Objective Secured

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Warhammer 40,000 – Objective markers have never been more important than they are in 9th Edition Warhammer 40K. The new mission structure actually defines how big they need to be as well as where they should be placed.

In my first few games I just used some 40mm circles to denote the objectives but in practice it looked a little boring. Having nicely painted models and terrain on a nifty mat looks so great that it’s a shame to mess up the immersive experience with blank bases.

I decided to make some Imperial Supply Drops using some crates mounted to the same style base I use with all my Imperial Armies. Having themed matching objectives to fight over really adds something to the game.

Space Marines: Iron Hands - Big Guns?

Warhammer 40,000 – So Iron Hands are the new Boogie Man, which is understandable I suppose. Durability combined with starting in their special Combat Doctrine Bonus as well as being able to inherently re-roll ones on heavy weapons is very strong. Playing Iron Hands proper is very solid, and your can take it further with Successor traits to tweak your abilities to fit your list. Their special character and chapter relics are really strong so losing access to them hurts a bit.

Not having put my big tanks on the board in quite some time I started messing around with some lists that might be fun to play.

BATTALION

HQ - Captain: Jump Pack, Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer
HQ - Techmarine: Combi-grav, Power fist, Servo-arm Relic: Iron Stone Warlord: Adept of the Omnissiah
TROOP - 5x Intercessors: Stalker Bolt Rifle, Chainsword
TROOP - 5x Intercessors: Stalker Bolt Rifle, Chainsword
TROOP - 5x Intercessors: Stalker Bolt Rifle, Chainsword
ELITE - 2x Company Veterans: Chainsword, Combi-plasma
ELITE - Relic Whirlwind Scorpius: Scorpius multi-launcher

SUPER HEAVY AUXILIARY
LORD OF WAR - Relic Typhon Heavy Siege Tank: 2x lascannons

While this list is unlikely to do much other than irritate my opponents it will be pretty difficult to deal with at 1500 points. The techmarine warlord will hide behind the Typhon with the Veterans flanking him to keep him alive. With 22 wounds, a 2+ save and a character hanging around to reduce incoming damage and heal D3+1 wounds each turn I don’t think my siege gun will be going anywhere.

To further annoy my opponent the Scorpius will hang out out of LOS shooting twice every turn. I could potentially park it behind the Typhon to take advantage of the Iron Stone and Techmarine healing in a solid little castle.

The rest of the list is pretty much filler. The intercessors are armed with the Stalker to take advantage of the Devastator Doctrine and the Smash Captain is there to run off and do work.

Taking the same idea and running with it I came up with an alternate version of the list featuring a Fellblade. Again I’m not so sure its any good, but I might enjoy putting it on the table a few times just to knock the dust off some of my bigger models.

BATTALION

HQ - Captain: Jump Pack, Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer
HQ - Chaplain: Recitation of Focus, Litany of Hate, Bolt pistol
HQ - Techmarine: Combi-grav, Power fist, Servo-arm Relic: Iron Stone Warlord: Adept of the Omnissiah
TROOP - 5x Intercessors: Stalker Bolt Rifle, Chainsword
TROOP - 5x Intercessors: Stalker Bolt Rifle, Chainsword
TROOP - 5x Intercessors: Stalker Bolt Rifle, Chainsword
ELITE - 2x Company Veterans: Chainsword, Combi-plasma

SUPER HEAVY AUXILIARY
LORD OF WAR - Relic Fellblade Super-heavy Tank: Twin heavy bolter, 2x Quad Lascannon, Demolisher Cannon, Accelerator Cannon.

Essentially this is the same idea kicked up a notch. The techmarine and chaplain hang out behind the giant tank buffing it up and making it impossible to kill.

Sneaky Space Marines - Playing with Raven Guard Successors

Warhammer 40,000 – I’m super bummed. Space Marines finally get their day in the sun with a glut of new rules and the Internet can’t stop complaining about how over-powered they are. I don’t get it ever since I started playing this game every time a new book came out it took some time to adjust to the new options, although the rapid fire pace books are coming out now makes it hard to adjust as there are just so many things that are good. Which I think is a good thing and heathy for the game. Instead of looking at the marine release as one over-powered army it should instead be looked at as 6+ unique armies with their own play-style, which if any other factions suddenly got six brand new armies I think the impact would be very similar.

Anyway, I’m a fan of Space Marines and always have been. The new books have given every model in my collection a chance to shine and I love building new lists. I do have some favorite units like the Vanguard Vets, Chaplain and Captain so they tend to find their way into more of my lists than not but I’m trying to push each list in a new direction.

Twilight Ravens Fourth Company - Progenitor - Raven Guard • Successor Traits- Master Artisans, Whirlwind of Rage

BATTALION ONE
HQ - Captain: 2x Chainsword, Jump Pack, Warlord Trait: Shadowmaster Relic: Teeth of Terra
HQ - Chaplain: Litany of Hate, Exhortation of Rage, Jump Pack Relic: Master-Crafted Weapon, Plasma pistol Hero of the Chapter: Swift and Deadly
TROOP - Scout Squad: 4x Sniper rifle, Heavy Bolter Camo Cloaks
TROOP - Scout Squad: 4x Sniper rifle, Missle Launcher Camo Cloaks
TROOP - Scout Squad: 5x Astartes shotgun, Power Fist
ELITE- Vanguard Vets - 4x Chainsword & StormShield 6x Dual Chainswords
HEAVY- Mortis Dreadnought - 2x Twin lascannon
DEDICATED TRANSPORT- Land Speeder Storm - Heavy flamer

BATTALION TWO

HQ - Librarian: Enveloping Darkness, Shadowstep, Combi-flamer, Force sword Jump Pack
HQ - Lieutenants: Chainsword, Master-crafted boltgun
TROOP - 10x Intercessors: Auxiliary Grenade Launcher Stalker Bolt Rifle, Chainsword, Korvidari Bolts
TROOP - 6x Intercessors: Auxiliary Grenade Launcher Stalker Bolt Rifle, Chainsword
TROOP - 7x Scouts: Astartes shotgun
ELITE - Apothecary
ELITE - Eliminators: Bolt sniper rifle, Camo cloak

Raven Guard have a weird Combat Doctrine bonus, being in the Tactical Doctrine gives them +1 to hit and wound rolls against characters. The effect is pretty strong but very situational. My initial thought was to bulk up on snipers, turn one gives you an extra AP to potentially clear threats and turn two moves you into character sniping mode. Popping the Target Sighted stratagem makes that big Primaris unit able to target characters, hitting on 2’s, causing additional mortal wounds on 5-6, which is pretty solid, 3CP is a hefty cost to pay to take out a character but I don’t know that splitting their fire will make sense. Most likely the Lieutenant and Apothecary will camp next to them buffing up the unit. I gave the Sergeant Korvidai Bolts so he can target units 42” away an out of LOS. I don’t know how strong it will be but it feels in theme.

The Scouts and Mortis Dread help to compliment the shooting and provide some additional threats to pull attention away from my other threats. Nothing crazy here more or less just objective holders/campers that can shoot when a target presents itself.

Since the focus of Raven Guard Successors isn’t solely shooting based I worked in another layer of threats with my old stand-by units of a Chaplain, Captain and Vanguard Vets. Added to this mix is a Librarian. The mix of traits, prayers, relics and psychic powers I chose allow them to ignore overwatch, charge after advancing, deep-strike closer to another unit and give a unit -1 to hit makes for a pretty nasty assault element. First turn charges are totally possible the question is what do I go after? From prior experience smashing somebody first turn is great, but if you do to good of a job that assault unit winds up flapping in the breeze in front of a gun-line eager to blast them to oblivion. I imagine I’ll learn the right play with a few games under my belt.

The list above is geared for 1500 point games which have become our weekly standard. In the event that I need to bump up to a 2,000 point list I’m considering adding in the following:

OUTRIDER

HQ - Chaplain in Terminator Armor: Litany of Hate, Recitation of Focus, Combi-flamer
FAST- Assault Marines: 6x Jump Pack, Thunder hammer
FAST- Inceptors]: 6x Assault Bolters
FAST- Land Speeders: Assault cannon, Multi-melta

Of course as with my previous article I may need to bring this down to a 750 point list for a team game if we have an odd number of players on any given week. In that case I’d take the list down to:

BATTALION

HQ - Librarian: Enveloping Darkness, Shadowstep, Combi-flamer, Force sword Jump Pack
HQ - Lieutenants: Chainsword, Master-crafted boltgun
TROOP - 10x Intercessors: Auxiliary Grenade Launcher Stalker Bolt Rifle, Chainsword, Korvidari Bolts
TROOP - 6x Intercessors: Auxiliary Grenade Launcher Stalker Bolt Rifle, Chainsword
TROOP - 7x Scouts: Astartes shotgun
TROOP - Scout Squad: 4x Sniper rifle, Heavy Bolter Camo Cloaks
ELITE - Apothecary
ELITE - Eliminators: Bolt sniper rifle, Camo cloak

Space Marines - Who's your Daddy?

Warhammer 40,000 – With seven new books Space Marine players have more choices than ever. Way back in third edition I opted to paint my Marines in a unique color scheme, this was in part because I didn’t want another black army (I was playing them as Raven Guard from the old IA article, since Chaos was rampant) and partially because I wanted to future proof the army. Marines being fairly generic can be used like a multi-tool across so man different lists, by picking my own colors and building out options I found interesting I was able to amass a substantial Marine collection. Which means I have a ton of models to try to work into lists.

With the new “build-your-own” successor traits as well as the ancestor mechanic you can specialize your traits to max out the effectiveness of your force. Love the Assault Phase? Then claim White Scars as your ancestor for that sweet extra damage in the Assault Doctrine. Prefer heavy weapons pick the Iron Hands or imperial Fists and start the game with bonuses. Midrange more your speed roll with the Ultramarines or Raven Guard for turn two shenanigans. As a successor you not only get access to the cool Combat Doctrine bonuses but also the Stratagems, Warlord Traits, Relics and Tactical Objectives. Granted the “choose your own traits” are a little weaker on their own being able to mix and max gives you more ability to tailor to exactly how you want to play. The biggest drawback to choosing the successor route is loosing access to special characters (unless they’re from Forge World – more on that later) and having to pay CP to get access to the best relics.

So what’s this Forge World nonsense you speak of? Well in the best set of Imperial Armour Books (The Badab War), Forge World explored the chapters involved in that conflict and introduced characters for each of those chapters. Under the old codex those characters unlocked access to chapter tactics which changed up how your army worked. With the advent of eighth edition that model no longer worked and the Forge World chapters were tweaked in the imperial Armour Index to stand on their own, with the caveat that you could just pick whatever chapter tactics you thought best represented those characters. Cool, right? Well with the 2019 Space Marine book you just got a whole ton of new options, particularly for Chapters that have not been clarified as having a defined Progenitors like the Characadons, Red Scorpions, Exorcists, Angels Revenant, Red Hunters, Star Phantoms, Minotaurs, Fire Hawks, and Astral Claws as not only do you get cool rules from the characters but you can pick a Progenitor and Successor traits to maximize your list or fit your play-style.

Back when my gaming group was playing the Badab War I did a series of articles exploring lists based on each of the Chapters that took place. I’m considering putting together a group to play through a variation of that campaign again. Stay tuned as i’ll post more once I’ve put in some work.

With my Twilight Ravens I’ve gone through a variety or lists and options trying to find the sweet spot that I want to play for an extended period of time. I doubt a settle on anything anytime soon as there are just soooo many variations available. Currently for my groups weeknight gaming sessions we’re stickling with 750/1500 point lists. With a smaller point limit it’s easier to get a game done in a reasonable amount of time when you account for the lackadaisical nature of our game nights.

What I’m currently running for 1500 points is:

Twilight Ravens Third Company - Progenitor: White Scars?
Successor Traits: Long Range Marksmen, Whirlwind of Rage

BATTALION ONE:

HQ - Chaplain Dreadnought (2X Heavy Flamers + Dread Close Combat)
HQ - Lieutenant- Combi-flamer Powerfist
TROOP - Tactical Squad - Combi-flamer + Flamer
TROOP - Tactical Squad - Combi-flamer + Flamer
TROOP - Tactical Squad - Combi-flamer + Flamer
ELITE - Agressors - Flamestorm Gauntlets
FAST- LandSpeeder - 2X Heavy Flamers
Dedicated Transport - Drop Pod -Deathwind Launcher

BATTLION TWO:

HQ - Captain - 2x Chainsword (Teeth of Terra)
HQ - Chaplain - Master Crafted Plasma Pistol
HQ - Lieutenant - Dual Lightning Claws
TROOP - Intercessors - Bolt Rifle, Chainsword
TROOP - Intercessors - Bolt Rifle, Chainsword, Auxillary Grenade Launcher
TROOP - Intercessors - Bolt Rifle, Power Fist
ELITE - Vanguard Vets - 4x Storm Shield Chainsword, 6x Dual Chainsword
FAST - Attack Bike - Multi-melta

I really like this list so far. Being able to outflank with 11” range flamers or deepstrike a unit with flamers and be able to clear and area the turn they arrive has been fun. With Whirlwind of Rage + Exortation of Rage the Vanguard Vets can put a hurt on most units.

In the event I need to jump up to 2000 points I can add in the following:

ELITE - Relic Sicaran Battle Tank - 2x lascannons sponsons
ELITE - Aggressors - Flamstorm Gauntlets
FAST - Attack Bike - Multimelta
Dedicated Transport - Drop Pod - Storm Bolter
Dedicated Transport - Drop Pod - Storm Bolter

This give me even more flexibilty and a few more threats to spilt my opponents attention.

Of course if I need to run as part of a team I can break the list down to this 750 point force.

BATTALION ONE:

HQ - Chaplain Dreadnought (2X Heavy Flamers + Dread Close Combat)
HQ - Captain - 2x Chainsword (Teeth of Terra)
TROOP - Tactical Squad - Combi-flamer + Flamer
TROOP - Tactical Squad - Combi-flamer + Flamer
TROOP - Tactical Squad - Combi-flamer + Flamer
ELITE - Vanguard Vets - 4x Storm Shield Chainsword, 6x Dual Chainsword
FAST- LandSpeeder - 2X Heavy Flamers

Not quite the same impact, but it gets the playstyle across and takes advantage of the traits I’ve chosen for this list. I figure if I call each of my iterations a company I can forge my own narrative as my Chapter is on a Crusade and the companies are spread out over several systems.

Fell Blade Folly

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Warhammer 40,000 - After playing the Genestealer Cult for a good while I decided to go back to my marines. I'm all for trying to learn a new army but at some point I want to win or at least have a chance that isn't dependent of rolling good results on a random chart. (I'm not abandoning them just taking a break, I'm sure there's a way to win but I think it might involve changing my list and I'm not looking to add to that force at the moment.)

Idon't often get a chance to field my Fellblade and at 2000 points I feel like it's reasonable to bring it. My grav centurions haven't seen the table in some time so I wanted to field them as well. After session of what if I ran this on Battlescribe I came up with the following list:
HQ- Chapter Master on Bike with Thunder Hammer Storm Shield
Troop - (3) Bikes with (2) Grav Guns
Troop - (4) Bikes with (2) Grav Guns
Heavy - (3) Grav Centurions in a Landraider Redeemer
Heavy - (3) Grav Centurions in a Landraider Crusader
Lord of War - Fellblade

I faced off against a mixed Castellan force consisting of Space Marine Scouts, Astra Militarum Vets, a Vindicare Assassin, Sentinels and Leman Russ battle tanks. The Mission we played was out of the Altar of War book and put the Space Marines in the center of the board protecting a single objective with the Castellans surrounding them.

My notes on this game are a little sketchy so I'll summarize to the best of my ability.

The Fellblade in the middle of the table held the Castellans from the primary objective and while it's offensive output was less than stellar the amount of fire it soaked up during the course of the game made it well worth taking.

Maneuvering the large tanks around the densely packed city proved to be difficult but the limited amount of fire power that could damage AV 14 made it a safer choice to keep the Centurions safe until they had a good shot at taking something out. When they did pop out it was devastating to the Castellan force but did leave them open to return fire were I rolled an unnatural amount of "1's."

The bikes came in popped a Chimera and then failed to do much. The limited area in the city really limited what they could do with blocked streets and few clear lines of sight. On a board with more room to move they probably would be a bigger threat.

The Catellan list didn't really seem to be that impressive. I think it's one of those formations that people will use just to get random models from their collection onto the table top. Coming back on a 4+ is cool but in a Kill Point game that's really not a benefit.