The must-have unit

Ron over at FTW has asked the contributors to work on a collaborative post concerning the units we consider our, "must-haves".

My must-have unit is the second HQ choice.

Even in a 500 point list I always try to include two HQs.

Sure, they are not as damaging as the heavies or as flashy as the Elites, but they are solid and vicious in their own right.

Let's face it, the stat block is always better, the armor is always better, and the wounds are always better than your standard troops choice.

For example take the Shas'o XV-8 Commander suit. BS is 5 with the from the word, "go". Acute Senses, Deep Strike, Jet Pack, 4 wounds, a hard-wired drone controller, 4 attacks at initiative 3, and a 3+ armor save come standard. Add in a shield drone and another drone of your choice and you add a +4 invulnerable save and two ablative wounds to the mix.

Basically, your HQ looks something like this; hits on everything but a 1, has 6 wounds, if you take a twin-linked weapon system you will never miss (unless your dice hate you), 12" of move per round, the super-duper insta-kill wounds can be ablated to a shield drone, in short you have a nearly unkillable HQ unit on the board.

The only thing that would make it better is if you had two....

Think about it.

Working....

It has been a week since my last post. I am still working on the Arvus Lighter and have painted more of my Space Marine Chapter: Void Legion.

Finished the first Horus Heresy novel and picked up the second.

Currently reading the Soul Drinkers Omnibus.

Finished the Star Wars novel Deathtroopers. Quite a nice little book. An easy read.

Arvus Lighter part 3

Cockpit module has been attached. Foam buildup on the left and right side of the cockpit and a generous helping of joint compound to fill the gaps and build up the body.

Top and bottom edges have been beveled and the boarding ramp detail is nearly complete.

This must be finished for a Apoc game on November 14th.

Arvus Lighter part 2

Did some more work over the weekend.

The rear hull is taking shape. I am reinforcing the edges of the foam with styrene (plasticard for our friends across the pond). My styrene source is actually pretty good since it's free. I like using the blank credit cards that come with credit offers or empty gift cards. I have been saving for some time and have a stack about 1 1/2 inches tall. My filler of choice is drywall joint compound.

The cockpit module is coming along nicely.

Tau for the win!

Harrison (my son) took his 1500 point Tau army out for a spin this weekend against the Emperor's finest, the Ultramarines.

The mission was Annihilation and the deployment was Dawn of War.

Tau for the win, six kill points to two.

The MVP units of the game were the Kroot squad with Shaper (12 strong) and the Gun Drones (8 strong).

Tau forces

Shas'o with Fusion blaster, plasma rifle, and cyclonic ion cannon. HW drone controller; x1 shield drone

x12 Kroot with shaper

x12 Fire warrior squad

x1 Devilfish with smart missile system

x1 Hammerhead with burst cannons

x1 Ionhead with burst cannons

x3 stealth suit team; one with a fusion blaster

x8 gun drones

x2 piranha; one with a fusion blaster



Ultramarine force

x20 space marines

x1 dreadnaught

x10 terminators

x5 assault squad

x5 command squad with chapter master

x1 drop pod (command squad was in it)

There were more space marine forces. I am just not sure what they were.

What is the MacGuffin?

Seems to me that every army has it's own MacGuffin.

It's own specific niche talent/equipment/ability that sets it apart from other armies.

The Tau have markerlights and jetpacks. The Space Wolves have the four HQ and Grey Hunters options. Blood Angels have Death Company.

Those are the only armies I am familiar with.

What are the MacGuffins for the rest of the armies?

Are the MacGuffins balanced?

3...2...1...Liftoff!

Work on the Arvus Lighter has begun.



First I gathered raw materials and reference materials to begin plotting the hull construction. Hull is 5mm foam.

Top, bottom, and sides of the hull have been roughed out.

Assembly begins.

Blood Angels

I have seen a lot of rumors flying around the blogosphere lately concerning the Blood Angels. Rumors concerning a new codex.

This last weekend GW released a .pdf file of the Blood Angels codex that was presented back in 2007 in White Dwarf. On the front in big letters it proclaims "Fully Updated to 5th Edition rules".

So, why produce a new codex next year when resources were allocated to updating the existing one to 5th edition rules, this year?

I imagine the conversation went something like this....

"Hey, Jim can you update the current Blood Angels codex and get it ready to be a free .pdf downloadable from our website?"

"Uh, yeah. Don't we have the new Blood Angel's codex already written and waiting to go on sell next year?"

"Yeah, forget that. Let's throw the fans a bone on this one."

"Well, couldn't you use my help writing a new codex? Like say the Tau or the Dark Eldar?"

"No, Jim we don't need you help working on new product that we could sell. Get your ass in there and update the existing one so we can give it away for free."

"Ok...."

My call? No Blood Angels codex in 2010.

Successful corporations do not do, double work. They do not split their resources to work on the same project from two different directions.

Arvus Lighter Project

One of the great things about our hobby is the proliferance of really cool models.

I have admired the various vehicle models for years. I was, in my younger years, a sci-fi and military modeler. I was never very good mostly because I rarely finished the models, because I was too busy tweaking the build and zooming them around the living room.

Well, here I am years later and I have finished most of my models and even painted them (well, mostly).

Because I am addicted to cool models, it was not long before I was drawn towards all of the wonderful models that Forgeworld puts out. One of the models I really like is the Arvus Light shuttle. I do not like the price though.

So, I am going to try my hand at scratchbuilding one. I don't care if I never get to play it, I want one because it is a cool little design.

Besides, I can always make it an objective.

The First!

Welcome all.

This is the first entry of my first ever blog.

I have been playing Warhammer 40K for about three months now. I have also managed to get my son hooked on the plastic "crack".

I field a Space Marine army in my own "homebrewed" chapter, Void Legion.

My son fields a Tau army that I occasionally try my hand at playing also.

I will be posting more, soon.