Tournament Recap: TBS Comics Team Tournament, The Greater Good

The Battle Brothers met in Pensacola to partake in a 2 man Team Tournament over the weekend. Eight teams threw down the gauntlet in a 3 round event, I was running my T'au Seeker Missile List while Jarl Clem was running his Space Wolves backed up by Bobby G and a trio of Valkyries. So let's get going!

To get started, just a quick breakdown on the tournament format and scoring. Scores were cumulative for the two teammates and pairings were made accordingly. Highest scoring players on each team would play each other and the lower scoring would play each other. There were 20 possible points spread over Primary (10), Secondary (6) and Tertiary (4) Objectives. Victories were worth 100 points, ties 50 points and losses 0.




Primary Missions: Eternal War missions randomly determined by TO before each round - 10pts for a win, 5 points for a tie
Secondary Missions: the player with fewer points chooses one of the following (can't overlap with the primary objective):

• 2 Relics: Standard Relic rules, worth 3 points each
• Marked for Death: Prior to deployment, pick 3 enemy units. Each of these units destroyed is worth 2 points.
• Kill Points: Based off Power Level destroyed, 6 points to the player with the most KP at the end of the game.

Tertiary Missions: the four following are each worth 1 pt:

• Slay the Warlord: per the BRB
• Linebreaker: per the BRB
• First Strike: destroy an enemy unit in the first turn
• Big Game Hunter: the player that destroys the most expensive unit gets this objective

My List

Battalion

2x Commanders: 4 Missile Pods, 2 Gun Drones
Cadre Fireblade
2x Strike Team (5): Pulse Rifles; Shas'ui with Pistol and Markerlight
Kroot Carnivores (16) 

Outrider

Commander: 4 Fusion Blasters, 2 Gun Drones
2x Pathfinder Teams (5): Pulse Carbines and Markerlights, Shas'ui with Pistol
Tactical Drones (4): Gun Drones


Outrider

Longstrike: Railgun, 2 Gun Drones, 2 Seeker Missiles

3x Piranha Squadrons (3): Burst Cannons, 2 Gun Drones, 2 Seeker Missiles each

Hammerhead: Railgun, 2 Gun Drones, 2 Seeker Missiles

This is basically the same list I've been running for the last couple of months. I dropped the third Pathfinder team and some upgrades to take the Fireblade. The hope is that he'll be able to provide the first markerlight hit to cascade the Pathfinder teams. If Volley Fire ever becomes an issue then something has gone terribly wrong in the game.

The Games 

Round 1

Opponent: Jason Rutledge
Faction: Space Marines (Ultramarines)
Primary Mission: No Mercy
Secondary Mission: Marked for Death

For the Opening Round we drew Jason and his teammate Paul. Jason was running a Dreadnought list with 3 Redemptors equipped with the Plasma Incinerator (I'm sure I got that wrong) and 3 "Rifleman" Dreadnoughts. They were backed up by Guilliman and 4 Jump Pack Captains. The deployment was Hammer and Anvil on a desert board with some scattered ruins and rock formations. I selected his 3 Riflemen Dreadnoughts to be Marked for Death while he elected for the two Hammerheads and my Fusion Commander. I deployed heavily on my right flank to provide for some open firing lanes, units were sprinkled across the rest of the deployment zone to force his Captains into some small, designated areas. He deployed his Redemptors on his right flank with Guilliman and line the Riflemen up opposite my firebase anticipating the first turn. Fortunately for me, I won the roll off and he failed to seize.

Forgot to take pictures this game, so here's a Redemptor!

I scout my Pathfinders up into spotting positions and my Kroot fanned out to form a skirmish line. The solo Commander deployed in the middle of firebase declared Kauyon in preparation for the fusillade about to go downrange. I tactically forgot to bring my two reserve Commanders in on Turn 1, which would actually benefit me later on. My Fireblade and Pathfinders marked up two of the 3 Riflemen and between the Seeker Missiles, Hammerheads, and Missile Pods I was able to wipe out all three. This netted me all 6 Secondary points as well as First Strike on the opening salvo, so a very productive Turn 1 for the T'au. Jason held his Captains back and moved up with his Redemptors and Guilliman, drawing lines of fire on my Pathfinders and Kroot. He mauled both squads pretty badly but the two surviving Pathfinders passed their morale check and I burned the 2 CPs to keep the Kroot around and prevent giving up First Strike.

Turn 2 I broke out of my castle, sending one Piranha school towards the Redemptors, one around the back side of my DZ to prevent deep strikes, and a third streaking up the near table edge to try and get linebreaker. I dropped in my Warlord on the left flank so that he could draw LOS and range on the nearest Redemptor and my Fusion Commander midfield on the right to take shots at another. The first Redemptor took fire from 8 Missile Pods, 2 Railguns and a lot of small arms fire and eventually succumbed to the damage. The Fusion Commander was able to put a good bit of damage on his target and reduced the Redemptor down to 4 wounds. At this point, Jason's firepower was pretty well neutered, but he dropped the Captains in to try and charge my Piranhas running up the middle. Unfortunately for him, all 4 failed the 9" charge and took multiple wounds each to the overwatch. He did succeed in taking out the drones on the Fusion Commander, leaving open the opportunity for one of his Marked for Death objectives.

Turn 3 was the beginning of the end. I swarmed his Captains with S5 shots and one by one they fell. My Commanders dealt with the remaining two Redemptors with some timely 6s on the wound rolls by the Hammerheads. Guilliman stood alone. He charged into the Fusion Commander and ran him through with the Emperor's Sword scoring one of his Marks. Discarding the Commander broken body, Guilliman turns to see a school of Piranhas drawn up in a firing line. Pulse fire lashes out and engulfs Guilliman, driving him to the ground. The fusillade subsides and slowly Guilliman rises to his feet, wounded but very much alive. He charges once more, slicing wings from Piranhas and destroying several vehicles. As the survivors peeled off, Guilliman stared into the teeth of the remaining Xenos as the missiles arced in on him. In the top of the 5th Turn, the Primarch of the Ultramarines fell.

Result: Victory 20-2

Round 2

Opponent: Crissy Moore
Faction: Space Marines (Black Templars)
Primary Mission: Big Guns Never Tire
Secondary Mission: Marked for Death

So there was some crazy stuff that happened before this game even got started. My original opponent actually had to go to the hospital with food poisoning (he was fine just in rough shape that afternoon). Fortunately, Crissy was there with her army of Primaris Marines and agreed to step in and play. She was running Black Templars with Helbrecht, Assault Terminators and a Contemptor Dreadnought all loaded in a Stormraven, 3 squads of Intercessors, 3 Hellblasters, an Apothecary, Chapter Ancient w/ Banner (think that's right), and a jump Captain. She marked my 2 Pathfinder squads and one of my Strike Teams while I went with the Stormraven, Contemptor and a unit of Hellblasters. Two Objectives were in each deployment zone and we were deploying with Frontline Assault.

She won the initial roll off and elected to go first, but I seized the initiative! This was huge as the Stormraven would've caused significant issues if it had managed to get its cargo into my lines. With that in mind, it was target number one for me. I again declared Kauyon with my parking lot and remained pretty static. Due to her firepower, I kept two of my marked units out of LOS on objectives so my Markerlights were more constrained than usual but I still managed to get enough to fire off the Seekers at normal BS. The Fusion Commander dropped around his max range from the Raven as well as the Warlord who was just out of LOS from all of the Hellblasters. Between those 2 Commanders, Hammerheads and one of the Piranha squadrons I was able to down the Stormraven before it moved out of her DZ. Meanwhile, my Kroot had scouted and moved up the center of the board towards her big firebase with 2 Hellblaster units on the upper levels and Intercessors on the bottom floor. The Kroot peppered the Hellblasters before charging into the Intercessors. Her turn began with the Intercessors falling back out of combat and the Hellblasters turning the Kroot into deep fried chicken nuggets. The rest of her turn consisted of trying to get through to the Commanders, but fortunately for me my drones last long enough to protect them from the worst of the fire. The Contemptor managed to charge my warlord and do 3 wounds of damage (thank you Savior Protocols) and the Terminators failed their charge on the Fusion Commander.

Turn 2 began with some falling back on my part as well with the Commander getting away from the Contemptor and drawing LOS on the Hellblasters marked in the building the Kroot had attempted to gain access to. The Fusion Commander backpedaled into ruins and took some potshots at the Terminators. The Piranhas swarmed forward to get shots on the Hellblasters with either Burst Cannons/Pulse Carbines or swiveled out to get Seeker Missile shots on them. My Fusion Commander was able to finish off the Contemptor while the rest of my firepower chewed through the Hellblasters in the building. The Marked squad went down but due to the banner got to return fire into my Piranhas. Crissy managed to get some shots at my Pathfinders and Strike Teams while taking out some Piranhas.

Turn 3 opened with my Piranhas speeding up to try and clear out the Intercessors, while the rest of my units advanced up the central avenue. My Commanders continued to move in the middle of the pack, well away from the Terminators, while the Hammerheads remained stationary in the back corner to safely provide fire support. As my only Heavy Support options, they had to stay safe in a game that looked tight. The Hellblasters were cleared out along with the Intercessors drawing the ire of the Terminators who opened the bottom of the turn by moving to intercept the Piranhas making their way towards the DZ. Intercessors were able to draw LOS on my last Pathfinder in Squad 1 and finish him off. We entered Turn 4 knowing it would likely be the last turn so I moved two of my surviving Piranhas into her DZ and took some shots but failed to any real damage. Crissy mounted a counterattack that destroyed the Piranhas but allowed a single drone to escape, giving me Linebreaker.

All in all this was a very very tight game, and the score is not in any way indicative of how it went. I managed to get max score on Primary by virtue of 1) hiding two units (my Marked units) on objectives and 2) Killing the two Hellblaster units. I was able to get all 3 of the units I marked to Crissy's 1 and achieved 3 of the 4 Tertiary Objectives. Helbrecht survived the battle unscathed. Killing my Kroot gave Crissy First Strike.

Result: Victory 19-3

Round 3

Opponent: Chris Johnson
Faction: Adeptus Mechanicus
Primary: The Scouring
Secondary Mission: Dual Relics

We went into the 3rd Round sitting in 1st Place by one point over the hometown crew from TBS Pensacola. I drew Chris and his Adeptus Mechanicus snake themed army (you can see some of the conversions below) while Adam took on the abomination of Magnus, Mortarion, and a Renegade Knight piloted by Gary Moore (no relation...we don't think anyways). It was the Scouring so obviously we'd be duking it out over objectives. As we had the same score, we diced off for Secondary and Chris chose to do the Dual Relics. The deployment was Search and Destroy which was convenient as a giant pillar dubbed Isengard dominated the center of the board. Objectives were pretty well spread with 3 in No Man's Land, 2 in his DZ and 1 in mine. It ended up that the Superior Objective was on my left flank and the Inferior was dead middle of my zone. Setups like that make for easy decisions on what has to be done.

Chris was running Cawl, a Datasmith, 2 units of 3 Destroyers with Grav, a 6 man unit of Breachers with something long ranged and nasty, 3 Dragoons, 2 big squads of Vanguard and 2 units of Sniper Rangers, and Celestine. The Dragoons were deployed forward opposite my Kroot followed by the Breachers then back up by Cawl, the Destroyers and the Infantry.

I won the roll for first turn and immediately proceeded to remove the Breachers from the board. I don't remember what guns they had but I wanted no part of them. My Fusion Commander dropped in on the superior objective and was able to take out one of the Dragoons while my Kroot snatched up a Relic and scooted into some trees, albeit far too close to the Mechanicus lines. The remaining Dragoons charged into my Pathfinders and Kroot, destroying both units but leaving themselves vulnerable to my return fire. A good bit of fire power and psychic attacks were directed at my Fusion Commander who managed to survive with 3 wounds and no drones remaining. His Infantry scurried up onto the objectives near his DZ which provided them with good fire positions on my Piranhas. Celestine made a beeline for my frontlines.

My Turn 2 was equally devastating as Longstrike and friends destroyed the 2 remaining Dragoons, my Missile Commanders removed the Destroyers from play and the wounded Commander nuked the the Primaris Psyker. Chris followed up in the bottom of the turn by charging Celestine into one of my Commanders and the Tactical Drones, tying up the Hammerhead in the process. I lost a couple Piranhas to Cawl's shooting as well as Fire Warriors to some of his Vanguard. Celestine swung in but I was able to put most of the wounds onto the drones allowing the Commander to live.

I fell back from combat and was able to shoot Celestine to death (of course she came back though). At this point, I had started to spread out and go towards objectives on my flanks. Chris finished off my Fusion Commander and had his Datasmith fending off some drones for the Super Objective. There was a lot of back and forth at this point in No Man's Land, but I was able to bring Cawl down through weight of fire and the Hammerheads were able to down Celestine again. The Piranhas cleared the Vanguard off of the Objectives leaving only his Rangers and a Company Commander when time was called. Very tight game but I was able to take control early by destroying the Breachers and Destroyers. With his ranged firepower gone, I was able to move much more freely around the board.

Max points for me and he picked up First Strike from the Kroot. Really fun game and great banter, the movie quotes were on point.

Result: Victory 20-1

Results

Adam managed a tie against Gary in the 3rd round so we finished the tournament with 540 points. Unfortunately the guys in third were able to jump us and take First Place with 588. Really fun event and we had some great games. I finished 3-0 and was one point shy of max points for the event which was good for the highest individual score, so couldn't be too upset. Going first every game was certainly helpful as it ensured my alpha strike got off, but I'm very pleased with the amount of shots I can put downrange after the initial seeker missile strike.

The next event up is NarbyCon in Gautier, MS on December 9. It's a Highlander event so you're only allowed to bring 1 of any unit in the list. Should be a lot of fun and I'll definitely be doing some variations on this list to try and get something similar there.

Thanks for reading!
Tau'va

Fenris Update

Fenris Update

It has been to long that I have posted something about my Space Wolves. I have fallen into heresy with the new Daemon Primarchs. They are very strong, but I am setting out to bring the Space Wolves to the top tables.

I played in a local team event this past weekend were we took second place (thanks to John Moore carrying me on his back!) This was my list.

BN

HQ – Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield)

HQ – Rune Priest w/ Jump Pack (Rune Axe & Plasma Pistol)

TR – Intercessor Squad

TR – x2 Grey Hunter Squads (5 Man squads w/ 1 plasma gun in each)

FA – Thunderwolf Calvary (Storm Shields & Frost Claws)

HS – Hellblaster Squad

SCD

LoW – Guilliman

HQ – Celestine

HQ – x2 Primaris Psykers

AWD

FL – x3 Vulture Gunships (Heavy Bolter & Twin Punisher Cannon)

Overall I went 1-1-1.

Round 1 I played an admec list with a Knight, but just over powered it fairly easily. It was  a blood bath and we each killed a lot of units, but in the end, I had a major victory.

Round 2 I played Grey Knights with 5 Storm Ravens. We played on a table with zero line of sight blocking terrain and I did not really have a chance to even play.

Round 3 I went against a Magnus / Mortarion / Renegade Knight list that I took to a tie.

Now on to how my units did:

HQ – Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield)

·      Overall Score B+

·      Over this guy can hit like a tank. With 4 Attacks and 7 wounds he is a CC weapon that has to be dealt with.  Solid HQ choice with great mobility, and I will be using him in the future.

HQ – Rune Priest w/ Jump Pack (Rune Axe & Plasma Pistol)

·      Overall Score B-

·      The Space Wolf index psychic powers are not the greatest. Smite is always good, but nothing devastating or that useful after that. Giving him a jump pack to let him move around is critical. 3 attacks with the force axe is ok. I will continue to use him as well for smite and mobility.

TR – Intercessor Squad

·      Overall Score B+

·      I really enjoy these guys. 10 wounds and good weapon makes them a solid troop choice. With Chapter Approved possibly lowering their points, I will be using these guys in a bigger roll in my troop slot.

TR – Grey Hunter Squads (5 Man squads w/ 1 plasma gun in each)

·      Overall Score C

·      These guys are known as the “bread and butter” troops for the Wolves, but when compared to other army troop choices, they are ok. To me they did a job at holding objectives, but when targeted, they melted away. They will be taking a back seat to the Intercessors.

FA – Thunderwolf Calvary (Storm Shields & Frost Claws)

·      Overall Score C+

·      They are tough to kill and work as good protection for characters, but in CC they are not the same as they used to be. They are just too expensive for their output. Maybe they will get a point decrease, but until then I will not be using them very much.

HS – Hellblaster Squad

·      Overall Score B

·      These guys can put out a lot of damage. It is a good thing and a curse at the same time. If they are not singles out and destroyed, they do some major damage to what they shoot at.  They are a little expensive, but will continue to be a choice of mine in list building

LoW – Guilliman

·      Overall Score A

·      Just a solid choice for any list that can take him. His 12” re-roll 1s bubble makes him extremely useful in this list (not as good as if they were Ultra Marines). A beat stick in close combat. He will almost always be an auto include in my list until Russ comes back from the Warp.

HQ – Celestine

·      Overall Score A

·      Pound for Pound, she is the best unit in the Imperium to me. At only 150 points (not taking her bodyguards) she can move all over the board and can beat almost anything in CC. Will also be an auto include to any list.

HQ – Primaris Psykers

·      Overall Score B

·      No Malefic Lord, but still a good Smite jockey.  I will keep these guys in my back pocket if I need to fill a 40-point HQ slot, but not going to be my first choice.

FL – Vulture Gunships (Heavy Bolter & Twin Punisher Cannon)

·      Overall Score A

·      Wow! for 160 points I take these guys and deep strike them into the battle. Each one has a Heavy 40 Twin Punisher Cannon to destroy all of the troops that it wants. Not a perfect solution, but I feel that 3 of these guys will stay in my list for a long time.

I was happy playing this list and had some really good games. I will continue to make some adjustments to my list until we make the All Father proud.

Jarl Clem

Warzone Atlanta Battle Report - Jarl Clem

Jarl Clem here with my War Zone Atlanta 2017 Battle Report for everyone!

I have been playing now for about 2 years, and I have been fortunate to travel to some great events with some great friends. That being said I believe that I have more fun at WZA than any other event (ATC is a very close second)

On to the report.

Round 1: Win 31 - 6

Played against Shawn Phippen from Team Bird Dog out of South Georgia. He was playing the big three. Mortarion, Magnus, and Aetaos’Rau’Keres (aka Alphabet Turkey). He went first and came straight for me. Aetaos’Rau’Keres has a 60’ 2d6 shooting attack that took Magnus down to 3 wounds remaining! I was starting to think this would not be so good. He did make a fatal mistake and moved him way in front. I was able to get some serious smite damage on him. I then charged him with Mortarion and two daemon princes. I removed his invulnerable save with “Death Hex” got him down to 3 wounds. On his 2nd turn Aetaos’Rau’Keres ran for his life, but still shot Magnus to finish off his 3 wounds. He moved Magnus and Mortarion in to block and do some serious damage. It was interesting when each of us had a Mortarion and working through the 1- toughness, and his mortal wound ability at the beginning of each fight phase. He was not able to deal much damage to me from bad rolls. After that I was able to capitalize big time. On my 2nd turn I was able to get Magnus and Mortarion down to almost nothing before finishing them both off in turn three. Mortarion then went and killed Aetaos’Rau’Keres to seal the game.

Round 2: Loss 12 – 25

Round 2 I had to play against Mike Sanchez, and his Imperial Guard. The mission consisted of three relic objectives that we had to move towards our opponent’s board edge. As always I love to hate playing Mike. He is still my kryptonite. This round was after lunch and the adult beverage intake had increased dramatically. It was a back and forth I kill stuff / then he kill stuff kind of game. Highlight was Mortarion making about 50 saves during the match. In the end he just had too many bodies for me to deal with. I had one relic, he had one relic and the third was the goal we were both trying for. And with objective secured rules, his one infantry guy enabled him to have control of the objective at the end of turn 5. As always when I need the game to go to turn 6 so Magnus can slap some folks around, it ends with a roll of a 1. I like to say he only beat me because the game ended in turn 5, but I am sure that even if we would have continued, I would not be able to defeat my kryptonite.

Round 3: Loss 13 – 27

The last game of day one was against Christopher Taylor the second GCWA player I had to play. Remember when I said that adult beverage intake had increased in round 2? Well the 3 match was actually very difficult to play. And I do not recall a lot from this game, but what I do is as follows. Magnus and Mortarion died from 1,000,000 Eldar shots. Then the Avatar teleported around and killed everything else. Pooka is a solid player and Eldar is scary good. As the codex is played with more, I have no doubt they will reign supreme again.

Well that was the end of Day one. I did feel kind of down on myself (after I sobered up) for going 1-2 after such a solid win in the first round. Both games were against great guys and I got battle points in both games. A lot of us then proceeded to go eat dinner and enjoy the rest of the night and watch some college football.

Round 4 Loss 15 - 18

Round 4 was against Fabio Van der Merwe. The mission had me at a major disadvantage going into the round with kill points way in his favor. My list was much more powerful that his and an interesting match. This was another game that would have possibly have gone my way if we went to turn 6. I made a bad mistake in turn 3 that sent me down a path I could not recover from in 5 turns. He was shooting the crap out of my troops and just raking up kill points. I decided to grab the relic and go hide out of range. Well after doing math it would not make a difference at that point if the game ended due to kill points. The only way I could win was kill all of his units. I then moved back up and almost did this. Magnus did what he normally does and just kill everything. In the end though it was another loss on the weekend. Really fun game though!

Round 5 Loss 16 – 27

Round 5 was against Clark Welch with his Eldar list. It was another really bad match for me. His troops again sent 1,000,000 shots into Magnus and Mortarion and they both died before the end of turn two. I tried to play objectives, but he has way to much firepower to handle. In the end he was able to win easily, but I took a bunch of those space elves to the warp with me.

In the end I had 87 Battle Points and went 1 – 4. This put me in 57th ranking that. I learned it definitely pays to work as hard as possible to earn points. Painting score I was 5 points off from max score and I was picked as one of the 6 tied for best sportsmanship (which I was really surprised on) Looks like my final ranking in the event was 15th overall, but personally I look at the 57th ran

Gods Among Mortals - Primarchs

The Primarchs...Sons of the Emperor, molded from his own flesh to be the pinnacle of Humanity. When the Great Crusade swept across the stars, the Space Marine Legions were at the forefront. Led by the Primarchs, demigods of war. They were Statesmen and Generals, Builders of Civilization, Beacons of Hope in a Galaxy long dark. Until the Heresy, when 9 of the Emperor's Sons turned against their father and set the galaxy and Imperium aflame. Once the dust settled, the Emperor lay mortally wounded and interred within the Golden Throne, while two of his loyal sons were dead as Ferrus Manus fell on Istvaan V and Sanguinius died aboard the Vengeful Spirit fighting Horus. The traitors were put to flight with most retreating into the Eye of Terror after the Death of Horus. Two fled into the Galactic East, but all continued the Long War against the Imperium they had once helped forge...

I love a good science fiction story. You get all the fantastical elements of fantasy, but there's a certain element of realism as it's set in a world that's based on your own. The Horus Heresy is a fantastic example of this. I remember when I first started playing 40K, I was immediate drawn to the T'au for their technology and definitively sci-fi nature. It also helped that at the time they were the "good guys" in a galaxy full of bad guys. But they aren't the focal point of the story, this has always been a story of mankind surviving in the Grimdark and as such the greatest heroes invariably come from the Imperium. When I branched out to start my second army, it was the Blood Angels...the sons of the Angel, Sanguinius. If you don't know their story, I would encourage you to go read the background particularly their origins on Baal and their last stand at the Imperial Palace during the Battle of Terra. You want the hero trope? These guys have it. Nobility, loyalty, martial prowess, respect of peers and love of those below them. The Siege of the Imperial Palace has Sanguinius holding the last gate alone while Daemons and his traitorous brothers attempt to breach the Emperor's last stronghold. It's a story of valor and sacrifice.

For the longest time, I wanted to see this on the tabletop. The greatest champions of humanity squaring off in 28mm scale, how much cooler could it get? Alas, the loyalists were dead or vanished with the exception of Roboute Guilliman who was mortally wounded and preserved in stasis. The traitors were dead or banished to the Eye of Terror (with the exception of Alpharius...maybe) and more concerned with the matters of daemonhood than finishing the fight they started. So we had the stories to sustain us, and the progeny of these demigods to push around the table as they fought out the Long War.

Then Forgeworld began its character series and slowly the Primarchs returned. One by one miniatures were released of the Emperor's Sons during the height of the Great Crusade. We finally had Primarchs in plastic...er...resin! But this series was for their Horus Heresy series and as such we didn't get to see the Primarchs as they exist now. Well then whispers started through the rumor mill. The warp was opening and the lost 13th Company of Space Wolves were returning...the Wulfen. And their return heralded something darker and more exciting, the return of a Primarch - Magnus. This first kit released towards the end of 7th Edition and was met with overwhelming acclaim by players across the spectrum. Not only was it an exquisite model, but the rules were amazing. Magnus was a monster on the battlefield and a psyker beyond compare, he was truly a demigod of war made plastic.

From there, Games Workshop announced a new mini-campaign called the Gathering Storm. This series culminated in the resurrection of Roboute Guilliman, healed of his wound by the technology of Arch Magos Bellisarius Cawl of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Guilliman quickly took command of the Ultramarines and made for Terra. Along the route, the crusade fleet was assailed by daemons of all four chaos gods, headed by his traitorous brothers. Of note, Mortarion and Fulgrim made appearances along the way and Magnus actually dueled with Guilliman on the surface of Luna. This heralded the release of Mortarion in plastic with the release of 8th Edition and the Death Guard as a playable faction. Now the rumor mill is in full swing again that another Loyalist Primarch will return around Christmas in a new Triumvirate set. All very exciting but where has this left the game we all love to play?

Gods of War

Primarchs returning to the 40K universe has been nothing short of revolutionary, both in the fluff and on the tabletop. In 7th Edition, Magnus was monstrous psyker that could seemingly cast powers at will and destroy most everything he touched or Gaze of Magnus'ed at. Guilliman was a juggernaut in his own right, but he really shined as your warlord where he took all of the warlord traits. Guilliman was a force multiplier that could intervene when necessary.

Now for those of you who have been playing 8th Edition, you've likely either played with or lined up against a Primarch. Magnus is still a psyker beyond compare, Mortarion is the Reaper, and Guilliman is the Lord Commander of the Imperium and reroll specialist extraordinaire. Recent majors have seen Magnus and Mortarion team up in a list known in some circles as the Bash Brothers (queue D2: The Mighty Ducks for nostalgia purposes). While they've been doing their tag team thing, Guilliman has been seen in every Imperium army you can imagine, providing all manner of rerolls and morale boosting abilities while also tossing in an extra 3 command points to be used to your heart's content. He really shines in an Ultramarine list where he opens up even crazier benefits.

So what does this mean when we get to the competitive side of things? Well as mentioned above, these are some potent lists. Guilliman Gunlines were one of the dominant forces in the early days of 8th. Magnus has been a staple in Daemon lists, particularly surrounded by his most diminutive of daemons - Brimstones. Mortarion really shook up the meta along with the emergence of his Death Guard as a new faction. Death Guard on its own is a potent force, one might even say it's disgusting. The Lord of the Death Guard provides a centerpiece model that packs a fearsome punch in close combat. Add a Sorceror with Warp Time to run him up and you've got an absolute beat stick model in combat turn 1.

The Impact on the Meta

In short, there are a lot of very good lists built around these Primarchs. Looking at Warzone Atlanta, there was one Bash Brothers list in the Top 5 Overall and at least one Magnus List piloted by Robert Chandler. I don't recall seeing Guilliman in one of the Top 5 but he's been showing up in high ranking lists since his release. What we've seen with these three models in particular, are very similar army styles (for each respectively) that are becoming more and more prevalent. From following some of Chandler's posts, his Magnus list faced off against multiple other Magnus lists over the course of the event. While I don't believe the meta at large is suffering due to the prevalence of these armies, it does lend itself to a repetitive cycle when you start seeing the same list over and over at events.

It's usually the same culprits. Magnus will be seen lounging around with the Changeling and lots of Brimstones. Mortarion will be surrounded by Poxwalkers, Nurglings and Bloat Drones. Both will likely have some Malefic Lords hanging around along with a scattering of daemon princes. Tzeentch and Nurgle armies featuring these Primarchs will likely be similar based off the patron god of choice. Guilliman will have more variety to his lists, but will largely be centered around a potent firebase of either Astra Militarum or Space Marines. Early variants were based around Razorback's toting lascannons or Stormravens with Guilliman at the center granted rerolls.

The tag team list of Magnus and Mortarion is another beast altogether, but you'll still see the Changeling and Brimstones added in as the screen. Mortarion will usually be running the opposite flank with a Sorceror casting Warptime. I've seen variations on this list but the bulk of it is fairly set in stone.

Basically these are solid lists that must be prepared for, much in the same way that you have to prep for Astra Militarum if you're intending to compete in a tournament environment.

How to Beat a Primarch

So that leads us to the pay off, how do you beat a Primarch? Each Primarch requires a different touch as they're very different in what they're attempting to achieve.

Magnus: The original plastic Primarch is arguably the toughest to deal with by virtue of his invulnerable save rules and the presence of the Changeling. If you give Magnus a Psychic Phase, he'll likely have a 3++ with rerolls of 1 and will have a -1 to hit with the Changeling nearby (this second one will be in effect regardless). With Magnus already being extremely tough, the odds of wounding him are severely hampered due to these defensive buffs. So there are two recommendations for dealing with him: 1) if given the opportunity, alpha strike him 2) pile on the mortal wounds. These options aren't mutually exclusive but if you're going second the odds of being able to pull off a successful alpha strike dimension greatly. Mortal wound are the most reliable way I've found of removing him from play. The Changeling still causes issues with many standard units but if you can pick up any sort of reroll or BS boost, then it becomes much more manageable.

Mortarion: For a model with a special rule called Disgustingly Resilient, it may be surprising to some that he's not nearly as resilient to incoming fire as Magnus. The reroll 1s and boosted invulnerable save aren't present leaving Mortarion with a 3+/4++/5+ defense. In my experience, the best way to deal with Mortarion is massed amounts of fire. If you can squeeze in some high damage shots, go for it but the goal when dealing with Mortarion is force as many wounds on him as you can. Eventually statistics will take over and he'll succumb. Keep in mind, you're probably going to have to sacrifice a unit or two to the Reaper.

Magnus/Mortarion: This one deserves special entry. Don't take this game like you would a game against Imperial Knights. Target priority is essential here and my recommendation is deal with Magnus first and deal with him as quickly as possible. The guidance above still holds true, but what you don't want to have is two Daemon Primarchs flying into your lines. Deal with Magnus before he can get his defenses up, then turn your attention to Mortarion (who will likely be very very close). Now obviously if Magnus is just hanging out in the back not doing much, shift your attention to the Grim Reaper flying at you. Just make your shots count, remove one of these guys as quickly as possible.

Roboute Guilliman: Ah the Lord Commander of the Imperium. Guilliman presents an entirely different dynamic in that he's protected by the Character rule and 9 wounds. For Guilliman, I'd recommend playing around him. Your opponent will have valuable (and targetable) units surrounding him that are doing the bulk of the damage. Remove these and force Guilliman to come to you. The alternative is that when Guilliman decides to move up the field, he's almost certainly going to kill some things. He's too good not to, but if you can take apart the army around him then you stand a good chance of winning.

Obviously this is all easier said than done, but that's what makes the game fun. Finding ways to overcome the odds and emerge with victory...or die in the attempt.

Final Thoughts

Primarchs are a pretty polarizing addition to the game. Some people love that the Emperor's Sons are returning while others see it as a significant step up in power creep for the most popular armies. I know for my part, it's tough seeing powerful centerpiece models for Chaos and the Imperium while the rest of us have nothing even close to that level. It would be nice to see different army builds featuring the Primarchs. How cool would it be to see competitive lists featuring Magnus, Ahriman and the Rubric Marines? Or Mortarion and Typhus leading the Deathshroud to battle surrounded by an army of zombies? Guilliman heading up the First Company Veterans of Ultramar like we saw in the Gathering Storm? Perhaps this goes back to GW's need for balance as the lists above simply wouldn't be as efficient as those I mentioned higher up, they would be awesome to see though.

All in all, I feel like Primarchs have added a level of grandeur that had been missing from the game. The heroes and villains of old returning for the End Times is a story I can get behind. Hopefully their introduction, as well as the rumored Loyalist returning at Christmas, bodes well for the rest of our armies down the line. If nothing else, my hobby queue will remain full.

Tau'va

Reading and Context: RAW vs RAI and the In Between

It's the age old argument in the 40K community: "Well the rules say this which technically means..." versus "Well technically yes, but there's no way that's what they were intending..."
We've all been there and have likely made both of these arguments when it's been of benefit to us. That's not an indictment on anyone, both arguments have merit and are worthy of consideration, but I want to discuss when it's appropriate to take one stance over another.

We've all been there at one point or another. There's a weird rules interaction that doesn't seem like it should work the way your opponent says it does. The unit entry doesn't make sense with how a rule is written. Contradictory rules, etc.. Warhammer 40K is a complex game and with hundreds of pages of rules covering 2 dozen armies, situations like these arise often. Even the tightest ruleset will have unintended interactions when you have as many variables and moving pieces (no pun intended) as a tabletop wargame. So how should we interpret the rules when situations like these occur?

Times When They Broke Their Own Rules

Let's dive in with some examples. Some of these have been rectified via FAQ/Errata or were simply from a past edition, but they all fall into this conversation in one way or another. So let's take a look at some of the more over the top ones.

1. Celestine and her Doppelgangers: The release of 8th Edition saw a complete rewrite of every unit in the game. While most units transitioned reasonably well as far as rules were concerned, there were naturally some that had some hiccups. Celestine was one of these, for the simple reason that the writers forgot to include "Unique" as part of her rules. This meant that per RAW, you could have as many Celestines in your army as points and detachments would allow. Clearly this was never the intention of the rules team and it was updated via Errata pretty quickly, but it still provided a humorous rules discussion. Disclaimer: I don't know of anyone who actually tried to pull of this list, TOs and gaming groups were pretty quick to laugh this one off. And rightly so.
2. Longstrike and Old One Eye: Examples of special characters who didn't provide their buffs to themselves when clearly they were meant to. This came about early in 8th Edition and was part of the early learning curve related to Keywords. Longstrike has since been updated and I believe that the new Tyranids codex fixed Old One Eye, but still on release these were issues.
3. Longshot Pulse Rifle: Sniper drones are armed with this weapon which is a sniper variant of the standard pulse rifle. The Cadre Fireblade has the Volley Fire rule which states that pulse pistols, carbines and rifles benefit from VF. So does that include the Longshot Pulse Rifle? The faction focus pre-8th Edition seemed to indicate this was the case and was signed off on by GW, but do the rules actually support that?
4. Volley Fire: Another T'au argument, what is the definition of "an additional shot"? Is it a single extra dice roll or is it another attack with the weapon? I'll refrain from sharing my thoughts (shot = dice...oops).
5. Culexus vs Dark Reapers: If you're targeting the Culexus, your weapon WS/BS is 6+. The Dark Reapers always hit on a 3+. Who wins?

These are just a few of the questions I've seen pop up since 8th Edition released and previous editions were just as bad. Assuming we all are operating on a competent level of reading comprehension and are willing to be objective, how do you interpret rules that are seemingly contradictory or wrong?

Rules of Thumb

While the only hard and fast rule for resolving these disputes is to dice off and keep playing, we need a little more if we're intending to play the same rule over and over. For that you need consensus or clarification. Consensus can be something as simple as a house rule. This could even extend to some rules that a group feels are unfair as written. Clarification will come from GW itself or a third party group like the ITC that provides an FAQ or Errata. Ideally, the company that produces the game will provide clarity for how they want their game to be played, and recently GW has been very good about releasing these FAQs in a timely manner (some would argue TOO often but that's a separate issue).

Here are my two rules:
1. Take the most conservative interpretation of the rule that still abides by the rule.
2. Apply Occam's Razor. The simplest solution that adequately answers the question should be used.

If you look through some of the rules debates above, these rules have some easy applications. Celestine is clearly unique and should be played as such. The lack of "Unique" was clearly an oversight so you would play by the rules as intended rather than as written. The others have various applications but when you get down to it, these two rules will generally allow you to arrive at the correct interpretation. Longstrike and OOE can buff themselves. Drones don't explode. Volley Fire gives an extra dice. Culexus vs Dark Reapers is...ok that one had to be FAQ'ed, no easy way around it.

Playing Rules as Written tends to lead to abuses of the rules set in most situations but isn't necessarily a wrong or illegal way to play the game. Let's go back in time to 7th Edition and the age of Death Stars. I feel like it's a safe assumption that Azrael was never intended to be attached to a unit of 90 Fenrisian Wolves to provide his 4++ and FNP from warlord trait to that entire unit. I can't imagine that was something that GW intended, but with formations, allies, and independent character rules as they were, this was entirely within the rule set.

Here's what this all boils down to, RAW and RAI are both valid methods of interpreting the rules so long as there is an objective standard on what the rules are trying to accomplish. The Celestine debate should clearly be played RAI. Death Stars were clearly an issue of RAW. Personally, I'd say that there's a line of demarcation. Competitive play should try to stick to RAW as much as possible so that players have that objective baseline to draw from, while casual play should stick to RAI so as to produce a more fun game and allow for house rulings.

Final Thoughts

Whichever way you may tend to lead on your interpretation of the rules, make sure you go into any game (competitive or casual) with the intent that you're going to have fun. It's part of the social contract we all enter into when we put models on the table and start rolling dice. With that in mind, I refer back to my two rules which sum up to simply using the least abusive interpretation of the rules. Some good ways to get clarification, though, are to look at precedent, FAQs, Errata, and examples from the rulebook.

Precedent: See if there's a similar rule elsewhere that you can use as analogy. As much as some people will want to claim that each situation is unique, there's a lot of overlap. Find a similar case that has a resolution and you'll probably have your answer.

FAQ/Errata: GW provides these on their own webpage for every current publication. Keep the most recent copy handy so that you can refer back to any rules that may have been changed or clarified. Many times I've been in a rules discussion and the other person cites the original version which has since been updated. Don't be stuck in the past.

Examples: These may come from the rulebook or from the designer's commentary or another official source, but GW has long provided examples of how they intend their rules to work. Even if it's just on a basic level.

Bottom line is that this is a game. It's designed to have fun with friends and you should never lose sight of that. Don't sacrifice civility and sportsmanship just so that you can abuse a rules loophole. As with most things, the solution lies in the middle of the two sides. Always try to play the game as it was intended to be played while still utilizing all of the tools at your disposal within the rules themselves. Sometimes you get lucky and have a perfectly legal loophole, enjoy it while it lasts! But if you find yourself playing the "Well technically I can do this, if I do this and this" you may want to take a step back. Anyways, thanks for reading and roll that hard six.

Tau'va