Starting a New Army 40k 10th Edition
So you picked out an army. Fantastic! Now what? Well, you’re gonna need some models. BUT you’re gonna need other things besides. So let’s start with the dull stuff.
HOBBY STUFF
Don’t cheap out but don’t spend a mint. A couple extra bucks can save you a lot of pain later.
Hobby clippers! These will help you get models off the sprues. Look for ones with a needle nose and the cutting edge flush with one side.
A decent X-acto knife with spare blades. You’ll want to change them more often than I do.
Superglue! I like to get both thin superglue and a gel glue to help with pieces that don’t want to hold at first.
Hobby file! You can get just one or a set like this. It will help clean flash and sprue marks off the parts of a model.
This will get you started to where you can assemble your grey horde. Now on to actual Warhammer stuff. The rules are online, if you want to get a rulebook it’s probably a good idea.
FIRST PURCHASES
You’ll want a codex. I’m doing Chaos Space Marines so
It says it on the cover. Not every codex is out for 10th edition. Ask at your local shop if the codex for your faction is out yet. This has all the rules you’ll need for playing your army. These are updated online but you want to have this so you have the rules to start FROM. This isn’t optional, you’re gonna want it.
FINALLY let’s get some minis. There’s a bunch of choices for CSM right now.
This is the new/current Combat Patrol
This is an older one you can likely still find if you look around.
This is a large battleforce box you can find if you’re lucky
There’s another battleforce box called Veterans of the Long War and if the Dark Gods let you pick one up for a decent price get it. Anyway, I started with the 2nd combat patrol with the big stompy guy in the background. Combat Patrols are almost always the best answer, having enough models to at least get stuff on the table and start learning rules, without having so much you have an immediate crushing backlog.
At this point you’re going to have a BUNCH of plastic some instructions that may be good, and they may not be. In my case the CSM instructions were MOSTLY good. I did make a few mistakes myself but nothing irredeemable.
Here’s some assembly tips.
- Clip carefully and make sure you check the instructions so you don’t clip off a tab that will help the assembly. Some parts have tabs/pegs that insert into another part of the model.
- Test fit several steps ahead. If you see gaps put a little white paint on where you think contact is being made so you can see what you need to adjust or trim.
- Clean flash and sprue marks (where you clip from the sprue and sometimes leave extra plastic behind
- If you glue a model to its base whether to play before painting or to make painting easier, I recommend a VERY small dot of elmer’s glue (white glue, craft flue) not superglue so you can pop it off to make basing easier. You’ll thank me later.
So at this point I have 2 5-man Legionnaire squads, a 5 man Havoc Squad, a Dark Acolyte, and a Hellbrute. Don’t know what those are? Well let’s take a look. Most Combat Patrols are going to be pretty similar.
- The Dark Acolyte is the leader of the combat patrol. His caddies are along and certainly will not end up being brutally sacrificed to cause daemons to attack an enemy and cause mortal wounds.
- The Legionnaires can be built as 2 5-man squads, or 1 10-man squad, with a long range or melee focus. I built them with long range options and plan on building the next box for melee as this is a unit you will use a lot of.
- The Havocs I built with Lascannons and Reaper Autocannons as these weapons always have a use in the game.
- The Hellbrute I built as a Multi Melta and… Hellbrute Hammer? Really? That’s what it’s called? Anyway. Tank cooker and Big Hammer. Maybe not optimal, definitely fun.
So let’s take a look where I’m at
Dark Apostle (Need to finish painting the caddies)
An illegal Legionnaire Squad since you can’t have a Heavy Weapon and a Special weapon so let’s move right along.
Oh hey that’s illegal too. Guess my next two Legionnaire units don’t get any fun guns.
You know who does get fun guns? Havocs! LOTS of pro-pain and pro-pain accessories.
Hellbrute is still a WIP so you’ll see that later. This gives me a leader to throw in a unit, two small “line” units to play objectives, tie up the enemy, etc, one long range threat to apply pressure where needed and one monstrous unit that’s a big obvious threat that can either be a distraction or just a hammer.
So obviously I skipped right ahead to painting. I love painting, it’s a fantastic part of the hobby and I encourage you to start, get a can of primer, get some tips from friends make sure you get a smooth even coat of paint. Get some paints, watch some videos, THIN YOUR PAINTS and come up with a good scheme. Start practicing and start improving.
So we’ve got some tools, we have some models. You can play a few games, and you should, but for now we’re gonna leave it at that and talk about next steps before expanding your army.
Welcome to 40k 10th Edition – Picking an Army
So, you’ve decided to play 40k. Welcome to the hobby! I’m going to start a series where I help explain how to pick an army from the 32* armies currently available. First I want to explain a little of what I’m looking to do here. I’m going to cover what the army “theme” is, some centerpiece models that are unique to each army, some inconic units that have historically carried the standard, and a breakdown of the hobby plusses and minuses of each army.
* 32 includes 12, count ’em 12 Space Marine “Armies” of which all but 2 are largely interchangeable with each other and 1 of those 2 still has a good few choices that overlap.
Space Marines / Adeptus Astartes
Space Marines are the poster boys for Warhammer and have been for every single edition. Traditionally an elite army, they have become more the baseline for other armies as new armies were added. You will never lack for choices, but you can be overwhelmed by the number of choices. Generally well-balanced with an excellent spread of units, you can bring good tanks, good infantry, good elite troops, great leadership options, the works.
There’s a lot of sub-factions.
- Ultramarines are the boys in blue, and the poster child for the entire game for a long time.
- Black Templars are an extremely fanatical army, clad in Black and White they trade a few unique units for the inability to take psychic units.
- Blood Angels bring unique units uncompromisingly oriented towards close combat. Bright Red with accent colors dominate.
- Dark Angels are
the best armymore flexible, with unique heavy units and bikes, unique characters and other special rules that made them distinct from Ultramarines but still fairly similar. Green, Bone and Black dominate their colors. - Imperial Fists have only a couple characters that are unique to them, and their bright yellow scheme can be challenging to paint.
- Iron Hands again have few unique units but their black scheme is easy enough to manage and their focus on vehicles is unique.
- Raven Guard see Iron Hands only a focus on fast movement and sudden strikes.
- Salamanders have a few more unique characters than the last few and a bright green and orange scheme is quite striking but can be challenging.
- Space Wolves have many unique units and characters and while they embrace a huge infantry force they bring their pets and sleighs to the battle. The grey scheme with bright accents is beautiful when well done.
- White Scars are kind of sad. Only one unique character, lore that emphasizes bikes but often quite far behind in the biker game due to the supremacy of other factions.
Centerpiece Models
- Roboute Guilliman – Primarch of the Ultramarines, a 12 foot tall giant wielding a flaming sword, a halo, and the laurels of victory he’s The Hero of the blue boys and both a great model and an interesting character in the lore.
- Lion El’Johnson – Primarch of the Dark Angels is a more purposeful, older figure next to his brother, with Sword and Shield he strides across the battlefield, a warlord who can lead, compared to Guilliman’s Leader who makes war.
- Land Raider – A tank dating back to the earliest days of Warhammer, this boxy tank is instantly recognizable.
Iconic Units
- Terminators – The Original Heavy Infantry big beefy warriors in big beefy armor with big shooty guns and big punchy fists.
- Tactical Squad / Intercessors – The battleline, the old and the new, Tactical squads may well go away in 11th, to be replaced by the new, sleek Intercessors.
- Dreadnoughts – Big stompy boxes each housing a mortally wounded warrior who continues to serve despite grievous, even fatal, wounds.
Hobby wise space marines have some wonky kits that you might want to look up a video on to see if there’s anything to be aware of before assembling them. They paint well and easily with plenty of raised details to work on, and decently sized/shaped panels to make it easy enough to paint.
The actually distinct factions are the Grey Knights who are almost all unique kits except a few vehicles., and the Deathwatch who use a lot of regular marine units but add a enough unique ones to deserve their own section.
Grey Knights
Grey Knights are the elite of the Space Marines, uncompromisingly kitted out to fight the worst threats to the imperium, psychers and daemons. They have few units but each is a master of their task. They have surprising speed and power, but lack numbers. Their bluish steel armor, unique helms and tabard and book themes are very distinct.
Centerpiece
There’s only one good centerpiece, the Nemesis Dreadknight. A giant walking machine with a huge sword and cannon that laughs at everyone else’s need to balance speed, armor and firepower.
Iconic Units
Grey Knights Paladins are the elite of the terminator elite of the Grey Knights. Heavily ornamented and armed to the teeth they carry a banner to war in a throwback to older days of Warhammer.
Hobby wise the kits are often dated, and due for replacement, but they build up easy and paint up fairly easy although the tabards can make reaching some areas a challenge when painting.
Deathwatch
Deathwatch has been somewhat neglected. They are the xenos hunters dedicated to specific external threats. They have special rules giving them greater firepower but a very limited stable of units, only a few unique. I honestly cannot recommend playing them in their current state, certainly not as a first unit.
Centerpiece Models
There’s one, the Corvus Blackstar, a flying transport. It’s a neat model, and often pretty good.
Iconic Units
Kill Team Cassius. A unique squad comprised of many different units from different chapters bringing terminators, bikes, assault marines, and regular troopers all in one squad.
Hobby wise they are marines painted black with a unique shoulder pad.
ARMIES OF THE IMPERIUM
Armies of the Imperium is the rest of the forces of the Imperium. They tend to have far fewer datasheets than the Space Marines and are far more vulnerable to Codex Creep as any change to their smaller roster is amplified by the lack of other units. The armies include Adepta Sororitas (AKA Battle Sisters) Adeptus Custodes, Adeptus Mechanicus, Astra Militarum (AKA Imperial Guard) and Imperial Knights. I’m skipping Agents of the Imperium because they aren’t really an army. Just bits of one.
Adepta Sororitas
The Battle Sisters have been a popular army since their creation, often sadly under supported but finally receiving the love from GW that the players have long lavished on it.
Centerpiece Units
Morvenn Vahl always makes a splash in her giant battlesuit, Celestine the Living Saint / Greater Demon of the Emperor, and The Triumph of Saint Katherine are all beautiful units that hold up well, and honestly I could pick half a dozen more units, the army is filled with icons.
Iconic Units
Battle Sister Squad the generic infantry unit of the Adapta Sororitas is a great unit, Seraphim are a neat take on the normally melee focused jump pack units, and Penitent Engines bring home the gothic horror of the army very neatly blending the beautiful artistry with the religious fanaticism gone mad.
Hobby wise they tend to be pretty easy to assemble, though there are lots of small fiddly bits. Painting wise they will take time. There’s lots of trim and embellishments that will require time to get right and the army does tend to have lots of units so getting them all fully painted will be a lengthy project.
Adeptus Custodes
The Emperor’s bodyguard returns to the battlefield! A newish army dating back to 8th edition IIRC. The faithful bodyguard of the Emperor of Mankind is the premier elite army in the game. Very small numbers of very tough, hard-hitting troops. While I try to steer clear of assessing the strength of these armies, I feel that these are a safe choice.
Centerpiece Models
Trajann Valoris? This isn’t an army that has a real centerpiece, or, the entire army of golden armored genetic monstrosities is. Pick your poison.
Iconic Units
Custodian Guard are as solid as a unit gets in 40k. Vertus Praetors are one of the most beautiful bike units in 40k.
Hobby wise this is an inexpensive (for 40k) small army, that won’t take a huge investment of time to get on the field. While the models are solid walls of intricate detail there aren’t many of them and they are reputed to be VERY easy to paint up due to how well sculpted they are.
Adeptus Mechanicus
Ohhh admech. One of the most 40k looking armies and one of the most expensive. I do love the admech but I have no plans on collecting them myself.
Centerpiece Units
Bellisarius Cawl – Not the actual leader of the faction, but the most important member and an incredible model and character. Onager Dunecrawler – an impractical looking walking tank with lots of firepower that exemplifies many of the features of the AdMech.
Iconic Units
The whole damn army is iconic. The Skitarii are the base infantry armed with an incredible array of weapons. The Tech-Priests are wonderful quirky units. Electro-Priests bring back some of that 40k gothic horror. Almost everything in the roster is iconic in a good way.
Hobby wise this is an expensive army. GW hasn’t given them strong rules for a while and compensates by making them cheap points wise. This means you need a lot of plastic and a lot of paint and these models are small, fiddly and have lots of details to paint. They look WONDERFUL on the table but you will be investing time and money to get them there.
Astra Militarum
YOU’RE IN THE GUARD NOW SON! Recently renamed to the more copyright friendly Astra Militarum, the Imperial Guard is the solid wall of flesh and flashlights defending the Imperium. A mass of faceless soldiery that somehow has a very strong character and fanatical fans.
Centerpiece Units
Baneblade – All the guns, on a giant tank. If you love big vehicles with big guns, this is your baby. Lord Solar Leonatus – The general on his white horse. Not even kidding. He’s made to be a hero, it says so on the tin and he does it.
Iconic Units
Leman Russ Battletank – The old classic, a solid tank with a big gun. Rogal Dorn Battle Tank – the big brother to the old Leman Russ, somewhat more “modern” looking: different, but not better or worse. Cadian Shock Troops – The planet broke before the guard did! The infantry that protects the Imperium. 10 troops with basic weapons and armor, and a bayonet with some guts behind it.
Hobby Wise, Guard armies can get huge but are easy to assemble and paint up. It’s a horde army that’s made to be a horde army.
Imperial Knights
Good news: You’re painting half a dozen models. Bad news: They are all huge. Knights are the giant war machines that dominate the 40k scale battles.
Centerpiece Models / Iconic Models
Everything? Everything other than Armingers? This is seriously an entire army of centerpiece models. The BEEFY Knight Dominus with an arsenal of weapons, The new Cerastus long and lanky dealing out death up close, the Paladins, Crusaders and Preceptors holding the line, the Armingers ranging out as close to line troops as 20 foot tall death machines can be. Every unit is large and powerful.
Hobby wise this army is a joy, the models are huge and give plenty of opportunities to try out new techniques or flex your muscles using the flat spaces to create your own artwork. Just don’t look up some of the unbelievable schemes on insta.
ARMIES OF CHAOS
There’s no good guys in 40k. There are bad guys. Chaos are the bad guys. Unashamedly, unabashedly the bad guys. They revel in destruction and corruption. Chaos Demons, Knights, Space Marines, and the Death Guard, Thousand Sons and World Eaters all call the Ruinous Powers the True Gods and work hard to make it the truth.
Chaos Demons
Really 4 armies rolled in one, Chaos demons are the forces of Darkness at their darkest, all humanity or mortality lost, just raw evil given form. Incredible models and brilliant themes.
Centerpiece Units
All 4 Greater Daemons. That’s what they are there for. But most of all Be’Lakor the Dark Master. Remember the bad guy in Fantasia? This is his model, and it’s GLORIOUS.
Iconic Units
All the main daemon units are great, but what really stands apart in the Daemon armies are the champions. The Changeling exemplifying the bewildering nature of Tzeentch, Sloppity Bilepiper of Nurgle endearingly bizarre, the brutal Skulltaker of Khorne, and the Infernal Enrapturess of Slaanesh, all setting the theme for their armies.
Hobby wise this army is, like everything with Chaos, a trap. Every model will call you to do more, to do a little better, to try a new thing. But the armies are stunning on the field and usually work well if you play them in Age of Sigmar as well.
Chaos Knights
The dark mirror to Imperial Knights, most everything I said there applies here so I’ll note a few differences. There are even more details to Chaos Knights, with the corruption of Chaos showing quite well on most units. I love seeing them on the table, and they definitely reward people that take the time to do models justice.
Chaos Space Marines
The reason 40k is a thing. CSM is not just the bad guys, it includes the Worst Guys who actually DID start the fire just to see the world burning. I’m currently building a CSM army so I’m somewhat biased but I’m endlessly surprised at the variety and detail on these models.
Centerpiece Models
Daemon Prince – A hero of Chaos, ascended from the ranks of the lords and apostles, leading with newfound demonic energy. A stunning and recent model. Abaddon the Despoiler – another fairly recent model and a swollen leader of the Space Marines, glutted on power and the leader of the faction. Vashtorr the Arkifane – The New Daemon Prince in town. An incredibly bizarre model that exemplifies the blend of Daemonic and Technological.
Iconic Units
Legionaries – The battle line. 10 marines with a mix of weapons and gear, not as corrupted as some but still showing marks of the Dark Gods
Possessed – Oh no it’s all gone wrong! 5 marines who have definitely been thoroughly corrupted.
Hobby wise CSM are incredible. They aren’t a horde army, though they can be played that way, they aren’t elite, though again they can be played that way. I will warn you of two things: You will bleed assembling these spiky abominations, and you will take forever painting them because the level of trim on anything other than cultists is insane.
Death Guard
Grandfather Nurgle welcomes you! An incredibly thematic army that plays the tough attrition game with the best of them. They look like what they are, tough and punchy and slow.
Centerpiece Units
Mortarion, Daemon Primarch of Nurgle – The Moth-winged primarch is a beautiful model and a powerhouse on the table. More than a few people play DG because of this model.
Typhus – The real legion master. An upstart marine who constantly battles his father Mortarion for control. A beefy terminator even for the DG.
Iconic Units
Plague Marines – The actual Death Guard, bloated, cancerous marines joyfully spreading death and decay.
Blightlord Termintors – One of, if not the toughest units in the game. Plague Marines taken to 11.
Hobby Wise the worst thing about Death Guard is they are monotonous. They are not an army with immense variety and the blighted green might get dull at times.
Thousand Sons
The followers of the Lord of Change, a legion decimated by horrific mistake after horrific mistake. Again a powerful theme and wonderful models.
Centerpiece Unit
Magnus the Red – The first Chaos Primarch Returned. Heralding a new era for 40k, Magnus is a stunning model on par with Mortarion.
Iconic Units
Rubric Marines – Suits of armor filled with dust after Ahriman’s “Oops” these suits battle under control of the sorcerers of the legion strong enough to resist the curse.
Exalted Sorcerers – Strong willed, powerful sorcerers, they look the part and are thoroughly stunning models.
Hobby wise this army has more trim than any other. More elite than most CSM armies you won’t have quite as many models to paint but you will be tired of whatever metallic color you choose to paint the trim in and if you choose the non-metallic metal route, I pity you.
World Eaters
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! I could just type all this in caps for the theme but I won’t. Definitely a horde army by marine standards the berzerkers of khorne look and play as brutally as you’d expect.
Centerpiece Units
Angron, Daemon Primarch of Khorne – Wow. That’s a model. words cannot do it justice.
Kharn the Betrayer – The blood red fanatic of the blood god, Kharn was once one of the most noble and one of the most beloved and friendliest of the Space Marines. His model shows how far he’s fallen. A great model even if he’s nowhere near as impressive as some.
Iconic Units
Berzerkers – the stereotypical units of Khorne, ready to charge in and kill.
Exalted Eightbound – Mutated Khorne terminators uncompromisingly ready for melee.
Hobby Wise – GW puts a lot of reds out and you can play a lot of games to keep things fresh, but I hope you like red and bronze because that’s kind of your life now.
XENOS ARMIES
Aeldari, Drukhari, Genestealer Cults, Leagues of Votann, Necrons, Orks, T’au and Tyranids, not affiliated with any of the other factions, not really affiliated with each other either. The non-human, non-daemon factions. Often under supported by GW you may not see new models as often but you will still have great options and usually good rules.
Aeldari
Eldar, Craftworld Eldar, Craftworld Eldar + harlequins, this army has seen a lot of change and I doubt we’ve seen the end of that change. Eldar have some of the oldest models, but also some incredible new ones, and even the old ones tend to hold up well.
Centerpiece Models
Avatar of Khaine – A big, beautiful model, exemplifying the warlike aspect of the Aeldari this huge new model is fantastic.
The Yncarne – Barely older this avatar of death is mystical and mysterious and a great model for the Aeldari.
Iconic Units
Guardians – Definitely not a new unit this long-in-the-tooth kit still holds up and soldiers on, unexciting but functional just like the unit.
Howling Banshees – Very new and Dynamic a powerful melee unit that looks great on the table, especially led by Jain Zar their Phoenix Lord.
Hobby Wise Aeldari are a joy, a smaller army with lots of elites and varied paint schemes and model themes there’s always something different to do when you set down to paint them.
Drukhari
Elves gone worse. Even Feanor would want nothing to do with this mess. Actually one of my favorite armies and with the current Combat Patrol Box one of the easiest to get into.
Centerpiece Models
The Tantalus? The Raider? The Drukhari don’t have big flashy units instead they have fast moving hard hitting units
Iconic Units
Wyches – The female of her species is more deadly than the male. And wyches set out to prove it.
Raider – a fast hard hitting transport that has earned the nickname “The Party Boat” and it parties HARD.
Hobby Wise they have a lot of variety in paint schemes but currently they tend to spam the same units over and over which can be boring to paint. One of my favorite armies and an easy entry point but not much diversity.
Genestealer Cults
For the Four Armed Emperor! Rise up brothers and sisters! You have nothing to lose but your chains!
Centerpiece Units
None. It’s an underground resistance. Even their “tanks” are refit cargo trucks.
Iconic Units
Oh man, the whole army? Aberrants are horrific mutants wielding street signs and construction tools. Jackals are bikers led by a sniper leader on a bike. The Nexos appears to be planning an attack on GW HQ (Not kidding) and the Kelermorph says the only thing faster than swapping to your sidearm is swapping to your sidearm AND reloading with your extra arm.
Hobby wise you can do anything you want with this army. You’re going to have lots of flesh tones, and especially lots fading towards purple, but the clothing and equipment you can do whatever you want with. It’s a fun army, but an expensive one due to being a horde army.
Leagues of Votann
I never thought they’d do it *wipes away a tear* Squats are back! Hopefully they bring back Brian Blessed to voice the audiobooks. A BRAND new army that has very limited selection but hopefully a big future.
Centerpiece Units
Hekaton Land Fortress – Chonky Boi. Big beefy tank with a lot of guns, one of which can put even T’au in their place.
Iconic Units
As much as a brand new army can be iconic, the Sagitaur has raced into the public view as the anti rhino, sleek, well armed, limited troop capacity.
Einhyr Hearthguard – The iconic squat unit returns as extremely heavily armored troops with great weapon options.
Hobby Wise they are interesting models to paint, with a good balance of details and panels to let you flex a scheme or fine work. The limited range will hopefully soon see fleshing out into something a bit fuller.
Necrons
The ancient horrors return. Tomb Kings in Space! An almost ludicrously tough army with some very very scary units. Great looking on the table if their themes are what tickles your fancy.
Centerpiece Units
Kind of like the Guard, there’s two ways to go. Tanks and Heroes. You’re absolutely picking one pretty early on in your Necron adventure.
C’tan – Oh, your gods tricked you into becoming soulless abominations? Just enslave them! That’s what C’tan are. As well is fantastic models.
Obelisks / Monoliths – The big pyramids. C’tan equivalents of tanks and totally unique in a game known for varied units.
Iconic Units
Oirkan and Trazyn – The Statler and Waldorf of 40k if Statler and Waldorf HATED each other. Unique models and fun characters
Necron Warriors – Exciting name isn’t it? Battleline units that force your opponent to dedicate a lot of firepower to kill them and make sure they stay dead.
Flayed Ones – Oh you forgot this was gothic horror? They shred enemies in melee to wear their skins as a disguise.
Hobby Wise Necrons can be very repetative but there’s enough variety, especially with the characters, that you can keep things fresh, and they are fun on the table.
Orks
Orks let you do something that no other army will guarantee. Have fun. I’ve never played with or against orks and NOT had fun in any GW game. It’s like GW remembers that games are supposed to be fun, writes the ork codex and then promptly forgets about fun. The other bad news is mortgage rates are up and orks are expensive.
Centerpiece Unit
Ghazghkull Thraka – DA WARBOSS – He’s big, he’s mean, he’s green and he’s this close to transcending into something really scary. In the lore he’s an amazing character and he’s just as amazing on the tabletop.
Stompa – Someone put a ton of guns and a head on a toolshed. It’s the quintessential ork war machine and
Iconic Units
Ork Boyz – da boyz. Simple green troops ready to get stuck in.
Battlewagon – Mad Maxx taken to 11. A huge war wagon ready to bring the boyz along or do the job itself.
Hobby Wise orks are less monotonous than you’d thing. They still take a lot of time but you’ll be putting embellishments on every unit and each mob or trukk has it’s own scheme if you want. Or you can put them all more uniform if you want. Just remember, Red wunz go fasta!
T’au Empire
The Tau. Kind of in a weird place in 10th to be honest. 10th favors shooting more than any edition to date and T’au are THE shooting army but somehow have not dominated in any meaningful way. Their futuristic ‘mecha army with rustic support troops brings a neat theme otherwise lacking in 40k but they tend to occupy one end or the other strength wise. Still it’s a fun army to play and paint.
Centerpiece Units
X104V Riptide – the answer to Imperial Knights this is a surprisingly fast unit with powerful shooting.
KV128 Stormsurge – Kevin is a different answer to Imperial Knights, he’s unsurprisingly slow and even more powerful in shooting.
Commander Farsight – One of the few melee units in the game and a Big Damn Hero in a faction that can use them.
Iconic Units
XV8 Crisis Battlesuit Team – The reason you play T’au usually. Sleek, powerful mecha that move fast and hit hard. Everyone else loves to hate ’em.
Fire Warriors Strike/breacher team – Your line troops. Futuristic armored infantry with powerful guns. Not flashy, but dependable.
Hobby Wise this is probably one of the more monotonous units. The Kroot got all new units and heaven knows they needed them but the T’au side is not new and could use some updates. They are still slick and details but you might find yourself getting bored painting panels all the time.
Tyranids
The Great Devourer, the unending swarm, the monstrous horde. Nids just got a major rework for 10th and while they are still finding their way in the army is big and unique.
Centerpiece Units
Winged Hive Tyrant – A nearly ubiquitous unit sometimes, though somewhat scaled back in 10th, it’s a giant flying bug with great melee and a big gun. Varies from really scary to terrifying.
Norn Assimilator / Emissary – Not quite a knight in power, but a big mean, nasty unit. Great models and damned if I know what they do.
Iconic Units
I’m going to limit myself to 3 or else this page will double in size.
Genestealers – The unit that started it all. Dates back to the oldest days of 40k. Fast hard hitting melee infantry. Can take a bit of a punch, but not a lot.
Tyranid Warriors – Big brothers of the brood. They lead, they follow, they fight, they shoot. They do everything and they command respect.
Carnifex – Sometimes the main effort, sometimes a distraction. Always a unit that forces your enemy to make choices they’d rather not make. Big angry tanks of models.
Hobby Wise this is a faction begging you to come up with your favorite unique paint scheme. Google Tyranid Paint Schemes. There’s thousands and each one is great. The models can be hard to assemble and paint and some kits are VERY old.
Next I’ll be doing a (much shorter) post on how to start an army, using my own recently started CSM as an example.
Cabal of the Drowned
History
In the closing days of the Horus Heresy, as the traitors approached Terra and battled across its fabled lands to besiege the palace itself. Most of the Word Bearers never joined the siege, joining Lorgar in his banishment. Chaplain Hedlam Mar of the Osseous Throne drove his small force, the 86th Tactical Company the 17th Assault Company, and elements of the 23rd Siege Company, all small forces of insignificant repute, in a frantic attempt to arrive in time to be in at the death.
Arriving as the landing ships dropped the first wave of Astartes, Hedlam Mar and Lord Commander Lepit Mayne forced a landing between forces of the Night Lords and Iron Warriors rather than taking the time to seek Zardu Layak’s force of Word Bearers. The warriors had fought with both legions before, and even found themselves meeting old faces. Rare among the first wave, all of Hedlam Mar’s force was old hands, not inductii hastily pressed into service, and they fought from the earliest probes to the final fall of the outer palace. Reduced to barely a single understrength company, the conglomerate force found itself momentarily regrouping away from the main thoroughfares when the shields on the Vengeful Spirit fell.
Always gifted with minor hints of prescience, Hedlam Mar started them back to their ship even as the Emperor’s strike force gathered itself. While the armies of the late, unlamented Warmaster found themselves shocked and supine caught between Terra’s vengeful defenders and Guilliman’s wrathful reinforcements, Hedlam Mar led his depleted force, wounded and savage, into the warp Lepit Mayne had fallen crossing the outer walls, the captains of the 17th and 23rd had not even made it to Terra in the savage late advances.
Fleeing rapidly to the Eye of Terror, they stopped off at worlds only to gather the minimal supplies, munitions from outposts, slaves from frontier worlds, even reinforcements from other warbands, but all their resources dwindled, forcing one last desperate grab at Angelisar. A frontier paradise of lush jungles and broad oceans there were not even rumors of defenses, and there were few Loyalist legions with ships this far ahead. Which made the sudden appearance of several ships of the Raven Guard and Iron Hands utterly shocking to the Word Bearers. The crippled ships smashed at each other, but the outcome was never in doubt. The cruiser Dark Truth went down ponderously, fighting to fly, but crashed into the oceans of Angelisar miles from any land. The Loyalists probed and scanned, even landing shuttles and deploying sonar buoys to confirm the wreck stuck deep beneath the ocean. After a month confirming their kill and licking their wounds, the shattered legions left to reform with their siblings.
But Mar and his warriors, though defeated, and dead, were not done. Awakening into desperate unlife deep below the seas, restored by the cruel whims of the dark gods, several dozen of the warriors rallied in the shattered ship, regrouping into improvised squads and determined to seek the shore. Hedlam Mar refused speeches, simply ordering them to follow or be forgotten they would walk the sea bed to the shore. The warriors followed, steps muffled, the lightless depths betraying no sign of progress, only the unlight of the Chaplain’s crozius gave them any hint of direction. Every day their power cells faded giving up leaving the warriors helpless as death took them, and every day Hedlam Mar would awaken them to struggle on, always with the same command, Follow or be Forgotten. 8 days. Then 8 times 8 days. Then 8 times 8 times 8 days. As the final day waned hints of light trickled through the dark and turbid waters. The strange dampening that buried vox signals weakened and as the sun set behind them, the Drowned Cabal emerged from the waves to an incredible sight. At their head, Hedlam Mar, his flesh blue and swollen from drowning every day for 512 days walked through the crashing waves towards a party, drawn up to receive them. A winged Daemon Prince awaited them, along with several dozen of their brothers, all fallen on Terra. Hedlam Mar showed no surprise that the features of Lepit Mayne lurked in the grim leering visage of the Daemon Prince.
Where the surf crashed on the shore, as the tide turned the voyagers crashed to their knees, knees on the sand, feet in the water they offered prayers and thanks for their salvation. With a roar Lepit Mayne tore a hole in fabric of space and brought them to the Eye, to a world where they might gather their strength and offer thanks for the dark salvation.
Organization
Even for a force of Chaos the Cabal of the Drowned refuses large organization. While squads and their champions maintain their cohesion, and small warbands might follow one chosen hero or another, the only true higher allegiance is to Lepit Mayne and Hedlam Mar. The band calls only walking vehicles their own, no tracked or wheeled vehicles could traverse the sea floor, and they have acquired precious few since. All gods are worshipped in the cabal, with some preference to Nurgle for his gifts of death and rebirth, and Slaanesh for the speed and surety of their strikes.
Tactics
The Cabal prefers massed assaults, deploying support walkers and heavy weapons to inundate the enemy in fire as the warped and twisted elements most devoted to the gods close to share their gifts more intimately. The Cabal has never been a force given to subtleties and grand plans, preferring a simple fight with blood spilling where it may. Where possible they strike from the sea or even lakes or rivers, concealing themselves to strike as the sun sets and the powers of the dark gods wax strongest.
My Big Issue with Warhammer 40,000 Xth Edition
So I know my last post was about the hyperbole and negativity surrounding 10th edition. But there is one problem that I think will kneecap 10th edition if it isn’t addressed. Granularity. Army building is a mess because you just pay for the units. This is mostly fine for units with simple, similar options. Terminators for example have relatively few expensive options and even those are broadly similar. Other units have far more uneven options. The Wraithknight has been the standout poster child for this so far. The Wraithknight is 475 points no matter what you equip it with. Ghostglaive and Scattershield? 475 points. 2 Heavy Wraithcannons? 475 points. 2 Heavy Wraithcannons and 2 Starcannons? 475 points. This is… not great. The first one has no ranged weapons and good if not spectacular melee as well as some defensive boosts. The second has amazing ranged fire (2d6 wound shots with Devastating Wounds) and the 3rd is literally just an upgrade from that.
This loss of granularity isn’t just a problem here, it’s also a problem with unit sizes. A 5 man squad of Intercessors costs 95 points. A 10 man squad costs 190. Pretty straightforward right? 19 points / Intercessor. Well guess what a 6 man squad costs. 190 points. Between this and the loss of weapon options, army building has gotten FUNKY. You might be building a 2000 point army and be at 1970 and unless there’s an Enhancement for a character that really works… you have to remove whole units rather than shuffle options around. For someone like me with a MASSIVE collection of models spanning decades (God I’m old) this isn’t that much of a problem, I can shuffle around units and get to 2k using other unit combinations but it has meant tearing some army ideas completely apart and rebuilding whole groups of units.
I’m a fan of interesting decisions in gaming. I like granularity and I like making choices with impact. Picking the most optimal weapon for every situation because it’s an obvious choice and all other factors are the same isn’t an interesting decision. It’s pretty profoundly flawed, in fact. Certain choices will just never be used. By the same token reducing army building choices in other categories just reduces the number of decisions you can make while at the same time making some of them more difficult, especially for people without the resources I have. This is the opposite of what GW should be doing.
So why did they do it?
The app. GW has invested… some… time and money into an app for army building. While I’ll be the first to admit it’s MUCH better than their last attempt, that bar is so low you need a metal detector and shovel to find it. But I think it’s a lot easier to do an app fast and cheap if you want it to do the bare minimum. And if you change what it has to do you can really make that bare minimum a lot more minimal. Now this might be because they just announced that they are linking it to their much-maligned Warhammer+ subscription service, but it really just seems like a business decision made without regard to the effect it has on the game. I hope they revert to more granular army building, that they give us back flexibility and meaningful choices in army building, but for now this is definitely the rotten apple in the barrel for me.
So Much, So Suddenly
Well GW kicked off the week with a BANG.
I was getting ready for work and saw that GW had announced another round of Space Marines going Last Chance to Buy.
That’s a LOT. A truly surprising amount. I recall GW saying that they would be removing models based on sales, which doesn’t make a lot of sense here, so I think there’s two things going on in this case.
There’s two kinds of models in this purge, and it is a purge. Uncommon to downright rare models that have been unpopular for a long time, and extremely popular and even meta choices. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Hunter/Stalker on the table in my local meta, Assault Squads have been hot garbage for a LONG time, Thunderfire Cannons and Techmarines with Servitors just don’t come up unless some weird buff puts them in the spotlight. Scouts probably haven’t sold in a while, especially since they lost Battleline in 10th. Land Speeder Storms and Librarians you’ll see occasionally but again they just don’t come up very often. Ironclad Dreadnoughts are practically invisible with practically every other chassis outpacing them.
But some of the others? Land Speeders and Attack Bikes find their way into a LOT of lists. Bike Squads and Scout Bikes are clutch for several armies. Scouts with Sniper Rifles have been great sellers for a LONG time, although 10th did them no favors and I have a huge soft spot in my heart (or head) for the Company Command box (seriously, pick one up if you don’t have it.) BUT I also suspect that several of these are out of stock or very low stock at the moment because they are quite good.
And a lot of people are MAD. I get it. I have RTB-01 beakies in my army that I bought when they were new. But I’m not mad as a Space Marine Player. This has been inevitable since Primaris started coming out as a line. Space Marines even absent Firstborn choice have more choices than any other army. It’s disappointing that many choices are gonna be relegated to proxies for Primaris or Legends. It’s unfortunate and some very iconic units are going away forever. I can’t really blame GW though even if this is a BIG change. At this point I don’t know if any Firstborn units will be left by the end of next year and I really doubt any will be left by 11th edition.
I do think some units will stick around. Land Raiders (to carry Terminators) and maybe the variant LRs. Specialty units (GW has already commented that Ravenwing will continue to be sold) Flyers unless they release a Primaris Flyer. And that’s about it.
Armies like the Grey Knights will need a complete overhaul and it would really behoove GW to do something for White Scars especially but really all the non-blueberry chapters.
The people that should be mad though, are the Xenos players. I predict within 48 hours we’ll start seeing news of the next round of Space Marine releases. GW wouldn’t drop a bomb like this unless they were ready to clean up the mess. We’ll see the new Terminator kit, we’ll see other new kits, and we’ll get a feeling for how big the 10th edition releases will be. But here’s the thing, the other Xenos, the Orks, the Eldar, the Tau, will be lucky to get half the boxes Marines will get. So yeah I get Marine players are feeling disappointed, but it’s not something I can feel myself.
10th Edition Plans and Goals
So I’ve been thinking about what I’d like to do gameplay wise in 40k in the much more enjoyable 10th edition, as well as what I’d like to do Hobby Wise and how I’m going to manage this website and other, related social media.
Last year I started a job that was much more amenable to doing… everything I enjoy really, and while it took a while, I’m now in a place both hobby wise and work wise where I can really do things I enjoy.
So. I’ve looked at a lot of things and among the side projects that distracted me was a BA Horus Heresy army painted with a VERY different technique from my Dark Angels. While my Dark Angels are painted with an Edge Highlighting technique that looks very striking at a distance, I’ve never been too thrilled with how they look up close.
But I came up with a technique that’s MUCH more striking.
But there’s a problem. My army is ENORMOUS. Absolutely ridiculously large.
So at a minimum this means (after a test on a squad I haven’t painted yet) Priming black, airbrushing a metallic over it (probably Leadbelcher or something similar) and then carefully airbrushing Caliban Contrast over it to get a good metallic “Dark Candy Apple Green” look. Then you paint the equipment and details as normal and hopefully get a really beautiful, striking look. My Ravenwing / Deathwing aren’t painted with edge highlights and I’m not sure what I’d do there. I’ll have to do some testing to figure it out.
So that’s going to be a HUGE hobby project. Game wise I have some good friends I’ll try to play casual games with at least once or twice a month. Back in finance the hours are definitely not terrible and it should be workable.
Now for the big one. This blog, and social media. I have a YouTube channel, (actually 2) Twitter and now Threads, and even a TikTok. I’ve got just about everything but an OnlyFans and I don’t think Dark Angels Feet Pics will go over well. I plan on cross posting stuff between the text options, but also doing at least short videos on TikTok has some appeal, and I’d love to do longer videos digging into the game, the history of the game, lore, and community, and the hobby side, but that’s a big time investment so we’ll see.
10th Edition the Most Hyperbole Ever!
40k 10th Edition is out and there’s a lot to like about it. Lethality is down, vehicles especially are a lot harder to destroy. Weapons are less versatile, especially melee weapons and in general melee feels a lot weaker.
I was really hoping Invulnerable saves would be reduced but ohhhhh that did not happen in the slightest. On the surface there’s fewer mortal wounds but when you get into the mechanics (dice manipulation + devastating wounds) it can be trivial for some armies to force mortal wounds onto targets. There’s already been one nerf in this regard and I’m still expecting more.
So here’s how weapons got less versatile. Here’s the melee options for the Deathwing Terminators. I know, it’s awful to be me. Everything is wounding MEQ on 2 or 3, however some weapons get more attacks, some have worse accuracy. Against infantry you have definite preferences, GEQ you want lightning claws and power weapons, MEQ you want power fists for the 2+ to wounds and 1 shot kills, vehicles… well vehicles have gotten tougher.
T 12 with a 2+ save. So you really want that chainfist so you’re wounding on a 3+, really handy against things like Knights especially. The Thunder Hammer is kind of a downgrade, however it comes with a Storm Shield (extra wound for the model) and on a 6 to wound it does 2 mortal wounds which can be handy. I like that there’s no longer a best choice (and I like that my Deathwing have basically infinite choices outside the friggin sergeant with his power weapon).
Armor (as in armor save) matters MUCH more than in past editions. Very few weapons have an AP better than -2 and many of those that do (Plasma and Melta) are still at S8 or 9. Only dedicated anti-tank weapons like Lascannons combine high S and high AP, and many (but not all) of those got nerfed. Predator and Razorback lascannons are one shot only for example, although the new Ballistus Dreadnought gets two shots and the venerable Land Raider gets 2 shots from each of its arrays. However that same Land Raider facing conventional infantry isn’t going to be feeling nearly as good. It does still have a twin-linked heavy bolter and storm bolter backed up by a multi-melta but 11 shots into infantry, even if most of them are pretty high quality, doesn’t have as much oomph when most of them are low AP.
The change to Melta weapons is particularly interesting. They lost a bit of range, and pretty much stayed the same. Multi-Meltas are 2 shot S9 AP-4 D6(+2 at close range). If they get through the high toughness of tanks they’ll do a ton of damage. But only a few armies can reliably get them through that T. Multi-Meltas are as good as anything at killing heavy and super-heavy infantry but making them very erratic vs tanks is an interesting choice.
I do like that there’s something of a rock-paper-scissors meta with having to match equipment choices to a units mission and versatile weapons frequently having a premium attached. I also like that it’s not a STRICT rock-paper-scissors matchup. I think it’s a very good design choice and not an easy one to pull off.
Now, about that hyperbole. Good. Fucking. Lord. The competitive community wants to burn down GW and smash their armies under a steamroller to hear them talk about 10th. There’s problems. It’s a whole new ruleset and some of the problems are pretty grievous. Wraithknights w/ a Farseer nearby are a problem, and I don’t like how a number of things are worded. For example a battleshocked Titanic unit RAW has a 1 in 3 chance of being deleted falling back from a unit of grots. That… doesn’t seem right.
The real problem isn’t issues with the rules. FAQs will come out. Errata will come out. GW has gotten orders of magnitude better about updating the rules. The rules will improve. It’s frustrating to find issues in a ruleset they’ve spent time on but it’s NOT THE END OF THE WORLD nor has GW FAILED AS A COMPANY.
I’ll admit I have a great deal of antipathy towards the competitive “community”. There exists a tendancy to be toxic as individuals and as a group. There are welcoming individuals and welcoming subsets of the community but it’s just not enjoyable to invest a lot of time in an army and just get dumpstered by a meta chaser that was up all night building the latest grey horde. This edition even has a huge boost to the competitive community because skew lists are so easy to build with no “troops tax” required. A limit of 3 of any datasheet does prevent the worst offenses, however there’s still plenty of options in plenty of armies to skew in a competitive meta.
I for one am thrilled at the new opportunities. I love tank lists and 10th seems to have a definite place for them in the new meta. Tanks can be countered, Predator/Gladiator tanks have T10 vs the T12 of Repulsor/Land Raiders so they don’t just get removed in 1 turn of shooting, but dedicated AT can deal with dedicated tank lists. The Lion is FULLY back, not the badly conceived rules of 9th but a more considered profile in 10th. While some armies lack for choices (Votann for example) more armies are feeling fleshed out. Necrons, Tyranids, Sisters, all have pretty much all the boxes at least checked.
I’m considering ways to express my feelings about the game going forward, and chart my progress, here, youtube, TikTok, whatever. We’ll see but I’m looking forward to the journey!
Warhammer 40k: 10th Edition
So 10th Edition is imminent. As in the rules themselves, army lists and points are all released. I haven’t been able to play a game (looking forward to playing July 3). I actually played a few games at the end of 9th as a good friend returned to the game and GW did something that I honestly didn’t expect them to ever do.
The Lion is Back. In 9th he hit pretty hard, although not really what we were hoping for and his defense was abysmal. He’s carrying the Emperor’s Shield but it was… not great. In 10th he found the On switch and between that and some slight stat adjustments and a rule change that favors him greatly… he’s a brick and hits like a truck. Both the lore and the model line for Dark Angels is moving in a way I haven’t seen in over a decade and I’m absolutely thrilled at the prospects. Even if we just get upgrade sprues for whatever terminators come out, and maybe some bikers I’ll be happy. The Lion is back!
Rules wise melee seems to be in a worse place, which is interesting in a game where melee is traditionally as important as it has been. GW seems to have finally found a solution to the MSU problem that has plagued the game for several editions. I think bigger units will see the table in a way that hasn’t happened in a long, long time. One loss I’ll miss in unit sizes is granularity. Units are either min or max size, assuming there’s variety at all. Tactical Squads are especially hard hit, as 10 Firstborn Marines are the only squad size you can take.
Obviously, I’ll have to redo some core units I’ve used for a long time but Terminators, and Primaris units continue to be strong, so I still have options. Surprisingly the previously 100% useless Assault Squads might even make a return in a game with reduced lethality and that seems to place a premium on fast moving units.
So far objective-based missions are what we’re expecting to see on Saturday when the big box drops. I plan on trying to bring fluffy lists, organized around what I think a half-company of Marines would look like, rather than stompy death blobs. But at the same time there’s another huge change to consider. I mentioned things got a lot tougher. You know what got tougher-est?
Tanks might be back in a BIG way. Both possessing staying power far greater than in past editions, as well as retaining some of the best killing power in the game, the age of armor might be back. Maybe we’ll get really lucky and the Lion will bring back the rest of the Hexagrammaton and we’ll get the Iron Wing with their tank heavy spearheads. I doubt it, but I don’t doubt we’ll get to see a lot more tanks on the battlefield. And I’m a guy that loves his tanks. I have several Predators, a couple Land Raiders, a couple Repulsors and an Executioner to go with the Razorbacks and Rhinos in my list. Remember, I’m going for a ‘mech company so vehicles are not something I’m short of.
I will try some bikes at some point. I’m not hugely enthusiastic about them like I am other things. I expect the actual codex next year will give us a true Ravenwing formation but currently they look solid, but not amazing. One big change that I think will affect them is that Characters now join units. They aren’t independently wandering around; they lead a unit and buff that unit directly. Sammael for example looks like he’d be brutal leading his Black Knights, which is where you’d expect him to be. Not that the Knights need too much help.
The 5 things I’m most excited about are
- More durable tanks (and other units, but mostly tanks)
- Characters leading units again
- Larger battles: Points seem slightly down again
- Simplified rules: USRs are back. each army doesn’t get subtly different versions of the exact same rules
- New Missions: Battlefields seems smaller, armies seem a bit larger, things are going to happen fast.
Things I’m perhaps more anxious about
- Power Creep, Marines have hundreds of datasheets, some armies barely have 30 or 40. Balancing this can’t have been easy.
- Melee: The one place the rules seem awkward is melee with lots of weird things happening.
- Wombo Combos: Leaders being directly attached to units has led to some having really powerful buffs and some units have pretty high native strength. I’ve only seen a few that look crazy but…
- Lack of Maneuver: How do we manage the field with more units on a smaller battlefield. Managing battlespace is fine in a Napoleonic game or the old WHFB but I don’t think it should be as big in a skirmish game, but we’ll see.
- What will the game turn on? Will infantry dominate? Tanks? We doing Herohammer? I guess we’ll find out.
For the Lion and the Emperor!
A Simple Scribe
“Remembrancer, this way!” barked a nasal voice over the din of the embarkation deck.
“Yes… sir” guessed Danse clutching his tote tight and weaving inexpertly through the bustle of servitors, crew, crates, vehicles and hoses choking the deck. The grated steel deck, larger than a football field and freckled with robust pads for the Stormbirds, Thunderhawks, and cargo lighters thronged with hundreds of people, and thousands of pieces of equipment and machinery all moving in a chaotic, atonal ballet. Danse crossed the short gap to a crewmember, a scarecrow of a woman tall and lean, her face pocked with scars from some manner of wound. She wore the crimson trimmed grey robe of a legion thrall. Danse himself wore a traveler’s outfit, soft, sturdy trousers, boots, loose fitting shirt, and a light robe over it, belted at the waist. His hood was down in the hot, dry heat of the deck and sweat beaded every bit of skin.
“Follow me, High Captain Beattie will speak with you, then I will direct you to your quarters” she said over her shoulder, already walking stiffly away.
Danse stumbled, recovering and struggling to keep pace. “Did you see High Captain Beattie?”
The crewmember didn’t respond, her shock of hair, so black it nearly shone blue, bobbing away from him as he struggled free of the press of flesh and steel on the deck. Trotting to catch up, panting from the heat, exertion, and confusion of the new environment it took Danse a moment to take things in. The deck below him was steel, somewhat blue to his eye, repeated along the walls, with the ceiling being a blood red with gold trim. Lights in ornate niches and hatches were all perfectly worked into murals and frescoes adorning the walls and rugs and screens broke up the sounds that normally echoed down the halls.
“Your quarters will be forward of the embarkation deck, they’ve set aside a number of petty officers and junior officer’s quarters for you lot to use.” She spat. The sides of her head were shaved to the skin, and a pair of augmetic ports gaped from raw wounds in her skull. “As soon as your interview is over I will take you down there and return to my duties. You will find a list of important rules and directions to key locations in your room. Please make an effort to not break any of the rules or get lost.”
“Of course ma’am… miss… I’m sorry I don’t know your name?” Danse knew he was whining a little but he could barely catch his breath. And a meeting with the High Captain himself? His cousin had heard from a friend that many remembrancers didn’t meet with an astartes for weeks and he was to meet a High Captain his first hour on board?
“Lieutenant Avorla.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant Avorla.” Danse said, she slowed fractionally, turning into a corridor much broader and taller than the one they’d been in.
“We’re close. Don’t waste his time he has much to do to prepare Misericorde for her next battle.”
“Of course, Lieutenant Avorla.”
“Just Lieutenant will do.” She bit off. He’d come even with her, finally and saw ahead of them a large arched doorway, its wooden door completely at odds with everything else on the ship. The ornate tasseled rug they walked on felt impossibly thick under his boots and he felt an odd desire to remove his boots as they crossed it.
Avorla walked right up to the door, pounding it twice then turning off to stand beside it resting on a small seat jutting out from the wall. “ENTER” barked a deep voice from within.
“He doesn’t mean me” Avorla said, seeing Danse hesitate. Danse took a breath and pushed the massively heavy door open. It moved easily once started and got away from him to slam awkwardly against the wall. Danse stood awkwardly for a moment the loud noise and sight before him stunning him momentarily.
Astartes had to be seen to be believed. Danse was used to looking up at people, not even 155cm tall he looked up to almost everyone even with the lifts artfully concealed in his boots. In his bare feet Beattie towered over him. The back of Danse’s brain told him Beattie might well double his height in full warplate. The astartes was wearing a bodyglove with a crimson robe over it, trimmed in gold. The simplicity of the trim seemed to emphasize its luxurious fabric and perfect craft and the artfully made chair, sized perfectly for him seemed both incredibly rustic and perfectly complementary to the holo table next to it. Beattie looked directly at Danse “Well, come in, let me look at you.”
Danse breathed deeply, straightened up and walked to the table, letting his tote fall on its strap to his side. His father had told him, when it’s time to face the music stand straight and walk tall. Come to think of it he could hear music, soft, deep chants echoed into the room. He forced himself to continue his determined pace across the 10 meters or so to the table. Slowing down he glanced at the table to see a map covered in odd symbols and arrows on it before darting his eyes back to Beattie.
Like all the IXth legion, Beattie shared facial features with Sanguinius, his eyes betrayed passion and intelligence, and there the similarities ended. Beattie was broad, powerfully built with hands like hams, and dark skin. His soft smile gave away… something. Danse wasn’t sure what. “Tell me about yourself Remembrancer” he said, his voice deep and somehow harmonized with the chants.
“Well my lord, I’m a remembrancer, just out from Terra…”
“Tell me about YOURSELF, Remembrancer. Don’t make me repeat myself again”
“Ah, well, I was born in Albion and did my schooling there, me Uncle wrote for one of the broadsheets there and took me under his wing, er as it were” he trailed off a moment, looking up at the fresco of Sanguinius, with his wings spread hovering over them. “I would bring him news and he’d jot it down, maybe liven it up, or bring in other details to put it in context, you know? After a while he had me doing it meself. Some of my stories caught some attention, and I thought I’d be in trouble. Apparently, I’d noticed some recruiting efforts by some of the legions or something. Anyway, I was brought before a couple folks who said they worked for the Sigilite, They said if I was so good at finding out the truth that I should be where illumination was needed and next thing you know, I’m on a ship here.”
Beattie looked at him, no, through him for a moment, his mouth moving. “Thames river trader, eh? A block down from the theater right out from the pumphouse?”
Danse froze a moment, how could he know?
“The recruiters found me hawking papers there. I’d been jumped by… well… that’s a story for another day for sure. How Malcador knew…” His eyes widened as another voice spoke
“He might have, but I chose Danse for this duty my son.”
Danse fell prostrate. No mortal surprised by the Angel could possibly be expected to stay standing and Danse was certainly no tougher than any other man. “I became aware of your connection and, well, there’s no coincidences as my Father says. Added to that he’s a clever investigator and an insightful writer. I look forward to his chronicles on your battles with great interest, Beattie.”
“Yes my lord.” Beattie said
“Leave us brave Danse, I must impart some instructions on Beattie. I am glad to have met you. Please be careful closing the door, I’m told it gets away from people.” Sanguinius said with the hint of a grin on his impossibly flawless face. Danse scrambled to his feet, forcing himself to walk normally from the room as he carefully, gently, closed the door. Avorla stepped out to ensure it closed silently her eyes more than a little wild from her own encounter with the Angel. She looked down at Danse.
“Let’s go. Let’s get you to your quarters.” She stalked away, somewhat slower than before. “Did he really pick you himself?” She asked, clearly thinking about each word.
“It’s what he said. I can’t imagine taking the time to think about me.”
“The Primarchs don’t waste time. If he picked you, if he spent time on you there was reason for it. Don’t you worry about that.
Star Wars Legion: Ignominious Defeat
Played another game tonight. Didn’t take pictures. Brought an Iden gunline with the intent to use Tactical Strike to get an early lead then grind down my opponent.
I was pretty happy with this list, at least until I saw what I was up against.
I deployed to try to get pressure forward early, but I couldn’t infiltrate very far as I deployed the ISF late so I was barely out of my deployment zone with them. We ended up playing Key Positions, Danger Close and Limited Visibility. I was hoping for Fortified positions but with it in the last position I had no chance without my opponent helping me out. So no extra bunkers for cover and to prevent his vehicles from having freedom of the field.
Turn 1 wasn’t terrible, I got some chip damage out and he took out a single ISF trooper. Turn 2 started well with me playing Tactical Strike and my opponent, John playing Covering Fire. I won the roll off and got a good chunk of damage on 1 of his T-47s. Then he moved up with an AT-RT and used Fire Support to dump 9 dice with Surge to Crit into an unactivated ISF, which took them down to just the leader, getting rid of the heavy weapon with the critical Critical 2 keyword. I drew from my order stack and got Krennic who handed out an aim and then dodged himself, then my opponent landed 6 hits on the other unactivated ISF unit and I rolled… 2 saves. Again leaving them without their heavy weapon. This pulled the teeth on 2 of my most important units on a critical turn. I was able to get both Speeders to half health but John was able to set up more Fire Support attacks with the AT-RT / each of which virtually deleted a unit.
By the end of turn 3 I didn’t hold a single objective and was only contesting 1 with a severely depleted shoretrooper unit. At this point I just went for blood, swatting a Veteran unit, both Airspeeders, 1 going down to Iden, the other to my E-Web before it ate another fire-support shot deleting it. Iden then took down an AT-RT before the battle ended.
I only think I made a few mistakes. The list I faced was a poor match for me, I didn’t have enough crit/impact, and had way less mobility after failing to take advantage of my infiltrators.
I should have absolutely used both of my ISF units once I realized they were more exposed than I thought, but I really think the only way I win this matchup is with near-perfect tactics and above average dice, and I had a couple bad rolls early that snowballed through the game.
I learned some, especially about activation priority and a bit more on targeting but it wasn’t *AS* great an experience as I might have wanted. No shame on John at all. He was a good opponent, patient with my pace and desire to learn, friendly and even made some suggestions as well as insisting on calling the game rather than finishing me off despite my being game for it as he’d definitely earned the win.
Mad Haberdashers 
