Wargames Con: DAY ONE!

Oh shit, day one of Wargames Con is in the books and I'm drunk and tired as hell... lets see what happened...

Wargames Con 2012 Mantis Warriors Army

Hey guys, Wargames Con is just one week away OMG! Here is the list I plan on taking to the two day, seven game, 2000pt GT next weekend. I have no illusions of going all the way, I just hope I get 7 good games against 7 opponents I've never played before!

HQ

Kahn

Cassius

ELITES

Assault Terminators*5; th/sh*3, lc*2

Land Raider Redeemer; ex armor, multi-melta

Sterngaurd*5; combi-plasma*2, plasma gun

Razorback; twin-plasma gun, lascannon, dozer blade

TROOPS

Tactical Squad; power fist, combi-melta, melta gun, multi-melta

Rhino

Tactical Squad; power fist, combi-melta, melta gun, multi-melta

Rhino

Scouts*10; Telion, heavy bolter

Scouts*5; combi-melta, melta bomb

FAST ATTACK

Land Speeder Storm; multi-melta

Stormtalon Gunship; twin-assault cannon, twin-heavy bolter

Attack Bike; multii-melta

So this list isn't anything too crazy, just my typical Kahn army (three Special Characters lol) with lots of units designed to Outflank and hit hard with shooting and decent combat. The Mission Format for all 7 games will be three equally weighted objectives: two from the book and one random one (table quarters, kill HQ exc.). I'm mostly looking forward to using the Stormtalon and Telion; my most recent editions to the army.

~the best part is that I only have one mode model left to paint!

Alamo 40K Tournament 2012: Tournament Report DAY TWO

Welcome back to the conclusion of the two day Alamo 40K IGT in San Antonio, TX. Everyone had a great time, least of all me so once again I'd like to thank all the tournament organizers and all my opponents!

Alamo 40K Tournament 2012: Tournament Report DAY ONE

Hello all! The dust has settled and everyone is back home after a fantastic weekend of drinking beer, rolling dice and of course drinking more beer. I've said it once and I'll say it again, the Alamo is the most fun you can have at a tournament. This was my third year and it really just gets better each time! If I had a  WFB army I'd go the Alamo Fantasy tournament in October as well.

From a strictly competitive outlook I'd say Alamo is much more relaxed than say Wargames Con or Adepticon. With only 5 games over two days there is a lot of down time to relax and enjoy walking around, talking to people, and the wonderful armies on display. There are definitely people there to win, but on average most people just bring armies that will be fun to play with AND against. Throw in cheap beer and you have a perfect recipe for a lot of very fun games.

May 6th, 2012 Dragon's Lair 1850pt Tournament

Today was the monthly 40k Tournament at Dragon's Lair; 1850pts~ three rounds, Swiss style, three equally weighted objectives per round. I've been completely focussed on Chaos at the moment getting ready for Alamo GT in two weeks so this was a good opportunity to take the Nurgle out for a test run. To be honest, I am not nearly as excited about this army as I was when I started it, and the prospect of a new and exciting codex in just a few months is only making the old stale Codex seem older and staler... but enough naysaying; ONTO THE TOURNAMENT REPORT!

ROUND ONE
Space Wolves (Brandon)
Pitched Battle
1) Seize Ground
2) Kill a Single Enemy Troop of Your Choice
3) Capture and Control (except with two diagonally opposite table quarters)

~this is going to be the format of Wargames Con so it is really nice getting used to the Mission format as well as the objectives themselves. Three equally weighted objectives each game with the possibility to split most of them. 

Brandon took a somewhat "elite" Space Wolf list; Bjorn the Fell Handed, tricked out Lord on Thunder Wolf w/ 4 Thunderwolf Friends, Run Priest w/ Living lightning w/ Longfangs; 5 missiles and wolf guard; cyclone, two 5 man Grey Hunters w/ melta and wolf guard with combi-melta in HB razorback, two units of 5 wolf scouts w/ wolf guard, and 5 grey hunters w/ flamer in drop pod.

I decided to mark one of the units of Grey Hunters w/ melta gun since I assumed it would be most likely get close enough to use his special weapon while Brandon marked the Lesser Daemons. Brandon used Bjorn to get first turn and get up Long Fangs w/ Ruin Priest and Bjorn in the center of his table edge with the Thunder Wolf Friends on an extreme flank. I hid one Rhino w/ plasma guns in a Ruin on an objective with the other three making use of cover facing the Thunder Wolves. The Oblits, and Daemons were all in reserve.

The first two turns Brandon spot all those missiles and Living Lightning fingers at my Rhinos (claiming cover) but only managed to immobilize or stun them. This meant that his Thunder Friends charged into APCs and not the juicy innards. I countercharged with my entire army into the Thunders and Killed all of them but the Lord in one round, the Lord went down two turns later after malling (but not completely wiping out) two Plague Marine Squads and the Possessed.

With the only combat unit in his army destroyed and most of my Rhinos now immobilized or destroyed the rest of the game was spend trading shots and trying to maneuver onto objectives. One unit of Wolf Scouts came in behind the Plasma Squad on objective, but with the help of the summoned daemons I was able to hold, while the other unit came on to threaten two Plague Marines sitting on another objective but a Nurgle Lord intercepted them and rolled like a boss, killing all 6 at I6 before they could swing back!

I won objectives, I killed his melta squad and we tied the table quarters.

Chaos 25VP and Space Wolves 5VPS


ROUND TWO
Nurgle Chaos Space Marines (Josiah)
Dawn of War
1) KPs
2) Single Objective in the Center
3) Get Any Unit within 6" of Enemy Board Edge

Josiah took almost the exact same list as me (not a deep pool of possible Nurgle units in the book unfortunately). Typhus in Land Raider, Summoned Greater Daemon, 4 Plague Marine units, 2*double melta and pf, double plasma, and double flamer, and 7 Nurgle Marked Terminators.

Josiah and I almost never have a hard fought game, someone always stomps the other's army into the ground and this was no different. Considering how similar our lists were, would it surprise you that I was tabled in 7 turns having only scored a single KP? Yep that's what happened, oh well.

Me 0VP Josiah 3VP


ROUND THREE
Imperial Guard (John Cook)
Dawn of War (again really?)
1) Seize Ground
2) Kill an Enemy HQ
3) Capture and Control
how similar does this look to the first mission to you?


John was really bummed cuz the lost a couple of this Pretorian models somewhere after the first round, sucks, NTM he plaid Josiah game one so this was his second match against Nurgle... in my opinion IG is the best possible match up for Nurgle ~ masses of lasguns, heavy bolters, multi-lasters, flamers and auto cannons are pretty useless against Plague Marines and he didn't have a single plasma gun.

Command HQ in Chimera w/ Lord Commissar and Officer of the Fleet, Command Squad in Chimera, two infantry Squads in Chimeras just with an Autocannon, two three man Lascannon teams near Commissar for Ld boost, melta Vets w/ demolition charge in Vendetta, 10 man unit in Valkyrie, Psychic Battle Squad in Chimera, two Hydras and Manticore.

Dawn of War meant he could still set up his entire platoon, but I deployed first with a Rhino w/ Plague Marines and Lord dead center. I moved up and popped smoke; he shot his ENTIRE ARMY at that single Rhino and unit inside. When the dust settled I had a pf champion and the Lord left (I told you PMs can soak up IG fire). Those two models moved up and each killed an infantry squad in return. Turn two John shot his ENTIRE ARMY at those two models finally killing them (good for him).

While he was focussing all that shooting at 400pts I was able to move my other units into pretty good position close to his lines unmolested. The Possessed rolled Fleet for their Possession and, despite having to come in from my board edge were able to get a multi-charge off on three units on turn three.

By the end of the game we had both done a number to each other's armies, but because my army has so little shooting both his Fliers were alive allowing him to last turn score/contest. We ended up tying Seize Ground, tying Capture and Control, and we both killed each other's HQ...

Chaos 20VP and IG 20VP 


~three games with the Chaos today and I went 1/1/1 which has been about my average the last two years at Alamo there is still room for improvement. Josiah ended up winning the tournament with his Nurgle Chaos, good for him, so there might be hope for me at Alamo with a similar list!

Remember the Alamo

The 2000pt GT in San Antonio is quickly approaching and this is the current state of my Chaos Nurgle Army. With only 17 days left I currently have 12 models and that one Rhino left to paint. 

The Alamo tournament is certainly one of the most fun events you can hope to attend and I highly recommend it. This year most of the Austin crew are bringing fun lists over power armies to reflect the laid back nature of the tournament held in a BEER HALL!

JWolf is fielding a Deathstrike Missile, BigRed is taking his "undefeated" Tau (lol), and Goatboy is taking GreyKnights (I guess he didn't get the memo).

...My List...

HQ

Chaos Lord; mark of nurgle, wings, daemon weapon, melta bomb

Chaos Lord; mark of nurgle, wings, daemon weapon, melta bomb

Summoned Greater Daemon

TROOPS

Plague Marines*7; champion, pf, melta*2, icon

Rhino

Plague Marines*7; champion, pf, melta*2, icon

Rhino

Plague Marines*7; champion, combi-melta, plasma gun*2, icon

Rhino; dozer blade

Summoned Lesser Daemons*7

ELITES
Possessed*10; champion, icon of nurgle
Rhino; ex armor, dozer blade

HEAVY SUPPORT
Obliterators*2
Obliterators*2

~comments are always appreciated. As long as I improve my overall score from the last two years I'll be happy. 

Gearing up for Alamo

So the Texas GT season is right around to corner starting off with Alamo in San Antonio, TX. This is a great event held in a beer hall of all places. The last two years I've brought my Mantis Warriors will middle of the road success. In my opinion the Alamo tournament is not a supper competitive event so I really want to bring something fun rather that overly powerful. At the end of the game I want to drink beer with my opponent and not worry about the win loss record. As a result I'd really like to brining my Nurgle Chaos Space Marines to a proper GT before the end of 5th edition and the new Chaos Codex!

2000pts
HQ
Daemon Prince; mark of nurgle, wings
Lord; mark of nurgle, wings, daemon weapon
Summoned Greater Daemon

TROOPS
Plague Marines*7; champion, power fist, melta*2, icon
Rhino

Plague Marines*7; champion, melta*2, icon

Rhino

Summoned Lesser Daemons*6

Summoned Lesser Daemons*6

ELITES

Possessed*10; champion, icon of nurgle

Rhino; ex armor, dozer blade

HEAVY SUPPORT

Defiler

Defiler

Obliterators*3

~the nice thing about this army is that even though the tournament is still 3 months away (May) I only have to build about 10 more models and another Rhino... of course if the Chaos book comes out before then it will be a whole different story!

Battle Report 2000pts 11/27/11: IG vs Necrons

Bully Mike from 40kology is a great opponent. We've been playing against each other mostly in tournaments for the last three years, but yesterday we met up for a friendly game to test out his Necrons. Before this game Bully had only played two games with the new book, the last of which he won against my Mantis Warriors at KPs 9-4. In reaction to how well the Monolith and Citan did last game, I decided to bust out the IG and see if the Necron shooting could match the hammer of the Imperium!

Imperial Guard List

Command HQ; plasma*4, chimera

Infantry Command; flamer*4, chimera
Infantry Squad; grenade, power weapon, commissar, power weapon
Infantry Squad; grenade, power weapon
Infantry Squad; grenade, power weapon
Special Weapon Squad; melta*3
Heavy Weapon Squad; missiles*3
Heavy Weapon Squad; autocannon*3

Veterans*10; melta*3, chimera
Veterans*10; melta*2, flamer, chimera

Vendetta (special weapon squad rides here)
Scout Sentinels*3; lascannon*2, autocannon
Hellhound; smoke launchers

Demolisher; lascannon
Demolisher; lascannon
Manticore; camo netting

Although this is not the most tailored IG army, it is far more powerful that something I would generally bring to a friendly match; especially against someone whose only played a few games with their own codex. In the last game Bully took a very similar army, but I took a more close combat oriented SM army. His Monolith and the Citan really did a number me. He Portaled several units away from my assault units which essentially took them out of the game and the Citan's Rising World Scape managed to Immobilize my Landraider, kill two TH termis and about 6 or 7 SMs by turn 3! In this game, with a shooty army, my goal was to mitigate those specific threats while taking a large number of armored vehicles to test the waters against mass amounts of Gauss and Scarab attacks.

Necron List

Storm Lord; Command Barge
Destroyer Lord; res orb, war scythe

Warriors*10
Warriors*10
Warriors*10
Warriors*10

Spiders*2 (different wargear)
Scarab Swarm*8

Wraiths*4

Regular Destroyers*5
Citan; rising world scape, dust one (i think=stealth and grenades)
Monolith

BullyMike bought this army prebuilt and painted a couple years ago when no one wanted Necrons. Besides the new vehicle and new Special Character he is pretty much using every model he bought back then, which is pretty cool that it still came out to 2000pts! Because he is essentially using ever model he owns, his list has not seen much change in the last three games played. Mostly all he's done is switched out special characters and alternated between Annihilation Barge and Command Barge. It should also be noted that he won against Daemons and SMs in the first two games...

Mission: Seize Ground 5 Objectives

Deployment: Pitched Battle

Necrons Deployed First and set up in the forest along the entire length of this board edge. Monolith in the middle with the Spiders and Scarabs. Destroyers, Command Barge, and Wraiths on the left flank.

Imperial Guard Deployed Second with Demolisher tanks on left flank opposite the majority of the Necron heavy hitters. Command HQ was straight in the middle with Heavy Weapon squads on either side. Two infinity squads combined with commissar also in the middle to advance on center objective. Manticore in far right building and beyond that, Hellhound, Infantry Command with flamers and the three Sentinels deployed on extreme right flank facing single Necron Warrior Squad. The two melt vet units were in reserve, as well as one 10man infantry unit and the Vendetta Out Flanked.

TURN 1

Top Turn 1 was Night Fight thanks to the Swarm Lord. His lighting only hit one unit but managed to kill all three Autocannon Weapon Teams. That sucked but it could have been worse. Apart from that he had really good run rolls so almost everything made it to center field. He also 'Portaled' his Wraiths through the Monolith.

Bottom Turn 1 was still night fight so I used a lot of search lights and since he was half way across the board already, most everything got to shoot. I failed my orders and most everything else missed or did no damage. Demolisher tank in center penetrated the Monolith but only stunned it, and the Demolisher on the left only glanced the Command Barge which shook it. On the far right flank my Hellhound did major damage to his Warriors and only three remained after Reanimating!  In the center my Command HQ moved into range of the Wraiths and unleashed 8 plasma gun shots. All four guns overheated killing three while only doing one wound to the Necron snakes! 

TURN 2

 Top Turn 2 started with the Storm Ending (w00t) and a general advance. The three pitiful Necron Warriors on the Right Flank Portaled through the Monolith away from the armored advance; essentially conceding that objective to the Imperial Guard. The Wraiths assaulted the Command HQ Chimera; stunning it and popping off a gun. The Scarabs rolled all 6's for their movement for the second turn in a row and easily assaulted the Center Demolisher ever though it moved backwards. 40 attacks, 20 hits, 10 points of reduced armor... thank you back armor 11! The Destroyer Lord detached from the Destroyer Squad and made an attempt to attack the Left Demolisher on his own. He missed with all his attacks...

Bottom Turn 2 my Vendetta arrived on the left flank, and between it and the Melta Special Weapon squad inside, they were able to kill the Destroyer Lord who failed to reanimate. My center Demolisher, who now had Armor Value 4/3/1 (we called it "see through") moved backwards and dropped its shell on the Scarabs. The Swarm went to ground which saved two. My 10 man infantry unit came in from reserve in the center near the Wraiths and shot them up, doing no damage. My right flank units swung around the buildings and shot the Citan, only doing a single wound. My Infantry blob squad assaulted the center Warrior unit and brought it down to 4 with mass power weapon attacks.

TURN 3

Top Turn 3 the Storm Lord hopped off his Command Barge and assaulted the 10 man infantry unit that just arrived and murdered them. The Citan charged into the blob squad, and although killed three, the combined power weapons managed to take out the remaining 4 Warriors so the Citan took his second wound from fearless saves. The Monolith, now able to move, advanced to mid field and shot the "see through" Demolisher in the center and easily destroyed it. The Destroyers shot at the Vendetta but failed to roll and 6's. The Wraiths moved and assaulted the Hellhound, but because it had moved at Cruising Speed, they only Stunned it. On the far left, with a decent run roll, a Necron Warrior Unit advanced onto an objective near the Vendetta.

Bottom Turn 3 the two Melta Veteran units in Chimeras arrived up the middle and one of them destroyed the Command Barge. The Vendetta gathered up the Special weapon squad and moved to contest the left most objective and shot at the approaching Destroyers, killing one... oh wait, it reanimated! The stunned Hellhound popped smoke in anticipation for a point blank shot from the Manticore at the Wraiths who were still fighting it in combat. The Manticore did 9 hits on the 4 models and with bad armor save rolls, killed them all! On the far right flank the Infantry Command Squad in Chimera advanced onto an objective on that side of the board. The blob squad, unable to hurt toughness 7 Citan, lost a few more models, but held due to the Commissar.

TURN 4

Top Turn 4 the Storm Lord climbed up the ruined building where the Heavy Weapon Squad was missing with missiles all game and easily wiped them out. The Warrior Squad in the center of the Necron back field Portaled through the Monolith to escape the Hellhound that was now free of the Wraiths. After moving through the portal, only three Warriors were in range of the Vendetta, but one got a 6 which and immobilize it! Go Gauss Go! The Destroyers remained in cover and also shot at the Vendetta but were unable to damage it. The Spiders and remaining two Scarab bases charged into the IG blob squad. The Citan took out a couple but the power weapons all targeted the Spiders and Impressively did two wounds to each! 

Bottom Turn 4 the Manticore unleashed its final salvo of missiles and took out a handful of Warriors that had come through the Monolith Portal. The Citan missed with all of his attacks, and the combined Spiders and Scarabs killed everyone but the Commissar who proudly held, meaning my right flank was safe for another turn as all other units had been Portaled away from that flank by the Monolith. The Deolisher and the Chimera with Melta Vets on the left advanced and shot at the Destroyers, but were only able to kill one after reanimation. At this point in the game, the IG held one objective and were contesting the only Necron held Objective.

TURN 5

Top Turn 5 the Destroyers moved and contested the objective near the Melta Vets on the left and Stunned their Chimera while the Storm Lord assaulted and destroyed the Command HQ Chimera which had until now been stunned the entire game. The Citan finished off the Commissar and consolidated with the Spiders and Scarabs towards the IG right flank. Combined Gauss fire from the remaining Warrior Squads on the left targeted the Vendetta but did not damage it not enough to destroy it.

Bottom Turn 5 the Melta Vets in the center moved to claim the center objective in the building but because the Citan was still rising my damn world scape, their Chimera immobilized itself just shot. Ugh. My Hellhound swung around the ruins that the blob squad combat had been occupying for the majority of the game and placed its template so that it was hitting both Spiders, both Scarabs and the Citan... Yatzee! 5 ones lol. The Sentinels and the Infantry Command Chimera all shot at the Citan but did nothing. However, after shooting at the Monolith all game, my remaining Demolisher Cannon penetrated and destroyed it. We rolled for the game to continue ended on turn 5.

 Objective 1: Contested

Objective 2: Contested

 Objective 3: so close, Unclaimed

 Objective 4: Unclaimed

 Objective 5: Imperial Guard Claimed

So this turned out to be a VERY close game at turn 5. We both had some really bad rolling during the first two turns. The Storm Lord's lightning clouds ended after only striking down one unit and hitting no tanks and the Destroyer Lord failed to reanimate after not even hitting the Demolisher tank in combat. The first three times I had Penetrating hits on the Monolith they rolled 1s or 2s and my Command HQ lost 3 out of 4 plasma guns in their first volley! 

This game was a lot of fun and could have easily ended in the hands of the Necrons. Had the game gone an extra turn I might have been able to put models on one or two more objectives, but with the Storm Lord running around my back field and the Citan still with two wounds, it is unlikely that I would have been able to kill either of them and they would have easily contested any additional Objectives I might have tried to claim. I think any additional turns would have only helped the Necrons.

Personally I really enjoy playing against the Metal Undead. They have a lot of interesting units and nothing, initially, screams cheese except perhaps the Citan's Rising World Scape; but even that had little effect on a mostly static gun-line.

1500 point Shrike Thoughts

The local gaming community in Austin has been talking about reducing the size of standard pick-up games from 2000 points to a smaller number between 1850 and 1500. It has been a long time since 1500 points was the normal around town; 10 years maybe? Anyway it got me thinking about the differences in army list construction between 1500 and 2000.

After being used to 2000 for so long, 1500pts created quite a dilemma for me during army list construction. There is just not enough points to fill out two HQ slots, all the scoring units necessary for a 5 objective game, and the necessary Elite/Fast/Heavy slots to do the heavy lifting/killing.

Recently I've been toying around with a Shrike list, with heavy component of scouts, as a change of pace from Khan or Sicarius. I am hoping that the reduced price of my scoring units will leave me enough points left over to still bring a strong army at 1500pts.

HQ
Captain Shrike
Chaplain; jump pack, digi-lasers, melta bombs

TROOPS
Tactical Squad*10; power fist, combi-melta, melta gun, multi-melta
Drop Pod; locator beacon

Scouts*10; sniper rifles, combi-plasma, heavy bolter
Scouts*10; power fist, teleport homer

ELITES
Assault Terminators*5; thunder hammers*3, lightning claws*2

FAST ATTACK
Assault Marines*8; power first
Attack Bike; multi-melta

HEAVY SUPPORT
Devastators*5; missile launcher*4


~the idea is pretty simple. Infiltrate as close as possible with the assault scouts and assault marines+characters and hope for a first turn assault with both. Tac squad drops in first turn, combined with decent weight of fire from the sniper scouts and devs to weaken enemy before termis deep strike ASAP. It is a very aggressive army with a fairly major weak link: 20 scouts making up the majority of my scoring models. After a few games I'll post how it does. Any thoughts or words of wisdom for using Shrike or Scouts?

2000 point Hybrid SM list thought

Although I have been having success locally with my Sicarius list, it didn't preform as well as I would have hoped at the Alamo IGT. Aventine sudgested that I combine the Death Star unit from my Kahn list with the heavy shooting elements from my Sicarius list. The main issue with taking dedicated shooting units in a Kahn list is that I wont be able to outflank the whole army without leaving the Devs on their own to be shot up from the enemy's entire army.

Tomorrow is a local tournament where I can only imagine people will be testing out WarGames Con armies. Although I plan on playing narrative, I don't think I've played in a tournament since Alamo so this will be a good opportunity to try out this list. NTM I don't even remember the last time I took Kahn out...

Mantis Warriors 
HQ
(160) Kahn

(100) Chaplain

ELITES
(200) Assault Terminators*5; thunder hammers*3, lightning claws*2
(265) Landraider Redeemer; ex armor, multi-melta 

TROOPS
(215) Tactical Squad*10; power fist, combi-melta, plasma gun, multi-melta

(35) Rhino


(215) Tactical Squad*10; power fist, combi-melta, plasma gun, multi-melta

(35) Rhino

(200) Tactical Squad*10; power fist, melta gun, multi-melta
(35) Rhino


FAST ATTACK
(100) Attack Bikes*2; multi-melta*2

HEAVY SUPPORT

(170) Devastators*5; missile launcher*3, lascannon

(170) Devastators*5; missile launcher*3, lascannon


(100) Thunderfire Cannon 

Imperial Guard List Thoughts: 2000pts

I've been out of town a lot lately for work which has kept me from making a proper post, but I've been making good progress on my Nurgle Army for WarGames Con-Team Tournament next month. Look for pictures this weekend!

After WarGames Con is over I plan on putting the Mantis Warriors aside for the rest of the year and instead concentrate of making my IG army competitive and (more importantly) fun to play with again. I had a lot of success with my IG back when the 5th edition codex came out, but eventually they became boring and difficult to win with against the speed to Blood Angels.

Below is a hybrid mech/swarm list I would like to try out. It has a lot of scoring units, with plenty of mobility and a couple of decent tar pit units (30 man blob squad w/ commissar and an Armored sentinel).  Normally my lists have a lot of outflanking units but this army takes the enemy straight on will hopefully hold out.


HQ

(120) Command HQ; plasma gun*4, plasma pistol

(55) Chimera

TROOPS

(50) Platoon Command; flamer*4
(55) Chimera

(110) Infantry Squad; power weapon, grenade launcher, commissar; power weapon

(65) Infantry Squad; power weapon, grenade launcher
(65) Infantry Squad; power weapon, grenade launcher

(55) Infantry Squad; flamer

(55) Chimera

(75) Heavy Weapon Squad; auto cannon*3

(90) Heavy Weapon Squad; missile launcher*3

(125) Veterans*10; plasma gun*3, plasma pistol

(125) Veterans*10; plasma gun*3, plasma pistol
(110) Veterans*10; melta*3, plasma pistol

(55) Chimera

FAST ATTACK

(100) Valkyrie

(100) Valkyrie
(80) Armored Sentinel; lascannon, camo netting

HEAVY SUPPORT

(170) Battle Tank; heavy bolter*3

(180) Demolisher Tank; las cannon

(160) Manticore

I know this list is pretty typical of IG with nothing too crazy but any thoughts would be helpful.

Quick Nurgle Update

An escalation league has started locally which has given me the motivation to finally get my Nurgle army painted (been sitting in a box since the "newest" codex came out)...

The first month is 500 point lists:

Lord; MoN, wings, pf

Raptors*7; icon of nurgle, champion, melta bomb

Plague Marines*5; melta*2

Quick 2000 point SM List (Sicarius)

Mantis Warriors 
HQ
(200) Sicarius

(125) Librarian; terminator armor, gate of infinity, null zone

ELITES
(200) Assault Terminators*5; thunder hammers*3, lightning claws*2

(200) Assault Terminators*5; thunder hammers*3, lightning claws*2

TROOPS
(220) Tactical Squad*10; power fist, combi-melta, melta gun, las cannon
(75) Razorback; las cannon & twin plasma gun

(220) Tactical Squad*10; power fist, combi-melta, melta gun, las cannon

(75) Razorback; twin-assault cannon

(200) Tactical Squad*10; power fist, melta gun, multi-melta

(35) Rhino

(85) Scouts*5; combi-melta

FAST ATTACK

(65) Land Speeder Storm; multi-melta

HEAVY SUPPORT

(150) Devastators*5; missile launcher*3, multi-melta*1

(150) Devastators*5; missile launcher*3, multi-melta*1

~In Austin we are moving back up to 2000 points and since I had success with Sicarius at 1500 points I thought I would try my hand at 2000 with him. The army is pretty straight forward mech list with lots of shooting (something I never had in a Khan list). I played a similar army to this against Aventine's double Storm Raven army this week and we tied at 9 KPs a piece; very bloody!

Mantis Warriors Devastators & FLAGS Tournament 4/2/2011

2nd Company Devastators

Due to the hit and run and gorilla tactics employed by the Mantis Warriors, the chapter rarely took up defensive positions or utilized massed heavy weapon squads. It was only at the closing of the Badab war, when the Mantis Warriors had their backs against the wall, with no where else to go, that they began fielding Devastator units in mass. The Second Company even had to take the heavy weapon troopers out of multiple Tactical squads to form Devastator units, as there were no standing Devastator squads in the company.

Today might be Adepticon for some, but I'm going to a FLAGS tournament!!! The last couple of weeks I've been testing out lists with Sicarius so I can use my new Captain Hoenir model and Devastators for the first time in a tournament.

Mantis Warriors 
HQ
(200) (Captain Hoenir) Sicarius
(125) Librarian; terminator armor, gate of infinity, null zone

ELITES
(200) Assault Terminators*5; thunder hammers*3, lightning claws*2
(210) Terminators*5; heavy flamer, chain fist

TROOPS
(220) Tactical Squad*10; power fist, combi-melta, melta gun, las cannon
(75) Razorback; las cannon & twin plasma gun

(210) Tactical Squad*10; power fist, combi-melta, melta gun, multi-melta

(35) Rhino

HEAVY SUPPORT

(150) Devastators*5; missile launcher*4

(75) Razorback; twin-assault cannon

1500 Mantis Warriors List for FLAGS Tournament

Every first Saturday of the month Dragon's Lair in Austin, TX hosts a free 40k tournament. Most months it is a straight up three round tournament using the three missions and deployments out of the rule book with a few bonus points thrown in. The fourth tournament of the year is coming up and I am getting ready to take my Mantis Warriors to battle.

A couple of interesting things to note about the tournament in April is that it's 1500pts (what is this, England?!) and it's the same weekend as Adepticon. This means a lot of the usual (and honestly more competitive) subjects wont be around so I'm hoping I can place and grab some free loot!

Mantis Warriors 
HQ
(200) Sicarius

(125) Librarian; terminator armor, gate of infinity, avenger

ELITES
(135) Sternguard*5; combi-plasma*2
(80) Razorback; las cannon & twin plasma gun, dozer blaze

(200) Assault Terminators*5; thunder hammers*3, lightning claws*2

(210) Terminators*5; heavy flamer, chain fist

TROOPS
(210) Tactical Squad*10; power fist, combi-melta, melta gun, missile launcher
(35) Rhino

(220) Tactical Squad*10; power fist, combi-melta, melta gun, las cannon

(35) Rhino

FAST ATTACK

(50) Attack Bike; multi-melta

This is a different list than I have been running recently. Dropping down to 1500pts I really couldn't bring myself to include the Land Raider, and if I wasn't going to take that then Kahn had to go too. I've tried Sicarius a few times in the past and found him to be a lot of fun and his ability to improve one of my Tactical Squads should come in handy since I've only taken two scoring units. 

Chaplain Thoughts

Everyone in Austin seems to be getting ready for Adepticon but I've got my eyes set on a tournament just a little further down the road. Alamo 40K May 14-15th in San Antonio, Texas. I played there last year and had a blast (tournament held in a drinking hall, nice), although I went 1W-2L-2D on the weekend with my Mantis Warriors. This year I hope to fair a little better which has got me pondering over which Chaplain to take...?

The signature of my Mantis Warriors is a Death Star comprising of a Land Raider Redeemer filled with Assault Terminators led by Kahn. That makes Terminators with Furious Charge and Hit and Run with a character that causes Instant Death on a roll of a 6 to wound in combat. To top the unit off I throw in a Chaplain for fearless and to make sure Kahn hits enough times to land a 6 to wound on the charge. 

Cassius has been my go to man for a while because he makes an outstanding body guard with T6 and FNP. Often times I put him in contact with a hidden power fist to suck up any would be instant kill attacks on Kahn. He is also a steal at only +25 points over a standard Chaplain. The problem is that Chaplains only have 3 Attacks when not charging, which leaves something to be desired from an offensive point of view.

Lately however I've considered running a normal Chaplain with Digital Lasers. When Codex: SM first came out I scoffed at this upgrade. +10 points to only re-roll once to wound a turn. Why take that when Lightning Claws can re-roll all to wounds? Well obviously Chaplains can't take LCs and with so few attacks, being able to re-roll once to wound often times turns no kills into one kill, which makes it easily worth the points for a model with S4!

So the question is; do I go for defensive power or offensive power in my Death Star unit? Both have proved to be well worth the investment but I can only choose one.