Another Chaos Marine Revision- The Fall of the Chosen

So, after my first game of 40k 6th edition against Demitra, I have found my army... lacking. In particular ifn the mobility department. Now, Demitra clearly had the advantage going into this one as he could just park in his deployment zone while I had to slog toward him, but in the end my force had one glaring hole in it. Mobility.

It is to this end that I introduce the long feared, oft seen Heldrake into my army. This first one comes equipped with a Baleflamer for sure. It will be great for rooting models out of cover, an ability I sorely need. The question remains, does the second model get a Hades Autocannon?

The question comes up because of my need for air superiority. The Heldrakes are great, and I mean GREAT aircraft-daemon-beastie thingies, but will simple Strength 7 Vector Strikes cut the mustard against other flyers? The Baleflamer can't be fired into the air, the Autocannon can (albeit at BS 3). Without owning the air, I can't safely move across the ground.

I think the answer is clear (due to the Ballistic Skill), Baleflamer, but the Hades Autocannon just stays stuck in my head.

So, with a $100 gift card I got my hands on, I grabbed both a Heldrake and another Chaos Marine squad- this one to turn into Havocs. I went home and fired up my netbook to build a list. I am a bit bummed that I had to strip the marks off of every unit except the Daemon Prince, but oh well- that's what the Bloodletters will be for.

HQ
Chaos Lord (warlord) w/ Sigil of Corruption, The Murder Sword, Veterans of the Long War- 130 pts.
Daemon Prince w/ Power Armor, Wings, Daemon of Khorne, Axe of Blind Fury- 255 pts.

ELITE
Helbrute w/ Reaper Autocannon- 105 pts.
Helbrute w/ Reaper Autocannon- 105 pts.

TROOPS
Chaos Cultists w/ Flamer- 55 pts.
Chaos Cultists w/ Flamer- 55 pts.
9x Chaos Space Marines w/ 2 Plasmaguns, Veterans of the Long War; Aspiring Champion w/ Plasma Pistol, Power Fist- 220 pts.
9x Chaos Space Marines w/ 2 Flamers, 2 additional Close Combat Weapons, 7 Close Combat Weapons, Veterans of the Long War; Aspiring Champion w/ Power Axe- 179 pts.

FAST ATTACK
Heldrake w/ Baleflamer- 170 pts.

HEAVY SUPPORT
9 Havocs w/ 4 Meltaguns, 9 Additional Close Combat Weapons, Veterans of the Long War; Aspiring Champion w/ Power Axe- 223 pts.

Why Melta? Isn't that weapon dead with 6th? Well, not so much. It's still a great anti-mech weapon, it still kills Space Marines (all the way up to Terminators) dead, and it still allows you to assault afterward.

I've dumped the Chosen. At their point cost they're just not able to do anything more than get shot dead. I love the models, and I'm glad they're painted, just not so much on the table.

Next week in gaming is now a question... Dark Eldar or Heldrake?

Only time will tell.

More Progress, Plus Spears!

Well, my painting question was answered by the Gaming Gods. Looking down the "Coming Attractions" list on the right there, I suddenly remembered that I has a building from Dust that needed a lick or two of paint. While rooting around in my gaming closet trying to find it, I came across what little AT-43 terrain I had remaining after the Great Gaming Purge of a couple days ago. The storage containers, while slick, needed to have all the AT-43 references removed from them, so into the painting cue they went. I started by doing a little tweaking of the Dust building, adding some pieces of plasticard to look like the building's roof had collapsed:

From there, I added a touch of ballast here and there to look like rubble collected on the roof:

And finally, outside to paint. I started with mu usual Rust-Oleum automotive primer, a step which I totally forgot to take a photo of. From there, I lightly sprayed the structure with Army Painter's Skeleton Bone paint, resulting in this:

I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the building from here. I have some wood stain somewhere (I think) that could be slathered across the model. That may or may not look slick. I'll have to think on it.

While that was drying, I sprayed the AT-43 crates with the Krylon silver spray paint I have laying around. Once dry, I hit it with Tamiya Smoke. Upon reflection, I think the pieces could use a drybrushing, so I guess they're not quite done yet.

Finally, and the reason my terrain projects are not quite finished, my spears from the Wargames Foundry arrived today! About dang time. At least my Amazon army is fully assembled now.

The spears look pretty good on the minis, and unlike the ones from the original packaging these won't snap at a glance.

That's all there is to report right now. Now off to drybrush those crates and find that stain (assuming I didn't pitch it).

Chaos Continues- Chosen and Alt. Chaos Lord

I choose you!

My long awaited Chosen squad has arrived! Yep, another squad has been completed, and they're ready to hit the table (maybe Tuesday, since Demitra was sick this week). I'm getting more and more ramped up to try out this new 40k ruleset. That's not all I've finished:

No plasma = less danger.

My alternate Chaos Lord is done too. I painted him up to look as much like the original as possible, since he's basically the same guy only with a Bolt Pistol instead of the overpriced and less than stellar Plasma Pistol.

Next up? Chaos Cultists. The second close combat squad needs to get some love soon.

Oh, and I'm pondering how to prime the Reaper Autocannon I'm going to add to the already painted Helbrute. I'm pretty sure I'm going to prime it before I attach it and then scrape the paint off the area where the glue will be applied. This is a thought that can wait several days though, as the parts haven't even been shipped yet, let alone being cut down to the right size and attached to the mini.

Now, do I start those Cultists, or do I sit here and see what's on TV? I want the Cultists done, but I don't want to burn out on painting either...

I'll Just Leave This Right Here

Yeah, I'm annoyed about the bitz debacle. This guy about sums it up. Way to make friends, GW.

Autocannon Conversion Revision

There has been a slight change to my conversion concept. I found this image online and I was able to get my hands on a couple of Chaos Terminator Reaper Autocannons today. I've decided that I like the look of the above mini enough to parrot it, although mine will probably look a bit different. I expect to get the parts in the next few days, and from there I'll post some pictures once I get the conversion together.

I'm still pondering what to name my legion. I'm thinking the something Vassals. Vassals of Blood? Dark Vassals? Who knows?

Also, I'd like a chapter badge. There are those skulls on the Chaos Marine transfer sheet, but they're just so dull. I'd freehand it if I felt confident in my painting skills, and more importantly had an idea as to what to use as a badge. Maybe if I were to freehand something behind the skull? It's tough coming up with an idea. Maybe I'll combine two decals...

Until then, I'm working on my Chosen, who are almost finished. Pictures soon!

Where I'm Going- 2,000 Points Of Chaos

Well, my Chosen are coming along, but I have no photos to share as of yet. What I do have today are thoughts about the overall direction of my Chaos Space Marines.

I've been tooling around with my list yet again, removing unfluffy or just plain unneeded items. That Plasma Pistol on my Chaos Lord? Not really worth the risk of him frying himself for 15 points. That's the cost of a Space Marine, and all it'll most likely achieve is a single gibbed enemy mini before the guy gets into melee and starts slaughtering enemies. His sword is his weapon, not his gun.

The Daemon Prince remains a flying killing machine. All those attacks at his strength value turn him into a glorious Cuisinart of choppy goodness.

What about the Chosen? Well, they're getting the Mark of Khorne back. Those extra attacks on the charge are totally worth it against big units (like Orks) where you need to thin them out as quickly as possible. A prolonged combat with those fellows will result in you losing your Chosen to plain attrition, which is rather an unceremonious way to go out.

The Helbrutes have been discussed. Reaper Autocannons all the way.

The Chaos Cultists will be deployed in an MSU format, ten to a squad, just there to squat on objectives. They'll be armed as they come in the box, 1 point overpriced upgrade to Autoguns (it should be free) and 5 point glorified Bolter all. My worry is that should they come under too much fire they'll just pack it in and leave, but that's the risk you take with those fellas.



The Chaos Space Marines have undergone a tweak as well. The plasma squad has had the Mark of Nurgle dropped from them. It was just plain out of place in the army, since everything is Khorne marked or not at all. The other squad of Marines remains unchanged. I like their loadout enough to leave them be.

Finally we come to the add-ons. at 1,750 points I'm going with a Heldrake (duh) and a final squad of Chaos Cultists. The air superiority and/or dogfighting power the Heldrake brings to the table are just too good to be left out. The Chaos Cultists are there for their usual "grab an objective and go to ground" antics.

Finally we step up to 2,000 points. Daemons, Daemons, Daemons. The carnage a wave of Bloodletters brings to the table is just too good to be missed. Lots of bodies, AP 3 standard-issue weapons, and Rage + Furious Charge. All for 10 points per model. Just plain awesome. Oh, and did I mention their HQ choice clocks in at a whopping 85 points? Not too shabby.

That's the plan any way. Here's what my 2,000 point army list will look like:

HQ

Chaos Lord (warlord) w/ Mark of Khorne, Melta Bombs, Sigil of Corruption, The Murder Sword, Veterans of the Long War- 145 pts.

Daemon Prince w/ Power Armor, Wings, Axe of Blind Fury, Daemon of Khorne- 255 pts.

ELITE

8 Chosen w/ 2x Power Axe, 2x Power Fist, Veterans of the Long War; Chosen Champion w/ 2x Lightning Claw- 308 pts.

Helbrute w/ Reaper Autocannon- 105 pts.

Helbrute w/ Reaper Autocannon- 105 pts.

TROOPS

9 Chaos Cultists w/ Flamer; Cultist Champion- 55 pts.

9 Chaos Cultists w/ Flamer; Cultist Champion- 55 pts.

9 Chaos Cultists w/ 8 Autoguns, Heavy Stubber; Cultist Champion w/ Shotgun- 65 pts.

9 Chaos Cultists w/ 8 Autoguns, Heavy Stubber; Cultist Champion w/ Shotgun- 65 pts.

9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 2x Plasma Gun, Veterans of the Long War; Aspiring Champion w/ Power Fist, Plasma Pistol- 220 pts.

9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 2x Flamer, 2x added Close Combat Weapon, 7x exchange Bolter for Close Combat Weapon, Mark of Khorne, Veterans of the Long War; Aspiring Champion w/ Power Axe- 199 pts.

FAST ATTACK

Heldrake- 170 pts.

ALLIED HQ

Herald of Khorne w/ Lesser Reward, Greater Locus of Fury- 85 pts.

ALLIED TROOPS

16 Bloodletters w/ upgrade to Bloodreaper- 165 pts.

TOTAL

1,997 points

I'm not normally a huge fan of Khorne, but I am a huge fan of the current Bloodletter minis. I just have to put some together in more dynamic poses than can be achieved when making a WHFB regiment, and I would just plain love to make my own Herald mini. I'll need to figure out how to make him special, and I'm pretty sure my leftover Dark Eldar and Chaos Marine bits will fit the bill. That has more or less shaped this army into its current form, with my faux Khorne Berserkers leading the charge alongside the Chosen and Bloodletters. I'll probably get chewed to bits by plasma fire, but like I said, if I want to be competitive I'll pull out my Dark Eldar and torment Demitra with my ability to kite him around all day.

Now I just need to finish painting what I already own and get the stuff I need to finish up the army.

More Chaos Marines

No snazzy title today, since my focus is on painting. I got my pistol & Close Combat Weapon armed marines finished today, so I'm one step closer to having 1,500 points painted. I decided to put a Dark Angel helmet on the Aspiring Champion's spike since that's the army Demitra is currently working on. The next item on my list is my Chosen Squad. They'll be... interesting to paint since they have a ton of detail. I hope I'm not banging my head against the wall too soon.

Also, who is this shadowy figure and why is he getting painted up alongside the chosen? Hmm...

Helbrute Conversion Conundrum

I've been scouring the interwebz for a while now, looking for conversion ideas for changing my Helbrute's Multi Meltas into Autocannons, and there are two front runners. First up, I found somebody who simply chopped out the Multi Melta barrels and stuck the front of a Chaos Terminator Reaper Autocannon in the resulting slot. No fuss, no muss. There is of course the down side that there is a rumor floating around that good ol' GW is going to forbid their retailers to chop up their boxes and sell them bit-by-bit, forcing their customers to buy entire boxes if they want a single bit rather than pay the slight premium to get the part they want. I'm not really a fan of this policy, especially since it really puts the screws to my idea to create plastic Autocannon-armed Havocs out of some Imperial Guard Autocannons and plastic Chaos Marines.

The alternate idea is much more devious. Just take some plastic tubing, cut it to the right size, and just slide it on into the multi-melta barrels, like so:

I'm just wondering what I'll use to make the end of the barrels? I suppose a trek over to Michael's is in order to see if I can find the right bits.

In the mean time, my Flamer & Close Combat Weapon armed Chaos Marines are inching along toward completion. I hope to have them up here some time after class tomorrow.

UPDATE: According to Bitz Barn, the rumor is true.

Revision of Helbrutes

Getting the axe? Or just the saw?

I know that Helbrutes (I've been spelling their names wrong this whole time) are sub-optimal choices, but the model is so slick I want to run it any way. What, then, is the ideal armament? Multi-Melta? It seems no. Dual Power Fists? while it would look cool, it would be even less effective than the Multi-Melta loadout. Twin-linked Heavy Bolter? Lots of shots, but not a lot of killing power. Reaper Autocannon? It only has a 36" range, but now we may be in business. Two shots, Strength 7, twin-linked... It may not be a rifleman Dreadnought, but it's cheap and can flay Hull Points off of enemy vehicles. Even better, it's only a 5 point upgrade.

So that makes the mini 105 points with what I would call the "best" (as the model lacks any dual-weapon loadouts, and it would be a hassle to remove the Powerfist, which would make the model look a lot less cool any way) equipment the former Dreadnought can carry.

Now, let me make one thing clear- this army is a project to see what kind of an army one can make with two Dark Vengance sets. It's not really a project to build an ideal army (that's why I have my Dark Eldar) but I don't want to get squashed every game either. Thus, I'm taking some constructive criticism.

To that end, I have put together the following army list:

HQ

Chaos Lord (warlord) w/ Plasma Pistol, Mark of Khorne, Melta Bombs, Sigil of Corruption, The Murder Sword, Veterans of the Long War- 160 pts.

Daemon Prince w/ Power Armor, Wings, Daemon of Khorne, Axe of Blind Fury- 255 pts.

ELITE

Chosen x6 w/ Power Axe x2, Power Fist x2, Veterans of the Long War; Chosen Champion w/ Lightning Claws- 250 pts.

Helbrute w/ Reaper Autocannon- 105 pts.

Helbrute w/ Reaper Autocannon- 105 pts.

TROOPS

Chaos Cultists x9 w/ Flamer; Cultist Champion- 55 pts.

Chaos Cultists x9 w/ Flamer; Cultist Champion- 55 pts.

Chaos Cultists x9 w/ Autogun x8, Heavy Stubber; Cultist Champion w/ Shotgun- 65 pts.

Chaos Space Marines x9 w/ Plasma Gun x2, Mark of Nurgle; Aspiring Champion w/ Power Fist, Plasma Pistol- 250 pts.

Chaos Space Marines x9 w/ Flamer x2, Close Combat Weapon x9, Mark of Khorne; Aspiring Champion w/ Power Axe- 199 pts.

TOTALS

1,499 pts.
HQ: 2
ELITE: 3
TROOPS: 5
FAST ATTACK: 0
HEAVY SUPPORT: 0

Note that the Chosen no longer have the Mark of Khorne. That means that the Chaos Lord is now running with the Khornate Chaos Space Marines. This spreads out the hitting power a little bit, as the Chosen come with two attacks each, and Rage plus a Chaos Lord is a touch overkill.

Another thing, the Mark of Nurgle is a touch out of place. I'd like to take it away from the squad, but it would drastically reduce the squad's staying power. Besides that, what would I do with the points? Probably more ablative Chosen.

In the end I'm still skeptical about my ability to convert the Helbrutes, but if indeed they just get shot dead early on, it's a waste of 200 points. That's probably worse than the pains of conversion ahead of me.

I wonder if my Creepy Local Hobby Shop (CLHS) has any plastruct tubes? Guess I'll check in a day or two.

I'd Probably Better Figure This Out Soon

Snazzy Heldrake!

The idea of the Heldrake just grows on me more and more. First off, it's a great model. Secondly- Strength 6, AP 3, Torrent, Template Weapon? Yes Please. Oh, and it can hover and Vector Strike.

I know I'm way behind the curve on this, but I'm just now getting my feet wet after a long-ish hiatus from 40k, and I really need to play catch-up. But what about air-to-air combat? wouldn't a Hades Autocannon work better? Yes, and that's a big problem. Do I just take a Hades armed Heldrake for vehicle hunting? Do I take a Baleflamer armed Heldrake and just ignore enemy flyers (that just seems suicidal)? Or do I split the difference? That's the thing that gets me. Two Heldrakes. It's the perfect step-up from 1,500 to 1,850 points (it leaves me with 10 points to fiddle around with). It also does one other thing- it deprives me of my Daemons, which were a driving force behind buying into this army in the first place.

There may be an answer that I'm glossing over- the Daemon Prince. He's geared up to shred squads, and he can fly too. Close Combat attacks ignore cover, and he's AP 2. Of course, he may just melt his mind a little bit using his Daemon Weapon, but that's the risk you run with his loadout. The usual result you get is a deleted squad (or a very, VERY dead character if they challenge him). There are downsides to this, too. Unless he's fighting a massive squad like an Ork mob or Gaunts, he'll probably just tear through his enemies in a single go and get shot dead on the turn he's standing on the ground after slaughtering whatever he charged. And if he doesn't kill his target he could get torrented to death by the sheer number of attacks his opponents can lay into him. And then there's grounding...

In short, a Daemon Prince and a Hades Autocannon armed Heldrake may not work out. The Daemon Prince may just be more of a hammer unit, a glass cannon, to break up assaults. Heldrakes don't get grounded. They just fly around until they get shot down for good. But two plus a Daemon Prince?

Is losing these guys worth a more competitive army?

Finally, there's the issue of points. In a Chaos Marine army, the 160 points I'll have left over to get me to 1,999 +1 just doesn't go very far. I've fiddled around with it time and time again, and I just can't get a satisfactory answer. I'm looking at adding a final unit of Cultists for objective squatting, but they leave me with 95 points (since they have Autoguns and a Heavy Stubber) left floating. The alternative is an Autocannon-armed squad (which cannot score) consisting of 5 Havocs with 4 Autocannons and the Mark of Nurgle that I'd have to convert up since the new Havocs are stupid (you can't buy Autocannons individually).

...And I'd be left with 26 unspent points! I really don't want to add another Havoc. That would mean sinking yet more money into what is already a $50 squad (bits + CSM figures). I could tool up the Havoc Aspiring Champion with a Power Axe and a Combi-Melta, but if he's using those weapons something has gone horribly whong and he's not long for this world (dimension?) in the first place.

In the end I'll likely end up sticking with an Autocannon armed Heldrake and a wall of 20 very upset Bloodletters, but I really need to consider these things when I already have the (less than glorious) Hellbrutes and the insanely points-heavy Chosen to consider. A little metagame punch might not be uncalled for.

Perhaps a lot of ranting for nothing, but perhaps a bit of insight into how I'm trying to build a solid force out of two Dark Vengance boxes.

Now what if I dropped a couple Bloodletters in favor of a fourth Cultist squad? The madness continues!

Fleshy Daemon Prince Goodness

Yep, done with another mini. This one was completed yesterday, and I even got him Dullcoted. Of course, now I'm running low on varnish, but it's too humid to do any varnishing now any way.

I'm a big fan of how he turned out. I was a touch skeptical toward myself when I decided to do all of the flesh in the army in a fleshy color. Honestly, I thought the Daemons might look a bit goofy. It turns out they look pretty spiffy (in my own humble opinion). I can't wait to paint up the Bloodletters!

First, of course, I need to get through the rest of my Chaos Marines. Next up is a squad of close-combat armed fellows. My army has been re-tweaked again due to reading some internet "wisdom", and I dropped a few Cultists to give my Plasmagun squad the Mark of Nurgle, and the Chainsword/Flamer lads the Mark of Khorne. I figure this will allow the squads to do what they need to do (get into shootouts and hack things to pieces respectively). We'll see how they turn out, but here's a work-in-progress shot of my current squad to hold you over until I have time to paint them up:

More Completed Dust- Allied Infantry 3

All of my current Infantry 3 is now painted. That's right, the painting frenzy continues. My current project is the Daemon Prince shown earlier, and the next layer of flesh colored paint is ready to go on. I've heard bad things about the mini on the table, but how can you argue with d6+7 Strength 9 attacks? We'll just have to see how he does.

The Posting Madness Continues! Daemons as Allies

As I said before, I have been set on using Chaos Daemons as allies for a while, but I have been unable to come up with a finalized detachment. This is what I'm currently looking at:

HQ

Herald of Khorne w/ Greater Locus of Fury, Lesser Reward- 85 pts.

TROOPS

19x Bloodletters; Bloodreaper- 205 pts.

19x Plaguebearers w/ Icon of Chaos (Plague Banner); Plagueridden- 205 pts.

TOTALS

POINTS- 495
HQ- 1 (17%)
ELITE- 0 (0%)
TROOPS- 2 (82%)
FAST ATTACK- 0 (0%)
HEAVY SUPPORT- 0 (0%)

This configuration brings several things to the party. First off, the Herald of Khorne gives Rage to his Bloodletter unit. His Lesser Reward will just be an Axe of Khorne, I'm not even going to bother rolling. This will make him a challenge ace, with an AP 2 weapon and Instant Death on a to-wound roll of 6 (basically what would be Killing Blow in WHFB). Many characters with a much higher point total will be afraid to challenge him. As stated before in a previous article, 20 Bloodletters charging in with 3 attacks each and Strength 5 will make short work of pretty much any squad they touch. at WS 5 they'll be needing 3+ to hit, and 3+ to wound against most enemies, so why bother with the re-rolls for Hatred when it's a more expensive Locus?

Next up are the Plaguebearers. With their less than stellar Toughness of 4 (for a Nurgle unit) and Slow and Purposeful they don't look like too much until you consider their cover save. With a 3+ against anything without Ignores Cover (due to the Shrouding provided by their cloud of flies you see) and even better, a 2+ in ruins, these things are perfect for grabbing and babysitting objectives. They also carry Defensive Grenades and bear Plagueswords, which will shred vehicles with their ability to glance any vehicle on an armor penetration roll of a 6.

What are the downsides to this detachment?

Well, for starters, this leaves my army with no real anti-aircraft capability. Even though it can Vector Strike enemy aircraft, the Daemon Prince wants to be in melee hacking things into tiny bits (1d6+7 Strength 9 AP 2 attacks on the charge against ground targets vs. 1d3+1 Strength 6 AP 3 against flying targets). What, then, do I do?

Soul Grinder. it has a Harvester Cannon that it can fire at passing planes with 3 Strength 7 shots. Marked by Nurgle it has the same 2+ cover save as the Plaguebearers. With a Phlegm Bombardment (Basically a 36" Battle Cannon) it can hang back and tear MEQ units and the like to bits. It's a great all-rounder, but it takes away my Plaguebearers. With the Mark of Nurgle and a Phlegm Bombardment it comes to 180 points, a 25 point savings over the Plaguebearers. But it can not score.

I've discussed other options elsewhere, such as deleting my Plaguebearer pack in exchange for a Heldrake. This leaves me with:

FAST ATTACK

Heldrake- 170 pts.

ALLIED HQ

Herald of Khorne w/ Greater Locus of Fury, Lesser Reward- 85 pts.

ALLIED TROOPS

19x Bloodletters w/ Icon of Chaos (Banner of Blood); Bloodreaper w/ Lesser Reward- 235 pts.

This leaves me with 10 points to give either my Chaos Lord, or more likely my Daemon Prince the Gift of Mutation so that he starts the game with a Chaos Boon in order to enhance his killing capability.

I'm torn, and this may not be resolved until just before I place the order for my reinforcements.

It's A Nice Day, So Varnishing Before Work

Since it's pretty great outside here in the D.C. area, I grabbed my new Chaos Marines and hit them with Dullcote. This means yet another item scratched off my to-do list. In the background I have my Daemon Prince I've just started on. He used up the last of my Vallejo Dwarf Skin paint, so I won't be able to paint my Cultists or second Hellbrute until I replenish my stock.

Still no name for my Legion, but I'm not done painting them yet. Of course, do they really need a legion name? I don't know so much. We'll see...

New Look For WGC

I've been meaning to get around to this for a while, but now I've done it. Wargaming Chaos has a whole new look. Now I've found a nifty silhouette of Etna to turn into a title bar, and I've added a whole new look to the page's title that more accurately (to me any way) reflects the random nature of my blog.

Now, I have heard the complaint from some that they don't like my avatar. Well, sorry, but Etna is a fun little lesser-known character that I really found both cute and funny in the Disgaea video games. I enjoy cute. I enjoy demons. She's a cute demon, so where can I go wrong? In my opinion, I can't.

If you find the background color a bit jarring, I apologise there. Unfortunately I could only find this particular image in this color, so this is what you get. Honestly, I wish I could darken it up a little, but I lack the needed software, so after an hour of putzing around I decided to just match the background to the title bar. If I can find someone out there to alter the color a touch I'll happily take them up on it. Until then, this is the look of WGC.

This little explanation was, I felt, needed for those of you who have read my blog for a while. I've got more content on the way, so this entry will only be on top for a while.

Chaos Marines soon, I promise.

Re-Tweaking Chaos

Breakfast of Aspiring Champions.

As is the nature of the immaterium, my army is constantly in flux. I've been pondering and pondering my Chaos Space Marines, and I just think it's silly for my Chosen Champion to have a weapon as stupid and useless as a Power Maul. Sure, it's concussive, but it has a shoddy AP of 4. Not exactly a great weapon for the compulsory challenges the mini is forced into due to his "Champion of Chaos" rule.

I have considered his proper armament for a while, and after determining which weapons I want in my (massively expensive) Chosen squad. I considered killing ability for the Chosen. I considered challenge effectiveness. I considered model coolness. The clear winner was the mini with Lightning Claws. I have tweaked my army list yet again in order to accommodate these changes.

Why the Lightning Claws? Challenges. The mini (when fighting any flavor of Imperial Space Marine, and let's face it- that's really what's mostly out there) gets re-rolls to hit, to wound, and has AP 3- enough to shred most enemy squad leaders. Sure, he's in over his head when fighting enemies in 2+ armor, but he's in over his head when fighting these sorts of enemies to begin with, so no real sense in tweaking him toward fighting in challenges he's sure to lose.

I've also reconsidered my Chaos Cultists. They're really there to grab objectives, be cheap, and die horribly, so why mob them up too much? They're Ld 8 provided they're still with their Cultist Champion (who's dumb enough to wander off and challenge any enemy character in melee) which is a mini who's not likely to be there and provide his already mediocre Leadership stat. Once that idiot dies the Cultists have to lean on their well less than stellar Leadership of 7. Of course, if they're in Close Combat they're in a whole heap of trouble in the first place.

As much as I could complain about the price, the book is just slick.

So, with that in mind, I turned to my handy-dandy Codex and Army Construction Software in order to come up with a new army list. It still sits at 1,500 points, as I've finally figured out my Chaos Daemon allies (which is a subject for another post) assuming that you're allowed one Herald per HQ when using them as allies, which is the most likely logical solution to the FOC conundrum I discussed in an earlier post.

Here's what I'm working with now:

HQ

Chaos Lord (Warlord) w/ Plasma Pistol, Sigil of Corruption, the Murder Sword, Veterans of the Long War- 145 pts.

Daemon Prince of Khorne w/ Power Armor, Wings, Axe of Blind Fury- 255 pts.

ELITE

8 Chosen w/ 2x Power Axe, 2x Power Fist, Veterans of the Long War; Chosen Champion w/ 2x Lightning Claws- 290 pts.

Hellbrute- 100 pts.

Hellbrute- 100 pts

TROOPS

16x Cultists w/ Flamer; Cultist Champion- 83 pts.

9x Cultists w/ 8x Autogun, Heavy Stubber; Cultist Champion w/ Shotgun- 65 pts.

9x Cultists w/ 8x Autogun, Heavy Stubber; Cultist Champion w/ Shotgun- 65 pts.

9x Chaos Space Marines w/ 2x Plasma Guns, Veterans of the Long War; Aspiring Champion w/ Plasma Pistol, Power Fist- 220 pts.

9x Chaos Space Marines w/ 2x Flamer, 7x Close Combat Weapons, Veterans of the Long War; Aspiring Champion w/ Power Axe- 175 pts.

TOTALS

Points: 1,498
HQ: 2 (26.7%)
Elite: 3 (32.7%)
Troops: 5 (40.6%)
Fast Attack: 0 (0%)
Heavy Support: 0 (0%)
Model Count: 70

Apparently she's a Chaos Cultist...

It's a decently sized army considering it's made from a base of two Dark Vengance starters. Those Chosen really eat into my points.

I'm wondering how taking a theoretically balanced force against Demitra's "storm of plasma-ey death" Dark Angels will go. He apparently has Preferred Enemy (Chaos Space Marines), which will make his shooting really accurate and really quite scary (as only a wall of Strength 7, AP 2 can be) so I'll have to close the gap quickly and focus on denial of objectives while keeping the big guns in close combat. At 1,999 +1 points, I'm really quite worried. I guess that's what my wall of 41 Chaos Daemons is for.

If anything gets dropped, it'll either be the Hellbrutes or the Chosen in favor of a Heldrake or two. Those things are just brutal, and if Demitra does in fact take all that plasma (in particular Plasma Cannons) it will just plain rule the battlefield.

Ultimately this list is 100% theoretical any way, and until minis hit the table in a week or two all I'm doing is looking at numbers on paper and dreaming about what they'll do in a real game.

In actual hobby news, I've run out of Vallejo Dwarf Skin paint. This sort of slams my painting progress to an abrupt halt, as without that I can't paint the vast, fleshy areas of things like my Hellbrute, or the bare arms of my Chaos Cultists. Luckily it ran out after basecoating my Daemon Prince, so I'll try to have him up here ASAP. Also, I've finished my first squad of Chaos Marines, and I'll try to have them up by tonight.

Well, back to pretending to work. All that surfing the web can be exhausting.

6th Ed. Army Plans & Daemon Questions

As you may have noticed, I'm working on a Chaos Space Marine army in order to learn to play the new edition of 40k. I'm starting at 1,500 points and working toward...

Well, I was looking at building a 1,999 +1 point army list. In other words, a 1,999 point army list (so that you can only field one FOC) but it's okay if you go one point over. The progression I was hoping for would be something like 1,500 points to grasp the new system, 1750/1850 to expand horizons a bit, and then the final "2,000" point army.

Now, I'm a big fan of Papa Nurgle, but this time I wanted to go a bit in a different direction. My original thought was a half-Nurgle, half-Khorne allied force. A Herald for each squad, and a 17 man (thing?) squad each of Bloodletters and Plaguebearers. Turns out I may not even be able to take a Herald (even a single one) in my force at all. You see, the Chaos Daemons book says, right at the top of page 94, "Each primary detachment in your army may include up to four Heralds of Chaos in any combination from the following models...  ...This selection uses a single HQ slot from the force organisation chart ..."

What does that mean?

A) It's a typo. You can just take 4 Heralds as a single HQ choice.

B) It's poorly worded. You can do the four-for-one thing as long as the choice goes in your primary detachment. If the detachment is an ally, you only get a single Herald, and it takes up your one allowed HQ slot.

C) It's dumb. You can only take Heralds in a primary detachment, otherwise you can only take a Greater Daemon or a Daemon Prince.

Personally, I lean toward explanation B, but I'm bracing myself for the eventual FAQ to say C is the correct interpretation.

I'm really hoping the explanation is A. This gives me two rather nice additional squads, and the Heralds to lead them. What am I going to do if the correct interpretation is C, though? Well, that means a second Daemon Prince (to be marked by Nurgle) and two much less impressive Daemon packs. Say the interpretation intended is B. Which Herald do I choose? I'm really quite conflicted here. I really want the Herald of Nurgle for fluff reasons (a Khorne Daemon Prince in the Chaos Marine part of the army to command the Bloodletters, and a Herald of Nurgle to control the Plaguebearers. Tactically I just want a Herald of Khorne to give my Bloodletters Rage, and the Plaguebearers can sit on objectives with their Shrouding (for a 3+ cover save) and Defensive Grenades. Feel No Pain would be spiffy, but it's not really needed. These guys are really there to move into position and then camp out. I can always just add more bodies to the squad.

Those Bloodletters are really where my offensive punch will come from. AP3 swords, and Strength 5 on the charge make these guys excellent shock troops. The possibility of two extra attacks would turn these guys into an absolute wood chipper of gory glory. Seventeen of these dudes (like I have planned) would just delete squads.

In the end, I have a fair amount of painting to get done before I even really should start thinking about adding Daemons to my force any way, so that gives GW a while to decide what's what. The thing is, I have a lot of time to think on these things and to build army lists while I'm here at work. Oh, well. back to the books I suppose.

P.S.- Did I mention it's dumb to put the Champion of Chaos rule on Cultist Champions? Well it is.

It's Been A Long Time...

...Since I could whip out the ol' Dark Eldar tag. That's right, I'm inching a bit more toward completion with my Trueborn with Splinter Cannons. I'm actually shocked that I can get anywhere close to the scheme I've been using, but I suppose it's so thoroughly drilled into me I just couldn't forget it if I wanted to.

So, without further ado, here's what you've been waiting for!

The bronze is a bit brighter than the rest of my army (the old pot of Citadel paint I was using dried up, and the Vallejo version doesn't match) but they really shouldn't be too distinguishable from the rest of the army on the table.

Now to try and convince myself to finish painting that Raider...

And to get that Razorwing...

And to buy some Daemons- The new book is awesome sauce when taken as an ally.

Anybody know someone who wants a ton of AT-43 stuff cheap? I didn't think so.

More Painting- Dust & 40k

Whole lotta paintin' goin' on!

Well, so far only dullcote-ing, but that still leads to pictures for you! First up, those Chaos Cultists I promised.

They continue the dark colors the previous cultists displayed, since I kind of want them to fade into the background when compared to the Chaos Space Marines. Now it's a waiting game until the Chaos Marines and Daemon Prince arrive. After that, Daemons! I hear you get more Daemons for the point now, so I'm looking forward to my fleshy warp-horde.

Next, Dust. First up, another squad of Red Devils. As mentioned before I really don't care for them on the table. I do have them though, so painted they are.

...And what Red Devils would be complete without Action Jackson? Here he is in all of his two-phasered glory!

Finally on the Dust front comes the Spotter Team. I'm trying them out on and off whenever points permit. I'm pretty sure they'll come into their own once the walking Long Tom comes out, but for right now they're pretty good for calling in an off board Long Tom strike instead of my command squad.

Finally, back to 40k. Remember how I said I regretted not painting up the Chaos Lord's tabard plate like the rest of his armor? well I repainted it to allieve that regret.

Next up, some more Dust Infantry 3, and an old friend returns to the painting table. Stay tuned!

Chaos On Tap

With my Miniature Market order placed, it is official. I'm going back to Undivided Chaos Space Marines. Don't get me wrong, I'm still down with Papa Nurgle, it's just that it takes some doing in order to get a Plague Marine army on the table now, and I just don't have the Power Armored Chaos Lord to do it with. I'm looking at converting this guy into my lord, since Terminator Armor (not to mention a Terminator bodyguard) is so expensive.

Points wise. I already own Typhus, a Lightning Claw Lord, and 5 Plague Marine Terminators. Plus two Land Raiders for them to ride around in...

Since I've placed my MM order, what's in it? A Chaos Space Marine codex, a plastic Daemon Prince, and two Chaos Marine squads. Not too too big of an order but this, along with two boxes worth of dudes from Dark Vengance, come out to be a 1,500 point Chaos Marine army.

Here's how:

HQ

Chaos Lord (Warlord) w/ Plasma Pistol, Melta Bombs, Aura of Dark Glory, The Murder Sword, Veterans of the Long War (140 pts.)

Daemon Prince w/ Power Armor, Wings, Ichor Blood, Mark of Khorne (225 pts.)

ELITE

8 Chosen w/ 7 Bolters, 7 Bolt Pistols, 2 Power Axes, Power Fist, pair of Lightning Claws, Veterans of the Long War
+ Chosen Champion w/ Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Power Maul (280 pts.)

Hellbrute w/ Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer (115 pts.)

Hellbrute w/ Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer (115 pts.)

TROOPS

19 Chaos Cultists w/ 17 Autopistols, 19 Close Combat Weapons, 2 Flamers
+ Cultist Champion w/ Autopistol, Close Combat Weapon, Shotgun (102 pts.)

19 Chaos Cultists w/ 16 Autoguns, 1 Autopistol, 19 Close Combat Weapons, 2 Heavy Stubbers
+ Cultist Champion w/ Autopistol, Close Combat Weapon, Shotgun (118 pts.)

9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 7 Bolters, 9 Bolt Pistols, 2 Plasma Guns, Veterans of the Long War
+ Aspiring Champion w/ Bolter, Plasma Pistol, Power Fist (220 pts.)

9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 9 Bolt Pistols, 7 Close Combat Weapons, 2 Flamers, Veterans of the Long War
+ Aspiring Champion w/ Bolter, Bolt Pistol, Power Fist (185 pts.)

TOTALS

1,500 points
HQ: 2 (24.3%)
ELITE: 3 (34%)
TROOPS: 4 (41.7%)
FAST ATTACK: 0 (0%)
HEAVY SUPPORT 0 (0%)
ALLIES: 0 (0%)

Am I 100% sure about the effectiveness of this army? Nope. What I am sure about is the price point and fluffiness. Perhaps if I were to switch out the Daemon Prince for another squad of Chaos Marines the list might get even fluffier, but I WANT a Daemon Prince, overcosted or not, in my army. Why? The mini is spiffy. That's it.

The Cultists will be a real hit-or-miss addition to the force. at 20 strong they'll be fairly difficult to dislodge, but any really focused attention should send them running for the hills. The close combat blob is just asking to be taken apart in hand-to-hand combat. They're going to struggle to be up to the task, but really all I'm looking for out of this squad is to deliver the Flamers into position and set something on fire.

The number of Chaos Marines in the army may leave a bit to be desired, too. With a grand total of 20 Marines, 9 Chosen, and a lone Chaos Lord, this list is a bit light on Power Armor, but it's going to be running screaming toward you, and you'd better do something about it.

Where will I go with this army next? What will it look like at 1,750 points? 1,850? 2,000?

The answer is simple; Daemons. While I hear that the book is rather random, I like the idea of minions of the Warp rampaging alongside my other servants of the Dark Gods. Plus I want to paint up some Plaguebearers and Bloodletters in the same fleshtone as the rest of my army. I think it will look pretty weird and maybe a touch disturbing. Very cool.

That's what's in store for Wargaming Chaos in the future. Tomorrow will see the completion of my Autogun armed Chaos Cultists and perhaps some more Dust Warfare minis as well. Seeyuh soonish.


Cultists Ready For Action

Yep, the first of my cultist squads is done. Behold!

Now I'm in the middle of painting my autogun cultist squad. They probably won't be up any time too soon, as I have things which must be attended to today and tomorrow, but let it be known they ar on their way.

Chaos Lord Completion

Yep, I've finished painting the Chaos Space Marine Lord from Dark Vengance. I maintained the limited color pallet from the Hellbrute, deciding to make the fur on his back match the base rather than adding a new color. I dullcoted him as normal, but I decided to gloss varnish his horns and his daemonic sword in order to make them stand out. I'm thinking that I should have painted the plate that goes over his chainmail tabard the same color as the rest of his armor, but oh well.

My next project is to paint the autopistol / close combat weapon armed cultists. They're sitting here drying and all I need to do next is add some gloss varnish to the lenses on their masks. Give me a few hours and they'll be posted

My final painting project will be to paint up the autogun armed cultists. The Chosen will remain in stasis until I get the last three I need from Demitra.

Off to the painting table!