Real Life: I Raced

It was absolutely brutal. My moving time was 5'49", which is on the slow side for a century, but when you take into account the amount of climbing (over 4,000 feet) it makes a lot of sense. I had awful calf and quad cramping from my 65 on, and you can see that my speed dropped a lot once that started happening. Luckily, I wasn't the only one, most of the field was equally shattered by the difficulty. I can honestly say that was the single most difficult thing I've ever done in my life.

It gives me a new respect for professional cyclists: that would have been an average to moderately difficult Tour de France stage. And it left me completely wiped out. They would have to go repeat that ride, and much harder ones too, 20 more times before the end of the Tour. Their fitness is at an unreal level, and I completely understand the pressure on them to use performance enhancing drugs. To have to compete in races that difficult for 21 consecutive days, and to be expected to excel in them, let alone simply surviving them, the pressure must be enormous. When you expect people to be super human, don't be surprised when they resort to super human resources.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this with you guys. Have a good Thanksgiving.

40k Strategy: Defense in Depth

We all know by now that when making balanced, all comers lists we have to be conscious of having firepower, mobility and close combat ability.  I think these concepts have been repeated often enough that most competitive players utilize them unconsciously when making their lists.

People have fully digested the concept of having play in every phase of the game.  But I'd like to talk about another concept that is still in it's infancy, and that is board control.  Our lists now already have game in every phase of the game, now they need to be conscious of having play in every area of the table.  A list that doesn't have units that can control the midfield is missing as big a part as lists that are missing a close combat element.

A year or two ago, people would have suggested using either 4 Rhinos, or 4 Razorbacks in your troops selection.  I think we are slowly seeing a shift where lists with 2 of each are coming into vogue as people realize that the hybrid lists allow you to control your backfield with Razorbacks, as well as controlling the mid-field with Rhino melta bunkers.  People have begun to realize that hybrid lists are more "all comers" whereas the Rhino spam or Razor spam lists can only truly control one area of the board, and are thus susceptible to being out-maneuvered.

The game is won or lost in the midfield.

Do your units have to be single purpose "midfield" or "backline" units?  No, in fact they shouldn't be, because if they are so dedicated that creates a good target priority situation for your opponent.  Additionally, as I touched on in my "who is the gunline" article, there are some match ups where you won't want to move too far forward, and there will be some match ups where you won't want to passively sit back.  That said, a strong mid-field presence blunts the impetus of an assault army, and protects your backlines against a gunline army.

What you do want, however, are units that can flourish in the midfield, or in the opponent's backline.  The Rhino meltabunker sitting in the midfield says, "deal with me, or else you will have a melta bubble no man's land that will make your life hell."  The primary benefit of having must deal with threats scattered across the whole of the table is that your opponent is instantly reactive, rather than proactive.  He has to do with your Speeders in his backfield, your melta bunkers in the midfield and your long range firepower in your backlines.  Despite the passive nature of a melta-bunker Rhino, or the Razorback in the backlines, together they are an active threat, because it creates a solid 48" to 60" of table space where your opponent's army is going to have to pay with dead units if he wants to utilize it for his purposes.

I want you to take away from this article that the next time you're writing an all comers list to ask yourself, "which units are able to give me legitimately threat in each segment of the board?"  And if you're lacking in any of those departments, to consider beefing them up.  Hopefully, the results will be encouraging.

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That's all for today folks.  I'm leaving for a few days for the Holiday.  Your regularly scheduled updates will resume on Monday the 29th.

Hobby: Painting Dark Elves

Since I've been injured and not able to do anything physical, I took the opportunity to get my Dark Elves finished up.  All I have had left to do for about two months was two Reaper Bolt Throwers so it wasn't a huge deal, but it was one of those never-ending projects that I wanted to push out so I could move on to other stuff.

Even though I am a rubbish painter, I thought I'd do a step by step pictorial so you can see how my table top army is done.  This whole job took about 2 hours, so what I lose in skill and technical ability, I make up for with speed.  Here we go...

This is the primed Reaper and crew.  I always prime black, since it's good for speed which I value above anything else.  Plus, I usually paint dark colors and black basecoat suits that the best.

I do a quicky boltgun metal dry brush on the Reapers.  These aren't going to get a lot of detail, and this is a quick way to get that simple, dirty mechanical look.

Here I block out all the boltgun metal areas on the crew.  I also dry brush the boltgun metal on the chainmail sections.

Finishing the Reapers, I paint the bolts brown with red feathers.  Simple, no high lights.  I could put another 15 minutes into high lighting these to make them really look good, but I'd rather not.

Back to the crew, I block out all the purple sections, and unseen, all the flesh, bone, and paper.

In this step, I do a badab black wash on all the armor and weapons.  I also do a thick wash of Leviathan Purple on the purple parts of the crew.  I add a Sepia Greyphone wash to the bone and parchment areas.  Let sit for about 2 hours and...

...add Shining Gold details to the models.  This completes the painting.  If these were more important models and not wound counters for a warmachine, I'd do highlights, but these don't merit that.  So last step next.

Basing the models.  I use the basic Games Workshop Snow and some white glue.  The only thing left to do is give them a quick spray with some sealant and they are ready to play.

Friday Odds and Ends

First, an update on my crash Sunday.  I am walking much better now, but I'm not anywhere near full mobility.  The joint where my leg meets my hip gives me shooting pain still when I bend certain ways, so I'm definitely not fully healed.  I have a race this Sunday that more and more is looking like it's not going to happen, which is a bummer.  I've been looking forward to this event all summer, as it was the official end of the racing season, and its probably the hardest race of the year.

But my problems are small potatoes compared to what happened to the other guys involved in the crash.  Dr. Matt, who was the first to crash, is in really bad shape.  He suffered 6 broken ribs, a collapsed lung, broken hip, and shattered his shoulder.  He is really messed up.  He is a surgeon, and he had to cancel his surgeries for the next 3-4 months.  I couldn't imagine what I would do if I was facing his medical bills and the 4 months loss of income.  In all honesty, I'd probably be moving in with my folks.

Dr. George, the guy behind me who crashed into me, suffered a broken knee cap.  He had no idea at the time.  He finished the ride home and went about his day, but Monday morning when he woke up his knee was swelled up like a basketball.  X-rays showed a fracture.  So he will be out of commission for a few months.  So compared to these guys, I got off lightly.

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On the 40k end of the spectrum, Kennedy made an interesting comment in his already interesting article.  He advised us that it is profitable to not look at war-games as war simulation, but as a set of rules, like any of the rules we encounter at work or in life.  I interpolate that to mean that as people are adept at figuring out ingenious solutions to the rules they are given on a work project, why do so many people ignore that ability while gaming?  Clearly, they would be better and more competitive gamers for it if they did.  But you know what?  I'm glad they don't.  I was at a tournament once and had an extremely awful game against a gentleman who was the definition of WAAC douchebag.  The game was not fun for me, and I highly suspect that the game isn't even fun for him.  Afterwards, one of my buddies made a very astute comment about him, "that guy isn't even playing Warhammer, to him the game is a really difficult math puzzle, and he doesn't seem to even enjoy it."

And it's true.  He reduced the game to a set up rules to be exploited or overcome, and the end result was just painful.  I know Kennedy was not suggesting to do that, but I throw it out there as a cautious warning of what can happen if the game is taken too abstract and simply becomes a math puzzle.

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Dethtron coined a new term: FAAC.  Fluffy at all costs.  I like it.  I will do my part to make sure it spreads around the 40k-web.  I've already mentioned a "WAAC douchebag" in my post today, hopefully in the future there will be "FAAC douchebags" given similar mention.

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Kirby is exploring the depths of his love affair with Master of the Forge.  He subsequently posted a few 6 dread lists of various flavors.  I enjoyed this whole series and have been following it closely.  The only thing that I'm concerned with is that 6 dreads in a list is slapped with the label "competitive."  I'm not convinced these lists are winning in the real world tournament scene.  I played such a list at this year's 'Ard Boyz semis and the 6 dreads DID scare my opponents during deployment, but during the game they were simply a nuisance.  Granted this was at 2500 points; at 2000 points or 1750 points, I could see 6 dreads being significantly scarier as the opponent will have ton less utility to deal with them.  At this point though, I would caution anyone of running out and buying 6 AoBR dreads without playtesting first.  While lists with 6 dreads qualify as 'Tricky and Cute' for sure, 'Tricky and Cute' does not automatically mean competitive.

40k: New BRB FAQ Out. Interesting tidbits.

First, go take a look at it. 

OK, now that we have read it, what big changes do we see?  As usual most clarifications were of the "I thought that's how everyone already played it because it was obvious" sort.  

But there were two things that I think will change the way people play, and the sort of armies that they play.  First, and least importantly, GW has shut down the stupid checkerboard tactic.  This is where you deploy two interspersed units in a checkerboard formation, with the theory being that they grant each other a cover save even when they are both in the open.  This was never something, in my experience, that happened all that much in practice, but I imagine the times when it was abused it really felt bad for the opponent.  So kudos to GW for shutting it down.

Second, when a vehicle moves flat out and is destroyed subsequently, the passengers are removed as casualties.  This is a big deal.  This is a nerf to Dark Eldar, Eldar, IG, and some Blood Angels' builds.  Basically, anyone who relies on fast transports to generate a cover save by moving flat out to provide some defense.  I'm guessing this hurts the BA heavy flamer razorspam builds pretty badly, since Eldar vehicles are already hard enough to kill, and Dark Eldar benefit the least from moving flat out since they already get a 5++ save.  But at very least, it gives those armies a pause for thought.  Will you really be moving that DAVU Falcon all out early in the game?

Who does this hurt the most?  Probably IG ships carrying melta/demo vets or stormtroopers.  The Valks are AV12 but they draw a ton of fire and they rely on that 4+ save on turn one to ensure delivery of their payload.  Now, if they rush forward all out turn one, they will probably lose their vets.  If they don't they might not get their vets where they need to be in time.  It's a tough position to be in.  We'll see how this shakes out, but being a veteran aboard a Valk just became a lot more dangerous of a job to have.

Today in Awful Warseer Tactics Part 9

I hadn't been to Warseer in like 10 days until this morning.  I can't say that bothered me, in fact, I was pretty happy about that.  But on a whim this morning I went there to see what stupidly bad advice was being distributed by 12 year olds to 12 year olds.  The 40k forum had the usual tactica threads, which rarely create something noteworthy.  No gold there to mine.  The Fantasy forum did have this gem, though.  The OP has a theory that mono-Tzeentch Warriors of Chaos is pretty competitive in 8th.  I'm going to be be short and sweet in my answer: mono-deity is not ideal, but if you HAVE to go mono-deity, go Tzeentch.  Tzeentch is the only mark that has the tools to be competitive in the movement, combat and magic phase.  The other marks are missing something in those phases.  What will the Warseer answer be?

Hashulaman:  Is mono Tzeentch the way to go for Warriors in 8th? Are they one of the best configurations in WoC? It seems that they have gotten the best buff of the marks, the new parry is a 5+ ward, making the already tough Chaos Warriors harder to kill and cheap marauders better tarpits. With the new magic items they can abuse them in rather excessive ways. A 3+ ward is about as good as it gets in the game.

Then you got the new magic rules, a Sorcerer lord getting +5 to cast, plus 6 with Skull of Katam, + 7-9 with Homunculus, Tzeentch sorcerers can easily get off Gateway with 3 dice in 8th. The Teezntch lore is now much easier to get off whereas in 7th you had to take a gamble with gateway.

Like I said, Tzeentch is the only mark that has play in every phase of the game that Warriors are relevant in.  Being the best overall, though, does not imply best at everything.  They ARE the best at magic and movement, but they aren't the best in combat.  So to be fully optimized you should bring combat elements from other marks.

Theorix:  Yeah Tzeentch is very good, but i think that all marks are viable, and a good way to theme an army. Slaanesh might not be the best overall though.

First, not all marks are viable.  Mark of Nurgle is downright terrible in 8th Edition, and with psychology mattering much less, Slaanesh isn't quite as strong as it was.  Second, I don't recall anyone saying Slaanesh was the best overall.

ETA: A mix of marks is still stronger. Khorne on marauders or halberd warriors, Nurgle on Banner of Rage knights, Slaanesh on horsemen.  

Right and wrong.  A mix is best, but your examples are shit.  You still use Slaanesh horsemen?  What edition do you play?  Banner of Rage Nurgle Knights?  Don't answer that last question, you are hopelessly stuck in 7th Edition.

Enigmatik1: 8E stacked the deck heavily in favor of Tzeentch (+1 to cast and an inherent, stackable Ward save) and Khorne (Frenzy).

Whoa the correct answer!  This almost always happens in Warseer, but the post is ignored.  Let's see how it unfolds...  

PurpleSun: At one point a while back I converted my whole WoC collection to Tzeentch and run have run a 3,000 point all Tzeentch list for a while (Marauders, Horsemen, Warriors, Chosen, Knights, Hellcannons, Warshrine list). I find it to be the best WoC can field. 

I find you to be the worst that Warseer can field.  Go play your Thousand Sons 40k army and leave us alone.

CaliforniaGamer: or me: Tzeentch/Khorne +/- unmarked.  Also well supported combo in the fluff literature. "Palace of the Plague Lord" by Werner comes to mind as a strong example (Tzeentch and Khorne teaming up vs. the dreaded Nurgle).Blood for the Blood God is also a good reference. Kinda the muscle and the brain concept. 

 

No one gives a squirt of piss about your goddamn fluff based argument, you FAS baby.

Doommasters: can anyone post there mono TZ list? I like the idea of running a mono god and i find Khorne to be a little hit and miss sometimes. 

Take your minis and army books and throw them in the trash.  Then go ahead and delete the Warseer link from your favorites.  You'll thank me later.

VoodooJanus: Haha, I saw the greatest thing happen the other day with this [Infernal Gateway]. A fully decked out Lore of Life Slaan in a Temple Bunker got hit with this spell and the WoC player rolled a 12 for strength. WAY more effective than Psun, haha. 

Run the math on that and get back to me.

Hashulaman: Myself I think a 5++ is better than a 6++ 

You're such a genius, I think you may have to go live in a lamp. 

  

Strategy: Who Is The Gun Line?

In Magic the Gathering theory, one of the fundamental articles is "Who Is The Beatdown" by Mike Flores.  Without getting too deep into Magic theory, the idea is that in any match up of two decks, one of them will have to take an aggressive role to win, the other a controlling role.  Even in a match up of two highly aggressive decks, one of them will be more aggressive than the other.  If the less aggressive one tries to play aggressively, chances are it will lose.   If you are playing a mid-tempo deck, when you play against a fast beatdown deck, you have to play a controlling playstyle, because you can't beat the beatdown deck in a race.  When the same mid-tempo deck plays against a true control deck, it has to switch to a more aggressive style since the longer the game goes the more likely the control deck will have the chance to assert control and win.

So how can we apply this to Warhammer (both 40k and Fantasy)?  By asking the question, "who is the gun line?"  

Gunline!

At a tournament, when you and your opponent exchange lists, the first question you need to ask is, "can I outshoot him?"  If the answer is "no" you are not the gunline.  You next question is, "can my army beat his in close combat?"  If the answer is "no" you are not the beatdown.  The last question is, "can I out maneuver him?"  Hopefully, the answer to one of these questions is a "yes" because otherwise you have a tough game on your hands.  But most times, a good all-comers list will have a yes answer to at least one of these questions.  Getting that right, as we will see, is the first step in avoiding losing to a "bad matchup."

Often times players will get a match up, lose, and then tell their buddies, "I couldn't help it, I got a bad match up for my list."  Sometimes there is nothing you can do and his list was truly a bad match up for you.  Other times, you could have pulled out a win, except that you didn't change your playstyle to suit the circumstances of that match up.  If you are a Razorwolf player, most times you will be the gunline.  But in the few match ups where you aren't, you better be able to identify that, and you better be able to change your tactics to accommodate the circumstances of the matchup.  In theory, a good all comers list should be able to adapt to situations where your square peg is presented with a round hold.  If you don't realize the hole is round, though, that's not a bad match up, it's a bad player.

The Beatdown!

Let's say you are playing a Razorwolf list.  In round one of the tournament you are matched up against a mech guard list.  You will not be able to outshoot the mech guard.  You are not the gunline.  If you try to sit back and outshoot them, you will lose.  You will have to win by maneuver and close combat superiority.  

Round 2 you are matched up against 2 Battlewagon Nobs Ork force.  You can outshoot him, and you cannot beat him in close combat.  You are the gunline.  You have to try to win by superior fire power because you cannot move him in close combat.  On the other side of the coin, he has to play aggressively and try to assault you because he has to realize he can't outshoot you.  If either of you confuse your roles and try to play the wrong style, you will probably lose.

Round 3 you are matched up against another Razorwolf list.  This is where it gets interesting.  In your list you have an extra squad of Long Fangs, and he has an extra squad of Thunderwolf Cavalry.  It is important that you realize that you are the gunline, and he is the beat down.  If you push forward and try to out-assault him, you will probably lose.  If you utilize your superior firepower your chances of winning are probably much greater.

As Mike Flores says, "Miss-assignment of roles = Game loss."  In 40k and Fantasy, we have to remember that the chances of having a true tournament mirror match where we play against identical lists are relatively small, but in GW systems there are 3 ways to win: shooting, combat, maneuver.  When you are matched up against an opponent you have to know which one you are in that match up.  In 90% of matchups your Razorwolf list is the gunline, but being able to identify- and then accommodate to- that 10% of exceptions is an important skill that will give you a greater chance of winning "bad match ups."