Returning to Skaven.

After the my last game of 40k and my inability to compete with other current 40k lists I decided to return to the land of Fantasy. Most of my games (all 4 of them) have been reletively competitive.  More than that, I feel the game is more competitive. I'm sure after facing off against some store armies I'll change my tune but for the time being I'm content to put the finishing touches on my Skaven list. 

The list itself is centered around the Screaming Bell pushed by 34 Storm Vermin. I put a lot of work into all of my bases and trays but the bell unit took the most effort as many of the models had to be converted to fit under the rear of the bell and along the left side where the halberds are naturally trying to stab the bell to death. An earthing rod is a must take and maybe a potion to restore wounds. Beyond that I'm sorta lost as too how to complete the army. I have 2 units of 35 slaves and a unit of clan rats 35 strong as we'll.  All have shields. I had hoped that equipping shields would allow for a lower model count but after a few games it's clear that shooting and magic damage is costly to my t3 troops and shields are useless against it. The Abomination is in. It's a winner and it was clear to me the very first time I played with it. I also have the obligatory Doom Wheel and Warp Lightning Cannon. Both are solid and do well for me every time they hit the table.  

My absolute favourite unit that I have used is the engineer with doom rocket. For some reason it's worked for me every time I've used it. Save 2 dice, teleport the warlock, then roll 5 dice.  When you start to roll 5 or 6 dice you tend to get a really average result.  A reliable result. Strength 5 large blast really hurts in fantasy. It's a one hit wonder that gets results. 

Currently I'm basing my doom wheel and finishing painting my abomination. More to come. 

Ravenwing battle report

Played a game Thursday night against a local player. Seems like most of the gents who hang out at GW on Thursday nights like to bring the cheese, this guy was no different. He played a flying chaos monstrous creature list.  Two level 3 daemon princes and a lvl 3 lord of change with some plague bearers and a herald to take objectives. I brought my standard 1250 lost with a few changes. 2 Ravenwing assault squads with 2 plasmas each and one attack bike with a multi melta, 6 black nights with a grenade launcher and a librarian lvl one with an auspex. 5 scouts to play in the backfield. Sammael of course...because I have to. I dislike Sammael, but, what can you do. Bolter banner instead of fnp.  The game was 5 objectives and heavies were scoring. Regular deployment. 

I am a terrible player, I know this, when I play games I can't help but run straight up the gut and engage as soon as possible, this game, that strategy was exactly the wrong thing to do. He set up on the ground, bearers taking his back two objectives and the mc's sitting behind some cover. I immediately moved up and shot everything I had, doing basically nothing. I lost the game right there. What I should have done was sit back at 24.  Deny him any cc till turn 3. Shoot bolters and just wait. Three other mistakes: I took deny cover as my power for my Libby which was basically useless because he has a 5++ as it is, plus I didn't get my knights close enough to double tap or use my grenade launcher, and I took first turn playing an objective mission when the other army had limited shooting, basically no shooting at all.  Don't even know what I was thinking. 

The moral of this story: I was ready to turf this army right then and there but once again after the dust had settled, I knew I had played it all wrong. It's one more game under my belt though and next time I play something like that I will try and remember the lessons I learned from this loss. 

The changes I made to this list were mostly positive. Losing the attack bike made no difference, the 5 scouts were just as useless, but I still feel like they are a better purchase for the camping objective role.  The bolter banner really let me down. It keeps my army way to tight, 6 inches is a tight circle to try and stay in. I'll keep it for now, but not having the fnp net really makes the army feel exposed. Did I miss the dark shroud? A little, but the librarian is still the better choice I think, most of his armies strengths like cc and vector strike don't care about cover.  I should have taken prescience as my psychic power, I won't make that mistake next time. I will also model a force axe. I need the strength. 

Lastly, I need to get better at writing blog posts. This one was all over the map. 

Ravenwing

    Plugging away at my Ravenwing. Many times I have been lured away by armies that don't seem to be punished by lacklustre rules and over pointed units. It doesn't help that the only armies I play at the local store are hard counters to my army. Eldar wave serpents and Wraith Knights, chaos Heldrakes, and marine deathstars. Two important factors keep my focus on the unforgiven: progress and money. I've made great progress painting the original list and gw prices are getting so ridiculous I can't force myself to start another army from scratch. I guess a third factor is I'm happy with the paint scheme, which for me is a huge hurdle.  If I'm not happy with how they look then there's no way I can keep it up.