge World was only selling a complete conversion kit of the model and not just the conversion parts. 
