Slaanesh Soul Grinder Finished

After making very rapid progress on my daemonettes and heralds, my output slowed drastically once I got to the Soul Grinder.  After weeks of painting, I think I'm finally happy with it.

I elected to go with a very similar painting style to Be'Lakor.  The paints I used  were nearly identical to the paints I used for the daemonettes. I started with a grey primer, druchii volet wash, slaanesh grey drybrush, and long beard grey drybrush highlights.  The Sycoraz Bronze was my primary metallic.  I used Xerus Purple on the legs and scab red with Blood for the Blood God on the chest veins.

The Iron Claw was actually the first piece I finished.  I would have liked to add the warpsword because the bit is really nice and would be fun to paint.  For 25pts, it does give an extra attack for having 2 specialist weapons and gives you the option to attack at Str6 ap3 with a reroll from master-crafted.  Since the Daemon of Slaanesh rule still gives rending, it's not a terrible deal, but I plan on running them with Daemon of Slaanesh and baleful torrent so they're already clocking in at 170pts.  I think I'll save the 25pts and take 2 more seekers.  The harvester cannon claw is much more Slaanesh-y in my opinion.

I drybrushed with the necron compound on just the engine compartment, then did a mechanicus standard grey highlight on the legs.  I wish I had just drybrushed the whole thing.  but I think the overall effect is pretty solid.  I tried not to go too overboard on the engine compartment just hitting the rivets with bronze and the wires/pipes with various shades of red.

The leg guards are a bit plain.  They aren't glued down yet.  I'm still contemplating if I want to do something further with them.  My 2nd Soul Grinder is finished and has skulls glued to the rear leg guards but not the front.  I may end up swapping them out and having 1 with all skulls and 1 with none, but want to see how they look.

I tried to follow an insect walking diagram for how to arrange the legs.  From what I can tell the center legs on each side act as anchors for the other two and align with the front and read on the opposite side.  They also tend to dip forward at different times.  While they look decent enough biologically, the leg position is my least favorite part.  For my 2nd I elected to go with more of a static, symmetric pose with the front raised up.  I'm much happier with the pose on the 2nd.

I want to finish up my daemonettes and start on my seekers before I drop another 2-3 weeks on the 2nd Soul Grinder.  I really enjoyed painting the body, claw, and engine but the legs were tedious.  It's a very impressive model that I'm quite happy with regardless.  Two of these, plus my Be'Lakor on the table will be scary.

Grey Knight Codex Arrives, Clogs Toilet, Asks to Borrow $20

Inquisition HQs I can no longer use for Grey Knights

The 7th ork codex was deeply disappointing because it forced me to rethink every unit I use and I could find solid options throughout even though I still can't figure out how to make the army work as a whole because of the problem with troops.  The Grey Knight release is disturbing and affects the army I use so much more that it feels personal.  I can't even field a valid grey knight army anymore.

The fluff initially was a big draw to get me into the game when I first started reading about the Warhammer 40,000 universe back in 2006.  Since I've started playing, I've barely read any of the fluff sections but can appreciate a lot of what goes on.  But among the reasons people play, for me it would be 1) Painting 2) Playing 3) Modeling 4) Fluff.  So to split off the Inquisition wasn't an option I cared for because it 'made sense' that the codex should only be Grey Knights.  Nevertheless, I can live with losing inquisition generally and pleasantly surprised to see the Assassins get updated rather than a rushed copy paste job.  I'm not limited by number of detachments  or what I can bring, so I don't look at this from a tournament perspective.

Ninjas with Nunchuks

In some ways the Inquisition codex does a few things better.  You can take Valkyries, Preachers are better than banishers, the warlord traits are good, and you can take double heavy bolter chimeras with Psybolt.  Unfortunately, my Crusaders are modeled with a halberd and my DCA are modeled with sword and nunchuks (counts as power mauls) and the Inq. codex only allows swords for both.  I don't think I'll have an issue using them though.  Coteaz doesn't make troops objective secured though, which doesn't matter too much, but you are restricted 2 3 squads of henchmen per detachment now.  You are free to use other Inquisitors though, since previously you were limited to 1 per inquisitor except Coteaz.

What's left in the codex for Grey Knights is quite sparse.  I don't plan on buying the codex so the cost isn't too big of a factor, but 1 codex replaced with 3 is unquestionably a raw deal.  The other reason not to buy it is that it is very simple (same as the Ork codex).  So simple, that I don't need it to know the rules and stats since there are very few.  Anything I would need would be printable on a single sheet of notebook paper.

There are only 3 generic HQs, 2 named HQs, 1 slotless (techmarine), 3 elites (although really only 2), 2 troops, 2 fast, 2 Heavy, and 3 dedicated (which can be taken in fast or heavy as well).    I can't help but feel shafted, not only by the loss of units but the loss of options for units.  With the sole exception of the Brotherhood Champion (and Crowe) every other unit in the codex is worse than it was before.  Most units got a price drop, though some illogically got a a price increase.  I feel like you can nerf a unit and keep the price same or keep the unit the same and increase the cost, but you absolutely cannot nerf and increase the base cost.  When units get updated from codex to codex there is an anchor point that is hard to shake.  Especially with similar.

$66 +resign bases+primer+paint cost+40 hours

Many of the losses leads to the army feeling less 'elite' to me.  I should probably rephrase that to say that the Grey Knights themselves feel less elite since previously I always took some henchmen.  The amount of shooting that armies like Eldar, Tau, Astra Militarum, Space Marines, and even Tyranids can put it out will shred the Grey Knights because they cannot put enough bodies on the ground and cannot put out enough shooting.  The GK Landraiders, razorbacks, and Rhinos are identical to the Space Marine counterparts.

There is a feel to the whole codex that they read the complain emails from 2011 about Grey Knights and adjusted accordingly, not considering how much everything has changed since then.  I hated playing GK in 5th. Although I always thought the models, when I played people with painted armies instead of rush jobs, 3 color minimum, or proxies. Draigowing was boring to play.  Purifiers kicked my orks to the ground and took their lunch money, then pissed on their face for good measure.  With the addition of hull points, AP3 swords, mass plasma/AP2, and the increase in ignores cover GK were no longer overpowered but firmly middle tier, yet paling in comparison to the other deathstars available to other armies, OP BB combos, and mass shooting of Tau and Eldar.

I preferred not to use many of the nasty tricks that people hated.  I never played with rad/psychotroke grenades,  which really weren't that exciting. I disliked Paladins and Draigo mainly because it wasn't that good anymore. Mindstrike missiles were as easy to counter as other small blast templates and GKs were actually the most susceptible army to them.  Psybolt, while undercosted on Dreadnoughts during 5th, contributed to the elite feel of the army and overpriced for most units and all characters.

I joined the Grey Knight train after the hoopla died down on their OP status when helldrakes ruled the skies, Wraithknights+Riptides ruled the ground, beatstars+seercouncils clogged the middle, and the waveserpeant ruled everything. They started as a gap filler for my Blood Angels--a way to take down MCs or contribute mass shots (bolt pistols weren't cutting it)-- but grew into my primary army over the course of the last year that I really enjoyed playing.

Now, I can't field a Grey Knight army for the simple fact that I don't have an HQ.  I could proxy an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor in Terminator armor as a brother-captain if I had to but really the army is a shell of what it was.  The only things I have left that are in the GK codex are 2 strike squads, 2 5-man Purgation squads, 2 Dreadknights, 3 Dreadnoughts, and 2 Rhinos/Razorbacks.

Odds are very low that I'll finish painting

Dreadnoughts were hit the hardest.  Their base cost increased and coupled with the loss of Psybolt renders them utterly useless.  They are 30 points more expensive than a comparable Space Wolf dreadnought in their codex released earlier this month.  For that 30pts you primarily get buffs against daemons, but nothing close to approximating the value you need for those points.  I have 3 Forgeworld dreads on bases that I can't do anything with.  I don't even see the value in ripping the arms off any using them with other guns.  They're now in the running for most worthless unit in the game.

Double Psycannons with my old sword style

Strikes were utterly neutered.   Let's consider where they were when I bought them 18 months ago (took me a long time to assemble and paint).  For 240 points with 2 Psycannons and Psybolt, you got 16 Str 5 shots (2 precision), 8 Str 7 rending (half that if you moved),  Warp Quake to protect against alpha strikes, and could wait to cast hammer hand or force in the assault phase.  Now for 240 points for the same unit but losing Psybolt you no longer have psybolt or warp quake, but instead have an anti-daemon power.  The psycannon moving to Salvo sucks because it reduces range, mobility, and charge ability if you fire it at all.  The gun is worse and costs you more.

Quad incinerators

Purgation squads got more expensive and incinerators are no longer free, although 100 points for 4 incinerators was far too cheap before, but never really filled a need GKs had so weren't used.  I suppose 4 with Psilencers for 150pts in a bunker or bastion putting out 24 force shots would be decent if you could cast force in a building (or vehicle)  Unfortunately, you can't and being heavy 24" is going to limit a lot of what it can do.  There aren't many that many multi-wound units with low toughness and armor.  Let's see - Spawn of Nurgle, foot nobs, Tyranid Warriors (and variants such as raveners), swarms, Wraiths (yay!) - then a bunch of daemon units like the greater daemons, the entire elite and fast attack section.

FW hatch.  only about 50% painted

Rhinos didn't nee the psychic pilot rule, though it was nice, is probably better to give them a cheaper option.  Why anyone would take a razorback at 55 points is beyond me.  A heavy bolter for elimination of fire points and reduced capacity isn't a fair swap, much less a 20 point premium.  GW thinks way too highly of Heavy Bolters.  Psybolt made them usable with henchmen because they were cheap enough that you didn't care too much.  The upgrade to Str 6 made it more usable in so many ways.  Also it let you take Psycannons instead of assault cannons, meaning they were actually Grey Knight vehicles rather than generic.

Swords aren't finished, but this avoids the Baby Bjorn look

Dreadknights lost some power since they don't come stock with nemesis fists anymore and the greatsword lost its rerolls and instead is just master-crafted.  Other than the base price, everything got cheaper, including the teleporter, which was really the only way it was viable.  Dreadknights were overpriced compared to Riptides, wraithknights, et al, but now they seem a bit underpriced, especially considering the kick in the nuts everything else got.  Now, they are unquestionably the best choice in the codex.


This leaves me a strange position of really only liking my dreadknights.  The Strikes will have to be modified somehow, either converted to purifiers/incterceptors or have the psycannons changed.  I still need to come up with an HQ.  I guess Librarians are ok and since they can deep strike attached to the Strike Squad in the Nemesis Strike Force formation I only have to take1 troop.  I'm not sure what they'll use their psychic powers on.  Santic, pyromancy and telekineses aren't either, and Telepathy only really has invisibility.  That leaves divination which will take the squad up from meh to eh.

This just doesn't have the same feel as my old grey knight codex.  Where the henchmen were the bulk of the bodies, but the GKs were the studs on the table that did the most work. Now their shooting ability is so much weaker that they have to allies and inquisition forces have many of the same limitations so it doesn't make a lot of sense to use them together since you're much better off with Astra Milatarum or sisters.  Those armies are better off with regular Space Marines.

There are likely to be some decent builds out there.  Incinerator Interceptors, MSU purifiers, and dreadknights are decent enough.  I just have to retool so much of my army that I don't think it's worth it.  I'll work on my daemons and hope that, in the meantime, there is a release called Codex Pysbolts: a Grey Knight Supplement.

A new mindset on challenges

When 6th edition brought in challenges, I hated them .  In Ork squads they really hurt, because the nob would often do most of the work.  A mass of boyz would pile into combat, flail helplessly and cause a wound or 2, then the Nob would swing with his power klaw and kill 2 or 3 on his own, possibly doubling someone out with instant death.

Then Nobs could be challenged.  Against anything with a power weapon or any assault based character, the Nob would almost certainly die before getting to swing.  Ultimately, Nobs in boyz squads fell out of favor because they were too easy to pick off.  It wasn't even wroth it to bring them.

If you charged a lone character, the rest of your squad had to sit around (wasting their +1 attack on the charge and +1 from furious charge) while the Nob got crushed.  No amount of rerolls will help when you don't even get a save to roll.  Challenges were really limiting since Orks have low init and frequenly limited to no armor.

It never made sense to me from a fluff standpoint.  Why would the boyz sit around cheering on the nob.  What honor binds them from joining in the fight.  It's counter-fluff.  Orks (Snikrot especially) would be all too happy to stab someone in the back while they were engaged in a one on one battle.

Similarly, why would Tyranids do the same.  They are an extra-galactic threat that knows no honor, just consumption. My favorite example of this absurdity is the swarmlord gets charged by a grot and a runtherd. The runtherd issues a challenge and has to accept (by himself).  He pastes the runtherd but his attacks don't carry over so the lone grot passes his morale and the swarmlord is locked in combat. In what logical scenario does the swarmlord not kill the grot.

Another absurd scenario, this time Orks on Black Templar.  A squad of 10 Nob bikers (could be troops previously) charge into 2 scouts on an objective.  The nobz should easily win with 5 power klaws and 4 big choppas (20 str 9 ap2 and 16 str7 at WS5).  The Templar scout sgt issues a challenge.  The Ork player accepts with his painboy which, admittedly would be a huge mistake, but not one that is readily apparent.  The squad amidst all their attacks turns the lone scout into chum scoring 10 rounds, 11 of which are AP2.  Uh-oh the scout sgt scores 2 rends (Templar chapter tactics) and the painboy fails his FNP save.  The orks lost combat by 1, fail leadership and then get swept (int 4 on scouts vs 3 on Nobz).  That 22pt scout squad just defeated 650pts of Nobz.  All because of stupid challenges.

With 7th edition, the changes were positive. Challengers are not considered in base to base solely with each other, so MSS can be randomized to other members of the squad.  Wounds can carry over out of challenges. Wounds can also carry into the challenge, after all other non-challengers have been removed.  This can help orks and makes sense that they aren't just standing around absurdly cheering in the middle of a raging battle.

Still though, the idea of an ork honoring a challenge is silly.  They want to get to krumpin' and don't usually care who it is.   If an opponent issues a challenge, why even bother listening. The Mad Dok is mad, he doesn't care if you insult him maternal spore pod, he's going to kill whatever is in front of him.  He certainly isn't going to step past some genestealers to go toe to toe with a broodlord who 'issued' a challenge.  For chaos space marines and dark eldar it also doesn't make any sense for them to honor challenges.

It's as if there is some medieval honor system in the galaxy.  Considering this came from fantasy, it follows logically that this what they consider it.  To me, it doesn't make sense in the grim-dark future.

Then something clicked.  With the way challenges work now, it doesn't have to be an honor system.  Rather than think of it as a character issuing a challenge, I think of it as a character singling another character out.  Now it makes more sense.

The Space Marine captain isn't asking the Nob to challenge him, he's just heading straight for him because he knows he's the most likely to kill him than the tactical squad he's with.  The boyz in the squad aren't standing around waiting for the challenge to finish, they just attack everyone else first because they're better targets, then start in on the captain.

The Catachan platoon commander stands in front of his troops hoping to let them escape when a bloodthirster charges into them.  Unfortunately, the BT decapitates him, then proceeds to kill more of the squad before they eventually scatter never to regoup.

This explanation sits a lot better with me.  Singling out characters with other characters is realistic.  It's something I can live with, even if I don't always like the results

Of course, if characters could single out banner holders and special weapons it would make even more sense, but not everything is perfect.  The 5th edition system where special weapons were always the last to die made some sense to me since it just meant that someone else picked up the special weapon and continued fighting.  As much as removing wounds from the front hurts Orks, I don't miss wound allocation shenanigans (even though Orks were one of the main benefactors).

Orks vs Eldar and Astra Militarum, 1500pts

I was expecting a thorough ass kicking this game. He was packing tons of firepower and tough to crack units with av12 and 14, artillery and T6 troops.  We generally don't tailor lists so it wasn't designed with me in mind (that I know of).  Even if I made my list to kill Eldar specifically, I don't think I would have changed much.


1500 Orks - "maybe I'll try some boyz" list
125 warboss, bike, klaw, Da finkin kap, BP
75 Painboy, bike
240 4 Nob Bikers, 2 PK, 2 BC
208 27 choppa boys, nob w/PK & BP
208 27 choppa boys, nob w/PK & BP
202 8 Warbikers, 1 Nob w/PK & BP
60 2 Deffkoptas
140 10 Lootas
140 10 Lootas
99 5 Lobbas, 3 runts

1500 Rhys' Eldar with AM allies
Spirit Seer
Guardians in Wave Serpent
Wraith Blades in Wave Serpent
Crimson Hunter
3 Vaul's Wrath artillery
2 War Walkers w/scatter lasers

Pask in a Punisher
with an Eradicator in a squadron
Vets in a Chimera

The sheer firepower of Eldar lists scared me and I was certain I would lose. Vaul's Wrath, the Eradicator, Punisher, and Wave Sepeants are infantry lawnmowers.  The Hemlock Wraithfighter would have been devastating against my low leadership.  The Crimson Hunter is still decent, but doesn't have any ideal targets in my list. The lootas weren't going to dent the russes but at least there were no wyverns or manticores

Setup

Emperor's will mission and Hammer and Anvil deployment meant that if I didn't get tabled it would come down to secondaries. He won the roll off to pick sides but I still ended up getting the side I wanted since it had raised items so my lootas could get line of sight.

I won the roll to go fist. I planned on going all in on strategic to maximize my chance to get the infiltrate warlord trait.  Luckily I nailed it first roll, then ended up rolling on command to get move through cover.  Things were looking my way since these are the two traits I would have picked and was lucky to roll for them. 

The Nobz started along the right edge as far up as they could go because there was line of site blocking terrain in case I got seized on.  One squad set up on top of some ruins the other on some raised terrain that might conceivably give me a 5+ cover.  The lobbas hid behind a hill with one poking out to give line of site.

He hid the Vaul's wrath in the corned behind some ruins, with the russes in front and the chimera dead center followed by the wave serpents to my right.  Everything was hanging in the back half of his deployment zone.

I infiltrated both boyz squads and the biker boyz with the Warboss and Painboy attached. The boyz squads were as close as I could get and not in terrain so I wouldn't be slowed down.  I decided to risk bunching them up.  I figured that was my only chance.  If I had been seized on both squads would pretty much be dead/ineffective anyway.  The bikerboyz manager to squeeze in to the far right corner single-file along the board edge.  This prove critical.

Turn 1

After not seizing, I proceed to move & run my boyz squads as close as I could rolling a 6 inch run on the first and 5 inch run on the second.  The biker boyz swung around to the back getting rear shots on the wave serpent.  With TL str5, 3 shot dakkaguns, the bikers managed to destroy the wave serpent for first blood.  The lootas caused 2 glances and a pen.  The pen was reduced to a glance bc of the serpent shield and one of the glances survived a cover save so my second squad of loots, only rolling a 1, still managed to take off the last hull point.  Huzzah, both Wave serpents were destroyed by circumstances falling my way every time.

The lobbas, targeting the guardians that spilled out of the first WS, scattered onto my bikers causing 4 wounds, but 2 were saved by armor and 2 by FNP.

I was still hesitant since his firepower, though diminished, was considerable.  He elected to unload on the large squads of boys with nearly everything.  Both squads took heavy casualties.  The squads were reduced to 11 and 12 models, but the Nobz lived.  The Wraithblade's Str10 shooting scored 4 hits, but he rolled 2 ones to wound and jinking saved the rest.  The boyz hung around with a passed morale test and a mob rule checking killing 1.

Turn 2

The deffkoptas failed to come on.  I called the Waagh right away.  The bikers all closed in on the right flank, but the guardians were blocking the wraithblades from assault by my warboss and bikers.  I ran my boyz up and tried to surround the chimera.  It took both loota squads to blow up the chimera but the contents were able to disembark.  The lobbas scatter far away but the reroll at least got me some wounds from the squad, but not enough for a gap.  The nob bikers shot and killed most of the guardian squad except for the 3 right between the warboss and wraithblades..  Snap shots from the warbikers managed to kill 3 wraithblades.  The guardians failed their morale, but I had shot myself out of charge range.

One squad of boyz assaulted and wiped the vets.  The other squad assaulted Pask's punisher.  Since only the Nob could hurt it, I was luckily able to score 2 glances and a pen, which unfortunately blew up and killed 6 of the 11 boyz.

His turn the crimson hunter came on and plinked a lobba and grot.  Everything else focused on the warbikers.  They sustained heavy casualties, losing 5 warbikers and the nob from the combined firepower of his army.  The walkers did not come on.

Turn 3

The deffkopta came on and killed a crewman of his artillery as did the lobbas.  The lootas downed the crimson hunter.

Both boyz squads assaulted the eradicator.  It blew up and killed all but the nob from one squad and half the other squad. The nobz assaulted wiping the wraithblade. The warboss with bikers charged causing the crew to flee off the board after taking severe casualties.

With nothing left on the board for the Eldar, we called it as I don't think the warwalkers would have made that much of a difference by then.

Observations

• Everything really went my way.  From getting the infiltrate and move through cover warlord traits, winning first turn, and blowing up both wave serpents, it was an extreme result.  
• Without infiltrate, a wave serpent lives first turn and my boys don't charge until turn 3.  One whole squad of boyz is wiped out each of turn 2 and 3 before they even get to assault.
• I still think that this matchup is a loss for me about 75% of the time.  I got lucky, but I feel that I at least made good choices throughout the game.
• Things die very quickly.  Terrain is still a problem.  Other than ruins there isn't much that we have that can give 25% coverage to warrant a cover save besides intervening units.  We'll need to take a good look at the terrain situation and plan on what we need to fill in the gaps.
• The boyz acted as as a meat shield to the Nobz who pulled their weight.  Otherwise, the boyz just killed 10 vets, which they should always be able to do.
• Explosions at S4 really hurt.  Even with AP2 from the claws, it should still be rare to blow them up, so I'm not too worried yet.  It does make me even more apprehensive about taking Trukks and Wagons.
• I really liked the smaller squad of nobz as opposed to the big deathstar with HQs attached.  They work well as a precision striking unit.  
• Increasing the size of the warbiker squads is an option, but I would need to get more models.  Their shooting is very solid, so it seems like a waste to use them to soak wounds.  A squad of 30 shoota boyz (210 pts) can be replaced by 9 warbikers (TL assault 3, str5) for 162 pts that will cause the same amount of wounds against T5, but are more mobile, more durable (T5, 4+, can jink if needed), and less susceptible to blasts but at reduced body count.
• I really liked the idea of running a biker boss with Stormboyz (combo with move through cover!!!), until I reread the rokkit pack rules.  You can't do your run move with the warboss in the unit, so the 2D6 isn't an option.  Maybe start the warboss with the bikers turn one.  The bikes boost and the stormboyz run 2D6.  Turn 2 the warboss joins the stormboyz.  Seems like a savvy opponent could easily thwart that tactic.

Rules mistakes

• When I assaulted the Punisher, I believe I should have rolled individually for the hits and potentially could have done some damage to the squadron, but I already rolled so I just went with blowing up the punisher.  I'll need to check the rules on how to play this situation in the future
• The emergency disembarkation from the Chimera didn't go too smoothly, will need further research as well.
• Need to remember to ask about jinking.  We both missed this.  Chalk it up to 7th edition newness.
• The Eradicator is rear armor 10, not 11.  The bozy should have had a chance to swing first and maybe glance it to death before the nobz swung with their claws.