With 2011 Coming to a Close...

With 2011 coming to a close, I wanted to reflect briefly on the adventures of the Coin Collectors. It was an exciting year for the army as it travelled around Wisconsin and Illinois, taking part in tournaments, leagues, and campaigns. While my successes were few, fewer still were the times in which I didn’t enjoy myself playing my favorite army in Warhammer. I think people appreciated getting to play against such an uncommon force and it was a wise decision in the Midwest to embrace the Indy GT list and allow such a neglected army a continued place on the battlefield.

Looking at how my army functioned in 2011, clearly the Marksmen Of Miragliano were the focus of any force I fielded. The ability to ignore the penalty for long range and BS 4 meant that they could quickly reduce enemy units to a more manageable size. Including a character with drillmaster and a wizard with the lore of fire or metal (I prefer metal), means that these guys were able to deal with pretty close to anything if they had the time and range.

Vespero’s Vendetta was another unit that I always included in my lists, but unlike the Marksmen, Vespero rarely proved its worth on the battlefield. In part, I believe this was due to the way I used them. However, I would also contribute some of their performance on the skirmishing rules and the need for a better set of rules for the unit. 125 points for 5 models that don’t really do anything special can only be justified by getting to see those classic sculpts. Since I like promoting myself, check out an article I wrote on my blog about how to create a better Vespero’s Vendetta unit using generic duelists and an elf hero.

As I prepare for 2012, my general approach when it comes to Dogs of War will be to break the list. Since I am working on two other armies which are more “friendly”, I have decided to take my dogs into the realm of obscene. Along these lines, I anticipate bulking up the Marksmen to a ridiculous number of models in an attempt to create the shooting army that people fear but never truly see on the battlefield (maybe with the exception of the Khalida and 89 archer insanity that tore the internet apart). I also expect to play with a few of the special characters in the book to create some interesting combos and loopholes. At the same time, I look to take the army in a direction that allows it to be played as an empire army without the need to swap out most of my finished units.

Looking at my schedule for 2012, my first tournament of the year will be Waaagh Aeries IV on Jan 14th. Than in February, I will be attending Da Snotling 1000 tournament in La Crosse, Wisconsin. What army I will field for this tournament will depend on how much I have finished for Adepticon, as I plan on fielding Ogres in one of the two 1000 point tournaments. After Da Snotling, the last tournament on my schedule is Adepticon 2012. I am playing in both 1000 point tournaments and expect to field DoW in one of them. What will be in my Adepticon list will depend on how my painting schedule works out for the first quarter.

Around the Net: More Fimirs!

Around the Net: Warhammer Forge Sneek Peek - Fimir!

It is officially a Fimir.

Around the Net: Warhammer Forge Sneek Peek #2

@1000 Points, Which is Better?

A simple question that I hope will generate some ideas for me...

@ 1000 points, which is better?

1 Gorger & 1 Ironblaster

or

1 Stonehorn

I would love to read the reason behind why people would select one choice over another. Also, those are the two choices, I am not considering other options for this situation.

Around the Net: Warhammer Forge Sneek Peek

Received this image via email today. My bet is it is a Fimir.

Images from Invasion Kenosha III

Invasion Kenosha III Overall Champion - Greg D. (Guess who he is in the picture below)

Necron Codex Unit Review: Lychguard

Of the new units in the necron codex, the Lychguard has been one of the more fascinating ones for me. In particular, I really like the option of arming these guys with dispersion shields as I find the new models very appealing and the rules for them fluffy and fun. Driven by this interest in them, I wanted to explore how I would potentially use them on the battlefield.

Generally speaking, the biggest challenge when fielding these guys seems to be the point cost of them. At over 200 points for just 5 of them with shields, fielding them in any real numbers can be difficult unless they are intended to be the focal point of the army. Even as the center of it, they are still expensive enough that any supporting units need to be selected carefully. Bottom line is that for the cost, these guys cannot be treated as a throwaway unit.

Another interesting thing about Lychguard is that they can be armed with either a warscythe, granting them +2 Str power weapon in CC, or a power weapon and the before mentioned dispersion shield. The dispersion shield is an interesting option as it gives the model a 4+ invulnerable save and can reflect shooting attacks stopped by the invulnerable save at another enemy unit within 6” of it. Not a game breaking ability, but one that can have an impact and potentially cause an opponent to second guess whether or not to target them. Between the two choices, I believe the PW/shield option is the better choice since each model has Str 5 and 2 attacks, thus wounding most things they should target on a 3+. The warscythe seems more suited for monster/vehicle hunting, something that I feel the Lychguard would perform poorly at on the battlefield.

Elite Strike Force

One approach that I intend to experiment with is using a reasonably sized unit (6 – 8 models) of Lychguard as an elite strike force in games at or below 1500 points. In these types of games, I would likely mount them in a Night Scythe for increased mobility and a little extra protection before deployment. Once deployed, I believe my primary tactic would be to use them to contest objectives that my scoring units would be incapable or less likely to capture.

When it comes to using lychguard in this fashion, I anticipate the biggest challenge being when their Night Scythe is destroyed before they are deployed into position. I like that the Night Scythe rules allow for the unit to return to reserves, but depending on when this happens, I could find the Lychguard to be useless because of their location on the battlefield.

The Reflective Wall of Difficult Choices

Another approach I am interested in trying is to use multiple units of Lychguard as a barrier between large units of warriors and immortals that would be marching behind them. My tactic here would be to push forward with everything until my shooting units are within the magical 24” range of their weapons. At this point, the Lychguard would continue to move forward and engage the enemy as needed. I like this approach to using Lychguard in bigger games as I feel their ability to be an elite killing unit diminishes as more big stuff floods the table.

Overlords & Royal Court Characters

When it comes to including a model from the royal court options, I think it would be useful to include a Necron Lord with a Rez Orb in each unit of Lychguard in order to increase their survivability and maybe add to their damage output in CC. I don’t think any of the Cryptek options would be ideal, but I could see using one with the Veil of Darkness as an alternative approach. Finally, when it comes to including an overlord with them, I can see the pros and cons either way and think it really depends more on how the overlord will be used than the actual presence of the Lychguard. However, with any of these options the overall cost of the combination should weigh heavily into decision of whether or not to attempt it.

Special Operations: Killzone

I am a little behind on my Killzone rules, but I am really considering one of these guys as the centerpiece to a Killzone team. In my experience, Killzone games tend to be close and personal affairs, so the shield's ability to reflect shots seems like it could pay-off quickly. Typically, I don’t believe I would include more than a single model of them, but maybe 2 or 3 with some warriors for support could make for an interesting team.

Ultimately, my goal is to include these guys in some fashion every time I field my necrons. Like Pariahs from the last book, I am simply in love with the idea of them and hope to figure out how to apply them every time they take to the battlefield.

Around the Net: Warpstone Pile's Marienburg Test Model

Was really impressed with this test model and wanted to share a link to it.