Orbis Lacteus September 2009
Orbis Lacteus
Gigamalon Forum News Letter
Issue 1st 9/19/09
Cirno Day is over. I had fun. Anyone who
didn't hates kittens. -Gigamalon
Civil War grips the Forum:
EVENTS
Weapon of choice is
9/9/09
Trolling
Cirno Day! And also Liz
Whalen’s Birthday
9/11 Memorial of the
On Monday Sep. 14, 2009 10:57 pm Dr. September 11 Terrorist
Attacks
Mctrollenstein M.D. began a topic called The
9/19/09 FIRST NEWS LETTER
Airing of Grievances with the intent on banning YEAH!
forum Moderator C.O. Ninja. The Dr.’s sister
Schala added further support to the effort to get
Ninja banned. Ninja appealed to the forum’s
ruler Gigamalon for support, yet little did
anyone know that a massive Xanatos pile up
had just ensued. Over the next 3 hours the topic
grew larger and faster than any one posted
Continued on Pg 6
Quote of the Month: Each person has an ideal, a hope, a dream
which represents the soul. We must give to it the warmth of love, the
light of understanding and the essence of encouragement.-Colby Dam
Colby Dorr Dam
Orbis Lacteus September 2009
Luck & Competition
(Continued on pg 7)
One of the most notable things about any competitive
activity is the role played by random chance in
determining the winner. This can take a variety of
forms, and it is wrong to say that less luck inherently
makes the subject more competitive. Part of the
appeal of adding chance to competitive activities is
that it forces participants to adapt to unexpected
circumstances, or to compete without knowing all of
the relevant information and thus giving an advantage
to the participant who is able to act most effectively GIGAMALON
on the information available to them. Luck can ruin
the competitive nature of the subject when it begins
to supplant skill, enabling lesser-skilled individuals to
triumph over better foes, rather than making the There are two main forms
differences in skill more readily apparent. of luck to which the above
can apply. I shall call the
There are two main forms of luck to which the above first "objective luck,"
can apply. I shall call the first "objective luck," where where some randomly
some randomly determined outcomes are simply determined outcomes are
better than others. This includes, for example, the simply better than others.
random cards which one may be distributed during a
KITTEN GENOCIDE
GRIPS NATION!
Apparently scientist have discovered that the cause for
the mass death of kittens across the United States is not
a new strain of Influenza, but divine retribution for a
nation of double posters. Since this development,
P.E.T.A. has unleashed a myriad of posters similar to
the one on the left pleading for the end of Kitten
genocide. P.E.T.A. refused to comment on the
situation.
A Campaign Poster advocating the ill
affects of double posting C.O. NINJA
2
Orbis Lacteus September 2009
Allies in Warhammer 40K
By Gigamalon
Master Warhammer Player Gigamalon explains the ins and
outs of the allies system in Warhammer 40K. He then proceeds
to analyze and highlight the strengths of every ally piece in the
Game.
Variety and versatility are major factors
here – it's a lot of fun to have your massed
ranks of Guardsmen backed up by a
handful of elite Grey Knights
Several armies in the Warhammer tabletop game are codex? Variety and versatility are major factors here – it's a
allowed to use allies from another codex in addition to the lot of fun to have your massed ranks of Guardsmen
forces that can be found in their own rulebook. The most backed up by a handful of elite Grey Knights, and such a
notable of these allies are the Inquisitorial armies from combination also does an excellent job of offsetting each
Codex: Daemonhunters and Codex: Witch Hunters; side's normal weaknesses. I'll go over some of the allying
however, there are several other possibilities which I will options below:
go into later in this article. The rules for using Inquisitorial
allies for other Imperial armies are pretty straightforward Inquisitor Lord: Inquisitors have a truly staggering
once you get used to them. You may take up to 1 HQ number of options for customization, all of which I won't
choice, 1 Elite choice, 2 Troop choices, and 1 Fast Attack go into here (that could be it's own article!). This makes
choice from either the Daemonhunters or Witch Hunters them able to fulfill a variety of roles in your army, though
army lists (or both, thus doubling the number of allies you you should be careful about going overboard with
can take!) as part of the force organization chart for any upgrades (these guys can easily go over 300 points with
Imperial army (Space Marines and their variant chapters, their retinues, but won't perform like a 300-point unit...).
Imperial Guard, Daemonhunters, or Witch Hunters). These are most notable for unlocking some of the
There are a few restrictions: the compulsory 1 HQ/2 Inquisitorial Elite choices; specifically, Assassins and
Troops must come from the primary codex itself – i.e., Daemonhosts.
you may not use a Grey Knight Hero and an Ordo
Hereticus Inquisitor Lord in a Space Marine army, nor Daemonhosts: These Ordo Malleus units prevent you
may you use Imperial Guard but only have Sisters of from using any Grey Knights, and while they are kind of
Battle for your troop choices. Also, you must abide by any fun due to their strong melee ability and random psychic
restrictions within the Inquisitorial codices themselves – powers, you shouldn't rely on them to be game-changing.
for example, you cannot take Death Cult Assassins unless They are the best way to change your army's tone from
you have an Inquisitor from the same codex (note that this mindless drones of the Emperor to a sinister, radical force,
means that you MUST take an Inquisitor Lord if you want though.
to use Assassins, as the Assassins use up your single allied
Elite slot that a normal Inquisitor could potentially fill. Assassins: You can only ever have ONE Ordo Officio
Additionally, you are not allowed to use an Ordo Assassinorm operative in your army, and for a good
Hereticus Inquisitor and an Ordo Malleus Assassin, reason: these guys are strong and fun. The Vindicare can
despite the fact that their stats are the same; Games target individual models in a squad with a variety of
Workshop has ruled that the requirements must be special sniper rounds, making him ideal for killing off
fulfilled within the same codex. See their Inquisitorial sergeants and special weapons users; he is even allowed to
FAQ for any further clarifications). Finally, note that you fire into melee! Callidus Assassins can pop up right in the
may not take any Heavy Support choices as allies – you middle of the opponent's army (this is not considered deep
must have an Inquisition army as the parent army if you striking!) and attack them with her C'tan phase blade,
want to make use of those options. So, why might you which ignores ALL saves (this dispatches of those
want to use allies instead of the choices within your own irritating Eldar Farseers with contemptible ease). Culexus
3
Orbis Lacteus September 2009
Culexus Assassins are the ideal anti-psyker assassins; they disrupt the abilities of nearby
psykers and their weapons grow stronger in proportion to the number of psykers they are
near (really, read their stats and you'll see why psykers have zero chance against these
guys).
The two
different GW
models of the
feared
Cullexus
Assasin.
4
Orbis Lacteus September 2009
Finally, Eversor Assassins (and their little Their armor save to an invulnerable save. You can
siblings, the Death Cult Assassins, of which take a Canoness as an HQ choice, Celestians for an
Elite choice, Battle Sisters as Troop choices, and
you may take three as a single Elite choice) are Dominions as a Fast Attack choice. You can also
simply berserker units that throw out an awful take Seraphim as a Fast Attack choice – these
lot of power weapon attacks in a hurry. Sisters have jetpacks and dual pistols (including
flamer pistols and melta pistols, odd as that might
Grey Knights: The Grey Knights are to Space sounds), can be upgraded to carry melta bombs, and
Marines as Space Marines are to Guardsmen. give a Leadership boost to nearby friendly units.
Sisters do best when they have transports to get
Boasting Storm Bolters, higher WS, them to their favored range; use
higher S, a sergeant power weapon, and a Rhinos/Immolators from their own codex or save
passive ability that disrupts the ability of distant some leftovers from your own army.
units to fire at them, Grey Knights are melee
Priests: I wouldn't take these as Imperial Guard, as
powerhouses that counter the relative melee
their Ministrorum Priests are frankly superior, but a
weaknesses of the other Imperial armies quite couple of these sprinkled among your assault
well (albeit at a much higher point cost). squads can be very helpful as they allow you to
Additionally, these guys can take Incinerators reroll hits on the charge (in addition to carrying
and Psycannons, powerful assault weapons that modestly strong weaponry themselves) at the
ignore invulnerable saves. The Fast Attack exchange of causing the squad to always count as
having moved. They aren't outstanding, but they
version can even deep strike. As an Elite also don't take up any force organization slots!
choice, or as a retinue for a Grey Knight Hero, Combine with Grey Knights for maximum fun.
you can also take Grey Knight Terminators,
which are amongst the most powerful units in Arco-Flagellants: These berserker units are
reminiscent of Eversor Assassins, except that you
game, period. A Grey Knight Hero can be
may choose when to flip their kill switch, causing
taken as an HQ choice. you to lose control of these quite powerful power
weapon/invulnerable save-equipped units in
Battle Sisters: The Adeptas Sororitas are, stat exchange for making them absolutely vicious. You
wise, equivalent to Veteran Guardsmen, but need to take at least one Priest to use these Ordo
have the additions of power armor, bolters, and Hereticus units.
faith points for a mere 11 points each. Sisters Repentia: Ehh... sorry, but these units aren't
Generally speaking, the Sisters are strongest in very good under the current rules. You're better off
about the 9" and below range so long as they with Arco-Flagellants most of the time, unless you
aren't in melee, as this is where they can bring absolutely need the added strength behind
all of their juicy flamers, meltaguns, and rapid- their attacks (or just want them for fluff
fire bolters to bear. If you bring a lot of Sisters reasons!)
in your army, you will also accumulate a lot of
faith points (you start with one per Adeptas Inquisitorial Stormtroopers: These units are often
overlooked, due to being one point cheaper than
Sororitas Veteran Superior, plus an extra two if Battle Sisters despite having poorer weaponry,
you bring a Canoness, and gain the points a armor saves, and no faith points. They can be useful
second time if a faithful unit dies). These points as a cheap unit for taking objectives, though. I'd
can be used to fuel a variety of special acts of avoid them as Imperial Guard, since Veteran
faiths, which can do such things as giving the Guardsmen are about the same but can take more
special weapons and normal Guardsmen are better
5
Orbis Lacteus September 2009
At holding objectives. So, all of these options are available to anyone who plays Space Marines,
Imperial Guard, or the Inquisition! You might find that Grey Knights make a good shock troop for
Guard armies, or that a couple Priests. Scattered throughout your Space Marines will make them
much tougher in close combat. Adding an Inquisitor and Assassin will give your army a much
more "special ops" feel, as well. However, you are not limited to using Inquisitorial forces as
allies – Space Marines and Guard can be taken as allies to Inquisitorial parent armies, as well.
This type of allying is much more heavily restricted, unfortunately- there is a very specific list of
units you are allowed to take, with much more stringent prerequisites. Also, you may NOT use
Space Marines and Imperial Guard in the same army, no matter what (barring a Deathwatch
Killteam, that is... more on that later). Do note that some of the numerical restrictions in place
for Inquisitorial allies do not apply to these allies – you could take three Space Marine heavy
support choices or four Tactical Squads as allies to the Inquisition! Space Marines may
contribute Tactical Squads and a single Scout Squad as Troop choices; if at least two Troop
choices are from the Space Marines, you may also take a Land Speeder Squadron, an Assault
Squad, a Bike Squadron, a Devastator Squad, a Land Raider, a Predator, and a Dreadnought
(counts as a Heavy Support choice when allied). The Imperial Guard may take any number of
Infantry Platoons; if at least two are taken, they may take a single Leman Russ Battle Tank (no
variants allowed), a Rough Rider Squad, and either a Scout Sentinel Squad or an Armored
Sentinel Squad.
That concludes the myriad allying options offered by the Inquisition. In the next issue,
I'll cover the various other options available to other armies, such as Cypher the Fallen Angel,
Codex: Kroot, and Codex: Deathwatch. -Gigamalon
6
Orbis Lacteus September 2009
Continued from page 1
Posted before that day. Gigamalon and Ninja began to troll the
enemy faction, which resulted in approximately 2.5 hours of
hacking each other’s profiles. As the abuse of Moderator powers
continued Gigamalon saw it fit to ban everyone from the forum.
He then proceeded to redraw the moderator powers. The War
ended 25 minutes past midnight on Tuesday September 15 2009.
The remnants of the battlefield were hilarious. The topic had
inserted photos all over it deriding the moderators who made C.O. NINJA
angry posts. Dr, Mctrollenstein found himself a moderator,
appointed by Gigamalon after the war. Gigamalon seems to be
the one who had inserted most of the humorous photos in the
topic. The aftermath of the war, as noted above, left the Dr. as a Which resulted in
new moderator and Gigamalon as supreme ruler of the forum. approximately 2.5
Mr. Gigamalon had proved his power over the forum and thus
brought order to it. -C.O. Ninja
hours of hacking
each other’s profiles.
As the abuse of
Moderator powers
continued
Gigamalon saw it fit
to ban everyone from
the forum.
7
Orbis Lacteus September 2009
Luck & Competition (Continued from pg 2)
A lottery is probably the most extreme example of a competition that rides solely on
game,
objective where
luck.some
There cards willskill
is zero be involved; one personand thatwillone seeking
simply to test their
be declared, at skill
objectively
random, thebetter winner.thanAs others (for involved is not
each person should look any
making elsewhere.
sort of choice, there is
example, 50 points is better than 10
no subjective luck involved; from this, it can be easily determined that a lottery is hardly
points, or an Ace will
a real competition usually
in any sensebe of
better
the word, andAthat muchonemore interesting
seeking example
to test their skill is
than
should a 10),
look or a game where higher dice
elsewhere. chess. One might be tempted to say that
rolls are better than lower ones. I shall there is no luck at all in chess, and that
call
A muchthe second "subjective
more interesting luck," where
example is chess. One the
mightwinner is determined
be tempted to say that solely on skill
there –
is no
a given
luck choice
at all (or outcome)
in chess, and that is, theon its is determined
winner however, that
solely onisskill
not – entirely
however, true. The
that is
own, roughly equivalent to others, but person who takes
not entirely true. The person who takes the first move (white) is determined at random, the first move (white)
has
and astudies
value that differs depending
of white/black on
win percentages is determined
indicate that white at random,
wins slightlyand morestudies
oftenof
the choices
(roughly of your
52-56% ofopponent
wins, with(thisthe difference being white/black
greater at win percentages
higher indicate
skill levels). Now,
assumes
that being said, there are a number of other factors in chess that mitigate thisoften
that you choice was made with that white wins slightly more
no knowledge
advantage of your
based on the opponent's choice;
player's skill and ability (roughly
to avoid 52-56%
mistakes,ofmeaning
wins, with that thethe
otherwise, this would not be luck but difference being
better player will usually win. This is amplified when considering timed matches that greater at higher skill
rather an exercise in judgment). The levels). Now,
force players to think under a time limit – such matches tend to have a reduced that being said, there are a
most basicbetween
difference form of this is the children's
white/black win percentages,number of other
presumably factors
because in chess
their skill tothatthink
game "Rock Paper Scissors." Each of the mitigate this advantage
and make decisions quickly is now being measured as well, which further reduces the based on the
three
effect choices is objectively
of the initial equal togiving
chance involved the one player
player's skill and ability
an advantage. Becauseto avoid
chess has
other two; however, the subjective value mistakes, meaning
so many ways to reduce the effect of luck when it does occur, it is still primarily a game that the better player
of
of a given
skill, andchoice varies
a justly wildly depending
respected one at that. will usually win. This is amplified when
on the random choice of your opponent. considering timed matches that force
Next week, I'll continue this article, using some examples players to near
thinkandunderdear a time
to melimit –
as well
It will be most helpful to analyze the such matches
as some other common ones with which most readers should be able to identify. Stay tend to have a reduced
nature
tuned! of these types of luck and their difference between white/black win
influence on the competitive nature of percentages, presumably because their
certain activities by studying several skill to think and make decisions quickly
examples of competition and observing is now being measured as well, which
the role which luck plays in determining further reduces the effect of the initial
the victor. chance involved giving one player an
advantage. Because chess has so many
A lottery is probably the most extreme ways to reduce the effect of luck when it
example of a competition that rides does occur, it is still primarily a game of
solely on objective luck. There is zero skill, and a justly respected one at that.
skill involved; one person will simply be
declared, at random, the winner. As Next week, I'll continue this article,
each person involved is not making any using some examples near and dear to
sort of choice, there is no subjective luck me as well as some other common ones
involved; from this, it can be easily with which most readers should be able
determined that a lottery is hardly a real to identify. Stay tuned! -Gigamalon
competition in any sense of the word,
8
Lorem Ipsum Dolor September 2009
Former Hillsdale Academy
Alumni develops I.L.L.
I.L.L. stands for Influenza like illness and it has become the
primary source of fear in this country. Since the outbreak of
H1N1 Influenza A this spring, the world has become very
finicky when it comes to I.L.L. Apparently former Academy
Alumni Richard Paul Pewe III has developed an I.L.L, which
he believes to be H1N1. He will report back to us with further
information. We hope he gets better- C.O. NINJA
An undated photo of Richard Paul Pewe
before his illness.
Orbis Lacteus
http://gigamalon.forumotion.net/forum.htm
