Here's the next installment of the Grey Knight Codex, the Elites selections. Techmarines, Purifier Squads, Venerable Dreadnoughts, and Paladin Squads are the GK options available. This is an interesting set of options. Let's start with the Techmarine.
Techmarine
The Techmarine is the supersized version with the extra 4 arms and he is a GK, so he is also a psyker. Yes, your Techmarine, while studying the Rites of the Machine Cult can also tilt his head and point a servo arm at you and try to kill you with only his thoughts. In reality, his psychic potential is best used to upgrade his strength before close combat, or to allow him to repair something with a better chance of doing it. I don't know if he should exist. Obviously a Space Marine chapter needs their Forgemasters, but should he really be deployed? I would have liked to see a Chaplain character, especially one to watch over those who fight Chaos. The Techmarine looks like he is here because of the emphasis on vehicles and that he could deploy with exotic weapons (conversion beamer, orbital strike relay).
Purifier Squads
This is a strange unit option. They are the guardians of Titan's vaults. They are capable of fighting off hordes in close combat by causing a wound to the unit in melee combat before strikes are made. Beyond that, the Purifiers are very similar to the standard power armor squads. Beyond that, the Purifiers are technically the most faithful (read: fearless). They are a subset of the GK, an elite unit designed to take down hordes. This unit felt like it was misplaced in the Elite section and should have been a troops choice. From a fluff perspective, this unit feels like an add on. The Purifier concept appears as part Star Wars Emperor's Royal Guard and part generic GK.
Venerable Dreadnought
This is your standard, expensive, veteran psyker Dreadnought. He's a little more resilient than the standard one. It would have been nice if he able to buy a couple of the other psychic powers instead of only having the assigned ones. I have mixed feelings toward Grey Knight Dreadnoughts. They don't necessarily fit the fluff (GK in armor wading through waves of Daemons) and that the dead are interred on Titan. Other than as entries in the game mechanics, Dreads don't appear to exist in the TO&E. They should exist and I imagine that they should be used more frequently
Paladin Squad
These are the 2 wound, improved weapon skill Terminators. This squad can upgrade to include an Apothecary, a Standard Bearer, and master-crafting anyone's weapons. The Paladins are what I pictured as the unstoppable Grey Knight Terminators. They can also cast Holocaust, a holdover from the previous edition's elite Terminator selection. I like the design of the Paladins. This is one of the few entries that feels like GK, and it would a centerpiece unit that would escort a Captain or Grand Master into battle and come put on top.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Kublacon 2011
2011 Kublacon was this past weekend in Burlingame, and compared to last year, it seemed a little smaller. It could have been he days I attended (Fri, Sat, and Mon), but 2010 seemed busier.
This year I tried my hand at the Mini Speed Painting competition. I went to two different sessions, once on Fri and the 2nd one on Sat. The winners are invited back for the Masterclass version and for the grand prize. On Friday, I placed 2nd (out of 3 competitors). The second shot at it resulted in a 4th place (1st Place went to a former Reaper mini painter who currently freelances as a mini sculpter. Not bad and I had fun. I did find out more about the judging process and worked on time management in one of those contests. 45min is not a lot of time to paint to high standards. 2 sessions of Paint 'n Take resulted in a mounted swordsman for my 2 year old (I'll post pictures of her work later) and a pair of AoBR marines for myself (1 is painted, the other for me to work on later).
Besides painting, I sat in on a mini sculpting seminar. A freelance artist who sculpts minis for Reaper gave a demonstration on how to use green stuff for fixing gaps, making fur, scales, and other tidbits. He fell into the job after working for Reaper as a painter. Compared to last year's seminar, his answered questions and showed/demonstrated techniques versus the hands on teaching in the 2010 class. There were fewer people clamoring for this class since the Warhammer people were at the GT tourney and the Warmachine/Hordes group also had a tourney. Most of the remaining students were GW players who didn't play the tourneys, Malifaux, or Mordhei
players. It was about 20 people who were interested.
For the 40k tourney, that was going at the same time as the FB tourney, unlike 2010 where they were on separate days. 40k dominated a number of tables, but not as many as the 2010 tourney. There was still room for about 12 FB players, including a nicely painted Calvary Bretonnians, a Tomb King army, and a Dark Elf army. 40k was mostly SM builds, with only a couple of Spore Nids lists to balance the occasional Dark Eldar lists and the IG lists. A lot of flyers this year; plenty of Storm Ravens and Valkires.
I also checked out the WM tourney and the Steamroller on Mon. The Mon Steamroller felt like the players were on the lower side of the experience scale. As for the tourney, a lot of jacks were on the table.
More details to come later.
This year I tried my hand at the Mini Speed Painting competition. I went to two different sessions, once on Fri and the 2nd one on Sat. The winners are invited back for the Masterclass version and for the grand prize. On Friday, I placed 2nd (out of 3 competitors). The second shot at it resulted in a 4th place (1st Place went to a former Reaper mini painter who currently freelances as a mini sculpter. Not bad and I had fun. I did find out more about the judging process and worked on time management in one of those contests. 45min is not a lot of time to paint to high standards. 2 sessions of Paint 'n Take resulted in a mounted swordsman for my 2 year old (I'll post pictures of her work later) and a pair of AoBR marines for myself (1 is painted, the other for me to work on later).
Besides painting, I sat in on a mini sculpting seminar. A freelance artist who sculpts minis for Reaper gave a demonstration on how to use green stuff for fixing gaps, making fur, scales, and other tidbits. He fell into the job after working for Reaper as a painter. Compared to last year's seminar, his answered questions and showed/demonstrated techniques versus the hands on teaching in the 2010 class. There were fewer people clamoring for this class since the Warhammer people were at the GT tourney and the Warmachine/Hordes group also had a tourney. Most of the remaining students were GW players who didn't play the tourneys, Malifaux, or Mordhei
players. It was about 20 people who were interested.
For the 40k tourney, that was going at the same time as the FB tourney, unlike 2010 where they were on separate days. 40k dominated a number of tables, but not as many as the 2010 tourney. There was still room for about 12 FB players, including a nicely painted Calvary Bretonnians, a Tomb King army, and a Dark Elf army. 40k was mostly SM builds, with only a couple of Spore Nids lists to balance the occasional Dark Eldar lists and the IG lists. A lot of flyers this year; plenty of Storm Ravens and Valkires.
I also checked out the WM tourney and the Steamroller on Mon. The Mon Steamroller felt like the players were on the lower side of the experience scale. As for the tourney, a lot of jacks were on the table.
More details to come later.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Nightmare descends on the coasts of Khador
The sea is not safe. The evil forces of Cryx ply the coasts and range far inland, terrorizing towns all over the coastal areas of Immoren. A raiding party lead by the Pirate Queen Skarre has landed in Khador and is making its way inland. But in its way is Sorcha and her small patrol. Can they drive the evil Cryx force back into the sea? Can they save the people of Khador from devastation?
The Forces:
Cryx is lead by Pirate Queen Skarre, warjacks include Nightmare, Stalker and Deathripper, one unit of 5 mechinthralls.
Khador is lead by Sorcha, warjacks include Juggernaut and Destroyer, one unit of 4 widowmaker snipers.
The layout: Widowmakers in the forest on the Khadorian left flank. Destroyer on the right flank. Sorcha and Juggernaut in the middle. On the Cryx side, Stalker is way out in the woods on the left with the Deathripper, then comes Nightmare and the mechanithralls lined up in front of Skarre. Nightmare lays it eyes upon Juggernaut as its first Prey target.
Turn One: Cryx moves up.
On the Khadorian turn the widowmakers take the opportunity to pick off four mechanithralls. Cryx realizes the power of Khadorian marksmanship.
Turn Two: Cryx runs Stalker and Deathripper down the left flank and hide Skarre and Nightmare behind the Eldar rustic home. Skarre disposes of the last mechanithrall in a ritual sacrifice.
On the Khador side, Juggernaut moves in to capture one of the objectives. The Widowmakers and Destroyer both miss their targets (Deathripper and Stalker respectively)
Turn Three: Nightmare ghostwalks and charges the Juggernaut. With the focus boost, spells from Skarre, Skarres feat, and Prey bonuses Nightmare does significant damage to Juggernaut, ripping an arm off. Deathripper unsuccessfully channels Skarre's spells against the Widowmakers, they are experts and stealth and melt seemlessly into the forest.
Juggeranut strikes back, but ineffectually, the Destroyer fires into melee and does nothing. The widowmakers manage to deal a few points of damage to the Deathripper. Sorcha boldly moves in to deny Cryx the second objective should Juggernaut go down.
Turn Four: Nightmare finally rips Juggernaut apart in a hellish frenzy of violence. Its gaze falls upon Sorchar next as a Prey target. Deathripper retreats behind the building.
Destroyer moves in to contest the objective, but more interestingly Sorcha charges Nightmare. She deals considerable damage to the helljack but falls short of damaging any systems. She then pops her feat, icy gaze, that renders Nightmare and Skarre stationary.
Turn Five: Skarre and Nightmare both shake off their stationary statuses. Nightmare crushes Sorcha and the game ends.
The Forces:
Cryx is lead by Pirate Queen Skarre, warjacks include Nightmare, Stalker and Deathripper, one unit of 5 mechinthralls.
Khador is lead by Sorcha, warjacks include Juggernaut and Destroyer, one unit of 4 widowmaker snipers.
The layout: Widowmakers in the forest on the Khadorian left flank. Destroyer on the right flank. Sorcha and Juggernaut in the middle. On the Cryx side, Stalker is way out in the woods on the left with the Deathripper, then comes Nightmare and the mechanithralls lined up in front of Skarre. Nightmare lays it eyes upon Juggernaut as its first Prey target.
Turn One: Cryx moves up.
On the Khadorian turn the widowmakers take the opportunity to pick off four mechanithralls. Cryx realizes the power of Khadorian marksmanship.
Turn Two: Cryx runs Stalker and Deathripper down the left flank and hide Skarre and Nightmare behind the Eldar rustic home. Skarre disposes of the last mechanithrall in a ritual sacrifice.
On the Khador side, Juggernaut moves in to capture one of the objectives. The Widowmakers and Destroyer both miss their targets (Deathripper and Stalker respectively)
Turn Three: Nightmare ghostwalks and charges the Juggernaut. With the focus boost, spells from Skarre, Skarres feat, and Prey bonuses Nightmare does significant damage to Juggernaut, ripping an arm off. Deathripper unsuccessfully channels Skarre's spells against the Widowmakers, they are experts and stealth and melt seemlessly into the forest.
Juggeranut strikes back, but ineffectually, the Destroyer fires into melee and does nothing. The widowmakers manage to deal a few points of damage to the Deathripper. Sorcha boldly moves in to deny Cryx the second objective should Juggernaut go down.
Turn Four: Nightmare finally rips Juggernaut apart in a hellish frenzy of violence. Its gaze falls upon Sorchar next as a Prey target. Deathripper retreats behind the building.
Destroyer moves in to contest the objective, but more interestingly Sorcha charges Nightmare. She deals considerable damage to the helljack but falls short of damaging any systems. She then pops her feat, icy gaze, that renders Nightmare and Skarre stationary.
Turn Five: Skarre and Nightmare both shake off their stationary statuses. Nightmare crushes Sorcha and the game ends.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Halloween Comes Early this Year!
I've finished the core of my new Cryx army (I sold the other ones, the paint scheme was a little too bright for me in the end). It's Halloween (in Immoren at least) and the little nasties are coming out to play. You can see pumpkins, fallen leaves and wheat that is ready for harvest scattered among the models. More pics below.
Deathripper and Stalker (I still need to clean up that wheat but otherwise, these are done)
Here's Pirate Queen Skarre and some of her mechanithralls. I took another look at her rules and she is pretty cool actually. I also have Asphyxious and Deneghra waiting for the paintbrush.
Finally, my favorite model, Nightmare. Him and that little girl are playing a little game of hide and seek. I think Nightmare won, what do you think?
Do you guys like this scheme better than the other one? I think it's more, let's say, Cryxian. Next up, Khador!
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