Breaking the Silence: 6th Edition, Hobby Mojo and.. Alpha Legion?

Hey there, my fellow bloggers and blog lurkers! Long time no see, I suppose. It has been.. errr.. more than a month since I last posted here. A series of unfortunate events (sucky primer, a third of my paints drying or exploding, etc. etc) managed to throw a wrench in the clockworks of my hobby mojo at the very beginning, proving once again that Skarvald the Troll-faced is unable to hobby by himself.

No, seriously. Bad things happen whenever I finally sack up and start painting, folks. Add a few weeks worth of 100+ degrees and insane humidity in the Chicagoland and I think you get the picture. No hobby for Skarvald.
But not all is lost. My Khador WILL be painted one way or another. Probably not this month, because I'll be saving money for a NEW super secret hobby (Spoilers: I'll be making mead) and of course for the inevitable 6th Edition Starter Set and my next 40k Army...

But first..
6th Edition: I still don't have the book. I haven't had the chance to go over the rules too much, except for randomly browsing the freebooted .pdf. Sue me. The book is $75. I'm waiting for the chibi booklet with all the important rules innit. 
I still haven't played a game using the 6th edition rules, but I feel like I have a firm grasp of the rules. Some things I like, some things I love. Some things I dislike.. and some things I hate. But I'll get used to it, I suppose. Do I have an option? Overall I like the general feel of this new edition... We'll see if this still hold when I start playing it! :D


New 6th Edition Army:
I already have two armies: Orkz and Space Wolves.. so why a third army?
1) Orkz: Every time I look at my pile of Ork Boyz I just lose all desire to play them. They were my first army and I think I have 4 different Ork Squads painted TOTALLY different. Seriously - different greens, different shades, washes, different levels of effort. I kind of want to strip 80% of them and to start over.. but then I remember how painful it is paint Orkz. I still love painting Ork vehicles, though.
Orkz got a decent buff with how much easier it is to kill vehicles in close combat, although no consolidation still sucks. Random Assault distances are a pain. Still no Psyker support, except by allying a Farseer which is lame. Don't get to benefit from the new Psychic Powers.. at all. In general, shooty Orkz hiding in terrain and eventually counter-charging seems to be the best option and while this is a playstyle that I enjoy with my Orkz I'd rather wait for their new Codex in a coupe of years.
It's a shame. I have an unpainted Stompa, a Battlewagon, like 20 Burna boyz, Nobz, Deff Koptas.. etc. etc. etc. And HOTPanda is sending me a box of Killa Kans as well. Grrr...

WAIT. THIS JUST IN. THE MAILMAN JUST DELIVERED THE BOX OF KILLA KANS!!!
-Thanks, HOTPanda..

Robots!

2) Space Wolves - I have a Land Speeder, a Land Raider Crusader and a Land Raider Achilles that have yet to be painted. The new Citadel paint range killed me, man. I just don't have the will to start over, because it's impossible to mimic my current paintjob. I also want to repaint my Thunderwolves so badly. I dunno. I still want to play them, but I don't have a reason to expand the army anymore. We'll see..

And now for the new army that I really want to start..

Chaos Space Marines! Wooot! Even more power armor, baby!
And more importantly.. it will be Alpha Legion!
Now, I know that there will be no Legion-love in the new CSM codex, so I'll have to be extra creative with which units I pick. One is for sure, though - the list will be heavy with Allies.
Imperial Guard, to be exact.
We all know that Codex: Chaos Space Marines is already finished and it's just a matter of time until it is released. The rumor mill is already spinnin' with delicious tidbits and so far things are lookin' pretty promising for the arch-enemies of the Loyalists.

And while I can all but speculate about the things in the Chaos Space Marine codex I can at least jot down some of the more promising and thematic units from Codex: Imperial Guard, which will be playing the role of Special Operatives and various agents, indoctrinated and placed by the Alpha Legion..

The Alpha Legion epitomizes trickery, infiltration, outmaneuvering and outsmarting. While they are just as good (if not better) at prolonged, direct combat, the Alpha Legion prefers to destroy from within, to ambush and slowly chip away at the enemy and to manipulate using subterfuge and propaganda. Information is crucial and the spy networks organized by them are deep and complex. Basically, if each Legion was represented by a god from the Norse Mythology, the Alpha Legion would be Loki himself.

Next post I'll share with you some of my ideas.. Until then.. uuuh... imagine the awesomeness of the first Forge World Horus Heresy book coming out this August?

Summer of Flyers: NEW Flying Coffin Orcoplane from Puppets War

It's truly the Summer of Flyers this season, guys. The Necrons are finally getting their Doom Scythe and Night Scythe kits; Codex: Space Marines is getting its very own flyer as well, represented by the Stormtalon; Orks are getting not one, not two but three sweet-looking Bommers, all of which come in the same kit.

And just a few hours ago, Puppets War, the Polish-based miniatures company which has been churning out amazing looking models by the dozens of as of late, released their second "Orc" flying machine...

The "Flying Coffin"- Orcoplane

Set contains 1 complete "Flying Coffin - Orcoplane model which includes: 2 parts of Orcoplane main body, 2 wings, flight stabilizer, 2 very big engines, 6 bombs, 2 versions of cockpit, 2 wheels, hatch with 2 goblins playing CKM, pilot, little exhaust pipe and a barrel...

The price is a little bit less than the GW fliers - $42.30/30.00€/£26.10. It's definitely worth it!

Man, what a great-looking flyer! The huuuuge engines are definitely a great addition and they just give so much character to the vehicle. It's crazy. I think that Puppets War should definitely sell JUST the engines as a separate bundle, because people will definitely want to use them to convert/modify the GW Ork Bommers. Now, I don't know my planes, but I'm sure this one is based on a real oomie plane of some kind.

This summer is truly the Summer of Flyers, folks!

Thoughts on the new Ork Flyers: The Dakkajet is da way to go!

Hey there, folks, It's me again. With some of my thoughts on the this whole ACTUAL Summer o' Flierz. Again.

Now that we know what the rules for the Ork Flierz are, it's time to sit down and play favorites.
The Dakkajet, the Blitza-Bommer and the Burna-Bommer now have their very own, special entries in the new White Dwarf and there's even a cool Fast Attack page with all of their options and weaponry, which should fit just nicely between the pages of Codex: Orks. 

Thoughts on the new Ork Flyers: The Blitza-Bommer; the Burna-Bommer and the Dakkajet!

Here's a picture from the yet-to-be-released White Dwarf in case you happen to be living under a rock/in a cave/under the sea/in China:

Blitza-Bommer; Dakkajet; Burna-Bommer

The rumor for the Ork flyers, as well as the new Space Marine flyer and the Necron Scythe variants has been all over the interwebs for the past month or so - pretty much ever since Beasts of War had a live discussion about them, featuring drawings of the models, which now seem to be basically traced images of the actual kits. That was pretty cool. A lot of people thought it was just a giant joke, especially with the outlines of the Space Marine Stormtalon er.. Gunship? It seems to be sharing the fate of the Stormraven from a few year ago - basically people are swearing that they'll never buy it due to its ugliness, only to give in to the temptation and its ruleset a few weeks after its release.
Personally? I don't care. I'm not even going to post a picture of it, since it's really easy to find it anyways, plus it's going to dilute my point..

Beasts of War's "sketch" is almost identical with the real deal... !!!!

And now, for the Ork Bommerz.. 
There are three Ork Bommer variants, all of which come in the same kit, which is nice. They should become available for pre-order on the GW website in a couple of days, cost $45.50 each and are going to come out on June 2nd..
1) Blitza-Bommer - "a dive bommer used to deploy payloads at low altitude and high speed" seems to be a hybrid flyer/skimmer with some pretty big "bommz" and a few er.. supa shootas? I'm guessing that it's going to be similar to the Dark Eldar flyers with an assortment of different bommz with different profiles and blast sizes, but it will probably have less options and will compensate with quantity rather than quality, which is da Orky way. It will probably be able to drop all of its "payloads" in one turn and then it will fly around shooting rokkitz or other similar weapons at the enemy.

Rumored stats and rules:
????????

2) Dakkajet - "a brazen dogfighter outfitted with rows of high caliber supa shootas". The name speaks for itself - the Dakkajet is all about the dakka and it seems to have at least 4 types of shootas, two of which seem like regular big shootas, while the other ones (on the wings) are probably the supa shootas. Now, I have no idea what a supa shoota is, but... Anyways, I managed to find some rumored stats and rules for the damn thing, but in it it mentioned dakka guns, instead of the listed "dakka guns". When I saw the picture and the description, the Dakkajet really struck me as an anti-aircraft type of vehicle, so here's hoping its weaponry functions similar to the Hydra in Codex: Imperial Guard.

Rumored stats and rules: 

BS 2
10/10/10
Twin-linked Dakka Guns (18'' S5 AP5 Assault 3)
Aerial Assault (Can fire all weapons if it moves at cruising speed)
Supersonic (If it moves flat out, it can move up to 36'')
Waaagh! plane - can fire twice in the turn you call Waaagh!
Strafing Run - BS 3 vs everything but jump infantry and skimmers
Fighta Ace upgrade - BS 3 against everything..

3) Burna-Bommer - "an aircraft outfitted with an assortment of volatile incendiary bombs" is also pretty unique. It replaces normal bombs and the sheer amount of dakka with incendiary bombs and seems to be a vehicle that specializes in the extermination of hordes and perhaps small elite units.

 BS 2
10/10/10
Aerial Assault (Can fire all weapons if it moves at cruising speed)
Supersonic (If it moves flat out, it can move up to 36'')
Waaagh! plane - can fire twice in the turn you call Waaagh!
Burna Bomb - Similar to a Scorcha (S5 AP4)
S7 AP1 bomb in the movement phase?
Burna Missile - S5 AP4 small blast, ignores cover, one use
Grot gunner on one weapon

A lot of people have been asking and waiting for this release. I know I have. Ork Aircrafts have always been my favorite thing, but I have never expanded on my love for orky planes. As a matter of fact, it was the Deff Kopta model from the Assault on Black Reach set that pretty much sealed the deal and got me started with Orkz and Warhammer 40,000 in general. It's just such a sweet, sweet model and I want to field lotz of 'em. ALL OF THEM. A GOTTA HAVE 'EM ALL, YOU SEE? I want at least a 100... Help me?
So anywaaay...

All three kits look pretty cool to me. I'll have to agree that they do look kind of similar, but there are three variants in one box, after all. Imagine all the extra bitz inside? From the pictures you can tell that there are 2-3 different pairs of wings and tails, which can be used not only to differentiate your various flyers (because, let's face it, you're going to buy at least 2 of 'em...), but you can use the extra wings to Loot other vehicles and turn them into Orky flyers. Got a spare Tau Piranha? Add wings to it, it's now a Dakkajet. AND you'll have tons of spare shootas and rokkitz to kustomize it.

One of the main complaints on the interwebz is that they are kind of simple and plain. Again - 3 kits in one box. That, and I actually like their plain profile. It means that you can easily add stuff to them - extra weapons, gubbinz, wires, wheels, wings, plates, glyphs.. etc. etc. If anything, they are going to make converting your very own Orky flyer that much easier, because you'll have the main components as reference or simply as something to built on top of. Just the release of this kit will unleash a bran new wave of Ork conversions all over the world, mark my word!

Rules-wise.. nothing too crazy. After all they are xeno vehicles, they are obviously not going to be crazy over-the-top overpowered. Aerial Assault and Supersonic are definitely cool, but are certainly now unique and every flyer seems to have them. Waaagh! plane is amazing! I don't care if it's going to be good or not, the very fact that this vehicles gets to do something cool when you declare your Waaaaagh is just phenomental and I really hope that more non-infantry units in the Ork codex get similar treatment in 6th edition. We're obviously going to see many of the typical Orky upgrades as options: Armour Plates, Grot Riggers, Red Paint Job.. etc. Probably options for extra guns or for making weapons twin-linked.

I kind of wish they can be fielded as a Squadron. Come on.. how awesome would that be? 9 Ork flyers.. just 'cause. It wouldn't even be overpowered. No, really. We're talking about AV 10/10/10 vehicles here. I just want to be able to field a bunch of them. Which brings me to yet another pondering..

AV 10/10/10 is a bummer.. 11/11/11 would be soooo much better. Oh, well. At least they are not open-topped. Oh, that would be an even bigger bummer.

No variant with transport capabilities is a bummer. Perhaps in the near future? Yeah..... right. 

Are they Fast Attack or Heavy Support?
Fast Attack seems to be the sane choice, simply because they are well.. fast. But then they are competing with a lot of fast units, which are all pretty decent in Codex: Orkz - Deff Koptas, Warbikerz, Nob Bikerz.. even Buggiez... and I definitely want to be able to run a bunch of Ork flyers... with a bunch of Deff Koptas. Dakkawing, baby!


6th Edition Caveats: 
While the vehicles ARE sweet, we have no idea how flyers, skimmers and even vehicles in general are going to function in 6th edition. Are there even going to be Fast Attack or Heavy Support slots or is the game going to adopt the percentage system of Warhammer Fantasy? Buying a bunch of vehicles right now seems kind of risky and definitely dangerous, simply because 6th can (and probably will) turns everything upside down. This is why I won't be picking them up immediately and I'll wait until the new edition rolls out. I know that I'll be picking some up for sure, I just don't want to do it right now. I think that a lot of you will agree with my fears..

So yeah, I'm pretty excited. Are YOU?

Adepticon 2010

Well, the whole experience was just...Wow. The scale of this convention is just insane, and I must say, that despite my familiarity with other tournaments playing against 440 other people is just daunting. The day for us went really well, my teammates and I secretly decided to go for commander's heads rather than going for winning the tournament overall. The decision was made in part due to the fact that we were playing Speed Freak Orks. With all the mechanized armies (more on that later) we knew we would be hard pressed to deal with vehicles, since Ork really struggle against them. For those of you who don't know commander's heads is killing all your opponents team's HQs, while keeping yours alive. Our list was fast, our HQs were resilient, and we have some great killing power, so it seemed like a natural fit. We did pretty well in our goal, but one team actually got a perfect score. At the end of the day, after a grueling 17 hours of tournament gaming, we ended up in 20th place out of 110 teams. Considering we weren't even going for victories as our primary objective it was shocking to say the least.

Of the armies present at the tournament I would have to say (and this is no exaggeration) that at least half of them were mechanized Imperial Guard. Yes, all the armies from 40k were present, but seeing one army that was so clearly dominant was definitely a turnoff. Of the rest of the armies that were not mech guard, I would have to say that 90% of them were mechanized, and there was not a single army that I saw that had no vehicles at all. Yes, even Tyranid teams made themselves genestealer cults, "'Cause what Tyranids need are more Mech Guard." Having such cookie cutter lists dominate well over half of the armies was surely a turnoff, and I can only hope that it is a passing fad. I feel the whole situation has to do with what GW seems to do when certain units or upgrades are powerful/weak. It what I like to call the "Starcannon syndrome." The starcannon used to be the go-to weapon for eldar players back in 3rd edition, it was cheap and effective with its 3 ap2 shots. When the 4th edition codex came out, however, the starcannon not only lost one of its shots, but when up in points as well. This was a double hit in its effectiveness, and now starcannons are rarely taken. GW has done the reverse with vehicles (and specifically transports) in 5th edition. Not only did all vehicles become tougher, but they are becoming cheaper as well. Chimeras (which are the go-to vehicles right above Vendettas) dropped in 20 points over their 3rd edition counterparts, got tougher, got free upgrades, and became more effective with their fire points...what...the...heck... Seeing team after team with 6 or more chimeras and at least 2 vendettas got old fast.

In the end despite the IG, it was definitely a positive experience. All but one team were great sports and a real blast to play against. I look forward to playing more games in my shop with my own army against people who like to think for themselves.

More coverage on my (and my team's) tournament lists, and some pictures as well. After that I may start working on my Eldar Vampire Hunter.

Where have I been?

Wow, it has been almost a year since I have posted here. It has been way too long. Well I will fix that right now!

I am gearing up for Adepticon with my Orks. Orks? Those sound too unruly and imprecise for your tastes, you might say. Well yes, but I think I will have fun in the team tournament with my friends, and thats what it is all about. I will post pictures of my massive 'Ard Boy conversions, which are took the bulk of my prep time. I will be pressing it close to finish painting in time, but I think I can do it.