Godspear Warhead - A RAI vs RAW error or Intentional Design Choice?

The Astra Militarum Imperial Guard Codex is about to drop in the Cadia Stands Box Set. I for one am super excited. I have not seen a leak or received a copy, but I did notice something off of Warhammer Community this week and it left me wondering if the design studio intentionally left a janky rules interaction OR if they just didn't fully think through their own game design.

I am referring to the Godspear Warhead for the Deathstrike Missile as found in this linked Warhammer Community Article.

Now here I have included the excerpt from Warhammer Community where they talk about using the Godspear as a form of objective denial. Problem is... it isn't big enough. See, the Godspear is measuring from an infinitesimally small point. Since you put down a target marker and measure from the center, the size of the marker doesn't matter (although is is a GREAT excuse to get a 6" template!).

But that's not how objectives work

See, Objectives are a 40mm round marker and then you measure to the EDGE of the marker closest to you. 

Now it isn't ever specified as a rule for objective, but I am yet unaware of a scenario, at least in matched play or the GT pack, that does not specify that to score an objective, you must be within 3" horizontally and/or 5" vertically. Now, the vertical doesn't matter here, so lets talk about the horizontal.

Because the Objective Marker is 40mm, this means the scoring diameter for a marker is 6"+40mm (about 7.58", radius 3"+20mm, or about 3.79"). Below is a diagram of what this interaction looks like. The yellow is the Objective Marker, the Blue is the Godspear footprint, and the Red is the area to score an objective.

So what does this mean. Well if I put down a marker for a MASSIVE SIXTEEN MORTAL WOUND MISSILE OF DOOM, all you need to do in your turn is move to the edge of the objective marker to avoid this. There is a convenient 20mm band of safety and since you do not need to be WHOLLY within range of objective to score them, the toe in method is enough to hold the point while completely dodging a WMD.

To me, this seems kinda loop holely and not really lined up with how the design studio tends to make the game in my opinion.

Now before I go on though, THIS IS EXACTLY HOW I WILL PLAY IT until it is changed (IF it ever is). I do not play Rules as Intended (RAI), I play Rules as Written (RAW). RAW is the only fair way to play IMO as it is a singular baseline from which everyone can play the game. However RAI is important to discuss because it opens the door for us, the players, to submit questions for FAQs and Errata.

With that in mind the way I see this is 

1- The studio intentionally did this thereby limiting the utility of a 16 MW weapon. Their RAI matches the RAW. I believe this is possible, but it also makes the Godspear just so underwhelming. The only way to have the missile be fully effective is to lock a unit in combat by surrounding them entirely... and then they could still use the desperate breakout stratagem to get out of the way. IMO if this is the way it was meant to be designed, something needs to be changed about it because anyone can dodge this missile as is if they want to, and not even have to give up an objective to do it. If this is the way it is meant to be, don't waste your Godspear on objectives, but use it to block off routes of movement, or place it right in front of your most important shooting unit to discourage them being charged. But this is why I don't like this even more- its using what is supposed to be a super offensive weapon lore wise in a wholly defensive manner in game.

2- The studio meant for this to entirely cover an objective and has been playing something wrong (measuring from the center of an objective or only holding objective only if wholly within 3"). In this case their RAI do not match the RAW, but their intention is based off a flaw in their understanding of core rules. I HIGHLY doubt this one, but you never know. Sometimes the way the studio is playing the game and the way we are are two completely different things.

3- The studio intended it to entirely cover an objective, but is playing the Godspear wrong in playtesting, placing a token and measuring from the edge. Here the RAI do not match the RAW either, and their intention is just lost to design mistake. Also doubt this, but it is possible. If they were using a 40mm token for objectives and markers, and then placing a Godspear Marker on the objective, maybe the playtesters just defaulted to measuring the same way as they do for objectives, playing the Godspear wrong.

4- The studio intended it to entirely cover an objective, but didn't extensively playtest the Godspear and don't really understand how the RAW interaction works. Here their RAI do not match their RAW due to a missed detail in design. Highly likely IMO. Not the first time GW released something undertested. In this case just no one ever noticed the 20mm loophole for exploitation.

SO if RAI and RAW are in alignment (#1), I guess there is nothing to change... just don't expect the Godspear to see a lot of table time outside of very narrative gaming, apocalypse battles, etc. Sure there are times where someone will forget to move their unit, or the unit is too big or just has no where to go, but those will be few and far in between. I mean, it would be great for catching vehicles on their last bracket... but if so, the 16 Mortal Wounds are completely wasted overkill.

HOWEVER if RAI and RAW aren't in alignment, and the Godspear is supposed to fully cover an objective how should the studio fix it? Well two ways I see are

1- Just make it 4" instead of 3". This makes it an 8 inch bubble, fully covering any objective. Problem starts being though is it is just a really BIG bubble now, and can completely alter how stuff moves around the battlefield, especially vehicles.

2- Make the Godspear marker a 40mm token as well and measure to the closest edge, just like objectives. This increases the size as well, but not as much, and also will make it MUCH easier to play IMO. Measuring consistently to the center of a marker is harder than the edge. I prefer this method. And if GW wanted to, they could throw a 40mm base into the box with the Deathstrike/Manticore kit and easily enough ensure EVERYONE then has a 40mm marker provided. 

So what do you think? Is the Godspear working as designed, and you can sidestep a falling Nuke and still hold the objective OR is it NOT working as intended, it should be able to shut down an objective entirely. And if so, which solution do you prefer? Do you have a different one?

Codex: Raid on Titan - Our Adepticon Malal Theme

 We are back from Adepticon with a medal for best display for our Raid on Titan board. Along with the board (which will get more coverage soon) we handed out a "Codex" to our opponents and a few lucky other individuals at the tournament.

The basic premise of our theme is Malal is trapped under the Grey Knight's Fortress Monastery on Titan and the Sons of Malice are heading there to set him free.

You can download and read our codex here

CODEX ASTARTES: RAID ON TITAN

Now I want to make it clear, most of what is in this is us connecting the dots and not making up fluff. We spent a lot of time researching Malal and the Sons of Malice to pull this all off, but before you scoff

• Malal really is the God of Anarchy
• The Grey Knight's Fortress really is under Mount Anarch
• The Sanctum Santorum really is a bunch of Tesseracht Vaults holding daemons
• It really is guarded by 44 Purifiers
• Malal's sacred number really is 11, and he really hates the 4 chaos gods
• Malal's colors really are black and white (which combined make what?)
• The Sanctum Santorum really is having issues containing daemons after the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum
• The 11th "Doomed One" really has only recently been chosen

All we did is connect a lot of dots and put together a cool theme.

The truth is out there...

Custodes Ka'Tahs, Mathematics, and the complicating of a supposedly "streamlined" edition

 So Games Workshop gave us a preview of Custodes Ka'Tahs yesterday. You can go read more on it by clicking that hyperlink (takes you to Warhammer Community, I swear its not a Rick Roll... but for what's to come you might as well save time and go Rick Roll yourself anyway).

I am not going to dive into the the Ka'tahs they previewed. That is not the point of why I am writing this article. What I wanted to dive into is how Ka'tahs work, why everyone seems to feel like it is unnecessarily complicated, and ultimately why I think it is a bad game design move.

So the part in focus is this

Basically it works like this (I am copying and pasting this from an earlier discussion I had on this topic. For the purposes of this, a Ka'tah is a "Discipline", A is a primary choice, B a secondary and C the tertiary. 1 and 2 are the stances within each of those.

• When the game starts you pick Discipline A, B, C from a list of disciplines (current # unknown, at least 3)
• Turn 1 you have to pick stance 1 or 2 from discipline A. Lets say you pick stance 1.
• Turn 2, you can now pick stance 2 from discipline A OR you can pick stance 1 or 2 from discipline B, but not discipline C. Lets say you pick stance 1 from discipline B.
• Turn 3, you can now pick stance 2 from discipline B OR you can pick stance 1 or 2 from discipline C. You cannot go back and pick stance 2 from discipline A. Lets say you pick stance 2 from discipline B.
• Turn 4, you can now only pick from Discipline C. Can't go back to A and you used up B. Lets say you pick Stance 1, discipline C.
• Turn 5, you are now stuck with Stance 2, Discipline C.
• If you did 1 from A Turn 1, 1 from B turn 2, and 1 from C turn 3, turn 4 you'd be stuck with 2 from C and then turn 5 have nothing.

Because of the way this is going to be what separates wheat from chaff and really will put a skilled/practiced custodes player above the rest, because thinking through the order and timing when you want to land your key Kat'ah is going to be crucial. Lets show you some decision trees to demonstrate the point.

Complicated yet?

Okay so that one was a joke first attempt one of my team mates made, but it illustrates the point (as a side note, the guy who drew that has a Master's degree in Math, the only reason he doesn't have a doctorate is he was tired of school, and he currently teaches Math at a collegiate level... so yeah, color him not a fan of this system). I made a cleaned up version in power point.

So that decision tree has 72 nodes in it. That is 72 different decisions you can make with Ka'tahs once you have chosen them. It would be more if we had 6 turns, but the game currently ends Turn 5. This leaves you with some routes that end before using the 6th stance available to you, while some routes you have no stance in turn 5 because you burned through your Ka'tahs fast.

There is fortunately an easier way to look at it. Back to my Math friend

So in this simplified trace path, you start on A1 or A2 on Turn 1 and each arrow represents a new Turn of the game. And you have to remember, you can never go back wards. 

But it really isn't that simple now is it. This represents once you have picked your Ka'tahs. What we need to talk about is permutations. We are in an N choose r situation, where we know r to be 3 (Primary, Secondary, Tertiary), but we don't know what N is. Now based on the preview we know there are 3 Ka'tahs minimum, but also based on the preview I am going to assume there are more. Now I'd venture that there are no more than 6 Ka'tahs for a total of 12 stances. This fits the potential for randomly rolling for a Ka'tah and stance as part of some crusade mechanic or something. There could be less, but likely no fewer than 4, and there could be more, but I am willing to bet no more than 6 Ka'tahs to choose from. We always get 6 powers in a discipline. We always get 6 Warlord Traits. 6 fits the design prerogative of Warhammer 40,000. 

So assuming 6, that is 120 permutations of Ka'tahs. To do the math, that is 

• 6!/(6-3)! = 120
• (6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1)/(3 x 2 x 1) = 120
• 6 x 5 x 4 = 120
• 720/6 =120

Now lets go look at that visually.

That is 8,640 nodes. Or 3,840 pathways to play the game.

8,640 potential decisions you as the player should understand the consequences of before the game starts. That is 3,840 courses of action that will play out on the table. Even if we used the simplified table, that would be 1,680 nodes for 6 Ka'tahs.

Or as I like to think about it, one node for each name Constantine Valdor has. Which is now canon.

Yes it is.

Now, yes, you don't actually need to know the whole diagram, and you can be flexible and reactive on the decision tree to a degree. And for sure, there will be some Ka'tahs that are OBVIOUSLY better than others, and that's also not to mention that people will have their own personal favorites, leading them to ignore other Ka'tahs all together 99% of the time.

But what you need to understand is that from all that potentiality, each decision you make locks out more and more of the totality of potential, and from the beginning of the game you may choose 3 Ka'tahs that result in this table...

When you really needed a subset down here to achieve victory.

See as you pick yohr Ka'Tahs, you rapidly winnow options available. Without consodering order if you pick one Ka'Tah, you instantly eliminate 30 tables here. Down to 90. Another Ka'Tah and you are down to 24, or 1 row above. You're third and you are down to 6. Start ordering them, the moment you set a primary you are at 2 tables left, and then your secondary selection drives which table you are on.

And there in lies the rub. For a "streamlined" game, this is an INCREDIBLY HIGH amount of decision making and comprehension of potential choices and their impact that is required by the player, and it really does set up for those with the natural ability to understand this, or those who are more experienced in its use, to be better than everyone else. And that is not a system that is friendly to new players, nor is it really friendly to casual players. And IMO to be a good mechanic is a game claiming to be streamlined, it should do both those things.

I can also almost guarantee this will slow game play as people go back and forth agonizing over which Ka'tahs they should select, what order to place them in, and then which stance they should use each turn.

And to complicate it all even further, I am willing to bet there will be

• A stratagem allowing you to use both Stances from a Ka'tah in a turn
• A stratagem allowing you to reuse a previously used Ka'tah and/or stance

And I am sure that won't complicate the matter...

And oddly enough your Primary Ka'Tah isn't even your most important. You can only acces it T1 and T2, and you can leave it as early as T2. Your secondary is where it is at since you can time it to be T2, 3 or 4. So whatever stance you want to hit the hardest, make it B1 or B2. Your second most important Ka'Tah is actually your Tertiary for the same reason prett much. You can access it T3, 4 and 5 if timed properly. THIS is what I am talking about when I talk about more some players really using Ka'Tahs to a degree that others can't. Understanding when and where to land their Ka'Tahs.

Now this also means, it may be a little easier to choose though. If a Ka'Tah is obviously a Defensive/Movement buff, it may always be just clear to use it as a Primary for Turn 1 and 2 access. Where as your shooting ones may be best as Secondary and your Assault or Scoring ones as Tertiary. Really narrows you down on the table faster.

I also want to take a moment here to point out though that while this is supposed to represent a Martial prowess and flexibility as unparralled by any others, it is really actually super rigid mechanically. Those potential stratagems aside, lets say I pick a stance from a Ka'tah that would shut down a rerolling hit/wound deathstar character. Lets say its the second stance in that Ka'tah I have used, so I have to move onto a new Ka'tah next turn. Now I selected this in my command phase, so in my opponents turn he knows I have that selected... so he just chooses not to charge this turn. Next turn, I have to choose a new Ka'tah and uh-oh... it is one for dealing with hordes. Now my opponent in his turn charges that character into me and destroys the squad by rerolling everything.

Some bunch of ultimate badasses I was, not able to adapt to the situation when faced with a combat monster instead of the chaff infantry I was planning for.

And to me, this really underscores the complicated nature of the system and what I was saying earlier. You make one bad mistake about what order to put your Ka'tahs in at the start of the game, you are now locked into that mistake for the entire game and may potentially not be able to recover from it. And that is a hallmark of a bad game mechanic IMO.

Will Ka'tahs be useful? I'm sure. But useful doesn't mean good mechanically. Back when space marines got 500 free points in Rhinos and Razorbacks, that was useful, but terrible for the game. When you could have untargetable assasins, useful but bad mechanically. Ka'tahs don't seem to that level, especially since they aren't unfair to your opponent it seems, but they still seem off and rough on their own player.

Will they be fun? IDK. This is where I think you'd need to look more specifically at the Ka'tahs themselves. However, no matter what they are, I am sure there could have been a more fun way to implement them, because this...

This give me a migraine. 

Allies of Inconvenience: Episode 28- Battlefleet Gothic/Specialist Game Discussion and How is 40k 9th Edition Going?

This month Evan, Jason and Chris are on to talk about their recent hobby progress, including a review of Death Ray Design bases, and then launch into a discussion on the immediate future of 9th edition, the current state of the game and the potential for a period of imbalance in the game with the forthcoming Space Marine codex release. after concluding our rant on 40k, we turn to a much more positive discussion around Specialist games, discussing the Additional Ship's Compendium 2.0 for Battle Fleet Gothic that Evan has been working on and his recent progress on that, tas well as how and why you should get into BFG, Adeptus Titanicus, and Aeronautica Imperialis and the potential future of BFG.

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00:00 Intro

03:39 Hobby Progress

30:11 Current state and Immediate Future of 9th Edition Discussion

1:05:31 Battlefleet Gothic and Specialist Game Discussion

Songs and Soundclips
Blue Mark- Atlan Urtag
Kaap mere- Bugotak
All Clips: Aliens

Supreme Commander Keyword- Who should get it (RIGHT NOW!)

So the new Supreme Command Detachment requires you to have the "Primarch, Daemon Primarch or Supreme Commander" keyword.

As of right now that leaves us with
1- Roboute Guilliman
2- Magnus the Red
3- Mortarion

Not really a lot there to say of. And none of them have the "Supreme Commander" keyword.

So how is this going to evolve? Well I am sure with each codex release we are going to see each codex release contain one or two of their choices gain this keyword. But that would mean that some armies would have an inherent CP/HQ advantage over others, using the Supreme Command Detachment to bring some awesome characters and leaving spots open in their Patrol, Battalion or Brigades.

GW should release an Errata that grants the Keyword to a list of characters, much like they did for Blast Weapons.

And here is the list of people that should get it I believe

IMPERIUM

• Strategem- Codex Space Marines "Chapter Master" should have a line added where it adds this keyword.
• Blood Angels- Commander Dante
• Dark Angels- Azrael
• Ultramarines- Marneus Calgar
• Raven Guard- Kayvann Shrike
• Space Wolves- Logan Grimnar
• Flesh Tearers- Gabriel Seth
• Black Templars- High Marshal Helbrecht
• Crimson Fists- Pedro Kantor
• Carcharodons- Tyberos the Red Wake
• Minotaurs- Lord Astrion Moloc
• Raptors- Lias Issodon
• Lamenters- Malakim Phoros
• Deathwatch- Watchmaster
• Grey Knights- Grand Master Voldus
• Grey Knights- Lord Kaldor Draigo
• Grey Knights- Grand Master/Grand Master Nemesis Dreadknight
• Custodes- Trajann Valoris
• Adeptus Mechanicus- Belisarius Cawl
• Astra Militarum- Lord Castellan Creed
• Astra Militarum- Commissar Yarrick
• Adeptus Sororitas- Saint Celestine
• Adeptus Sororitas- Junith Eruita
• Death Korps of Krieg- Marshal Karis Venner
• Inquisition- Lord Inquisitor Hector Rex
• Inquisition- Lord Inquisitor Solomon Lok
• Inquisition- Inquisitor Torquemada Coteaz
• Inquisition- Inquisitor Karamazov
• Inquisition- Inquisitor Greyfax

CHAOS

• Chaos Space Marines- Abaddon the Despoiler
• Chaos Space Marines- Huron Blackheart
• Chaos Daemons- Aetaos'rau'keres
• Chaos Daemons- An'ggrath the Unbound
• Chaos Daemons- Scabeiathrax the Bloated
• Chaos Daemons- Zarakynel
• Chaos Daemons- Kairos Fateweaver
• Chaos Daemons- Rotigus
• Chaos Daemons- Skarbrand
• Chaos Daemons- Shalaxi Helbane
• Death Guard- Typhus
• Thousand Sons- Ahriman

AELDARI

• Craftworlds- Asurman (only Pheonix Lord to warrant it IMO as he is the first and chieftain of them, where as the rest would be too focused on their Aspect)
• Craftworlds- Autarchs
• Craftworlds- Eldrad Ulthran
• Ynarri- The Visarch

OTHER XENOS

• Necrons- The Silent King
• Orks- Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka
• Tyranids- Hive Tyrant
• Tyranids- The Swarmlord
• Genestealer Cults- Patriarch
• Tau- Commander Shadowsun
• Tau- Commander Farsight

So all of these people should in theory have access to the Supreme Commander Keyword. They are Chapter Master and their equivalent or greater in other races. You'll notice very few generic HQs, but those that are there really define the idea of a supreme commander IMO. The Eldar Autarch is the perfect example of this, as commanding an entire Craftworld's Army is literally what they have trained their whole life to do. Other things like Hive Tyrants were literally created for that purpose.

Of note I didn't include Carab Culln of the Red Scorpions... because he is a leviathan dreadnought now.

Another thing though, since a Supreme Commander HAS to be your Warlord, by limiting it to mostly named characters, this is locking in what is usually NOT the optimal Warlord Trait for the army. SO it becomes a matter of picking your poison. Do you want to free up that HQ slot or do you want to save your warlord trait (or the CP you'd spend on a 2nd). Your choice.

What I would like to see as the edition evolves is the following (not listing Primarchs, as if they show up at some point in 9th they are already covered)

IMPERIUM

1. Astra Militarum- New Datasheet "Warmaster". These guys lead crusades in the fluff and are kind of a big deal. Also opens up a whole new realm of orders or stratagems
2. Space Marines- Should be standard for any chapter master that gets made. EG- if Lysander gets upgraded from a Captain as he should be.
3. Custodes- Constantine Valdor. Be super sweet if he came back, and he would obviously warrant this.
4. Adeptus Sororitas- A Canoness Superior stratagem, like space marines have the chapter master one. Put a Canoness from another order on par with Junith Eruita. A normal Canoness is like a SM Captain. They need their Chapter Masters too.
5. Archmagos- Just something above a Tech Priest Dominus that isn't Cawl. Maybe its a stratagem as well, like Chapter Master and the Canoness Superior one above. Maybe its a new datasheet. Either is fine.

CHAOS

1. Emperors Children- Eidolon. Be cool to see the Soul-Severed in the game. And if he came back, as the Lord Commander Primus, he would necessitate the keyword.
2. Word Bearers- Kor Phaeron. While Erebus may be the worst person in the Galaxy, he is not really up for "Supreme Commander". That's where Kor Phaeron comes in though. Now at the head of the Dark Council, this would be neat and fitting.
3. Chaos Daemons- Bel'Lakor. Needs a new model, needs to be reinvented. But the 1st Daemon Prince should be near Primarch levels and treated as such.
4. Chaos Daemons- Kugath. Bring back the Plague Father, nuff said.

XENOS

1. Drukhari- Asdrubael Vect- Drukhari are the only race not listed above, and that is because Vect is missing in the game still. And frankly he shouldn't be. But no other Dark Eldar commands the attention of his race like he does, and frankly it makes no sense to give the keyword to just a random Archon when the race is known for their Treachery. He is the only person that deserves this for DE.
2. Orks- a Stratagem or new Datasheet to make a Warboss one. The generic warboss is a little too lackluster for this as is IMO, but it wouldn't need to be something on par with Thraka. But it should be an impressive Ork to say the least.

So what do you think? Did we miss anything? Is there anything you want to see? Or do you think all of this goes WAY to far and that keyword and detachment should be super limited. 

Allies of Inconvenience- Episode 23: Space Marines Post Iron Hands FAQ & Psychic Awakening

Join us this month and Evan, Chris and Jason actually manage to stay largely on topic and discuss their recent hobby progress and games played, cover the major changes that came with Iron Hands and their FAQ, and discuss the new psychic awakening campaign and the first release wave for it: Phoenix Rising.

Special apologies for Evan's audio this episode. The microphone malfunctioned and no one was aware until after we had recorded the episode.

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00:00 Intro
04:59 Hobby Progress & Games Played
35:45 Iron Hand Supplement and FAQ review
1:04:07 Psychic Awakening Pheonix Rising Discussion

Songs and Soundclips
Blue Mark- Atlan Urtag
Kaap mere- Bugotak
Clip 1- Iron Man 3
Clip 2- Conan the Barbarian
Clip 3- Conan the Barbarian

Allies of Inconvenience- Episode 22: Codex Space Marines Initial Review

There has been some delay in the release of this episode due to real work circumstances, but back at the start of August 2019, Chris, Jason and Evan sat down to talk about the new Codex Space Marines (before the dark times... before the Iron Hands) and the first two supplements; Ultramarines and White Scars. What follows is their typical buffoonery.

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00:00 Intro
04:36 Hobby Progress
31:11 Codex Space Marines Review

Songs and Soundclips
Blue Mark- Atlan Urtag
Kaap mere- Bugotak
Clip 1 and 2- Warhammer TV "By the Will of My Father"

Allies of Inconvenience: Episode 10- Deathwatch, Drukhari, Harlequins and Titanicus

This month we cover our hobby progress as Chris and Evan build up for NOVA (with a slight detour into AoS factions). Ian then discusses the Deathwatch codex with us, followed by Chris covering Drukhari and Harlequins. We close the episode by discussing the previews of Adeptus Titanicus coming this summer.

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00:00 Intro
03:00 Hobby Progress
27:03 Codex Deathwatch Discussion
44:28 Drukhari and Harlequins Discussion
1:08:22 Adeptus Titanicus Discussion

Songs and Soundclips
Blue Mark- Atlan Urtag
Kaap mere- Bugotak
Clip 1 - Brawndo
Clip 2 - Clerks
Clip 3 - George Lucas
Clip 4 - The Princess Bride

The New Vehicle Design Rules: A Gee Dub Flub

Well the Chapter Approved is here. By and large I like it I suppose. Wish it had Custodes stuff, disagree with some of their points decisions, etc. etc.

But there is one thing in there that had SOOOOOOOOO much potential and it was ultimately squandered

The new Land Raider Vehicle Design Rules.

I am not even upset that they ONLY did this for Land Raiders. I understand. There are just to many tanks out there to truly capture. Why not stick with something iconic with a lot of upgradability from a modeling perspective. Thats fine.

The problem isn't that it was limited to the Land Raider. Its the limitations they put ON said land raider. GW just had so much potential with these rules and a good deal of hype. The original ones even allowed you to recreate the infamous Deoderant Stick Grav Tank. The idea is just AWESOME. However, this iteration is just lacking effort in several areas...

1- FACTIONS
I am glad they at least included Chaos Space Marines in the potential benefactors of these rules, but I think they still messed up. There are 4 other factions I think that SHOULD have had options present. Lets discuss them.

• GREY KNIGHTS- How can you give this to other Astartes and NOT THEM. Where are the options for a GK LR with psycannons and inferno cannons etc. etc.
• CUSTODES- Man are the boys in gold jonesing for options. This could have helped them if rules for Venerable were included. 
• INQUISITION- There are numerous inquisitors that have LRs in the fluff and it is something they have had in the past. Why not give them some access to this. If anyone will have a custom raider, its and Inquisitor.
• ORKS- SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY WASTED FOR LOOTIN'. My goodness, how awesome would that have been. Orks already lost their Looted Leman Russ in the transition to 8th.

2- WEAPONS

WHY THE LIMITATIONS? Such a disappointment keeping me from making turly awesome unique conversions. I don't get it, you ask about conversions in your big survey, make VDR rules to encourage conversions, and then write rules that totally box in that creative potential. So many things should have been in here. Here are some Imperial options I can think of off the tap of my head:

-Plasma Cannons

-Conversion Beamers

-Quad Lasers

-Quad Heavy Bolters

-Thunderfire Cannons

-Single Assault Cannon

-Psycannons

-Inferno Cannons

-Autocannons

-Multi-meltas

-Helios launchers

-Whirlwind Launchers

-Typhoon Launchers

-Demolisher Cannons

I mean, someone made this on their own!

I am sure the list could get bigger, but I think you get the idea. More options were needed. This really really breaks the section in the book for me. It is either lazy or reeks of marketing interjection into rules design. Just because only certain things are available in certain boxes, why limit the creativity of your customer?

3- OPEN PLAY ONLY

These probably would have been best to be open play only, but instead of rubber stamping it in the book (like it is), a general statement up top would have been nice.  Basically say "These rules are for casual, creative fun for you to implement in all typse of play". Don't worry about making sure they aren't in tournaments. TOs would take care of that.

4- POWER LEVEL

Lastly I also think all the choices should have impacted Power Level instead of a blanket 30. Make a baseline and then each weapon would add or subtract from that to help provide a little more resolution and balance for player to figure out how to use them in their game.

Ultimately, these rules are asking us to buy and already $80 model and ADD TO IT. They really should be letting the player have more creativity than they did. It just seems rushed and kinda lacking as is... hopefully they flesh it out better in in future...

Angels of Death New Formation and Detachment, with pics and rules!

If GW didn't want us to really know what these were already they wouldn't put up HD Youtube videos. All pulled direct from them. 

EDIT: APPARENTLY THIS FORMATION IS IN KAUYON. SCROLL DOWN FOR THE NEW DETACHMENT.

Hunting Force
1 Captain
0-1 Chaplain
0-1 Librarian
2-5 Bike squads
1-3 Assault Bike Squads
1-3 Scout Bike Squads
Restriction: Everything needs to be on a bike
Khan may be taken in place of a Captain. Must have Moondraken

"Special Rules: The Hunter's Prey- After deployment is complete, pick an HQ unit in the enemy army to be this Formation's Primary Target, then two other units to be the Formation's secondary and tertiary targets. The primary target is the formation's prey at the start of the game, once that unit is completely destroyed, the secondary target becomes the formations prey, and so on. When attacking (unreadable) prey, units from this formation reroll To Hit and To Wound rolls. In addition, if a unit from this Formation charges their prey, they have the Furious Charge special rules until the end of the phase."

(Unreadable) Assault: Models from this Formation that make Hammer of Wrath attacks make two (unreadble. hits?) instead of one if there are at least five models in their unit."

Anvil Strike force next. If you like tanks, this is for you.

Anvil Strike Force:
Same restrictions IRT core, aux and command as a Gladius except only allowed 2 command instead of 3.

Command Benefits:
"Master of mechanised warfare: You may choose a vehicle form this detachment to be your warlord, even if your army inclues characters. If you do, your warlord has the following warlord trait:

Big Guns Never Tire: (skipping fluff) At the eng of your shooting phase, your warlord can nominate himself or another vehicle from this detachment that is within 24" of him. This vehicle can immediately fir its weapon again.

Armour of Contempt: Vehicles in an Anvil Strike Force Detachment ignore the effects of Crew Shaken and Crew stunned damage results, though they will still loose a Hull Point"

And make of this last part what you will. We shall see who gets access to them and who doesn't.

EDIT: So there is this to clarify...

Throwback: Space Marine Movie List

Found this jewel from back in the day recently... the "Space Marine Movie List". I think this was originally in White Dwarf 300...

 pdf here from Dakka Dakka

"I'm not a tough guy, but if I fight you in a movie that I'm starring in, I'll kick your ass!"

The idea of the list was that these were the Marines that would be in the propaganda films and Imperial Action flicks (a.k.a fluff accurate) rather than the ones we normally deal with on the table top. One Space Marine REALLY should be able to take on like 50 orks.

I think with some clever adaptations, you could still fit this into a fun/friendly game of 40k 7th edition (especially hull points and weapon strengths/ap's).

What I would like to see in a 7th ed Chaos Space Marines Codex/2015 release

First and foremost, I am going into this post blind of nearly any current rumours out there. This is just my wishlisting/speculation. However, I realize there are some rumblings and they are one of the last 6th ed codices left. This is one of the most, if not THE MOST, Iconic factions in Warhammer 40k. This release will need to be done right, and if done amazingly, has serious potential for both new players and veterans alike.

1- New Cult Trooper Plastic Kits. ALL of them need new kits. Khorne Berserkers the most IMO, but every type of cult trooper needs to be redone.

2- Legion Tactics- Get it, it is like chapter tactics, but for Legions. Give Iron Warriors tank hunters USR. World Eaters Furious Charge, and Death Guard FNP. Something like that. I get this might conflict with Marks, so maybe have part of the Legion Tactics be that anything already marked get a bonus. So lets say you are doing World Eaters, and you Khorne Bersekers already have the MoK, so they gain +1 Initiative instead.

The current codex

3- Less Daemonengines. I have blogged about this in the past (last time CSM were released).This may be an unpopular opinion, but to me daemon engines belong in the Daemons book, and now with Daemonkin books coming out, in those as well. Especially with allies and battle brothers in 7th edition, there is no need what so ever to mix the concepts. Each codex should be razor sharp on a faction/concept and allies used to make the blends. CSM should be the fallen forces of the Astartes. Not weird flying dragons and oversized horrific gorillas (maulerfiends). Allow possession of vehicles, but not vehicles that are more creature than tank...

4- DOOOOOOOM RIDER! This character needs a new kit and to come back. He is 80s awesomeness in miniature form. I would get him just to paint and build. Personally, if this is the only thing that happened from this list, I would be happy. I know that everything else here is more important, but in the words of a great man "So?"

5- Awesome psychic offense. These guys should be really potent in the psychic phase. But really only theirs. The trade off would be a weak defence some how or increased risk for perils or something. A Chaos giveth and Chaos taketh away sort of thing.

6- Old school vehicles. This kinda ties into my point about Daemon engines. As the lost forces of humanity, these guys have some cool ancient relics. I'd rather see these on the tabletop than a heldrake. The problem is that Forgeworld already covers so much of this, I don't know what they would do. I mean, a Spartan is perfect for CSM since it can hold up to 20 models, but there is no way that is getting ported in at this time. Maybe just make some cool weapon kits for the existing vehicles. Conversion beamer predator anyone?

7- Bring Dreadnoughts back. I like the idea of Hellbrutes, but they should be a "possessed" sort of upgrade for a Chaos Dreadnought. There is no way they have all become these crazed engines of destruction over the years. I know a lot of Night Lords factions wouldn't sink to that level (eg ADB's Night Lord Series). I want the flavour of a dread back, and there are plenty of potential ways to differentiate the two (stat lines, differing USR, better shooting on a dread vs CC on a hellbrute. Take your pick). And FW has a tool of cool dreadnoughts to boot.

8- Something to counter ATSKNF. I don't think CSM should have ATSKNF. It isn't that they are cowardly, it is that they are selfish. They think about preserving themselves over anything else (in general). But they also have serious LD issues when it comes to CC. Maybe make CSM universally Stubborn?

9- A REASON TO USE CHAOS SPACE MARINES- So number 2, 3 and 8 tie into this one well IMO. Currently nothing comeptitive uses CSM in the CSM codex. Everything is monsters, daemons and cultists. There really needs to be some big incentives to taking CSM again. IMO they should dump the other stuff into a general "Forces of Chaos" book (where you can make lost and the damned and traitor guard a viable list), but that won't happen. So instead GW at least needs to focus on making Chaos Marines the core of the Chaos Marine book again.

10- Make Terminators worth taking. These guys are the veterans of veterans. They are the oldest and hardest warriors in the galaxy. Squads of CSM terminators should be a terrible thing to behold. This could easy be done by giving them access to a wider variety of equipment (TH & SS) and legion tactics. Also, some sort of reliable delivery system. These are some of the coolest models, with all their tusks and what not. Give me the player a reason to buy them though.

So what do you think of my list. Anything you want to see?

If you are undecided, I'll leave you with this

HOW COULD YOU NOT WANT THIS IN THE GAME!!!!!

Dark Angels Codex Thoughts - Schlemazal

Hello everyone, Schlemazal here again. Now that a new Dark Angels codex is out, I’m trying to find the time to work on my longstanding collection. While I can’t claim old guard status, I picked up my first Dark Angels at the tail end of third edition and have used them as my primary army ever since. In between writing lists and figuring out what I should paint next, I thought I’d take the time to write down my thoughts on the new book.

Overall, I like the new codex. It takes the solid foundation of a variant chapter laid out in the 6^th edition book and brings it largely in line with the rest of the space marine chapters. For once, the book isn’t clearly a test bed for ideas in the space marine codex that will leave it in the dust. Many of the previous worst offenders have been brought back into line – the Nephilim is improved and recosted, the blade of Caliban is no longer unwieldy, the green 80% of the chapter hasn’t been completely abandoned in favor of their shinier veteran wings (the land speeder vengeance still blows itself up though). While I generally disapprove of the idea of formations and alternate detachments with special rules, they are undeniably a major part of 7^th edition, and the new ones do the Dark Angels justice with some solid rules and interesting squadrons.

All that being said, I do have a few minor quibbles that I wish had been addressed to bring the Dark Angels properly in line with their space marine brethren. While I know a number of these can be resolved by taking space marine allies, I am a staunch Dark Angels loyalist who refuses to do so, and thinks that they ought to be capable enough without getting bailed out by other Astartes.

1 – Very limited AA capabilities. The Nephilim is significantly improved as an air superiority fighter this time around, with S7 missiles and Missile Lock added. That being said, 170 points is still a lot to spend on an AV11 vehicle with identity issues. The only other AA available in the entire book is flak missiles. I can understand the need to separate the divergent chapters from space marines, but the ever increasing arsenal of baseline marine weapons with no functional equivalent in divergent chapters is getting kind of grating. Hunters and stalkers fill the AA role in the SM book alongside flak missiles and the stormtalon/stormraven. Have the Dark Angels decided that upgrading a rhino chassis to have an AA weapon takes too much effort?

But not aircraft - after all, they haven't fallen yet.

2 – Company Veterans are redundant. After two codices, I think it’s safe to say that sternguard/vanguard veterans are not getting an equivalent, though you could certainly argue that deathwing knights and black knights fill that slot. The problem here is that the Command Squad’s move from HQ to Elites has effectively removed any remaining purpose the Company Veteran unit had. The Command Squad is identical, but with more options, filling the same slot. Beyond that, the Company Veterans don’t really fill any combat roles – basically just a very expensive tactical squad with a couple more options.

3 - Deathwing/Ravenwing detachment problems. This is one of the ones everyone has been talking about. First of all, the Ravenwing – the Ravenwing detachment requires an HQ with the Ravenwing rule, of which there are only Sammael and his alter ego, Sableclaw. Not even librarians or chaplains on bikes get the rule, and therefore can’t be used in the detachment. The Deathwing are arguably the more egregious error here, as it is no longer possible to field a purely Deathwing force. Since the detachment requires you to start with everything in reserve and then not arrive until turn two, the rules would seem to indicate that playing with only a Deathwing detachment would instantly lose the game. Since terminators can no longer be taken as troops, any other detachment used to fill the gap would have to take non-Deathwing models. Hopefully both of these will be resolved with a FAQ.

We're cooler than the bikers anyway.

4 – Lion’s Blade quibbles. The Lion’s Blade formation is certainly an interesting one. It gives some solid benefits and has an array of formations to pull from, some of which will see more use than others. I have a couple of minor issues with it though. For one, Black Knights can’t be taken in it at all. Where the Deathwing Knights are present at 0-1 in the Deathwing formation, their counterparts are conspicuously absent in the Ravenwing formation. Secondly, the only way to take tanks is in a ridiculous formation with a full squadron of tanks, a land raider, and a techmarine. While it may be potent, is that really the only way that the Lion wants vehicles to go to war? My final issue (and a very minor one) is that the demi-company is far more restrictive than its space marine cousin. While it makes sense from a fluff perspective (all the extra options in the SM variant are in separate companies in DA), it leaves a serious lack of versatility in the core formation.

This guy knows a thing or two about Lion's Blades

5 – Interromancy. Now I’m getting into silly territory. Interomancy is actually very good, I just hate the name. Almost as bad as Astra Militarum. 

Apparently the librarius asked him for help naming their psychic discipline

That’s it for me today. I’ll be back soon with more painting and less complaining about things I actually like quite a bit.