News - Blog & Rumors

White Dwarf mystery

As you've no doubt noticed, I've not been updated in quite some time. Fortunately, I've made enough headway with my other duties that I can begin to post some fresh articles. I've got 2 Battle Reports, an interesting bit on 40k Metrics, and some new and interesting list previews that I hope to have done this week. So, keep an eye out for those and do feel welcome to offer feedback on any of them. :)


In other news, there have been pictures floating about of a hidden message shown on the side of this year's White Dwarf magazines when the spines are aligned. Now, upon inspection, the image appears to be a Dark Angel. Many believe this to be a confirmation that Dark Angels will be the starter army of 6th Edition. However, I wonder if it could be a mural of the Space Marine legions. Seeing as how the Dark Angels are the 1st legion, it would follow that they'd come first in a display. Time will ultimately tell, either way, but I thought it interesting to look at it from a slightly different perspective. :)


And in other news, the little birdy who I get my own rumors from has informed me that the 'leaked' 6th Edition rules that went out in the last month are, in fact, fake. This leaves me quite crestfallen, though I've just received my Razorback Turret sets from Chapter House Studios; those should provide ample distraction from my new-rules-woes. :)

Battle Report - Team Battle

Test battle against Black Templar

So, this last Sunday, Tom and I got together to test out our Team Shenanigans list(s). Our intention was to travel to the not so local game store that the event will be held at in order to familiarize ourselves with the terrain and the meta there. Well, as our lack of luck would have it, they were closed on Sundays. So we made the long drive home to play at our regular store. We wound up fighting 2,000 points of Black Templar because Donovan's partner wasn't able to make it. We learned some pretty interesting things.

Weekend Update

Amidst a mountain of class assignments and preparations for this weekend's Team Shenanigans tournament, I don't know if I'll be able to get any articles posted, but there are several interesting ones on deck. Keep an eye out for them. :)

List Preview - Team Doubles

Time to team up!

Coming up in just one week is a team tournament at a not quite local game store. It's a Team Shenanigans tournament based on breaking lists. Being a team tournament, my interest was immediately piqued. So, Tom and I began, straight away, to look at what sort of broken shenanigans we were able to muster. With 1 HQ and 2 troops as well as only a thousand points per player, nothing we could come up with had the staying power to be promising. So, rather than trying to game the system, we decided this would be a wonderful test for our refined balanced team lists in preparation for next months events. What I'm asking of here is for any extra advice we can gain towards our lists. If there's any way to get a better edge that we've missed, then I want to know about it. Well, here they are.

Weekend Update

I've had to postpone my model review for the Stormraven due to some slight difficulties, but I do hope to have the book and game reviews up this weekend. With any luck, I might even get a battle report for Sunday up by Monday. Until then, please check out the team list I have up for review. I'm trying to iron out any weaknesses that are in it.

List Preview - Onorevoli

Onorevoli - Special Edition

Retired? Not if I can help it!

Today's list preview is something special. I've come up with a couple of list designs for Brian's Space Marine army, the Onorevoli. Now, they're a special army because they're a custom marine chapter and they're played in a fluffy manner. And I've made up not one, but two lists this time! :D

Sixth Edition Rules Leak

IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE!

 

As you may have have heard from mumblings on the web, the rules for 6th Edition have leaked out. This stopped me in my tracks. Now, from what's been circulating around, the copy appears to be from May of 2011. Supposedly this is the file's creation date when checked with proper software. However, that does seem to correlate with Sisters of Battle and Necrons not being in the FAQ file as they weren't yet written.

Delay

I'm sorry for the delay in posts, but I'm still digesting all the new information regarding 6th edition. I hope to be back on track in a day or so. :)

Battle Report!

Gotta get them Wolves...

Through a series of unexpected and undesired circumstances in the setup of the match, this will be a much shorter report. To make up for the lack of content, however, I did manage to get some decent photos of the match as well as some photos of the tournament armies that happened to be playing as well. Now, onto the details!

News: The Lord Inquisitor

For those who haven't yet heard, The Lord Inquisitor is a fanimation short film that takes place in the Warhammer 40k universe. The trailer above was done by only a handful of dedicated fans and compiled by one person. They hope to have the full version of the movie done in another year or so, but that's not what this post is really about.


What I really wanted to bring up was that Games Workshop, in a move so kind to the fans as to seem odd, has approved the animation. Work on the remainder of the film is now beginning the slow grind back up to speed because of the news. It's really great that they've been given the go ahead to continue working on it. After the huge flop that was 'Ultramarines', it's awesome to see them endorsing something truly good and done by the fans. It gives me great hope for how interaction may occur with the jump to 6th edition this summer. Maybe we can get some FAQ's that actually pertain to real questions in the community.


Back from that tangent, there is something you can do for the animation.They are looking for help writing, modeling, animating, and with voice work. So, if you have the time and the talent, feel free to step forward. The community would be forever grateful for any efforts you can extend towards the project.


In general news, I've gotten the Battle Report up today, the Onorevoli lists will be up tomorrow, and the Stormraven review will be postponed as my magnetizing expert has run into a road block. I do hope to have a the book review for Horus Rising as well as the Review for Space Marine up by the end of the week as well. Also, next week's Battle Report will be extra special. Stay tuned for more...

Model Review

Bitspudlo's Flak Cannon Platform

Hmm... When looked at upside-down, a familiar profile appears...

Now, I've had my eye on Bitspudlo ever since I came across their alternative Razorback turrets thread on Dakka Dakka some time ago. They're a small studio located in Poland and they've been churning out some amazing resin kits. Today, we're going to look at the Flak Cannon Platform.

Tentative Schedule

I decided I'd put together a tentative schedule for the week in an effort to keep myself updating with a degree of frequency and to keep me on task. So, here's a basic outline of what will hopefully make it's way to the main page this week.

• a fresh Battle Report (from Sunday 1/8/12)
• some list previews for the upcoming team tournaments
• a special list preview for the Onorevoli
• a model review for the Stormraven (pending outside efforts)
• a game review for Warhammer 40k: Space Marine
• a book review for Horus Rising

I understand it's a little ambitious, but (homework permitting) I hope to have all of these done this week. It'll be quite nice to beef out some of the other sections of the blog with some fresh content. :) Wish me luck.

YES!



Stormraven and Razorback turrets by Chapter House Studios

I was on Apocalypse 40k when I stumbled on a model preview for some new turrets Chapter House Studios is producing. The kit comes with every weapon combination that the Razorback and the Stormraven (respective to the 2 different kit options) can take. On top of that, they're magnetized. This is a dream come true. I can't wait to get my hands on one and see them across an armada of Razorbacks. I'm currently in the process of arranging a preorder. More on this to follow...

Weekend Update

Well, I've made it almost all the way through the week. I've got a great model review coming up tomorrow for Bitspudlo's Flak Cannon Platform. On Sunday, I'll make my best effort to have a new Battle Report up. Also, with a new team tournament coming up in 2 weeks, I'll probably post some new list ideas. So, keep an eye out.

List Preview Part 2

So, we've seen the fast half of what I feel to be the viable/interesting units offered for Space Marines in IA: Apocalypse Second Edition in yesterday's article. Now I'd like to take a look at some of the heavier hitting units that are available and see what they're capable of. Here's a quick list designed to capitalize on a slower moving, heavier hitting force.

List Preview

With all of the Internet hubbub about units in IA: Apocalypse 2nd Edition being approved for use in normal games of 40k, I thought I'd draw up a couple lists for testing out some of these new units. With Codex: Space Marines starting to feel a little bit behind the curve as far as it's rules and equipment, I thought it would be interesting to see how all of the new units spice up the game. So, over the next day or so, I'll be putting up a couple new lists that focus on the specific elements of the new Space Marine units that seem interesting. So, let's have a look.

List Preview

Living large...

For this list preview, I thought I'd do something a little different. I recently stumbled upon an exciting list over at Dave 40k. Seeing it there, I've decided try testing it out, but with a few of my own modifications. :) So, let me lay it on you.

An Introduction to 40k Metrics

Number muching. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

I've put together this article as a summarized introduction to Nikephoros' 40k Metrics system. 40k Metrics is a benchmarking system designed for the evaluation of the effectiveness of lists. I'll state right now that this isn't a guaranteed method of designing winning lists. It's designed as a tool to compare lists together that are of the same army and a similar type/theme. It won't work for comparing Space Marines to Dark Eldar, for instance, as the armies function with vast differences from each other and their units serve different purposes, as well. So what does it do? It allows you to compare, let's say, two different Imperial Guard gun line lists to see if a newer list can match similar firepower to a list that has established effectiveness or something similar. Let's take a closer look.

BATTLE REPORT!

TOURNAMENT REPORT!

My first battle against Dark Eldar

Here's my long delayed tournament battle report for the tournament on 12/11/11. It was a really fun event and as luck would have it I wound up fighting Dark Eldar for the first time, and wasn't put into matches against my friends. Got to meet some great new players and had a blast. Now, onto the details.

Merry New Year!

Happy New Year! I can't wait to see what new things the year 2012 brings. Who knows what we'll see?

• Sixth Edition 40k
• Codex: Black Templars
• Codex: Tau
• Cruddace's first balanced and well received codex? (see immediately above)
• The Horus Heresy novels reaching the Siege of Terra?

Hard to say, really. But there's plenty of potential for an exciting year. :)

As my first act in the new year, I'm going to get a new article up every day for a week, time permitting. Working really hard at it this time, however. :) First one will be up later this morning, bright and early. You can look forward to a new Battle Report, the long postponed 40k Metrics introduction, a model review, and some new and exciting list ideas. Check back for these and many, many more!