The Pirates are coming!

Life has been a blur with all the lesson plan deadlines and student issues during my practicum. I mean teaching has been great but I really need my dose of Warhammer too! Anyway, it will be a good hiatus for me as YC takes his exams. God bless you with good health and strength, YC!

Now I love my Space Vikings. I even came up with a mech list (direct opposite of my Krom Dragongaze foot list) but I am constantly reminded of the times when someone will simply say that SW are overpowered and Runepriest cheese and yada yada yada... I haven't even played them with my SW! Kinda depressing but thankfully I know I have the best WH40k peers with YC's gang, Alvin and Edward and gang, and of course the amazing guys from Serene Centre (they gave me a truly wonderful WHFB experience [I play HE] and I hope to catch up with them after my practicum).

Ya, sorry for the rant. Anyway I was reminded of the conversation I had with Sam before he left (miss ya bro!) where I told him about my love for Eldar jetbikes - too fast too furious eh. Well, I was reading my One Piece Manga when it struck me that the Dark Eldar pirates suit me better =) Especially since it is an underused and "not overpowered" army. So I checked out Stelek's list for some inspiration and Lo and behold! I found this list that I can scale down to 1500 and it has SEVEN Raiders and THREE Ravagers. Question is how I can afford 3 Ravagers. Sigh. Now, this is my idea of too fast too furious but without the OMG-OP-Fortune-Seer Council bikers. I also found this DIY Raiders website (http://www.batreps.com/gjb-work.htm). Should be a fun project to occupy myself with after my practicum =)

Now of course my high elves will be the pirates hee hee. Should be fun!

Battle report: 1750 SW versus Orks

Had a great game with Kenny's Orks (list taken from Alvin's blog at http://grimcron.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/battle-report-orks-vs-tau/#more-499).

The Fierce eye's (Krom) company
HQ
Logan (Krom)
Rune Priest (Hrothgar)
ELITE
2 Dreadnoughts with 2 TLAC
1 Lone Wolf (Kruegar), Terminator Armour, Chainfist and Stormshield (yeah, he's back!)
TROOP
3 X 5 Wolfguards, 1 Terminator Armour with Cyclone Missile Launcher
FAST
2 X 4 Thunderwolf Calvary, 1 Powerfist, 1 Meltabomb, 1 Boltgun
HEAVY
5 Long Fangs, 4 Lascannons

Waaagh! Kenny
HQ
01 Big Mac (keke… custom force field)
11 Slugga boyz (Nob w/ Power Klaw, Trukk)
12 Slugga boyz (Nob w/ Power Klaw, Trukk w/ reinforce ram)
12 Slugga boyz (Nob w/ Power Klaw, Trukk w/ reinforce ram)
12 Shoota boyz (Nob w/ Power Klaw, Trukk w/ reinforce ram)
FAST ATTACK
03 Warbuggy (TL Rokkit)
08 Storm boyz (Nob w/ Power Klaw)
04 Defkopta (02 Buzzsaw)
ELITE
15 Loota
14 Loota

Waaagh! Kenny has to be stopped. Didn't help that Krom's company arrived late (well, "I" was late so we only played 3 turns haha). What made matters worse was that Waaagh! Kenny went first with 29 Lootas in the middle of his deployment zone and I have a all-foot list. Btw, there were no buildings on the table, only some woods and hills. Gulp! SW reserved the thunderwolves and deployed everyone on the left corner so that some of the lootas might be out of range. Everyone save Kruegar, the Lone Wolf standing defiantly opposite the Lootas. Well, he will have to run 24" to cut some green meat.

Mission: Secure and Control (4 objectives) / Deployment: Pitched Battle
Turn 1: FIVE trucks raced 18" inches down my right flank. If that's not scary enough, 29 Lootas fired at the Long Fangs (with Krom and Runepriest Hrothgar). Dang! Not far enough. Luckily Kenny rolled a 1 and 2 for his D3 for both Loota units. I think old Fierce-eye took failed one armour save and that's it! Not bad at all. One dreadnought's stunned and immobilized by the rokkits. When the smoke cleared, old Fierce-eye's pissed and Long Fangs took out 2 trucks while Kruegar himself wrecked one truck into smithers, causing a traffic jam in the middle with only 2 trucks still operational. The wolf guards and 2nd Dread only killed 1 loota (both units hid in the woods). Sigh, next turn's gonna be bloody.

Turn 2: Angry orks (2 units) raced from their wrecked trucks and charged Kruegar, who spit at the first Ork and activated his chainfist in delight Ahwoooo! Lootas finally killed Long Fangs pack leader and 1 Lascannon. Deffkoptas charged Wolfguard pack 1 and stayed there forever I think. Immobilized dread was wrecked by Stormboy's powerklaw. 2 remaining trucks raced down my centre, in assault range of my Long Fangs and Krom the next turn. Combat in the middle saw Kruegar taking a stab in his back. with a roar, he turned and sawed that dishonorable whelp before dying honorably to another sneaky backstab. For holding the Orks, the thunderwolf Calvary charged into the mess to retrieve Kruegar's body and proceeded to have their lunch (decimated one unit while the other broke from combat and fled). Lootas continue to evade my shots (none died this turn!).

Last Turn: Lootas carved holes in the Thunderwolf unit and wiped out every single wolf. The 2 trucks discharged blood-thirsty orks into the Long Fangs with Krom and Hrothgar. Krom must have been knocked silly by the Lootas that he failed to even wound once (I rolled triple 1s). Interestingly, Krom's shredded to pieces together with Hrothgar but the last 2 Long Fangs passed their morale test, ready to knock some sense into the Orks with the butts of their Lascannons =)

Game ended here. The next Thunderwolf unit would have assaulted into the 2 units stuck with the Long Fangs to wipe out all Kenny's troops. Lootas will still be a problem (would probably go for my wolf guards to wipe out my troops too for a draw).

AAR: I should have deployed both dreads and Kruegar in the middle to run towards the Lootas, and only deployed my Long Fangs in the leftmost corner (so that the 2nd Loota unit will be out of range) to take care of the 5 trucks coming my way. Still, it was a great game that really highlighted my list's weakness. Unlike Mech lists, I do not have transports that will guard my wolves. Not that I can't deal with it but I sure need more practice against this kind of lists. Great game all in all, always fun to slaughter some Orks lol.

WIP 2

Been some time. Not that I have been lazy. Take a look!




















Kinda like the cutsie background too. Makes my wolves look friendly, especially my God-mode Lone Wolf waving at you (with his chainfist) lol.

Next up, my thunderwolf riders. Can't wait to paint up my Loganwing (Krom's Wolf Guards). They seem to pass their armour saves better when painted haha. I guess the Allfather or Emperor only protects painted models haha.

More to come.

WIP

Finally started painting. Was truly inspired by all of you. Anyway, here is my secret mix:
Absolut Vodka Mini Bottle + Space Wolf Grey + Shadow Grey =)
Being a true wolf, I finished my vodka in my gulp of course lol.

Some WIP pictures. More to come.

Goodbye Lone Wolves

Had two great games yesterday with Alvin (Tyranids, see http://grimcron.wordpress.com/) and Stanley (Ultramarines). I had double the wonderful learning experiences and also double the fun!

I had a win and a draw but it was a sad day for my Lone Wolves. Four Lone Wolves died that day (I had 2 Lone Wolves in my list which I used in both games). Honestly, I wouldn't feel so bad if they had done something significant. They were meant to die in battle afterall!

Let's review what happened in the two games:
1. Game 1: Lone Wolf 1 charged a Hive Tyrant and was swallowed before striking back
2. Game 1: Lone Wolf 2 charged a Harpy and was swallowed before striking back
3. Game 2: Lone Wolf 1 was killed by a barrage of shots. No combat
4. Game 2: Lone Wolf 2 charged a sniper squad and killed only 2 in 3 turns. Needless to say, the squad stayed in combat until even footslogging Thunderhammer Terminators arrived to smash him to a pulp.

So far, the best role my Lone Wolves performed was as a tarpit. I need a unit that not only tarpits, but also support my gun lines. I thought about it and found a better candidate: the Dreadnought. While my Lone Wolves normally do nothing except running till they reached the enemies around Turn 3 (if I am lucky), Dreadnoughts can fire their Assault Cannons (or other guns) before the contact. Of course, Dreadnoughts are more vulnerable to Lascannons and Meltas , and Power-fists/klaws or Monstrous Creatures (which is what my Wolf Guards and Long Fangs are for). For the latter, discretion is the better part of valour I guess. I am a cunning wolf anyway =) Ahwooooo!

Time to do some playtesting...

Space Wolf Calvary

Was so inspired by Sam's beautiful Bretonnian Knights that I had to post my calvary too lol.

(On the left) Krom Dragongaze (Logan) with his trusted Thunderwolf Calvary.

"Follow me, Sons of Russ! This night our enemies shall feel the fangs of the Wolf!" - Logan Grimnar

Gotta start painting!

The Wolf hunts

Had a great game with YC (see battle report @ http://yc-fantasygames.blogspot.com/2010/02/15k-orks-vs-space-wolf-battle.html) on Chinese New Year eve and a wonderful DRAW (no one loses) to kick start this year lol!

Thank you YC for your pointers: Go for the troops even if an uber-killy unit is nearby in a missions game! What was I thinking man? Okay, maybe I wasn't haha.

Thoughts about how wolves hunt
After a few games, I finally realize that SW cannot rush into combat like wild dogs (took me long enough =). We have the Blood Angels (furious charge) and Khorne Berserkers for that. SW are too elegant for that kind of rabid behavior haha! In fact, wolves tend to circle their prey, waiting for the moment of weakness before the floodgates of hell are unleashed upon them.

List in mind:
Logan's shooting list that "circles" the prey and continues to tear down his defence with "howls" and krak/frag missles! When the prey is weakened, the Lone Wolves, Thunderwolves and Wolf guards can feast.

However when wolves cannot contain their hunger, it's all-out or nothing!
A pure beast list: Thunderwolves, Iron Priest on Thunderwolf mount with his retinue of Cyberwolves, and lots and lots of Fenrisian Wolves with their 2nd turn assault! Target saturation coupled with inevitable charges. Not forgetting that whatever the wolves touches poof.