Noise Marines... The Forgotten Cultist?

When building a Chaos list (who does that anymore, I mean really...) many skip over the lowly CSM's and go straight for the Cult Marines. Obvious choice really, as the cult marines can do some pretty cool stuff. So naturally you see a lot off Chaos lists runnin the immovable Plague Marines, or the close combat baddies, the Khorne Bezerkers. I've even seen entire armies built on the backs of those 4++ Thousand Sons. One thing missing from this list is Slaanesh's own, the Noise Marines.

Why do we not see more units of Noise Marines on the table? Possibly because Plague Marines and Bezerkers are the "obvious choices" in the book. The interwebz tells us that old codexes only have one way to play competitively, and all other choices are suck. Now while based in truth, this generalization can really keep people from finding out that some units are exactly what their army needed.

All the fellers can switch from the regular ol' bolter to the Sonic Blaster, essentially making their bolter either Assault 2 or Heavy 3. Doesnt sound like much but being able to double tap a bolter then charge in at I5 with 3 attacks a piece is sweet.

I like to think that they rock out to Poison
 and White Snake while they flay the skin from
Your Bones

Then one dude can get the almighty Blastmaster. This may be my favorite gun in the effin game. It has two different settings, an assault and a heavy, that both cause pinning. The assault is basically a heavy bolter with one less shot. Okay, not too bad. The heavy is where it gets fun. Imagine a krak missile with a small blast. Yeah, buh bye MEQs. This thing is awesome. It can pop tanks, kill infantry, take out heavy infantry, I mean it can do it all.

The last cool thing is the Doom Siren. It is a champion upgrade, and it packs a wallop. It is a heavy flamer that is ap3. Let me repeat that. It is an AP 3 Flamer. Basically you roll up to your opponent and say, "Lets play pick up your marines on a 3+". This unit now has a crapton of killin power.

Now comes the question, "Well how do we use these guys?". Well glad you asked. This unit can't take a beating like plague marines, Nor can it charge into battle like Bezerkers. The Noise Marines are more of a thinking man's unit. I tend to run Chaos squads in their sacred number, as I think it brings good luck, and it also tends to put the unit at the right point cost, not too high nor too low. 

Therefore I run them in squads of 6 in a rhino. I start them out as fire support, sitting on my objective in C&C, anchoring the back line and using their blastmasters to take out high priority targets, while the rest of the army surges forward. This gives your army a solid choice for objective sitting, while giving you a few more shots.

The great thing about these guys is their ability to protect your objectives. I am currently running two squads. Now to the untrained opponent, 12 guys in rhinos on an objective doesn't seem like much. This is where the unit excels. These puppies. can pop out and dump 8 Bolter shots, 2 Heavy Bolter shots, and a AP 3 flamer shot per unit. Then you charge in and wipe out whats left. Very little can take that many shots and the subsequent charge. 

For an example, here is the list that I am currently runnin.

Abaddon

7x Plague Marines

...2x Melta, Fisty Champ w/ combimelta

Land Raider - EA, Dozer Blade

Kharn the Betrayer

8x Zerkers

...Fisty Champ

Land Raider - EA, Dozer Blade

2x6 Noise Marines

...4x Sonic Blasters, Blastmaster, Champ w/ Doom Siren

Rhino

2x Oblits

1999pts.

In this list, the 2 Raiders are free to go and rock face and such, while my Noise Marines hang back and hold my objective (or the closest ones to my side of the board). With pure 'Zerker and Nurgle armies, it sucks leaving one of those squads back, with Noise Marines, you won't have to.They excel at this fire support role, but are no slouch when the enemy closes in. 

Well thats all for today, I have been having a blast pulling the Chaos out and giving them a whirl. It is fun to watch a list out of an outdated codex play well, and if you've got your chaos on the shelf, I encourage you to pull 'em out and let the most characterful army in 40k march the fields of battle once again for the Dark Pantheon. Until next time, Grizz Out!

To Thunderwolf Or Not To Thunderwolf

Well, between the moving, packing, and cleaning, I somehow found time to finally get my first game in with my Space Wolves. My good friend Pariah.Stevo from over at Tainted By Xenos (which is back up and running BTW) came over to help me move and while waiting for the Storage unit we squeezed a game in. I took a very different list than i normally take, as it was a shooty list with no deathstar, as I wanted to see how certain things work. I took -


Wolf Lord
---Runic armor, Frost Axe, SS, Wolftooth Necklace


4x Wolf Guard
---Combimeltas & PFs


4x Grey Hunters Squads, 3x9, 1x8
---Plasma, Rhino w/ Hunter Killer Missile


2x Rune Priests
---Liv. Light./Jaws
---Liv. Light./Jaws, Melta Bombs


2x Long Fang Squads
---3x MLs, 2x LCs
---Razorback w/ LC/TLPG, HK Missile


Vindicator
---HK Missile


Steve took his tournament Ork list, which entails - Ed. Steve, if this is wrong correct me


Ghazghkull
Mek w/ KFF & Power Klaw
A squad of Nobz with Cybork bodies, WAAAGH Banner, Bosspole
Battlewagon w/ Deffrolla, Red Paint


17 Shoota Boys
Nob w/ Boss pole, Power klaw
Battlewagon w/ deffrolla


16 Shoota Boys

Nob w/ Boss pole, Power klaw

Battlewagon w/ deffrolla

2x15 Lootas

2x Deffcoptas w/ buzzsaws

Babysitting grot squad

What Should've Happened

Ok, so basically Murphy and his law came in and beat the ever livin crap out of me from turn one. We rolled Dawn of War, so Ghazghkull started halfway across the board and night fighting caused me to do absolutely zilch for damage. The next turn sees 6 lascannons (2 at side armor),2 Missile Launchers, 2 HK missiles (at side armor) and a Demolisher Cannon (side armor) give me one immobilized result and a Crew Shaken result on Ghazzy's wagon. Awesome. Ghazghkull then proceeds to charge me from across the board.

What Did Happen

From then till the end of turn four when we called it I watched 9 shoota shots kill 7 grey hunters in one roll, 2 lascannons bounce off AV 12, a Wolf Lord kill a whopping 2 Ork nobs (over 4 rounds of assault), a grey hunter squad shoot and charge a shoota boy squad and cause a grand total of 3 wounds, then watched Steve roll three 6s, pretty much my dice hated me. With a vengeance. over the course of the day I failed 7 of 9 vehicle 4+ covers. Not my day.

God do I love a good Beatstick...

Now, although I deployed wrong, my dice completely failed me, and Steve's were on fire, and after such a game it is a terrible idea to immediately redo your army list, I have begun to think about new units. Now, if you haven't figured this out about me by now, i like a good beatstick. I carry a .45, I hunt with a 7mm Rem. Mag., I drive a V8. I like em big and powerful. Looking back at all my armies, every build I have ever liked has a deathstar in it. My old Ultras had Hestan and TH/SS Termies in a LRR. Blood Angels have the Chappie/DC/DC Dread/Stormraven combo, Chaos has either Abaddon/Plagues/LR or 2x MoN DPs and a GD,  my Nids have the Trygons. I like beatsticks.

Which brings me to my current dilemma. How do I run an effective, shooty SW army and still have a good beatstick in there to help with the Vects and Ghazghkulls out there? I then began to read the Thunderwolf Cavalry entry. Dear. God. These dudes mean business, with a true T5 and 4 base attacks. And a not so terrible price tag. This unit could fill in that little deathstar sized hole in my heart. So I revamped the list, and came up with this - 

Wolf Lord

---Frost Axe, SS, Runic Armor, WT Necklace, Thunderwolf Mount, Saga of the Bear

5x Thunderwolf Cavalry

---BP/CCW

---BP/SS

---Plasma Pistol/CCW

---BP/CCW, Melta Bombs

---BP/TH

4x Wolf Guard

---Combi Melta, PF

4x9 Grey Hunters

---Plasma Gun, Rhino

2x Long Fang Packs

---3x ML/2x LC

Vindicator

1999pts.

That way, I am runnin a similar army that is shooty, but still has a beatstick. Now, I'll just have to proxy some TWC and see how I like em before I drop the dough for em. Still haven't found a company who's TWC I really love, but maybe y'all can help me with that :)

So what do we think? Are TWC the way to go? Is The Grizz's new plan absolute crap? Are there good lookin TWC models out there? Let us know below!

Way Too Early, Completely Pointless Vs. Grey Knight Tactica

So as you all know, I played in a 2000pt tourney a couple weeks back, and went 2-1-0. My lone loss came to the brand new Grey Knights. Going into the game, all I had heard about was how nasty Purifiers are and how you don't want to get close to em.


Well the guy I played had 5 squads of em, all in Razorbacks, all with psy bolt ammo, and a GM/Termie squad in a Storm Raven to top it all off. This game was very enlightening, giving me a better understanding of what they are capable of and what they do. So naturally, I thought I would share with you my current revelations. Now, I have not read the codex, nor have I played multiple games against them, so all this is general stuff, not in depth 100% accurate tactica.


1. Keep Your Head Down!

Probably the first thing I noticed about the GK is dear God what firepower. within 24" I don't know if there is an army that can match them, and psy bolt ammo makes them ungodly. Cheap HB razorbacks suddenly become 36" S6 monsters, with every marine throwin 2 S5 shots all over the place. Psy bolt ammo may be one of the nastiest introductions to the game, with its typical low cost and its availability to almost anything in the army.

if you are looking at it from this angle, its too late

Imagine a storm raven that within 12" can throw 4 S7 rending shots, 3 S6 shots, 12 S5 shots, all twin linked, not counting the missiles. Pure nasty. So, when playin these shiny bastards, you will wanna make sure you don't find yourself caught in that dead zone for long, pick one side or the other and get there quick. Now this also has an advantage for you. GK lack a whole lotta punch outside that range, so it is not hard to outgun them as long as you arent playing within their range.


2. They use a lot of Psychic Powers

Can Save Your Tookus

This one is kind of obvious, but worth mentioning. Grey Knight players roll a lot of psychic tests, and my guess is you will see a lot of people building lists that will hinge on certain psychic abilities. A psychic hood or similar device can really give GK's a headache. Even just stopping a third of their powers can go a long way to helping you weather the storm. I am seriously considering throwing a libby into my BA tourney list. Problem is, they got all kinds of stuff that royally screws psykers, so you will have to be careful.


3. They may look prettier, but on the inside, they're just like you and me

If it Kills him, it'll kill them.

I was very surprised at the lack of survivability of the Grey Knights. I don't know what I was expecting them to do, but it was weird to see them drop so easily. Then it hit me - They're just marines. They may say a few more prayers, have cooler toys, and be a lil shinier, but deep down, they are just the same ol' marines we all know and love. Which means that the same things that have killed marines since the 80s will kill Grey Knights today. Lots of attacks, power weapons, power fists, plasma all this stuff is just as effective on them as it is on us. I have yet to try it, but I am thinkin death companies and Stormravens can give GK's quite the pain in the hindquarters.


The distinct lack of 3++'s was very noticeable as well. His termies packed a punch, but dropped pretty easily. They also don't have that many attacks. a 5 man squad of purifiers and a 7 man squad of Plague Marines were actually pretty even in assault, also surprising.


4. Don't Be Afraid!

Not an effective tactic

I lost the game because I was afraid of his Purifiers and tried to play the range game with him. Not a good decision on my part. Had I just thrown my army down the table, I might have had a better chance. Don't be afraid to get in there and play in the mud. If you play in fear of his nastiness, then you are letting your opponent force you to play reactionary, which is always in their favor. Now I am not saying just put your models on the board and be an idiot. All I am sayin is that don't let the interwebz' nerd rage freak you out to the point where it hurts your ability to make tactically sound decisions.


Well that is all for now, what have y'all learned in your games versus GW's newest army?

The Vindicator...Pie Plates of Doom

The Vindicator. Just saying the word can drain the color from an opponents face. Simply placing the little stubby thing on the board automatically changes the way the person on the other side deploys/plays. From turn one, they are playing reactively. So why is it that we don't see these little bulldogs on the table as much as we used to?


Part of it is the survivability of vehicles in 5th. This has encouraged many to dust off their Landraiders and use up all of their HS choices. I have seen 4 Raider lists in tournament play out of C:SM. I think another is the 24" range. When a lot of people get to selecting their HS, they look for range. Las Cannons, Missile Launchers, anything with a 36"+ range. While powerful, it is not as reliable for poppin armor due to range and scatter.


When it comes to Blood Angels, you tend to see a lot of Preds due to the Fast rule. Everyone and their mama are runnin Autocannon/Las Cannon preds, and why not? Move 6" and fire 2 S7 AND 2 S9 shots?? Yes please! Also the BA vindy has to share FOC slots with not only preds, but drop pod dreads, cheapy cheap dev squads, and Stormravens!


Space Wolves players have Long Fangs.......moving on.

Space Wolves' Default Heavy Support choice

Now, after I have brought all these defects and issues to the surface, surely I can't be trying to convince you to take one of these little suckers, can I? Of course I am. One of the most important parts of Warhammer 40,000 is knowing your units and how to use them properly. You must know their weaknesses, as well as their strengths. 

Looking at this end has been known
 to cause sweats,  irrational behavior,
instant vacation of the bowels,
screaming, crying, paralysis, and death.

The number one rule to Vindicators was voiced by my good friend Pariah.Stevo, "If they're good enough to run one of, they are good enough to run two of ". One of the biggest beefs people have with Vindys is that they tend to go down turn one, as they are so terrifying. Running two is an insurance policy. The opponent will kill one and leave the rest of the army unscathed or try and split up their fire, giving you a better chance either way of having a tank left. If they both survive, then you can reek some real havoc. Everyone is afraid of a S10 AP2 large blast, and I mean everyone. Running them in a pair also helps when a scatter die doesn't go your way, basically giving you a second chance. As said before, A Vindicator makes your opponent play into your hands. Two Vindicators makes them fill their pants. All for a petite price tag, weighing in at a cool 115pts a piece.

Before

After

Now, for BA players, the Vindicator becomes an even better option, as it has the Fast rule Cause Da Red Ones Go Fasta!!. That means that a Red Vindy has an effective 36" range, moving 12" then throwing that template. On a pitched battle deployment, if you have first turn, you can throw 2 Vindys 12" up and have range to pretty much your opponents entire deployment zone. Can you say "Bye Bye Nob Bikers"? The sheer devastation that these bad boys can cause, as well as the psychological effect they have on your opponent, can be yours for a cool 145 pts.


The Vindy can also take some nifty equipment, as they are the only tank that can take the awesome lookin siege shield, which allows you to ignore dangerous terrain tests. Not sure if it is worth 10 pts, but it could save you some grief when that 1 drops. 


Space Wolves can also bene..........oh yeah, Long Fangs.

...sigh...

Now, For You Black Templars out there, your Vindicators can take the almighty POTMS, essentially making it fast, and ignoring Crew Shaken/Stunned. Definitely something to consider.


Now, I am not saying that the Vindicator is the end all be all HS choice, or that every list should take them. I am just trying to give those who haven't ever used or considered it an idea of the game changer it can be. They can be truly deadly, if given the chance.


So, how many of you guys regularly take Vindicators? When has that S10 template saved your rear end?

The Storm Raven. The Ugly Duckling of the Adeptus Astartes

Since the release of the latest White Dwarf, and with the model coming out Feb. 5th (or now for some lucky people) much discussion has been brought up about the Stormraven. Some love it, some hate it, but everyone is talking about it. The new model, to me, is very exciting, because it will let a lot of people who have never used it before or who are afraid to scratchbuild the chance to try something new, opening a part of their codex and new tactics that they have never tried before. As someone who ha been playing with the SR for quite some time now, I thought that I would offer a little insight into the world that is, the Blood Angels Stormraven.


Model

The Mighty Thunderhawk...

I have not had the opportunity to hold/play with/see in real life the new kit. The pictures, though, have really got me excited. A lot of people aren't a fan of the aesthetics of the kit. Too boxy, they say, too ugly they say. Has anybody looked at our mighty Astartes' motor pool lately? Rhino - box. Predator - box. Land Raider - you guessed it, box. Even the closest thing to compare it to, the Thunderhawk, is a giant refrigerator box with wings on it. So i am not really sure what people were expecting. I think all the sleek, smooth scratchbuilds everyone made from the valkyrie kit really ruined it for some people. For over a year, people became accustomed to the Valk/raven look, and their minds began seeing this as what the kit should be.

Horse

So when GW released the sneak peeks of their model, people were shocked. It would be like if all of your life you thought you knew what a horse looked like and all of a sudden the "official people" changed the horse to look like a cow. 

Games Workshop's Horse

Now in my mind, the new kit from Games Workshop is a perfect representation of what a Stormraven is. It looks like it belongs in the 40k universe, as well as in a Space Marine army. It is square, bare, and is made for one purpose, bein killy. It is a tool with which the Angels of Death carry out the will of the Emperor, and nothing more.

Another cool thing about the kit is the ability to build any load out without any conversions. All the options are in the box (wait, did I just say that GW actually is releasing a COMPLETE kit with ALL the available upgrades??). So you can make it however you want to make it. All this for the low price of.....umm....ok the kit ain't cheap, weighing in at a hefty 66 clams. But with the enormity of the kit, and all the options it comes with, I don't think it is TOO terrible. 

For Play

Ok, on the table is where this bad boy really shines. Lets go through the options one by one.

Standard Loadout

-Twin Linked Heavy Bolter

-Twin Linked Assault Cannon

-4 Bloodstrike Missiles

This thing can really throw out the Firepower. Now, as far as extras, you can swap out the Heavy Bolter for a  Twin linked Multi Melta or for a little extra, a typhoon missile launcher. The top Ass.Cannon can be swapped for either twin linked Plasma cannons or twin linked las cannons. You can also, for a little extra lettuce, throw some hurricane bolters on the sides, adding some defensive firepower to the mix.

I tend to favor the multi melta, ass. cannon, extra armour setup on mine. Comes in at cheaper than a land raider, and still has plenty of shots. And with POTMS, that bad boy is quite capable of truckin 24" across the board and still doin work on enemy tanks/transports. And with Skies of Blood, your fellas can always disembark, no matter the distance moved, much like the Valkyrie.

Now the cool part about the Stormraven is its transport capacity. This thing can haul! 12 marines or 6 termies/Assault troops! Thats right, this baby is the only vehicle in the 40k universe that can tote our hoppy little friends all across the board. Oh yeah, did I mention it can throw a dread in the back?! Now we are talkin about some serious killy! This is the best way to ensure that your nastiest stuff gets into combat safe and sound.

Tactics

What your stormraven does to the enemy's plans.

Now is where people tend to disagree. How many do you take? How do you use them? Well here is my take  on it. I tend to use the Stormraven much like I run my Land Raiders in my C:SM lists. Put the nastiest thing you have in it and throw it down someone's throat. I tend to run one of them and leave mine in reserve and move it off from the board edge, allowing me to #1, see my opponent's plan and try to disrupt it and #2 put my killiness to use best. If you go 2nd, it is almost a must to leave it in reserve, as it will most surely get blasted in your deployment zone if you don't. Also, this allows the rest of your army to pop some transports/threats to your stormraven, giving the assaulty units inside more targets. The vehicle is fast, so it can make up for lost time if it comes in on turn 3/4, crossing halfway across the board in one turn, and gaining that beautiful all important 4+ save. The Stormraven will then most certainly become a fire magnet the turn it shows up, which is ok, if it has the obscured save, in my experiences it can take it, saving the rest of your army from harm

You will hear a lot of people talking about how it is only armor 12 and will be dead in no time, but I encourage all you doubting thomases to do the rolls. With Extra armor, immunity to melta, and a 4+ save, very rarely will it not make it to the other side. And even if it goes down, your killiest unit is already halfway across the board! Not too shabby if you ask me.

After unloading, the stormraven makes a great firebase in the opponent's deployment zone. with all its guns, it can tear an enemy's heavy support slots wide open. This plus the unit you disgorged are too big of a issue for the fella on the other side of the table to ignore. Now the opponent is having to adjust to you, which is the way you want it. Now the cards are in your hands.

The Stormraven is great for stopping mobile armies in their tracks. If someone tries to maneuver around/away from you, just throw your stormraven/assault unit at them, then they have to deal with you (which most times they cant) then you can surround and bottle up even the quickest armies.

Now, here is an example of my typical loadout

-Stormraven

---MM,AC,EA

-Chappie/Lemartes/Rechlusiarch/Astorath

-10x Death Company

---6x BP/CCW, 3x PW, 1x PF

-Death. Co. Dread

---Blood Talons

Very few things can go toe to toe with this unit and still be of any effectiveness afterwards. By using the tactics i have described, one should be able to gain that mobility they may be looking for, or find that way to get stuff into the fray.

The most important thing is, however, that this is not the only way to do it, just one of the many. So i encourage you, go out, get one or proxy one, and just try it out. You may find that you have just discovered your new bread and butter!

mmm, toast

Now, a lot that I know about the Stormraven and its many tactics i picked up from  Green Blow Fly over at Terminus Est, a great blog about DoA Blood Angels and Stormraven tactica, so you may wanna check it out. I know, a bit long winded, and I apologize, but hopefully y'all gained something out of it. Until next time, OMNOMNOM TOAST!