Death Guard Kill Team Febron

Like I said before, Kill Team brought me back into the hobby, and since Death Guard has always been on my to-do list, this was the perfect opportunity for my first Kill Team.

So I started looking at the Chaos Space Marine Codex (and Traitor Legions supplement) and came up with the following list:

1500p Casual Tau army

And now for something completely different... (no painting progress this time)

On friday, I've got another battle planned with my Tau army. The usual approach to building an armylist for me is to start off with what I have (if I don't have enough models to fill the points value) and go from there, adding in a few proxies where necessary. (We decided on 1500pts)

This time will be no different...

WTF? - Ethereal and Cadre Fireblade

My first post in 3 days... I've been busy with anything but the Fire Caste, meaning that I haven't done any actual hobby-ing.

What I did do, however, is read up on the rules for Ethereals and Cadre Fireblades.
Time for another WTF post...

WTF? - XV104 Riptide

Let's talk about the Riptide.

Basics

It's T6 with 5 wounds and 2+ Save, 5+ invulnerable. Pretty survivable.
BS3 is the norm with Tau and it isn't any different with the XV104.
The Jet Pack allows you to Jump-Shoot-Jump. If you use the Nova-reactor to nova-charge the Jet Pack, you get to use 4D6 (!) for your jump in the assault phase. Great for getting out of reach.

Heavy Burst Cannon vs. Ion Accelerator
The HBC gives you 8 shots of S6 AP4 at 36" and if you use the Nova-reactor, it gets you 4 more shots and makes them rending... however, it also makes them Get hot in addition to the nova-charge's risk of overheating. 12 shots that get hot... hmmm, that's on average 2 shots that overheat and which you need to save against. (If you use "perfect" dice... using GW's dice, that's an average of 3.48)

Equipping the IA gives you 3 60" S7 AP2 shots. Overcharge adds +1S and fires one Large Blast with Gets hot. Nova-charge is another +1S and makes the shot Ordnance. On this gun, the Nova-charge is usually not necessary. S8 gives you double strength instant death vs T4, S9 adds nothing to that. Everything up to T6 is wounded on 2+. I don't know a lot of stuff that's T7 or above (except Tyranid MCs with Iron Arm *grmbl grmbl*) and if it is, better to shoot it with the normal mode of the gun.

Conclusion: I'll take the Ion Accelerator. It gives me more flexibility and less chance of killing itself.

Secondary Armament
This all depends on what (secondary) role you want the Riptide to fill.
You want to slag some heavy armor? Take the Fusion Blaster.
Want some more dead heavy infantry? Grab some Plasma Rifles.
Need something to help blast light infantry from cover? Smart Missile System to the rescue!

Maybe it's best to give the Riptide something to help fill a certain role (or hole) in your army.

Just remember that the Riptide has BS3. It's not super accurate. These things are twin-linked and, to add to that, you can use the Nova reactor to shoot this weapon twice in a turn!

Conclusion: I usually face Nids or Guard on the battlefield, so I think I'll take the Plasma Rifles. This allows me to, again, be flexible. It hurts heavy infantry but also can (help) take down vehicles, especially when hit in the side or rear.

Two drones or not two drones?
At 25 points a piece, this is a pricey upgrade.
It gives you some added survivability in the form of 1 wound each with a 4+ invulnerable save and some more firepower with the missile pods mounted on them.
However, they also make the Riptide into a unit. This allows you to join up with independent characters which can give you interesting bonuses. Shadowsun gives the Riptide Stealth and Shrouded. This gets expensive sooner rather than later however.
Downside to being a unit is that the Riptide will need to take a leadership test if a drone is killed.

Conclusion: I'll spend my 50 points elsewhere.

Support Systems
If you take the drones, a Target Lock might prove useful. This allows you to fire the missiles at something and the Riptide's gun at something else.
The Velocity tracker is good for shooting at flyers, but for 20 points a bit on the expensive side.
The Stimulant Injector gives Feel no Pain. Do you want a super-survivable XV104? Do you have 35 points to spend? Get this!
Early warning override is also a viable upgrade if you plan on facing deep striking enemies!

Conclusion: I think I would take the Stimulant Injector, but only if I can't use the points somewhere else. The Riptide is already an expensive unit and you don't want to go overboard.

Example build
XV104 Riptide with Ion Accelerator for 185 points. Adding the Stim Injector bumps him to 220.

How do you field your Riptide?

The Angels of Destruction descend

My main army is a Successor chapter of the Dark Angels called the "Angels of Destruction". I've been constantly adding to and tweaking this army over the years, going back as far as 3rd edition 40k. My first army in 40k was Dark Eldar but this was primarily out of budgetary concerns as someone I knew bought the 3rd edition starter set and I could buy the Dark Eldar from him for a good price. Also, I was about 15 at the time, so I didn't have a lot of money.

I always had a soft spot for the most stubborn of Space Marine chapters, so I didn't wait too long to get them started.

Now, 15 years and a lot of experience later, this is where the army stands now.

WTF? - Crisis suit loadout

Since the latest FAQ, you're allowed to give your Crisis Battlesuits double weapons instead of the twin linked versions. This opens up some interesting options, since a XV8 suit already has a multi-tracker, allowing it to shoot with 2 weapons in the same shooting phase (only the shooting phase, so no shooting 2 weapons on overwatch)

Deathrain
Two missile pods gives a Crisis suit basically 2 autocannons with reduced range. Which can be fired on the move. Even used with JSJ (jump-shoot-jump) to stay hidden behind cover. What's not to like? Those are 4 S7 shots at BS3. Which is the equivalent of 2 Imperial Guard heavy weapon teams with autocannons... or a Rifleman Dreadnought... but maneuvrable. And it costs 52 points. Missile spam anyone? (XV8 Crisis suit + 2x missile pod: 52pts)

Sunforge Give a guy 2 Fusion blasters. Deep strike him near some enemy vehicles, possibly guided by a Stealth Shas'vre with homing beacon and melt something to slag. Jump behind cover and repeat next turn. With this configuration you don't have the range to help you survive so some additional toys can come in handy. Consider the shield generator to give you that all important 4+ invulnerable save. Also, the standard XV8 is quite a vulnerable frame with T4, W2 and 3+ save so the commander would be a better base for the Sunforge config with W4. This also gives you some more options to increase survivability. Add the Iridium battlesuit for T5 (nearly immune to double strength instant death) and 2+ save and if you want to go over the top, get a stimulant injector for Feel no Pain on top of that.
(XV8-05 Commander + 2x fusion blaster + Iridium battlesuit + shield generator: 165pts)

Burning eye
Very similar to the Sunforge but more for heavy infantry killing, the Burning eye uses double plasma guns for that important high strength and low AP Terminator and Marine killing power. You have a bit more range here to keep you safe, but they still need to get within rapid fire range to do any real damage.
(XV8-05 Commander + 2x plasma rifle + Iridium battlesuit + shield generator: 165pts)

Helios
Both the Sunforge and Burning eye shown before, leave the commander with one wargear option available. If you want your commander to be a bit more versatile, you can add an extra weapon. For the Sunforge, you can add a Plasma rifle to aid in heavy infantry killing (making it a Helios config) or a flamer for some horde thinning capability. The burning eye can likewise benefit from a Fusion blaster for vehicle popping (again, making it a Helios config) or the flamer for aforementioned horde thinning.
Also, remember that the flamer gives you some automatic overwatch hits when you get assaulted. Mind you, this makes the commander even more expensive.
(Helios Commander: 180pts, Sunforge or Burning eye with flamer: 170pts)

What is the most effective configuration for your XV8s?

WTF? - Dark Angels Deathwing Terminators

Tactical
These guys benefit from the fact that they can take a mixture of ranged and close combat weaponry. Don't take them as purely close combat terminators with thunder hammers (you're not taking lightning claws, right?), you have Deathwing Knights for that, instead, take 1 in 3 as a Thunderhammer wielding Storm Shield. Add an assault cannon for mid-field duties or a cyclone missile launcher for back-field objective sitting.
(4 with storm bolters, sarge with power weapon, 3 power fists, 1 thunderhammer/storm shield + cyclone: 250p)

Troops
Better yet, take Belial or Azrael and field these guys as Troops. Plonk a squad on every objective in your deployment zone and watch your opponent squirm. Remember, these guys have split fire, so you can shoot the Cyclone at a vehicle while unloading the Storm Bolters on some infantry.
(Belial, 2x Tactical Terminator squad: 690p)

Deathwing Assault Bomb
Take Belial and a squad of 10 Terminators. Get 3 thunder hammer/storm shield guys for protection against low AP weapons. Add in 2 assault cannons.
Use Deathwing Assault and Belial's Tactical Precision rule to deep strike where needed most. Obliterate something with Vengeful Strike rerolls the turn you drop in.
Subsequent turns, you can use the split fire rule to shoot one storm bolter at the target you want to assault and point a barrage of storm bolter and assault cannon fire in the direction of another. Bloodbath guaranteed!
(Belial + 10 terminators, 2 assault cannons, 3 TH/SS: 685p)

Conclusion
Last couple of battles, I took the Deathwing Assault bomb (with squad sizes ranging from 6 to 10) and they haven't failed me yet. I really like the raw hitting and staying power of this unit. It is however a bit of an "eggs in one basket" thing in battles of 1500 points.

How do you use your Deathwing dudes?

WTF? - Tau Pathfinders

Cheap markerlights
Pathfinders are the easiest way to get large amounts of markerlights in your army for a relatively low price. Each and every one of them has one by default, in addition to a pulse carbine, mind you.
(6 dudes with markerlights: 66p)

Medium range firepower
They have the option of taking some prototype drones and the one that really shines for me is the pulse accelerator drone. +6" on pulse weaponry. Those carbines just went from 18" to 24" range, making them strictly better than Storm Bolters (S5 to S4).
(10 dudes + pulse accelerator: 125p)

Hunters
Give them some upgraded weaponry in the form of ion or rail rifles and they can even ruin vehicles in the side or rear, instakill Nid warriors or raveners, hurt high T targets or heavy infantry.
(4 dudes with 3 ion rifles: 74p)

All round
Add in Darkstrider and your pulse rifles suddenly are (effectively) S6, making them wound MCs on 4s and marines on 2s... not bad if you ask me, but this does get expensive if you take some more options in the form of pulse-accelerator and/or special rifles.
(10 dudes + darkstrider: 210p)

Conclusion
I would probably field:
A cheap markerlight squad + a hunter squad.
OR
An all round squad fully kitted out.

Thoughts? Experiences?

Join up for the Greater Good - Part 3: New Stuff

As a follow-up to my previous Tau army-building post, where I outlined what I have model-wise and how the army would work using the new Codex, this post contains what I would add to it to bring it up to 1500 pts and (of course) make it better... theoretically.

Join up for the Greater Good - Part 2: into 6th edition!

After reading the new Codex cover to cover and reading some opinions online, this is what I came up with to bring my current collection of Tau miniatures onto the 6th edition 40k tabletop.

Beware: none of this is playtested!

In a previous post I outlined my collection of Tau minis. This is a condensed version of that list:

• 1 XV8 Commander
• 1 XV8 Crisis suit
• 3 Stealth suits
• 12 Fire warriors
• 12 Kroot
• 1 Devilfish
• 1 Hammerhead
• 2 Broadsides
• Assortment of drones, mostly of the gun variant

Hive Fleet Ozymandias

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

They're coming for you

Nurgle marines army list

As the first post with actual content, I will give you a look into my latest brainchild: the concept army list I will be working towards with my new Nurgle Chaos marines: The Legion of Rust.

This will primarily be a fluffy list created to appease father Nurgle. This will allow me to call down the favor of His Mighty Pestilential One in any battles I will fight with this list.

I had some requirements since this is a Death Guard spinoff:
- As many footsloggers as possible
- Squad sizes of multiples of 7, the holy number of his Nurgleness
- If at all possible, an army consisting of 7 squads