Freebootaz Open Report - Part 2 - Team Bloody Wolves

Our army list for the tournament was as follows:

750pts of Space Wolves

Rune Priest (Jaws & Lightning)

(2x) 9 Grey Hunters (MotW, meltagun, PF)

Rhino each

Long fangs (2x las and 2x missile)

Razorback (TL lascannon)

749pts of Blood Angels

Mephiston

Sanguinary Priest (jump pack & power weapon)

Assault squad (3 additional marines, meltagun, power sword, melta bombs)

Assault squad (5 additional marines, meltagun, power sword)

Our logic was pretty simple. Play to the strengths of each army. Blood Angels specialise in resilient troops that close quickly on their enemy and are devastating on the charge. Wolves are all rounders capable of long range fire but not as quick. We originally had 3 squads of grey hunters and no long fangs. However, I'm glad we changed our minds because the LFs would prove to be invaluable throughout the tournament. 

We decided to go with Jaws and Lightning for the priest since we were clearly an army set for all out attack. Some of the other powers are good but the range of lightning means you can always get it off and the potential of jaws against really tough targets was hard to resist. The grey hunters are pretty obvious, we though Wulfen would be more useful than a standard since it's effective for the whole game and we decided PFs were vital to help us hit vehicles and high toughness. Not to mention the need to compensate for the lack of PFs in the BA list. The long fangs fulfil their usual role and would just be plonked down in some suitable terrain. The razorback would be close by to add a bit more S9 to the mix. We went with 2 las and 2 missile because sometimes that extra point of strength can make the difference. We could've used the points we saved to buy a couple more hunters but I really think the lascannons were more valuable. A lot of people dismiss them because they're soo much more expensive and lack the dual purpose of launchers.

The BA list is equally straightforward. The assaults squads are used together in the centre of the field to ensure that the priest is giving the benefit to both. Assuming we'd remembered to roll for red thirst and got it the priest would go with the squad that didn't. If neither did then we'd keep it with the larger squad as that would make it the most effective. Mephiston is pretty self explanatory. He acts as a fire magnet and happily can soak up a hell of a lot of it meaning people tend to ignore transports etc. Once he gets into combat he makes light work of anything he touches really. Granted there's the risk of power fists but against anything other than vanilla terminators there's only likely to be one wound per round of combat. 

It seems, from reading other blogs, that a lot of people prefer cheap rhinos/razorbacks for their BA lists. I can see the benefit of the extra fire from the razorbacks but once their transports go pop they're pretty vulnerable. Jump packs give you far more movement options and FNP provides similar protection to a vehicle.

We didn't have much of a plan thought out since we wanted to wait and see who we'd end up playing. We expected that there'd be a lot of MEQ around and that IG would be a popular choice. We hoped that the BA portion of the army would be able to get into combat with shooty armies by turn 2 and therefore keep themselves pretty safe that way. The Wolves would play a more conservative role providing support for the BA and holding the line at the back.

Next post will be a battle report I promise!

Freebootaz Open Report - Part 1 - Painting Competition

After the first game of the day (and during lunch) anyone who felt they had a shot at winning the painting competition could display their army for judging. I thought since I'd spent the previous day ensuring all my grey hunters were (almost) finished that we should enter and see if we got any votes. That is until I saw the standard of the miniatures already on display and I realised there was no point putting mine out!! Although I will do a post on here about them and a quick guide of the colours I used etc.

The first such collection I noticed was an Eldar/Fleshtearers army (forgive me if you're reading this but I've forgotten peoples' names). The guys ended up winning the tournament and I think it was in no small part due their opponents being hypnotised by the tremendous painting done on the Eldar models. I think the other reason was probably that he had a bike council supported by a Blood Chalice giving them feel no pain (USRs applied to both armies).

From a distance you may be thinking, "they aren't that special, some nice finishing but nothing to write home about". Well when you get closer you notice the guy has painting scales on all of the eldar vehicles and blue flames up the sides. From the almost perfect geometry of them and the consistency of the size you'd be forgiven for thinking they were a transfer but on closer inspection they are clearly hand painted!! 

I'd certainly never have the patience to do this. Clearly there's a low model count to his army but apparently it doesn't take him all that long to paint a tank. He reckons about a week's worth of painting a few hours a day. I find it a little hard to swallow when my Grey Hunters probably took about the same amount of time and they're far from this standard!! I think the reason they didn't win was because the Flesh Tearers didn't really match the standard. That's not to say they aren't well painted but just that they were outclassed by their companions. 

The winners of the competition were a combined chaos and orks army. There was a debate raging as to whether it was a legal army or not (by tournament rules) but that aside they were some beautifully painted miniatures. I think the winning features were the excellent ork conversions and the fact that the orks looked like they'd been corrupted by chaos, tying the army together nicely.

So that just leaves some honourable mentions. There were some really good looking armies. I particularly like the Squat and Grot army as it was nice to see the Squats after they got removed from the Universe by GW and it's always nice to see mini-orks! There was also a nice use of Asteroth as a chaos character and some really well painted Ogryns. For the full selection of pictures look here.

Freebootaz Open Results

Me and Matt played a combined Wolves and Blood Angels list at the doubles day yesterday. By some miracle we finished 3rd in our first ever tournament.

We played the guys who came second in the first game of the day and won. Overall we're really pleased with our performance. We met some great people and had some fantastic games. Throughout this week I'll post some battle reports and I'll start with a run down of the best painted competition.

Many thanks to the organisers, our opponents and all the other people we met. Let's hope it wasn't just beginners luck!

Warhammer 40,000 Doubles Tournament

Even though tickets have already sold out I was lucky enough to manage to get hold of one for me and Matt. As I've already mentioned we're hoping to field a combined Space Wolves and Blood Angels list.

On the 28th we're having a warm-up at the Freebootaz Open but the rules have changed since then. In an interesting twist GW have decided that each separate force must have 1 HQ and 1 Troop choice and then before you can have more HQ/Troops you have to have at least one Elite, Fast Attack AND Heavy Support choice. This means that there'll be no armies with purely troops in transports and it'll be one HQ per force. Obviously Space Wolves have an advantage here in that they can have two HQs per slot but still I think it will make for more interesting lists than I've seen around t'internet for other tournaments.

Also since each army is only 750pts it will be difficult to include a large number of troops once all the other required units are in. Obviously one of the two players could still field largely troops but I think a balance between the two is best. 

My main concern for our army is that there aren't that many good fast attack choices in the Space Wolves force. Thunderwolves are too expensive at this level (and I don't have the models...yet!), bikes aren't that effective and skyclaws aren't brilliant without a character/wolf guard. This means if the Fast Attack is coming from my side it'll pretty much have to be a land speeder. Not such a bad thing I suppose but I think the BA list has some much better options such as the Baal Predator.

I guess we'll have to start putting lists together and figuring it all out. What does everyone else think of the rules? Either way I'm just glad I got my ticket before they sold out!!

Space Wolves Transports

Space Wolves armies have access to a wide and varied selection of vehicles. I'd like to discuss all of these options and weigh up the pros and cons of each. Starting with the Dedicated Transports, bear in mind that unlike other Space Marine armies we are only able to use Rhinos, Razorbacks and Drop Pods. The Land Raider is only available for a single squad of Wolf Guard (although in fairness you're unlikely to use more than one because of their cost). Before I start discussing the vehicles themselves let's look at the upgrade options:

Vehicle Upgrades
In summary, don't bother! With the possible exception of the 10pts for a multi-melta on your land raiders, they're really not worth the points. All of them are very situational and, considering the most common vehicle in most armies is the Rhino, they're overpricing a cheap vehicle. Some people take extra armour but I really don't see the point. All of my vehicles are vanilla and unless I read something very persuasive I can't see that changing.

The Rhino
The humble rhino is the workhorse of any Space Wolves force. You're unlikely to see a list without at least a couple of these (unless it's a drop pod only force). The rhino has a capacity of 10 models which makes it perfect for squads of Grey Hunters. Bear in mind that if you want to include an independent character in your squad you'll have to lose a squad member so they can still fit.

The rhino has pretty basic armour at F11,S11,R10 but that extra point on the front and back can really make the difference as it means a minimum of strength 5 to cause you any problems. The low price tag of 35pts makes it an obvious choice and the included smoke launchers are essential in it's role. I nearly always drive it forward at full pelt in the first turn then pop smoke and ride out the fire. Sometimes launching the smoke is enough to make enemy players ignore it completely.

One thing I've learned recently is that if you moved then don't bother getting your troops out. If there's a very small weak target that you think you can rapid fire to death then maybe give it a go but otherwise I prefer to force my enemy to de-mech me and then make him wish he hadn't. If he fails then on your next turn you charge him and we all know how that ends.

The Razorback
Very similar to the rhino but you pay 5 extra points to equip it with twin-linked heavy bolters. Then you can spend another 35 giving it lascannons or the often used las/plas combo (which the new models don't have in the box). The trade off is that you can now only put 6 models in there. Personally I prefer larger squads but I occasionally take one to support my long fangs. Essentially they provide you with some cheap (if flimsy) long range support which is often missing from Space Wolves armies. Some people have discussed the idea that twin-linked ACs are better than the lascannons and whilst a lot of the time they're better against high toughness the ability to cause instant death is lost and high AV vehicles will be pleased to see you've not got the las. They're the same points so I'd say stick with the lascannons.

The Drop Pod
I really like the idea of these things, causing havoc as you drop your troops (or dreads) in behind enemy lines. They can certainly be a nuisance to destroy as they're AV12 all the way round and are great in objectives games. There are two fairly large problems though. Firstly they have to use the Drop Pod Assault rules which sees the majority of them coming in on turn one. A good idea on the surface but since your enemies entire force will be pretty close to where you bring them in, the occupants are going to have to survive a torrent of fire. Secondly, you can't assault straight out of them which means getting out and rapid firing then weathering a turn of enemy shooting/assaulting.

That said, I still like them and I'd love to one day field the majority of my army in them. They're a nice safe way of deep striking your troops in and in fact they're the only way of getting terminators in by deep strike.

The Land Raider
If the rhino is humble, the land raider is nothing of the sort. One of the toughest things to take down in the game with it's AV14 all round. Any enemy who doesn't have melta will struggle as even railguns will only penetrate the armour half of the time. They can fire an extra weapon most of the time and any troops inside can assault straight out of it even if it's moved.

You do, of course, pay a hefty price for this. At around 250pts it's difficult to justify taking one at anything upto and including 1500pts. They're the same prices as a fully tooled up Grey Hunters squad with a rhino for example! That said I love the feeling of deploying one of these bad boys and filling it full of Wolf Guard terminators with an array of nasty CC weapons. If you're going to take such a squad the Land Raider really is the only option as it guarantees to deny your enemy the charge which can be crucial with all the Furious Charge thats going around.

The difficulty is that they're a massive target so you're never going to hide them. Yes they can take a lot of punishment but they're certainly going to attract it and you still have to be careful to steer clear of melta weapons. There's nothing more disheartening than losing your mighty raider to some poxy little lascannon and it's a real blow to lose such a big chunk of points.

Conclusion
In summary then, the transport I'd use most would be the Rhino as it has a clear role even in low points games. The others are by no means useless though, and I think a mix of them will help keep your opponent guessing.

Thoughts on Special Characters - Part 5: Ulrik the Slayer

Unlike his special character counterparts Ulrik isn't that expensive when compared to the non-special equivalent, the wolf priest. A standard priest with no equipment is 100pts and Ulrik is 180pts. So why should you spend those extra points? 

In terms of basic stats he isn't a huge improvement but there are some key benefits. He's got better WS and BS, an extra wound and higher initiative. The WS/BS aren't really significant as you aren't going to be doing much shooting and you're still probably hitting on 3+ in combat against most things. However, the extra wound is handy and I5 means you'll get those power weapon hits in before most things out there get to hit back. Bear in mind you're still vulnerable to instant death but since he's always going to be in a squad you can assign the hits elsewhere. 

As I've mentioned he's got a nice power weapon hitting at I5 and a plasma pistol which isn't essential (I'd never give one to a wolf priest for example) but it does mean you might soften up marine squads or maybe blow up a transport before charging it's occupants. Uniquely Ulrik doesn't have a saga like the other characters but since there's only a couple of decent ones it isn't really an issue. Essentially his special rules are equivalent to saga of the beastslayer. As with the other special characters the main benefits come when you put them into a squad.

Ulrik and his squad can re-roll to hit AND to wound when in combat with a model with toughness 5 or more. This really comes into it's own against monstrous creatures such as Nids and Daemons. In my recent battle report Ulrik and his squad of grey hunters made mincemeat of a trygon prime without breaking a sweat. This rule also applies to models which are toughness 5 thanks to a bonus (such as being on a bike) so it isn't as limited as you might think. In practice, however, you'll be lucky if you get to make use of this rule as anyone who knows about it will try and keep their creatures/characters away from him. I actually prefer the standard wolf priest's ability to pick which unit type he gets Preferred Enemy for, even though this doesn't allow wounds to be re-rolled.

The mentor special rule is a nice touch. At first it may not seem all that useful but I like to use it on Lone Wolves, Dreadnoughts and even on power fist Wolf Guard in order to make the most of their limited attacks. Ulrik's other special rule, Wolf Helm of Russ is like Saga of Majesty but works for any units with line of sight to him. In addition, it means ICs wishing to assign attacks to him in combat will need to take a leadership test. This situation is pretty rare though and with most ICs having high leadership it's rarely useful. The morale re-roll is the real benefit here.

Finally, like other Wolf Priests, Ulrik get's a 4+ invulnerable save and makes his unit fearless which can be useful since Space Wolves don't have a brilliant Ld value for the most part. Speaking of Wolf Priests let's compare the points. To get a similarly equipped Wolf Priest with Plasma Pistol, Wolftooth Necklace and a Saga you're looking at 145pts. Granted you'd rarely take the pistol but the rest is reasonable so let's say 135pts. That extra 45 could buy you three grey hunters or a transport but I'd say spend it on Ulrik. He brings a bit of interest to your lists. Use him in a transport with some grey hunters and charge him towards something juicy. Ragnar probably does the job better but at 240pts you're losing something else in your list to take him. I also quite like the Ulrik model even though it's an original model thats been around a long time.

We're nearing the end of this series but there's one character left and he's a totally different prospect to any of the others. Next time it's Canis!

PS I'm going to cover Lukas and Arjac in a post together as they're upgrade characters rather than fully fledged special HQ choices.

Battle Report: Space Wolves vs Tyranids (1500pts)

Scott and I decided to have a quick skirmish today so we put together some 1500pt lists. I put a couple of different ones together and let Scott pick which I used (blind of course!). I got this: 

1500pts of Space Wolves 
Ulrik the Slayer
Rune Priest (Wolftooth Necklace, Chooser, Murderous Hurricane, Jaws)

Arjac Rockfist + 4 Wolf Guard (TH/SS, 2x Pair of Wolf Claws, Assault Cannon and PF) in a Drop Pod

2x Wolf Guard (Combi-melta/PF)
(2x) 8x Grey Hunters (Meltagun, PF, Wolf Standard, Wulfen)
2x Rhino

Long Fangs (2x Heavy Bolter, 2x Lascannon, Missile Launcher)
Razorback w/ Lascannons

My other list had Ragnar which you may recall performed really well last time we played so I was a bit worried how I'd fare without him. Scott has now got a few more things assembled (well at least partially) so he's now got: 

1500pts of Tyranids
Hive Tyrant (Heavy Venom Cannon, Indescribable Horror, Regeneration, Thorax Swarm w/ Electroshock grubs)
Tyrant Guard

Zoanthrope
Lictor

9x Genestealers w/ Scything talons (Broodlord w/ Scything talons & implant attack)
9x Genestealers w/ Scything talons
20x Hormagaunts
19x Hormagaunts

Carnifex (Stranglethorn Cannon, Bioplasma, Regeneration)
Trygon Prime

We rolled Annihilation and Pitched Battle so nice and straight forward. Means it'll be a real chance for me to see if Space Wolves really are the rock to the tyranid scissors. To be honest I was pretty worried since that seemed like a lot of Tyranids for my four squads to deal with! Scott won the roll off but surprisingly let me go first. I guess so he could see where I deployed and deploy accordingly. 

I put my long fangs upon a hill with good fields of fire and put their razorback right behind them. I then put a rhino on each flank (Ulrik on the left, RP on the right). Scott put his hormagaunts in two large groups towards his right with the zoanthrope in the middle and the HT to the left. The genestealers and carnifex were over on the left flank. The broodlord's genestealers, lictor and trygon were kept in reserve.

Turn 1
My drop pod came hurtling in, scattering slightly but landing squarely behind the carnifex. I'd have to deal with a torrent of genestealer attacks but hopefully I could weather the storm then attract the attention of the hive tyrant. Arjac threw his might hammer towards the carnifex and with help from some rending hits from the assault cannon I scored two wounds on the beast.  I moved the rhino on the left a full 12" and popped smoke. The other rhino only moved 6" to help the rune priest get in range. For some reason I decided to fire the rhino's storm bolter at the genestealers. Since I couldn't seem to find in the rules where it said if the passengers could fire at a different target or not (anyone know if they can?) I had no choice but to jaws the genestealers obviously needing anything but a six they both passed. 

The lascannon long fangs and their razorback fire at the zoanthrope and melted it after Scott failed his 3+ inv. save. Didn't like the look of it's low AP powers so that was a relief. The rest of the pack fired at the hormagaunts killing 4 which was pretty good when you consider how well Scott had spaced them giving me a single frag missile hit.

Scott moved his army forwards, running with his hormagaunts but given they could do nothing to the rhino he didn't charge. The carnifex fired at the long fangs and despite me worrying that the large blast could hit the entire squad Scott rolled an 11 and it scattered harmlessly away. It was an identical story for his heavy venom cannon which also scored an 11!! The genestealers charged into the terminators and despite scoring 4 rending hits they were thwarted by Arjac's shield and only killed the other thunder hammer. The terminators struck back with fury and killed 4. They easily made their morale check (sadly as they'd have run off the board). 

Turn 2
The rune priest's rhino again advanced at combat speed and this time I wasted no time opening a hole up under the carnifex! Ulrik and his grey hunters got out and killed 3 hormagaunts with small arms. The long fangs hit the other squad killing 5. They failed their leadership test and ran. The lascannons wounded the tyrant guard. Ulrik and co. then charged the remaining 'gaunts and despite losing 2 of their number they killed the remaining 12 with just enough hits. I consolidated them towards the ruins in case Scott's reserves caused problems next turn. The terminators finished off the remaining genestealers but Arjac took a wound in the process.

Scott failed all three reserve rolls and then rolled to see if the hormagaunts regrouped but they ran right off the board. If the Hive Tyrant died in my turn 3 then it'd be all over. He turned his attention to the terminators unleashing Paroxysm meaning they'd be at WS1 & BS1. Consequently he left only the assault cannon terminator standing who could only wound the tyrant.


Turn 3
With the tyrant in combat I could only manoeuvre my guys around. I returned Ulrik and his squad to the rhino. The tyrant and his guard score 4 hits on my remaining terminator. I needed two 5+ saves and two 2+ saves and I very nearly did it, only failing one of the 2+ saves.

Scott had more luck with his reserve rolls and brought the trygon and lictor in around the long fangs. The trygon fired off it's containment spines and scored a whopping 7 wounds! The lictor only hit with one shot from his flesh hooks but it rended. This left only a heavy bolter and lascannon in the long fang pack. The hive tyrant couldn't kill the rhino with it's venom cannon but wrecked it with it's bone sword.

Turn 4
Long fangs used ATSKNF to allow them to kill the lictor (which Scott left out in the open). Ulrik's grey hunters wounded the trygon with their meltagun. Due to bad positioning the rune priest couldn't unleash JotWW and used hurricane instead which, combined with the meltagun and pistols, killed the guard and wounded the tyrant. Both grey hunter packs charged. The tyrant killed a single grey hunter and was then brought down by power fists. Ulrik's squad took some casualties but thanks to his Slayer's Oath they had no problem killing the trygon. Since Scott now had nothing on the table the genestealers could not come in from reserve and he'd been tabled. 

Conclusion
Well that was unexpected! The sheer volume of models Scott had made me really concerned that I'd simply be overwhelmed by volume of attacks before I had a chance to shoot them down. I was particularly worried about the broodlord since Matt and Scott played recently and the monster had taken out a huge chunk of Matt's guard army. Luckily for me he never got chance to get his claws into some of fenris' finest.

Even though it felt like a comfortable win I still made some mistakes and had Scott known his codex better, I think it could easily have been the other way around. For example, a couple of turns after the 'gaunts had run away Scott realised that their proximity to the hive tyrant should've made them fearless. Had they stuck around Ulrik and co. would've certainly struggled. They might have still won eventually but the Trygon would've certainly caused more havoc.

The other thing was that the lictor was out in the open when he came in. The ability to simply place him on the battle field means he should never be caught out of cover. He could easily have been placed somewhere which gave him a 3+ cover save with his Stealth USR. I'm sure he'd have made short work of the long fangs next turn.

The lack of invulnerable saves really cost Scott in this game. Power fists are the bane of any monstrous creature and they certainly did the business this time. The only other mistake I think he made was that the carnifex was deployed right opposite my rune priest. It was certainly the most vulnerable to a jaws attack so it would've been better behind the gaunts.

From my end the main mistake was not killing off the carnifex first turn. I really should plan my shooting better before I roll any dice. The other thing was that I shouldn't have bothered with frag missiles and instead should've been using kraks to wound his monstrous creatures. That said I can't really complain as I still won after all! The terminators performed well out of the drop pod which was satisfying as I've never used them without a land raider in the past.

I'm still pretty scared of what Scott will be capable of once all his models are complete. Whilst I dealt with one lictor and one zoanthrope pretty easily I think a couple of each well used could be lethal. Had the genestealers come in I think I'd have lost one grey hunter pack. The tyrant didn't even break a sweat taking out Arjac and all his terminators which is a little worrying to say the least! Sadly given the sheer number of miniatures he has to paint it could be a while before we see his full might!

Thoughts on Special Characters - Part 4: Bjorn the Fell-Handed

It's artwork like this picture that really makes me want to like dreadnoughts. The idea of an ancient behemoth who has seen more battles than you've had hot dinners. Therefore it was one of the first models I bought when I started buying my Space Wolves army. I bought the standard plastic Space Marine dread and added a couple of little conversions so that I could use him as either a standard dread or as the subject of this post; Bjorn.

Sadly I've rarely used my dreadnought as it seems to have difficulty competing with other units for my valuable elite slots. Taking one as an HQ would certainly mean I didn't lose out on terminators, scouts and lone wolves.

As I've said before, Bjorn is perhaps the most unique special character in 40K being a vehicle. He has an impressive statline with significantly improvements over a standard dread. Both BS and WS are 6 so he'll have little difficulty scoring hits in combat or at range. Strength 7 means that even if he loses his left arm he'll still give people something to think about in CC, especially since he has 5 attacks on the charge! The only slight downside is that he's initiative 3 which means he'll struggle against squads of marines. Bear in mind however that with AV13 on the front they'll have to have a power fist or meltabombs to trouble him, in fact anything with less than S7 won't touch him in combat. Couple this with a permanent 5+ save to anything that gets past his armour and a talisman to give him psychic protection and he's pretty resilient. 

So far he seems like a good choice right? Well this is where he starts to go downhill. At a whopping 275pts he's far from cheap. You'd probably have difficulty convincing yourself that he's more worthwhile than Ragnar, Logan and Njal. Not to mention you could nearly have 3 vanilla rune priests for that price. Also, aside from the invulnerable save the other special rules don't really excite me. Re-rolling for deployment can be crucial sometimes but if you rely on it then you probably should rethink your list. If you manage to get him destroyed he makes all of his wolfy friends fearless but you've then got to defend him like an objective and if not at least have someone in contact with his wreck so you don't concede a pile of KPs.

You can swap his assault cannon for a plasma cannon at no extra cost which gives him some flexibility but the AC is pretty solid. Either way it's only really secondary to his CC skills. Ideally I'd like to put him in a drop pod and deep strike him in near some units which you know you can dread lock. However, the listing doesn't say he can take one as a transport. As far as I can tell from reading on the net it's a case of your opponent allowing you to use one or not. Sadly without one he has the same problem as other walkers in that it takes you a long time to make it into combat. I guess you could walk him behind one of your transports in the hopes of using him for counter assault.

I'd very much like to use him more but every time I think about including him I think what I could spend the points on better. As I said he's always going to have to try and pick units which aren't packed with power fists or melta bombs and to do so whilst crawling along at 6" a turn (assuming you don't run) will be difficult. 

I think special characters will always have to fight for there place against their less "special" equivalents and whislt Bjorn is undoubtedly better than a standard dread he doesn't really compete with the other HQ choices out there. I think I'll stick to using the model as just a vanilla dread. Next time it's Ulrik the Slayer who's actually not that expensive!

Freebootaz Open Doubles

We're finally biting the bullet and entering a tournament!! Matt and I will be putting together a 2x750pt BA/SW list for the Freebootaz Open on 28th November. The tournament is unfortunately in Mansfield which is bad because I'm from Chesterfield and therefore hate the place! That aside I'm really looking forward to it. It'll be interesting to see if we actually have a clue what we're doing when it comes to 40K. It's been just over a year since we started playing again so it seems a good time to test our mettle!

I can't help but wonder if there's something we've been doing wrong all these months and it'll only come up at some crucial moment. So some rule gets used wrong or a unit does something it shouldn't. A great example of this is that until recently I thought Ragnar gave Furious Charge on his counter attack but it wasn't until I blogged about him that it was pointed out to me that they updated the FAQ. Time will tell I suppose. We're busy putting a list together which we hope will be vaguely competitive. To be honest since it's our first ever tournament we'll just be happy if we at least win one game or perhaps if we can just avoid coming last!

I'd initially promised myself that I'd never put together a stats list and I'd always try and do something a bit different. However, I think at least my half of the list will be pretty pedestrian. I really want to see how good we are tactically without having to worry about how many special rules I've forgotten! We're going with BA/SW because I think they'll work well together and I'd rather be using 5th edition armies because to be frank I think the older codexes are struggling more and more with the new rules.

I really need to get cracking on my painting as we'd very much like to field a completely painted army. Wish me luck!