The Great Dwarven Experiment 3: Why? Just why?

Hi all, I've finally recovered enough to talk about this so here goes.

I'll be honest, I did consider setting them on fire, but then remembered I'm not an AFL player...

Following my in-depth experimentation with Dwarfs (It really was pretty kinky), I'm back with some results that probably won't astound any of you!

Shockingly, I lost all 4 of my games at Metalcon. I wasn't really helped by the entire of Lustria emptying out for the day but such is life. I did honestly feel I had chances to get points in every game, and but for a Snake Eyes charge roll, could have actually won one of them so maybe with a better draw, where people actually had to run at me I might have done alright.

Game 1: Mouse with Beasts led by Flying Doombull

This is the game I could have won as Mouse actually had to come at me to get points.

With some amazing bait and flee tactics and me cunningly dragging in some Harpies with the Rune of Challenge into the Doombull/Longbeard combat, I managed to break the Doombull with a Trollslayer Flank charge, (though Mr D6W Daemonslayer found out that he has nothing on a Doombull!). Sadly though a Mino Block minced the Longbeards and some Warriors behind them and after killing the Ghorgon, the Trollslayers with the other Daemonslayer failed their charge (needing to roll a 3...) meaning the BSB and last Mino lived and cost me the game. :-(

Notes: I was hampered all game by failed charges needing 8s-9s and honestly thats really easy to set up as an opponent. God, that extra 1-2" makes a difference (That's what she said).

Game 2: Ben with Lizards led by High Slaan

Just a bad matchup at the best of times, let alone when you're forced to walk into the Skink cloud...

So basically I just sorta watched as Ben ran around me and killed stuff at will. Again I failed some crucial charges, particularly 7+ charges to get the Salamander, but I really just felt like a passenger. The 2 Stegs and Carnosaur Vet merely sat out of range of the Daemon Slayers while the Skinks/Slaan took me apart. Only consolation was Trollslayers managing to catch the Saurus block and dismantling it surprisingly easily. Saurus are still Terribad people!

Note: This game was just a depressing highlight of how uselessly slow Dwarves are and how badly that hinders any chance of forcing the game.

Game 3: Adam with MOAR LIZARDS (sigh...)

So I think this was the most demoralising game of Warhammer I've played in a long time... Adam agrees with me that I totally tactically outplayed him but I still got dismantled, due to a combination of some average dice (not that Adams were any better...) and the effects on actually being able to cast spells on units...

The first "high"light was me drawing out the Carnolord with the Rune of Challenge, charging it with Mr D6 wounds, fluffing my attacks and doing only 2 wounds to the Carnosaur and getting eaten. The one thing hes made to do properly and he fails miserably... There may have almost been tears.

Second "highlight" was holding the Saurus with TrollSlayers, flanking them with full Longbeards and BSB, fluffing my attacks round 1, and then watching helplessly as the Saurus got Wildformed and killed everyone (it should be noted though that Trollslayers find Wildform amusing :-)).

Note: Even if you do things right, you're some fluffed attacks and one magic phase from oblivion...

Game 4: Aaron with (you guessed it!) Lizards (Kill me now...)

Aaron had Tetto Eko and a Slaan, and it was kinda horrible. Pewpewpew... Amusingly though one comet decided, even with rerolls, to wait until I'd dragged a Saurus block under it with Rune of Challenge to come down. Sure it killed half of my army but it was worth it!

The other thing of note, was Mr D6 wounds finally got to kill a monster, doing 13 Wounds to a Stegadon. Hooray, but lets be honest, there was no real reason for that Steg to be in charge range, other than I think Aaron being kind to a poor depressed soul.

Notes: See game 2

Sadly 5 other people colluded against me and decided that even the Wooden Spoon was too good for me and left me in 23rd/28. I'm not sure whether this is a good sign for me, or if those guys should take up knitting as Warhammer is clearly beyond them?


So what have I concluded from all this, you ask? Well...

This picture is merely here to help build some suspense for my shocking revelation

Dwarfs are fail! Just so much fail...  I know the Dwarven Defence League will cry "But you took a shit list, so that's not a good representation!". Well, yes, sure it was a crap list and I didn't expect to win any games at Metalcon, but that's not really my point. The fail I'm talking about here, is the failure to actually do anything in a Warhammer sense. During my four games, only once did I feel like I was actually making the plays and even that failed miserably as I don't even get a magic phase. It honestly feels like a boxing match where my hands are tied behind my back.

So the one major conclusion I come to is:  I just don't get the point? As I see it, if I personally were to take up Dwarfs, there are two ways possible ways to go:

1. I can gunline, giving myself a chance to win and not enjoy myself as I just sit and roll dice and take my opponents toys off, while they consider the best method of suicide, or:
2. I can go combat mode, and also not enjoy myself, while my opponent runs circles around me and takes my toys off.

Neither of these options provides me with any long term enjoyment, so again I ask again, what's the point?


By all that is Ginger and Hairy, Dwarfs need a new book fast!

The Great Dwarven Experiment 2: WTF is a Flame Cannon?!?

Hey gang, I'm back with more Dwarf bashing goodness!

I'm not entirely sure what this is, but I think I'd pay money to watch it.

Ok no, its not cool to bash Dwarfs, they are people too.... short, fat, usually hairy people who smell bad but still people.

Following on from Part 1, I had asked for a fun random 2000pt list for Metalcon. Greg, the only person I know stupid enough to own a Dwarf army, is apparently known for some outside the box Dwarf armies and well... thats what I got! (Greg wisely didn't give me a gunline, as I'd have thrown his models at walls and him for entertainment)

So without further ado, here it is:

Daemonslayer
Rune of Flight, Rune of Cleaving, Rune of Might

RAAAR, Angry Naked Dwarf!!!! Now for those who don't know what those runes do, (ie everyone not a Dwarf player...) Rune of Flight, means I can throw his Axe at someone within 12". Might is double S (I think) vs T5 or greater, so thats one S10 hit to any monsters withing 12"! Woot! Won't they be hurting before they eat his face...

Daemonslayer
2 Runes of Cleaving, Rune of Fire

RAAAR, Second Angry Naked Dwarf!!!!This dude gets +2 S and Flaming Attacks to kill Regen monsters.
I guess the idea here is to tag team them at stuff and hopefully kill it before it kills them both?

Thane
Master Rune of Challenge, Master Rune of Swiftness

I assume this is how I get the DaemonSlayers in a position to actually charge monsters that would otherwise laugh hysterically and then fly away to kill other stuff...

Thane
BSB, Strolla'z Rune, Rune of Slowness

Strolla'z says, "Raaarr, I'm comin' at ya, bro!" Slowness says, "But don't come at me please, I'm scared!!!" Scizophrenia Dwarf coming at ya!

15 Dwarf Warriors w/ GWs
15 Dwarf Warriors w/ GWs

23 Longbeards w/ HW&S
Full Command

10 Thunderers

MSU Dwarfs ftw! Take your big ass hordes and GET OUT!!!

19 Slayers
Muso, Standard

19 Slayers
Muso, Standard

More Angry Dwarfs!!!! I'm pretty sure I have absolutely no idea what these clowns will do other than die but Hey, they'll look very Ginger while they do it, and that's all that counts, right? Alternatively I have an idea that rhymes with Ronga, noone complains about that anymore, do they?

And last but not least:
Flame Cannon

I'm pretty sure this is a typo, and its actually just a Cannon. "Flame" and the Space Bar being fairly close together on a keyboard and all... However, if this actually correct and not a typo, I'm gonna need all the combined experience of you Dwarf players to tell me how best to use it, thanks. I know you all take two to every tournament so it must be good, right? RIGHT????

Well there you have it, a whole lot of naked, low Initiative Infantry in a game that clearly favours them. I honestly expect I don't even have to show up to take the 20s. Mainly because my Opponents will concede when they see the draw, nothing to do with the list at all... This is about right, fellow Dwarf players?

Look, there's a model to commemorate what will never, ever, ever happen in a game of Warhammer...

But more seriously, I think I have a few ideas for how best to use them, and having to seriously put my brain to work was kinda the idea of using someone else's army for a day so I definitely got that!

If all else fails, there is always Alcohol...

The Great Dwarven Experiment

Or possibly better titled "How I Killed my own Hobby"

Time will tell...

Why can't all Dwarfs be as entertaining as this cheery little fellow?

Many of you will know I am not the greatest lover of those crude hairy bastards known as Dwarfs. In fact, truth to tell, the list of my least enjoyable games of Warhammer ever is topped predominately by games against Dwarfs. They don't move, they don't cast spells, frankly they don't even do combat very well... All they can do half decent is sit immobile in castle formation and shoot you, and from my point of view that's about as much fun as sticking a knife in your testicles.

Dwarven players are a strange breed. They, much like the Dwarfs they love, stubbornly refuse to admit they are wrong and play them forever. I can't decide whether I should pity them or hate them. They sit in their corners doing nothing but roll dice and watch the other guy take off their models, or they don't and they take off all their own models. I will never understand what they get out of this, but apparently its enough to satisfy hobby needs until the end of time (A true Dwarf player will literally play them until the day they die, most likely due to the other player hitting them with a chair ...)

"But we do other stuff too!" They cry, and hide behind their ambushing lists and Strollaz rune.

Don't believe this. Its merely a Dwarven plot to give themselves excuses while they shoot your toys off. Once a year, the Dwarven High Council forces one of their players to suffer the agony of leaving their deployment zone for a weekend. Once this suffering has been completed, the Dwarf player is allowed to join the Council and taught more advanced ways to ruin their opponents hobby. (Sometimes you may find a Dwarf player that actually enjoys leaving the deployment zone on a regular basis, but these players are outcasts of Dwarven society, shunned and beaten, and not to compared to their brethren.).

Dwarven society casts out their Gingers. At least they got one thing right...

So whats the point of this diatribe, you ask?

Well, with Axemaster coming up, I have been painting furiously in an effort to maybe once, just once, have a fully painted army. In this respect, half my models are scattered across my Painting table, and I'd rather leave them there. I have also been playing High Elves for over a year solid, and would like a short break, variety being the spice of life and all.

So, as many will say, I stupidly asked Greg and Dave if they could lend and write me a list for Metalcon, a one day 2000pt tournament at Hampton in a couple of weeks. I just wanted a bit of fun and something completely different. After briefly entertaining the idea of letting me ruin 4 innocent wargamer's hobbies with an all Elven Wood Elf army (which I'm pretty sure I could make never see combat :-)), they decided to instead ruin four innocent wargamer's hobbies, AND my own...

And so in two weeks I shall be immersing myself into this strange phenomena they call Dwarven culture by pushing standing some Dwarfs at my opponents, while I try not kill myself from boredom.

Can I survive? Can I learn anything other than how to moan about how Cannons aren't so bad?

Lets find out!

List to come soon...

A Convic Review

I know noone probably cares anymore, what with the excitement of Dragon Mages and whatnot at the ETC, but Convic was run and won on the weekend, with Nick Hoen smashing all before him on the way to the trophy. Daemon Princes are teh broken!!!! (well okay, not really, but good players with good lists is always gonna go well). My congratulations to all who won trophies as they were damn sexy, though giving Wargamers mock Katanas is a risky decision!

The Convic Trophies. Sadly there was no need for Fights to the Death to decide winners...

As for me, I ended up with a solid 26th out of a field of 80. I'm pretty happy considering a few mistakes, my Dragon being on 1 wound at the end of T2 in three games, and a fairly tough draw all round for getting points.

Game 1: David Price, Ogres: It was a fairly standard list. Managed to avoid the Ironblaster for three turns, and had the Gutstar down to two models + characters, all was going well. Then the StarDragon decided that killing Mournfang (you know, what he's designed for...) was much too hard and gapped it,  leaving me wide open.
Result: David took advantage for a big 20-0.

Game 2: Ben Leopold, TKs. Ben was playing Gumby for the day with a TK list he'd been loaned. Dice were not his friend, and I kept rolling 6's to take wounds off all the big gribblies. This let the Dragon eat far more than it should have as I could just finish off units each combat. MVP was the Eagle noble who ran through the back field mowing down archers and eventually got the Heirophant.
Result: Big 20-0 Win to jump back up the table

Game 3: Johannes with Chaos Dwarves. This was a bit of a shit game, both because Johannes (usually a genuinely lovely guy to talk to and play) had just got off the phone with his Ex and wasn't best pleased with life, and that Battle for the Pass is shit against Gunlines at the best of times, let alone when you get told the most broken spell in the world, Flames of Fucking Azgorh has no maximum range! What a fucking brain dead spell that is... I sat back and shot the crap out of some Dwarves (yeah, I pretty much out shot a Dwarven Gunline...), while the Eagle Noble and Phoenix got into the Warmachines, sadly not before Flames and the Hellcannon managed to get the Star Dragon and Lord on top
Result: Soul and Hobby crushing 10 all draw.

Game 4: James Brett, Vamps. Dawn Attack kinda screwed James with everything going on his far left. I ended up with everything on my left too but I can shoot stuff... MVP of the game was my Phoenix getting Screamed to death, but then coming back in the flank of the Terrorghiest (6"s of the death spot, baby!) charging and holding it in place for the Eagle noble to finish it off. Massive threat removed by the awesomeness of Rebirth! I basically then avoided the Black Knight bus and killed as much as I could get to. for the loss of not much at all.
Result: 12-8 Win

Game 5: Roy Diprose, Nurgle Herald Daemons. Pretty much a nightmare to get any points out of at the best of times, and then the Skullcannon did 6 wounds to the Star Dragon T1... After that it turned into a good old fashioned ETC stand off, with just one combat on turn 6. Both of us picking up points where we could at range with spells and artillery. Sadly I have more easy points than Roy did. Just for the record, that was actually one of the more interesting games of the weekend for me, how to pick up pts when its nearly impossible to do so requires alot of problem solving! Its why I love playing Skink clouds
Result: 8-12 loss

Game 6: Ben Wadsworth, Warriors with Gateway spam Lvl 4. I really should have gotten more pts out of this, but I put the Star Dragon on the wrong side of the table to get stuck in protracted combat fast enough and he then took 6 wounds from Gateway T2. This meant I couldn't really kill enough as he went into hiding, and White Lions being rather shit vs Chaos Warriors these days.... We traded points as I killed a Chimera, Giant and the Eagle and Dragon got some Warriors, Ben killed some archers, BTs and Reavers and I scrapped out the small win.
Result: 11-9 Win

So all up 61 Battle Points for the Star Dragon list. I'm getting up there slowly! I'm still far too timid with him when I should generally just barrel up into the enemies face and force the game. I also needed one more decent combat unit to support him and the Eagle Noble, and White Lions and Flamespyres are not decent combat units. We all know that about the Flamespyre, but White Lions for me are just very disappointing these days.

So here's a quick look at the list I took and what I think of the options:

Lord on Star Dragon, Star Lance, Charmed Shield, Golden Crown, OTS

About as good as I think you can do at 2400 pts. I was very happy with him, I just need to be more aggressive with it. Another supporting combat unit would be ideal though.

BSB w/ Reaver Bow, Shield of the Merwyrm

Shield was a waste of points, its just so easy to avoid combat... I used it once in 6 games and then it made no difference but to delay the inevitable. I think either put him on a horse in Helms/DPs or keep him with just the Reaver Bow and sit back in archers

Level 2 Fire, Ring, Scroll

Fire was a great choice, she sat back with the archers and blasted away every game with no fear of death but to her own miscasts. It kinda made the Ring redundant TBH as she was often too far away, but 2d6 S4 at Bound 3 is worth the points to fit in when you need it.

Eagle noble w/ Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone

He was pretty damn awesome! With the Dragon drawing so much attention, he was free to run around the enemy back field almost at will. If there's points, hes here to stay.

2x 14 Archers Standard, Muso

Always useful, so many cheeky wounds done, and having them gives the option to sit back in bad matchups where the Dragon has to hide. I was dubious whether I'd like them over a unit of Helms supporting the Dragon and now I'm very conflicted...

3x 5 Reavers w/Spears, Bows

Beautiful, just beautiful. I never once felt the need to have a Eagle. Having both weapon options was key, as it gave me the options to charge into chaff or sit back and plink off wounds. I'm also not sure why everyone seems to insist on Muso's for them? I guess 18" ld10 makes a difference over 12" ld9 but I can't see why you'd waste an extra 10 pts a unit on them.

18 White Lions w/ FC

Just awful... Frankly a massive waste of points in this list. Couldn't keep up and they struggle enough to kill anything in the current meta with rerolls, now they just die in droves for no return other than a turn or twos respite so I couldn't risk throwing them in with the Dragon even if they were in range... I would rather have anything else for the points. For the Record, I never really felt the lack of Banner of the World Dragon. It might have changed the way I played in the game vs Roy, but I doubt it would've changed the result because they wouldn't have killed anything, just got stuck on Beasts for 3-4 Turns.

Flamespyre Phoenix

Fun and highly entertaining but never worth the 15 pts saved over a Frostie. That one change to the list alone would have gained me at least 10 places overall I think. Just having another supporting combat unit for the StarDragon would have been huge, let alone the way a Frostie synergises with it.

3 Bolt Throwers

I can't see why you'd have less than 4 if you had the points. I was out shooting Gunlines and even if they weren't in top form each game, the way they dragged attention saved my ass in several games. High Elves can and should outshoot most Gunlines if you want them too.


So following all that, the new list would only change the Flamespyre to a Frostheart and the White Lions to Dragon Princes (with or without the BotWD, I'm not sure). Pretty simple really!

The next major tournament however is Axemaster at 2600 pts, and the extra 200 pts changes so much its gonna force a complete list rewrite rather than an adaptation. That list's to come, but needless to say, there will be Dragons...

Laters all!

Riding the comp train...

Hey gang,

Just a quick one this week in between work, painting and moving flats.

So my list was submitted for Convic a week ago, and I'm pretty happy with it. FATSOW showed me a few things wrong with the initial Star Dragon list and how I was playing it and then Swedish comp came to the party with some ridiculous HE comp imo, so hey I'll take it!

The final list is as follows:

Prince on Star Dragon
Heavy Armour, Charmed Shield, Golden Crown, Star Lance, OTS

BSB, Shield of Merwyrm, Reaver Bow
Level 2 - Fire Magic, Ring of Fury, Scroll
Noble on ASF Eagle, Lance, Dawnstone, Enchanted Shield
14 Archers, Standard, Muso
14 Archers, Standard, Muso
5 Reavers, Bows/Spears
5 Reavers, Bows/Spears
5 Reavers, Bows/Spears

18 White Lions, FC

3 Bolt Throwers
Flame Phoenix

A big old "comp riding" 14 in Swedish comp (at Convic, that's effectively only a 1.5 Point lead in a game against a 9.5 list), and yes, you read that right, there is no Banner of the World Dragon. Shock Horror! To be honest the only way I feel I could really improve it as a Star Dragon list, is a Frostheart over the Flamespyre. Even then it would only drop to a 12.3 or something... Star Dragons are soft and fluffy apparently!

The decision on BotWD was mainly made because of the tightness of points, it was either 15 WLs with it or 18 without and a better equipped Eagle Noble both of which are much better in the >50% of games where the Banner doesn't matter. Honestly though, I could actually take it or leave it based on my games so far. Its broken in some games but so useless in others, and frankly against smart players with Daemons/WoC, it just makes the game a non-event as they can't afford to engage so they just hold off and avoid it. With my current list, they can still come to me allowing me to potentially get behind, or counter attack with the Dragon/Phoenix, rather than forcing them up chasing points and splitting my army apart as a result.

It also means I have no obligation to hide my Level 2 in the unit for miscast protection. 6 dicing with impunity was great fun, but its not wise in the long run when she's stuck in a combat unit wanting to engage. Staying on the Mage, Fire magic over High Magic has been a fantastic decision. Simply put the range is the kicker. Added to the 3 Bolties and the archers I can sit back for 6 turns if I want and still get points. I look forward to hiding the Dragon against an Empire player ftw!

We shall see whether this all holds up after Convic, but I'm quite happy with the list after two games so far.


Right, back to the Painting table!

Convic and those crazy Swedes

Hey gang, hows it hanging?

So in three weeks, I have my first foray into the world of Swedish comp. A lovely system where you calculate the points of your army twice and every time you fiddle with a unit size you get to recalculate them both again! HOORAY!!!!

I like to dream that the Swedish Warhammer scene has players like this...

It is actually a pretty interesting comp system, which forces some really interesting and tough choices on you as a player, except if you're playing an army which the Swedes don't perceive as great, in which case, go to town, baby!!! (seriously if noone rides the Brettonian Bus to Convic and goes to town with those bad boys, I'll be disappointed...)

Anyway, according to the High Elf draft comp, Phoenixes are stupidly OP, so is the Book of Hoeth, and the Banner of the World Dragon (Oh well, 1/3 right isn't too bad...) but the rest is A-Ok.

With this in mind, and my current obsession with pushing Dragons at people and going "RAAAWWWRR", I have come up with the following:

Prince on Star Dragon

Heavy Armour, Charmed Shield, Golden Crown, Star Lance, OTS

BSB, Shield of Merwyrm, Sword of Might, 

Level 2 - Fire Magic, Ring of Fury, Scroll

Noble on ASF Eagle, Shield, Dragonhelm, Sword of Antiheroes

14 Archers, Standard, Muso

14 Archers, Standard, Muso

5 Reavers, Bows/Spears

5 Reavers, Bows/Spears

5 Reavers, Bows/Spears

15 White Lions w/ Banner of World Dragon

3 Bolt Throwers

Flame Phoenix

This currently gives me a 12.5, mainly due to the self control on the Banner unit (more than 15 models drops me 3 comp pts...)

My main issues are:

• Not sure if I should just give the BSB a Reaver Bow, but does mean they'll definitely have to sit back.
• Level 2 with Fire: This ones tricky; After 5 games with High Magic, I just found it lacked range and options. With Fireball I can sit way back and do the exact same thing. Thoughts? Any other lores to consider?
• White Lions: Again tricky and I found I had three options:

1. as above? small and only a support unit at best, but with 3 BTs to shoot stuff at range they                     might be big enough once combat starts.
2. Bigger unit of 21 and take the comp hit, but lose a BT? Drops me to a 10 ish.
3. Just drop the Banner of the World Dragon entirely and get another 4 Lions and a 14 or so for comp, and ride that comp wave?

Any thoughts are much appreciated.


Oh and before anyone feels like telling me Frosties are better Phoenixes, Flamespyre matches my army scheme better so I'm keeping him. Deal with it!

For the Night is Dark and Full of Terrors

Hey all, 

So following several discussions lately on twitter and from reading forums (I don't actually converse on forums as I gave up trying to fight the masses long ago) I thought I'd post a couple of thoughts on Wargamers and trying new things.

First up, Comp. Yes that terrifying creature of the dark that Wargamers both hate and (apparently) cant live without.

As I find myself in a pretty unique position having played Warhammer for a substantial period in three countries plus the ETC over the last few years, I was going to write up a post comparing different comp systems, but I realised something part way through....

Warhammer is fun!!! Whatever the system and whatever the tournament style, you will have fun if you want to, or you will hate it if you don't. I think honestly alot of wargamers prejudge a certain comp system if it differs from what they usually play under and either won't play it or go in wanting it to fail without ever really giving it a chance. I've seen it in every country and its always the same. I've had this issue with NZers vs Aussie judge style comp (yes, this included me), Aussies vs Hard-comp, and everyone vs no-comp. Yet I can count on one hand the number of players who've actually tried it the other way. (I'm ignoring ETC hammer as that's just an abortion of Warhammer, and not really the point of the ETC imo). 

I personally think they all have their own positives and negatives, and for the record certainly none are perfect. All I can say is that rather than sitting there saying you'd never play no comp or whatever system, give it a shot and then make a judgement. Odds are you'll have fun. Shocking, I know!

The second thing I wanted to talk about is my own attempts to change things up and try something new.

When in doubt, always go with a flying offensive

With the release of the new High Elf book I've decided to go full Attack with my army lists. Under the old book I found that I was very much stuck in defence mode. Pewpewpew for two to three turns killing off chaff and then take down one-two main units if possible while avoiding the worst units like Deathstars etc. While effective, I found that I was getting rather bored with it, so I've decided to change things up.

Over the weekend I ran a Dragon, Eagle BSB, double Phoenix list supported by White Lion block. It was fast and aggressive and frankly a joy to play with, however, my results were average at best. I think alot of it was the list and me trying to force Phoenixes into a combat role they aren't meant to fill, but I also found that the push it forward style I was embracing can be prone to error (and beer...), as I kept miss-reading countering units and leaving myself in bad positions while trying to engage. 

The Highlight of this was missing a Terror check from a Stonehorn which my blocking Reavers promptly failed and let the Gutstar rip into the White Lions I'd pushed up to force the game. At the end of the day, the Banner of the World Dragon does not make White Lions a Gutstar equivalent, I still need to be careful with my units, and just because I'm trying to be aggressive doesn't mean I don't need to put as much thought into things.

Also of note, Beasts of Nurgle are fucking horrible, Banner of the World Dragon or no. Seriously its not hard to block up one unit with Furies and Nurglings while the Beasts seriously wreck the rest of the High Elf army (including Star Dragons when you can keep up +3T on them for two straight game turns...)

So thats it from me for now. Get out there, try something new and and do it with a positive attitude. Life will be good!

A Mild Case of Hobby Schizophrenia...

Hey gang!

Why nothing ever gets done....

So its been a somewhat productive weekend for myself in between bouts of lovely Thai food and Pub visits. On Friday, I received a somewhat delayed order (owing to GW's ridiculous war on resellers) containing a couple of giant flaming birdies, one giant Robot and some fishmen. A beautiful thing indeed. Then on Saturday was the long awaited release of the new Eldar codex, so that was my Saturday morning sorted!

Firstly, I thought I'd show you the current state of my desk. I like to call it organised Chaos. Somehow it works in this state, and I'd clean it but every time I clean a workspace, I end up losing track of everything and struggling to find anything again.

Those with OCD should probably look away

If you look closely, you can see:

Forge World Keeper of Secrets
Partly constructed Riptide
12? Crisis Suits
45 Fire Warriors
20 Kroot
2 Phoenix
Mounted Archmage
One slowly being painted Dragon Lord
1 2nd Ed Metal Landspeeder
and a 2nd ed Lictor

Yes, that is a special case of Schizophrenia!!!! :-D no wonder I never get anything done...

So my main project at the moment is to finish my High Elves to a tournament level, with my Horus Heresy stuff being a slight distraction. The Tau are awaiting an upcoming airbrush purchase and will be my practice army so should be fun!

Onto the progress:

I should have been a hand model....

I started by cleaning up my 2 Phoenix as they are the priority to top up my High Elf army. Lovely kits but having to fill out the wing joints by green stuff sculpting feathers is a bit of a ball ache. The problem I'm having  at the moment is weather to build them both as Flamespyres as they will look best with my army scheme or go one of each the Frostheart are so much better in game. Think it may have to be the former, and Game results be damned! Thoughts?

Headless chicken.

I also built my Riptide over the weekend. Such a cool model!!! Hes in pieces until I magnetise and paint him, if you're wondering.

Tactical Tip: Riptides provide amazing support for Reaver hordes. 

I also put this guy together as I will be needing a mounted Mage to keep up with all the Cavalry.

Kitbashing is easy!

Hes just the Mage off the Dragon, on a Tiranoc Chariot horse that Mike King kindly sold me, but I'm pretty happy with him. His robes will be a nightmare for ranking up in units but looking good is better than being practical, right?

Now just to paint it all. One day...

Farewell and So Long!

Howdy all!

Its been a while as I've been lost to Dragon painting, alcohol and Rumblings but I'm back to say a not so fond goodbye to the old High Elf book.

It turns out High Elf Core was not the only Core to suck balls...

On the weekend, I had my last ever run out with the old book at the Rumble in the Bronx tournament in Geelong. The overall tournament was fraking ace! A bar on site at a tournament is something I've missed so very much from the UK. Not to get smashed, mind you, just its so good to have a nice Beer or two with your Warhammer. There is not much better in my opinion. It just lightens up the whole mood a bit, where often I think people get a bit too serious in tournaments.

As for myself, I had some pretty mixed results due to taking a pretty left field list, as I was struggling for enthusiasm to run the requisite 40 archer core... In the end I took a a Nullstone Lord (always amusing) with a Dragon Prince "bus", archers and some Bolt throwers and Eagles. I also made a massive mistake in taking High Magic on my Level 2, and proceeded to only once roll a spell other than Shield or Courage...

My results were:

11-9 Win vs Mark Skiltons Bugman scouting Dwarfs

Basically I avoided Marks big scouting Longbeard bus as long as I could while killing everything else but the Dragon Princes with BSB, decided they couldn't kill a Grudge Thrower in one round and got mashed. The severely unfair comp boost I received (I got +3 to final battle score) lifted a small loss to the win

12-8 win vs Empire

Dragon Princes somehow ground the two units of Knights off the table, despite wiffing on the charge (sadly one knight got away on T6...) but I couldn't finish the big infantry blocks off while losing too much on the way out. However a glorious last turn in which the Chaffmasters killed the Mage Lord, BSB and Paedohunter, and finally getting the Cannon and Helblaster with archers/reavers got me the win.

12-8 vs Lizards

Party Slaan and Friends. Despite losing my BSB to Final Transmutation T1 (seriously every bloody time!) I cleaned up all the Skinks by T2 and played avoid the Saurus Block and Stegadon for 4 turns. Nullstone came up big time charging into the Slaan and stopping his magic for 3 turns :-). Sadly however he decided to die to a bad touch from the frog on turn 6 (having lost two wounds to Rocks earlier) giving my opponent his Boast (his was to kill him, mine was him to live...) and the 4 bonus pts dragged me back.

Just wanna say, I seriously don't understand why people find Lizards so hard to beat? Maybe I need to write a "Lizardmen for Dummies" blogpost at some point

13-7 loss to High Elves

Nick ran 2 Sun Dragons, and had no sleep the night before due to the Champions League final, and somehow I still managed to play worse than he did... Made so many Muppet mistakes its not funny and got the beating I deserved. I was only saved by Nick going for the big points on the last turn to kill my Lord with the Dragon Mages Sun Dragon and taking its last wounds before he could strike.

13-7 loss to TKS

Just not a great matchup for my Elves. Greg had 2 Sphinx, a Bonegiant, 2x8 Chariots and 2 Scorpions. I either had to roll 6s to win or I'd struggle. I did not roll 6s... The Scorpions then ran riot through my Archers and while the Bus killed one block of Chariots, the Giant and a Sphinx I lost everything else. Such is the luck of the dice. Really fun game though and I gave Greg my Best Sports vote.

12-8 win vs Wood Elves.

Combat Archers ftw baby! In the process of trying to just hold up the Wildrider bus Johannes was running into my backline, one unit of archers somehow managed to first hold and then break the bus, much to the shear and utter astonishment of everyone and their dog (Okay the Nullstone and a Shield of Saphery may have helped but thats not the point here...). Johannes then ran away with everything else to keep me to a small win.


So overall I went 4-2, but only managed to get 61 Battle Pts which with help from an overly picky paint scoring system pushed me down to 22nd/36. Given I knew I'd taken a seriously bad list I was happy to get over half points, but I seriously need to run a list that can push for the big wins as I'm getting really tired of small wins and not being able to clean anything up... For all, I'm winning games and not losing very big if it happens, I can't recall the last tournament game I scored over 14 and it seriously impacts the overall position.

In general though, after a couple practice games with the new book, I just sat there thinking how constrained the whole army was by the core tax. To be honest, it seriously annoyed me by the end of game 6. But that's that, the last time I ever take more than 20 archers in a High Elf army, and the last time I ever get to re-roll a Great Weapon attack with a Swordmaster... Onwards and upwards, into the lands of choice and variety and fun. I can't wait to start playing with the Swedish comp rules for Convic, if they ever actually get released.

We'sa coming, okiday!

It's Game Time, Baby!!!

Hey gang, today's blog is gonna be a few disparate hobby thoughts and some HE gaming discussion, because that's what the internet is for at the moment.

My hobby time this week has been rather alot of Dragon painting time. Its slow going but one wing is done and looking great. Maybe in the far reaches of time the whole thing will be done and I'll have some photos for you guys...

No, Not this Dragon. Painting them would be creepy and weird...

So I've played a couple of games with very different lists this week, and its given me a couple of early lessons, and ideas.

Game 1 was against Ben Wadsworth, the Shirts Off guru himself.

I took a Monster Mash list with:

Star Dragon Lord,
Griffon Hero,
Eagle BSB
Scroll Caddy
4 x Reavers
Silver Helm bus
Frostie
Fiery
Small bunker of Sisters

Game went swimmingly until Turn 3. I killed all of Bens chaff and all Warmachines but 1 doom diver for the loss of only my BSB to a flying Goblin and was in perfect position to clean up the Savages with 4 monsters but the Giant Hairy foot of an Orc God came down and ruined me, killing the Star Dragon and Lord 10/11 Silver Helms (the champ then getting a DD to the face) and most of the Sister bunker sending them fleeing. To top it off the Griffon fluffed against a Boltie meaning he couldnt overrun into the Spider Gobbo with Flaming Ward who then ran down the Flame Phoenix. So I lost about 1200 odd points in one turn and was soundly crushed by T4... Never seen anything like it!

Lessons:
Love the list, and playstyle, it was crazy to have such a high speed army.
Its not as fragile as I thought it might be. Ben had two shooting phases and didn't do much. I can see it being very hit miss in gunline games but I think I can work around it. I like the Flame Phoenix for sitting in front of the other monsters to take the hits and possibly come back to life afterwards.
Frostheart Phoenix isn't a combat monster, its a combat buff. Mine got stuck against a Troll for several rounds because I kept fluffing. Was never in danger of death but it really struggles by itself, and need tos combo with other units. Yes I can see it being amazing with the Star Dragon but I'm just not sure that its worth 240 pts for the buff when you get a decent unit of something else for the same pts. Will continue to play though.
Reaver Core is everything I'd hoped for. Happy James is happy!!! the 4 units pretty much took control of the table and chaff game and still had a spare unit to go after Bens warmachines. Think it may be worth it to get Bows on them for more options though. I honestly see no need for Eagles in a HE army anymore...


Game 2 vs Elliot Yung with Dark Elves

I took a much more balanced army this time:

Level 4 Book of Hoeth
Loremaster
BSB with Reaver Bow/Potion of Strength
Griffon Noble
4 x 5 Reavers with Bow/Spears
20 Archers
19 White Lions
2 x 7 Swordmasters
3 Bolt Throwers
6 Sisters

Elliot had a pretty damn soft army led by Malekith in a horde of Spears and I dismantled it effectively killing everything but Malekith and the BSB, but I think I still learnt some things.

Magic was insane. Loremaster + Level 4 high was nuts. I rolled decently for magic phases and was casting 4-5 spells a turn. Book was a massive failure, as I kept rerolling 1s with 1s etc. but being happy to cast with 1-2 dice for spells I'd generally chuck an extra dice at is ace. I will happily say its pretty much about right for points to beneift though. Its really not any better than Banner of Sorcery/ +1 to dispel though.

Not entirely sure about High Magic over some of the Rulebook lores either. Didn't roll the Augments and had to go Direct Damage heavy. Worked a treat vs armourless elves (Tempest is Crazy vs light armour units for a 12+ cast) but against Monstrous Cav/Heavy armour armies, it will be pretty shit...

Loremaster is a brilliant Swiss army knife and will be the tournament go to choice. The huge range of spells meant he could debuff the world or turn into a gatling gun of magic missiles as needed. keep him cheap with just a Scroll to go with the Level 4 and you're set. No need to waste time on combat stuff or armour imo.

6 Sisters was great. Dirt cheap way to get the flaming shots to go with the Bolt Throwers and basically put the Hydra out of the game with the threat. -2 armour meant they killed a bunch of Cold One knights too.

Reaver Bow/Potion of Strength combo was a bit meh. Turn I used it I missed 2/3 shots. Save the points and just cast Wildform on his unit.

Griffon hero is a winner. Think I'm gonna take one in most lists. Cheap and cheerful, No magic items (or just Charmed Shield?) leave him on a flank and watch him go. Killing chaff and aiming for Mage bunkers; also needs a decent amount of attention from your opponent to deal with.

So thats the thoughts for now, more to come as I get games in.

I have also submitted my list for Rumble in the Bronx. Sadly I'm stuck using the old High Elf book, so I've decided totake a slightly wack job list as trying to play seriously with that shithouse army sounds painful. Can't wait to not take "Archer Core" ever again...

Prince on Barded Elven Steed, Great Weapon, Dragon Armour, Shield, Nullstone

Noble on Barded Elven Steed, Great Weapon, Dragon Armour, Shield, Helm of Fortune, Guardian Phoenix
Level 2 - High Magic, Scroll, Amulet of Light

11 Archers - Flame Banner
10 Archers
10 Archers
10 Archers

8 Dragon Princes Banner of Ellyrion, Potion of Foolhardiness
7 Swordies with Talisman of Loec
6 Reavers

2 Boltthrowers
2 Eagles

So yes, its a bit different and probably shit, but I really don't care... There's gonna be another Nullstone at the tournament too, as Aaron Graham has similar thoughts about the old book :-P Think this must be some kind of record!

Appreciate your thoughts on anything, and catch ya later boys and girls'

OMFG, ITS HERE!!! Initial list designs

Dragontime, baby!

So, its finally fucking here and the list building has begun. I'll break down the army later but here's the first of my brainstorming sessions. I'm going with 2400 pts as thats about standard tournament level. I'd love it there were some 2500 pt tournies around, as 25 pts makes the Star Dragon so much better, but such is life...

The All Mounted Funtimes:

Prince on Star Dragon, Lance, Heavy Armour, Lion Cloak, Charmed Shield, Talisman of Preservation

Sadly still a bit tight on the points to really do it right, but this gets decent protection on the Prince, to hopefully live long enough for for the Dragon to kill some shit. Sadly couldn't afford the Dragon Armour, but 1+/4++ vs shooting should get him there. 3+/4++ in combats still a bit iffy but this will be played around with after a few games.

Noble on Barded Steed, BSB, Dragon Armour, Enchanted Shield, Dawnstone, Sword of Might

1+ rerollable and an additional magic weapon, gives him some killing power to run around behind the Dragon.

Level 2 on Steed, High Magic, Dispel Scroll, Ring of Fury

Mounted to keep up, runs around blasting away with the Ring and whatever I get from spells, but mainly there to buff/heal the Dragon. Ethereal Dragontime anyone?

5 Reavers 
5 Reavers 
5 Reavers 
5 Reavers 

You all get the gist. Eagles that are from Core pts? Yes, please!

11 Silver Helms w/ Full Command

Was thinking of running all Reaver core, but I really need another supporting combat block for the Dragon and another Champ to take challenges.

7 Dragon Princes of Caledor w/ Full Command, Banner of the World Dragon

That banner is way to good to pass up so I could never leave it behind. The ability to utterly neuter large parts of many armies is silly good! Princes give me some damage punch too

Lothern Skycutter w/ Eagle Eye Bolt Thrower

Mobile Bolt Thrower that can scare the crap out of Knights/MC units by getting into the flanks. Some S5 impact hits are also nothing to complain about.

Flamespyre Phoenix
Flamespyre Phoenix

Just an amazingly versatile unit. They can smash deeply ranked units that could lock me up in combat, like Slaves/Empire blocks etc and otherwise can support charge with the Dragon or fly over to hit Warmachines. I know several players rate the Frostheart higher, and the stat boost for 15 pts is crazy, but Rebirth and killing ranks is important to this army.

So thats the first list and pretty much the one I'll be aiming to play at Convic if I can get it into the Swedish comp system and my Phoenix arrive in time.  Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!!!


Next up, we have a slightly more combined arms list that would probably be more solid but less enjoyable


Archmage, Level 4, High Magic, Book of Hoeth

Can 1-2 dice half the spells in the lore, yes please. Very tempting to go Light though.

Loremaster, Dispel Scroll, Armour of Caledor

Just so many uses...

Noble, BSB, Halberd, Dragon Armour, Shield, Reaver Bow

May as well be doing something from the back lines. Wildform makes it S6 shots too

Noble on Eagle w/ Swiftsense, Heavy Armour, Shield, Lion Cloak, Starlance, Dragonhelm

Quick, hard hitting Cavalry Killer. At 180 pts, I'm okay with him being killed too. Casting Ethereal and flying 20" behind the lines is all kinds of amazeballs too. Eagles getting Swiftsense is farking fantastic as they always get their attacks when he gets challenged out.

21 Archers w/ Muso, Standard

Bunker at the back, for some of the characters

5 Silver Helms w/Shields, Muso
5 Silver Helms w/Shields, Muso
5 Silver Helms w/Shields, Muso

 Just fantastic little units that can kill chaff easily and sweep the back lines of units like Terradons, chamo Skinks, Shades etc. Also work very well as chaff when needed

6 Shadow Warriors

Just a little cheap annoyance unit. Run them down the back line after Warmachines and other stuff like that.

7 Swordmasters
7 Swordmasters

Chaffmasters are still awesome regardless of losing ASF rerolls. 78 points for 12 S5 attacks is fantastic.

21 White Lions, w/ Full Command, Banner of the World Dragon. 

They still get 21 S6 attacks w/ Stubborn, and a 2+ Ward vs ridiculous amounts of stuff is crazy. Stubborn also makes them a pain in the arse. I still think they are great with or without rerolls.

2 Bolt Throwers
10 Sisters of Avelorn

Some solid pewpew vs armour and gives me the flaming attacks for Regen stuff.


So there we go, the first two lists that I've come up with off the bat. Theres probably a somethings I'm missing so let me know your thoughts.

Laters, guys!

Regarding Ward Saves and Wizards

Hey all, welcome to todays Warhammer tactics discussion!

Some tactics are simpler than others...

So I was reading a discussion thread over at Ulthuan.net posturing about the new Book of Hoeth (which will be amazing by the way, rerolling a single dice on a cast is crazy good with +5 to cast!) and what to run with it on a Level 4. The first answer was always "45pts fits a 4+ Ward perfectly!". Its not just with respect to High Elves though, it seems to be a pervading opinion everywhere. It made me wonder, why does everyone always say "Ward Save!" as the first option for a Level 4 wizard?

I personally haven't given my Level 4 a ward save since Guardcon last year, and in 6 games only ever used it to save against Miscasts... Yes, I have been known to take the Loremasters Cloak from time to time, but that's mainly for the unit effect rather than specifically the Wizards defense  Its certainly not gonna be an item I'll cry about when its gone in a week. That's reserved for the Helm of Fortune...

There are two things that account for the majority of my Level 4s deaths: Miscasts and Panic tests. The others are where I've either been losing horribly and she has nowhere left to go, or I've made a big time mistake.

Lets look through the ways to avoid losing a Wizard:

Combat: 

You should always avoid combat with Rays, Wizard or not...

A) Make possible Mage hunter units target priority one. They are always small and relatively easy points anyway, and they are often the same units that hold up my White Lions etc from getting into combat so I also need them gone for the big boys to do their job.

B) Always have secondary units to run to if the primary mage bunker is in trouble. That's half the reason I prefer MSU Archer core, (and its only gonna get better now my bunker will be Reavers :-) ) Often I see players with only one dedicated bunker for the wizard, and nowhere else to run to when the pressure is on...

C) Most units that can threaten a mage bunker have no ranks so you can, at a pinch, leave the flank facing the threat and hold them with Steadfast while your Wizard is safe on the far side, until support arrives.

D) This is the one that I generally find most players simply don't even consider; You can often just run your wizard around by herself perfectly safely giving her much greater maneuverability to avoid danger. Its game dependent of course, but many armies have no real ranged threat to worry a lone character, especially by turn 5-6 if you've focused on getting rid of them, so as long as you can whip out your trusty charge arc template, life is good.

Shooting:

The deadly sniper Cannon, bane of Vampire Lords everywhere...

Warmachines can always force those annoying LOS! tests and that's an issue you'll always have to live with. It is only a 1 in 6 though, so you can accept it and move on... but there are a couple options to avoiding it though:

1. Shoot them first. Archers/Magic missiles are surprisingly good at killing warmachines.
2. Hide. True line of sight hasn't made the table entirely visible, and no spells bar Magic Missiles actually need Line of Sight anyway
2. Make sure you always have enough models to avoid that awkward situation where magic/other shooting kills enough to leave you without a LOS!
3. Give them other targets to shoot at. Simple yet obvious!

Magic. 

This kind of Magic should be avoided at all costs...

Okay, there's not much you can do about the dreaded 6 dice monkey, but obviously make sure to spread the characters so its not such an obvious target. They also don't allow Wards anyway, so what does it matter?

Snipe spells are really not that dangerous, especially now you get your Generals Ld (or do you...?), and Caress also only averages 2 wounds to a S3 wizard, so you can risk it if needed but an important thing to think about, they all max out at 24". Its not hard to stay out of that range when most buffs nowadays have longer range.

So there you have it, a whole bunch of ways to avoid losing a wizard without a Ward Save involved in any way, shape or form. Hopefully, that gets my point across, about why I think Wizards should never ever need a Ward Save. Would love to hear your opinions on this though!

The Warhost marches forth

Here's your Dragon,  Daenerys.

Hello all!

As I was asked nicely by a friend from the old country, I thought I'd share some photos of my High Elf army so far. It also gives me a reason to skive off painting for a couple nights. I still need to put some snow on a number of bases but I'm holding off until I have a large chunk finished to do it all in one large batch. Anyway, I'm really happy with everything I've done so far, and I think the traditional Caledor colour scheme I'm going with works really nicely and has avoided the cliche colour X and white so many HE armies I see end up with at the moment. It also occurs to me that the lighting in my room is a bit shit for good quality photos so sorry if the colour's are a bit washed out.

This is also a nice way to show that I am not on the Bandwagon, before it arrives and sweeps us all up :-P

Without further ado, The characters.

Lord on Horsey:

Lord on Eagle from Coolminiornot:

I'm Immune to Killing Blow, SUCKAS!!!!!

The Everqueen, who generally stands in as my Level 4 but we shall see if it stays that way:

Booteh shot

BSB on foot:

BSB on Horse (I'm especially happy with this guy):

Hero on foot (or Alith Anar if he's broken :-D):

And now the Core. The reason the army stalled somewhat a few months back...

Archers finished so far (and probably all that ever will be finished now I don't have to have them...):

Maiden Guard, they've been standing in for archers recently as I just love this unit:

I'm sure I'll find a reason to include them in new armies, just because.

Close up of unit filler and standard bearer

Reaver unit 1,Yay they are core now!!!:

Reaver unit 2:

Next the Special choices, surprisingly little is done so far...

Swordmasters of win:

White Lions of fail:

It occurs to me the reason they fail so much is probably cause they aren't finished yet...

Dragon Prince Champion:

And finally the Rares

Sacrifices, or Great Eagles as they are more widely known:

Bolt Throwers:

Theres no crew done cause frankly who actually ever uses them... They'll be done one day but I'll wait til the end before I bother


So thats it, hope you all enjoy them!

New Shinys!

Seriously, where can I buy one of these models?

So the internet has been flooded with pictures of the new High Elves and frankly they all look gorgeous, even  the Flying Chariot, which I'll be honest, I never thought could never be better than a giant turd... I can't wait to flood my desk with new shiny toys!!!

Alongside this we've been given what seems to be a rundown of the overall layout of the book. A few things stand out to me:

• Reavers are still Special. BOOOO!!!! However Silver Helms and Tiranoc Chariots are now core so that's what High Elf core choices will look like. I can't imagine taking anything but 2-3 chaff Helm units supported by 1-2 Chariots and maybe a Bus, unless something crazy happens to Spears/Archers.
• Phoenix Guard to Rare. This does support the rumours of them getting Unbreakable, but I'm surprised they are moving them as the balance between them, Swordmasters and White Lions was fairly close to perfect in the last book imo. They'll need more boosts than Unbreakable though to justify taking them in this world of 1+saves.
• Riderless Phoenixes in Rare, and possible Dragon Princes on some kind of Monstrous mount. I was worried that Phoenixes might just be a character mount, but happily that's not the case. I somehow doubt the latter option will happen though as I feel we'd have seen models by now due to GW not releasing rules without models these days and not tending to be especially subtle about beautiful new models when they have them. 

Anyway, lets look through the new models, shall we.

Alarielle is back!

So lets start with the return of the Everqueen. Great news but I prefer the old model thanks, I just really don't like the head gear to be honest. Otherwise the model is lovely. Hope her rules are as awesome as they used to be. Die Daemons, Die!!!

Ninja Mage!! 

Some kind of Warrior Mage. Is this the return of Belannaer, or just a new hero class (hopefully both!)? The model looks cool, with a nice action pose. Of note, is the armour matches the plastic IoB Swordmasters, so clearly related but in what manner is the question. It would be pretty nice to have a mage that doesn't need to hide in a bunker at the back.

BSB Special character?

Probably my favourite model of the lot. Loving the power stance! Supposedly a Seaguard special character, with vague rumours of it being the Phoenix King himself. I seriously doubt the latter, as I can't see the King holding his own banner... but would be interesting to see a SC that might make Seaguard useful. I'd guess he'll get some kind of ambush rule or similar to represent ships landing behind the enemy forces or something.

Girls just wanna have fun?

My second favourite release. Captain of the Maidenguard maybe? I just love the fact it seems you can go heavy Avelorn theme in the new book. She'll fit nicely into my Maidenguard to.

Yay, they're back!

About bloody time! Look great with the bows, and should fit in with the old ones too, if you organised the unit with Bows in front and Spears supporting from behind. I'm intrigued to see what their supposed Water Bows do and hopefully they won't just end up as overpriced bowmen with similar effectiveness. Hate to see them go the way of Hellstriders, but GW doesn't have a great track record in pricing units with similar battlefield functions...

Well they can't get any worse can they?

Lets note the most important thing here, the champion has two swords. TWO SWORDS, PEOPLE!! Maybe they'll actually be able to do something this version! They've also wandered into Core which provides the interesting option of heavy scouting High Elf armies to mess with deployment. I look forward to them being ridiculous broken to make up for last edition.

Flap flap, Mutha Fucka!

So finally confirmation that we can take unridden variants, yay! I forsee my Rare having two at all times, because, yelling "FLAME ON!" is why. The models are really nice imo, apart from the god awful wing joint that stands out like a sore thumb. I thought GW were past this kind of basic design flaw, but oh well, I'd bet a number of companies will have beautiful  (and cheaper) alternates within a month or two.

And finally:

Seriously, the Eagle Workers Union really needs to sort their shit out.

I really want to hate this model, as lets be honest, the concept is a bit silly, but goddamn if GW hasn't made it a winner. The Eagle is great, and the chariot also looks sleek and elegant, like a beautiful yacht of the skies. I think they really channeled Battlefleet Gothic Eldar in the design and it really worked. Hopefully the rules back it up, but it doesn't look like there's a warmachine of any type on either picture of the Chariot that I can see? I'm also not sure how anyones supposed to fight combat from the back but hey, magic did it!

Overall I'm pretty damn happy with the upcoming High Elf release and can't wait for it hit the shelves. Sadly between this and my newborn Tau army, my savings are feeling very unloved right now... ah, screw it!