Imperial Knight of House Tangryx WIP Part 1

Today I thought I'd take a break from talking about tournaments and post a couple of WIP shots of my first Imperial Knight. You may remember my previous post about magnetising it, so you'll know that I've got to paint all of the bits to make it fully interchangeable.

I'm sure that seemed a good idea at the time but right now I'm wishing I only had one weapon to paint for each arm and the carapace! Still, I'm enjoying painting the model. There's lots of details that I intend to go back and pick out but for now I'm trying to get the basic colours fleshed out.

Before I go any further let me apologise for the poor quality pictures. I took them quickly with my phone so I could post this up and get back to painting in the limited time I have before my son wakes up again!

In a shocking move of creativity I actually decided not to just copy one of the suggested colour schemes from one of the houses mentioned in the codex. I'm terrible for just copying colour schemes and not thinking of my own. My Tau are the exception to this of course but they were a one off compared to my SW, Orks, DA and DE. Speaking of which I really must get round to finishing them...

Anyway, I originally wanted quite a deep orange colour so looking at my colour chart that came "free" in a recent WD I decided Jokaero Orange was a good way to go. It's a base colour so it should cover quite well through the airbrush and it's just the right shade. Well, at least I thought it was. Look at the picture below and tell me in what world the colour on the chart matches the colour in the bottle!?!

Perhaps it dries darker I dunno but whilst I was looking at it on the shelf and trying to make up my mind I spotted Wild Rider "Red" which is actually orange! Very confusing this paint range! Anyway, I figured I'd give it a shot so proceeded to spray up all my armour panels. I was initially happy with it until I looked at it against the Leadbelcher of the metalwork. It was clearly a bit pinky and my wife said it was "coral" like some of her clothes! Not exactly what I had in mind. I therefore decided to risk Troll Slayer Orange over the top. I'd been worried it would be too bright but I'm actually really pleased with the colour. One problem with it is that on the other panels which I'd yet to spray it doesn't really cover too well straight over Leadbelcher (which I'd painted all of the skeleton and weapons in. 

It's not too bad with a couple of coats but I think on subsequent knights I'll try a basecoat of either Mephiston Red, Jokaero Orange or maybe my Vallejo grey primer. Hopefully that'll give a more even coat. I'm still pretty new to airbrushing. I'd love to do a bit more of a blended/fade on the armour panels but again that's something I might try on subsequent knights. 

As you can see in the picture below I've followed the Mechanicum painting scheme guidelines in the codex (see, I'm not that original!). 

This means Abaddon Black on the shin guards and shoulder pads. This knight will just be a run of the mill type so he won't be given any extra markings for Baron or whatever they're called. Perhaps I'll come back and do them later but for now I want to get the colour scheme down so work can begin on his brethren.

As you can see there's plenty of bits left to paint some of which still need some orange from the airbrush. Just when I think I've done it all I spot some more bits I've forgotten! That's what you get for painting for an hour or so at a time! You can see in the picture that I've started with some Averland Sunset on the sword to give it the black/yellow warning hatching. This will probably makes its way onto other panels too to try and break up the orange a bit. Incidentally I'm looking at these pictures now and realising there's A LOT of orange on there. That's the problem with painting individual panels and not seeing the work as a whole. Perhaps I should throw some white in there. What do you reckon? Any suggestions for breaking things up? There'll be transfers and details of course but he needs something else I think.

I've gone with one of the Mechanicum specific facemasks which will be glued in place rather than magnetised as I've mentioned before. 

Progress has been a lot slower than I'd hoped. That's partly due to limited time and partly because I'm lazy! I'd better get cracking as this little lot arrived the other day too...

Finally, the name Tangryx unimaginatively comes from Tango (which is an orange soda drink in the UK). I've just got to find a way of creating a house emblem that's easy to paint.

More updates to follow when I eventually make more progress!

Decisions on Blog Wars X Army Selection

Following on from the discussion post about a few issues related to army selection for BWX, I wanted to outline what I've decided.

Exclusive Dataslates
There's only really the Skyhammer and SM Command Tanks that are feasible given the BW points limit etc. I think the Skyhammer could be abused but I'm prepared to allow it this time and hope that people resist making it too cheesy.

Flyers/FMC
Both of these units have been around for a good while now. The Tyranid codex is actually one of the "older" books actually. They're horrible to deal with but not unstoppable and I think to limit their use would hamper Tyranid players too much. I really hope people will avoid spamming them too much but I'll judge this on an individual list basis.

The main thing is to bear in mind that you might face one of these lists and plan your army accordingly. That means either taking plenty of anti-air or simply deciding to ignore them (as far as possible) and focus on their ground support units. Remember a Swooping FMC or Zooming Flyer can't claim an objective.

Special Detachments (e.g. Decurion, Warhost, Gladius)
Additional special rules aside, I think the main problem here is only certain factions have access to these detachments and it allows them to bypass the BW restriction of two detachments/formations. Until all (or the majority at least) factions have access to them I don't think they should be permitted.

To clarify though, this only applies to those detachments which are made up of formations. This includes things like the Champions of Fenris detachment from the supplement of the same name. Basically if it's just a single detachment/formation made up of units (in whatever combination) it's fine. If it's a detachment made up of subformations it isn't. I'm sure there'll be stuff I haven't thought of but if you're unsure contact me.

Conclusion
Generally speaking my stance this time around is going to be minimal restrictions and instead a (perhaps misguided) trust that you guys will enter into the spirit of the event and not bring total filth. I'm sure GW will throw plenty of spanners into the works before BWX comes around but I'll try and stay on top of things as best I can.

If there any things you think I've missed that are particularly awful in your opinion please feel free to comment here or contact me by email.

Guest Post: Fluffageddon Rules Queries

Here's another post from Matt:

I just want to clear a few things up on the duplications rule:

• Units of the same type that can be selected from different slots do not count as duplications. This is to prevent it becoming too complicated, such as command squads being counted as the same as veteran squads etc.  
• Units that can have a mixture of different types of models are always duplications if two are taken. For example a leman russ squadron is a duplication of another leman russ squadron even if the first squadron contains battle tanks and the second contains demolishers as each unit could contain a mixture. 
• Astra militarum platoons count as a single unit choice, and so two platoons may be taken 
• However the max squad size rule still comes into play during the game and so combined squads of guardsman can never be over twice their starting size (so only two squads can be combined to make a max size of 20 guardsmen) 
• Models selected from a single choice within a codex (e.g. 0-3 per.... etc) only count as a single choice per 0-3 selected. 

Below is an example of an Astra Militarum list:

Combined Arms Detachment - 1850pts
Priest
Priest
Primaris psyker ML2

Tank Commander (Pask) in Punisher with another Punisher (both with HBs and lascannons)

Tempestus Scions, 5 man with 2 melta

Infantry Platoon
2 infantry squads both with lascannons
Platoon command with 4 flamers

Infantry Platoon
2 infantry squads one with lascannon, one with autocannon
Platoon command

Veterans (demolitions) in Chimera with 3 melta

Vendetta

Leman Russ squadron – 2 Executioners with plasma sponsons and lascannons

Wyvern Battery – 2 Wyverns

The only duplications are the infantry platoons. The Leman Russ are not duplicated as they are in different slots. The priests do not count as a duplication as they are selected as a single choice (0-3). Therefore 3 could be taken as a single choice if desired. I would combine the infantry squads into two 20 man squads with priests and a psyker in one to hopefully cast Prescience on my Executioners. Platoon Command with flamers will go into the Vendetta and the other will support the infantry squads.

Hope this helps with list writing!

Matt

Planning An Army for Fluffageddon!

So, since I won't be playing in a Blog Wars any time soon I need to look elsewhere for my competitive(ish) gaming fix. I'm still hoping to attend some events at my FLGS from time to time but the other event on my radar is my friend Matt's tournament, Fluffageddon. If you haven't already checked it out then head over to the Fluffageddon page on this very blog for more information and to buy a ticket.

You'll notice that I'm the first name on the list! I have every faith in Matt to run an event that has a similar atmosphere to Blog Wars whilst trying to do things a bit differently. Speaking of which, as the name suggests, Fluffageddon is attempting to make 40K that little bit more fluffy and less filthy. The question is what army should I take? I have Space Wolves, Tau, Orks, Dark Eldar and Dark Angels (for now, I'm thinking of selling). I've also started work on my Imperial Knights but I'll talk about that more soon.

Before I pick a faction let's look at the army selection criteria. These have become a mainstay on the independent tournament scene where pretty much every event has some variation on the standard army selection in order to try and bring some sanity to the GW spawned madness (or chaos if you will). Here's Matt's take on things:

• 1850 points maximum per army 
• No Forge World units are allowed
• Maximum of 2 detachments, any two are allowed as long as they comply with the other restrictions below
• No more than 2 units may be duplicated in the entire army, this includes dedicated transports. 
• Duplicated units can only be duplicated once.
• No unit may have a number of models in it that more than doubles its default starting size. 
• The allies matrix must be used for 2 detachments and only battle brothers or allies of convenience alliances can be formed

Same points level as Blog Wars, two detachments and no Forge World so at least that's familiar territory. The rest is pretty different though. It's much simpler than it looks though. Basically there are only two units that you can take more than one of and no unit can be double it's starting size. That makes things interesting then. There'll be no massive blobs of anything but neither will there be multiple Night Scythes or anything like that. Initially this seems restrictive but I actually think it makes writing a list a challenge (in a good way). It's like Highlander only with a couple of doubled up units.

However, the key to Fluffageddon is that there's effectively a tournament within a tournament. There will be some prizes that only "fluffy" lists can win so if someone decides to bring something filthier they aren't likely to qualify. Here's the criteria to be considered fluffy:

• Either be from a single codex only or be battle brothers
• Fit the background of the faction or factions it is fighting for
• Be fully painted
• Not be full of filth

Single codex is right up my street and frankly I rarely use allies so it won't be a problem. Fitting into the background is good too. I don't do this much in my tournament lists but in our friendly games I enjoy putting something together that feels right for a particular faction. Fully painted might be my downfall but that's why I'm planning now so that if I need to do more work I can. It'll be nice to be able to participate in a Best Painted competition for a change but with only two months to go it'll be a slog depending on what army I go for! 

The "full of filth" bit is a bit harder to quantify but since Matt's usually the one running filth (outside of BW) then I'm sure he'll be able to spot it. Takes one to know one and all that! 

Right, let's look at some options then:

Space Wolves

Whenever I think fluff I immediately think Space Wolves. Their easily the favourite of my armies and this is mainly because I love their backstory and generally identity. Despite not having to take a special character I think for me it's easier to make a list fluffy if I'm theming it around one. I could centre it around Thorgrim Darksteed, my thunderlord but I'd like to give Ragnar a run out perhaps. Well straight away I have to rethink things as I can only take a maximum of two drop pods. That means only one arrives turn 1. Still I'd like to have a couple in there. Here's my first attempt at a list:

Wolves Unleashed Detachment  (1,846pts)
Bjorn w/ Helfrost (Drop Pod)
Rune Priest w/ runic armour and ML2
Wolf Priest w/ runic armour
Wolf Lord w/ runic armour, thunderwolf, shield, claw, Helm of Durfast

Murderfang (Drop Pod)

5 Blood Claws w/ flamer (Stormwolf w/ meltas)
10 Grey Hunters w/ wolf standard, chainswords, meltagun, terminator WG with combi-melta/PF
10 Grey Hunters w/ chainswords, meltagun, terminator WG with combi-melta/PF

3 Thunderwolf cavalry w/ 2 TH/SS, 1 chainsword/pistol

Irritating to only spend 1846 points but a reasonable force. I could easily ditch some of the HQs, switch to a CAD and throw something like a predator in there or maybe a rhino for one of the grey hunter packs. Unless I'm missing something that list is legal though with just the grey hunters and drop pods being duplicates. It's got a bit of everything in there too with psychic, anti-air, etc. Should be fun to have the two dreads but obviously with one dread per turn (and no guarantees of the second coming in turn 2) they might be vulnerable.

Still the main bonus is that I have a ton of this already painted. I'd need to build and paint Murderfang and I'd like to replace my Bjorn with the new model but otherwise I have all of this ready to go. It'd just be a case of touching things up to get them looking their best.

Tau
With limits on the number of duplicates Tau seem like an obvious choice as there aren't really many bad entries in the book. The problem is that they have pretty weak troops. Still let's see what we can do:

Combined Arms Detachment (1,849pts)
Ethereal
Commander w/ iridium suit, fusion, plasma, target lock, VRT
2 Crisis Bodyguard w/ fusion, plasma

Riptide w/ fusion, ion accel,, EWO, VT
3 Crisis Suits w/ shas'vre with PENchip and 2 missile pods, shas'ui 2 missile pods, flamer

12 Firewarriors (Devilfish w/ disruption pods)
11 Firewarriors (Devilfish w/ disruption pods)
18 Kroot

3 Piranhas
Sun Shark Bomber w/ twin-linked pod, decoy launchers

Hammerhead w/ Longstrike railgun with subs, SMS, disruption pod
Sky Ray w/ SMS, disruption pod, blacksun

This list is stronger I reckon. The duplicates are the fire warrior teams and their devilfish. With the Ethereal they're getting 3 shots each when they hop out. The Kroot blob can Outflank and just be a nuisance. The commander and his team drop in from deep strike to deal with vehicles. The riptide has some anti-air with help from the sun shark and skyray. The piranhas are in their for crowd control and anti-infantry fire. Longstrike is in there mainly because he's awesome and it's a good excuse to run a hammerhead. Finally, the missile team adds some reasonably reliable anti-tank firepower.

I think I prefer this to the Space Wolves list and it'd be less work to get ready. Everything except the piranhas are good to go and with my airbrush they'd be ready pretty quick. Like the wolves I could do some work on them to make them better but I wouldn't need to which is a nice feeling.

Dark Eldar

Whatever I bring here they're the total opposite of the SW and Tau in that they're pretty much completely unpainted. It'd be a great excuse to get them ready of course but in two months it's pretty much impossible for me to have them ready. Still let's look at a list to see what can be done with my collection, perhaps there'll be a Fluffageddon 2 next year eh?

Realspace Raiders OR Combined Arms Detachment (1,490pts)
Archon w/ agoniser, shadow field, webway, Armour of Misery
Urien Rakarth

4 Grotesques w/ abberation, liquifier gun (Raider w/ night shields)
9 Kabalite Trueborn w/ blaster, splinter cannon

5 Kabalite Warriors w/ blaster (Venom w/ two cannons)
5 Kabalite Warriors w/ blaster (Venom w/ two cannons)

Razorwing Jetfighter w/ dark lances, splinter cannon
6 Reavers w/ 2 cluster caltrops, arena champion w/ agoniser
5 Scourges w/ 4 haywire blasters

Ravager w/ dark lances, night shields

Dark Artisan Formation (360pts)
Haemonculus w/ webway
Cronos w/ spirit probe
Talos w/ chain flails, heat lance

Two detachments this time but still just the two duplicates. I really like this list. There's a strong coven element but there still the core DE units to keep the identity. The razorwing gives some, perhaps limited, anti-air. The ravager and scourges are the main anti-tank with the odd blaster elsewhere.

The formation should help with that too. There's very little of this army that's ready to go though. The whole Dark Artisan bit is fully painted but otherwise I'd need to pretty much paint everything else and with all that line-highlighting it's likely to take a good while too. There's not a huge number of models there to paint though so it isn't out of the question. If I did decide to go for it I'd need to get motivated but it'd be a good excuse to finally make some progress on them.

Dark Angels

I've not really had enough time to digest the new book to start writing lists yet but I can see them being feasible thanks to the command squads etc making multiple units of effectively the same thing possible. Part of the problem at the moment is the broken Ravenwing Strike Force that doesn't actually allow enough HQs, assuming you can take a HQ provided they're on a bike I'd like to run this:

Ravenwing Strike Force (1,850pts)
Sammael
Librarian w/ bike, auspex, ML2

6-man Ravenwing Command Squad w/ Champion, Apothecary, Ravenwing Banner

Nephilim Jetfighter w/ lascannon
6-man Ravenwing Bike Squad w/ 2 grav-guns
6-man Ravenwing Bike Squad w/ 2 grav-guns
6 Ravenwing Black Knights
6 Ravenwing Black Knights
Darkshroud
2 Landspeeder Typhoons

Bollocks. I really want to sell my Dark Angels but I really like the look of this list. Shockingly quite a big chunk of it is painted too and with all that black it doesn't take too long to get things to a good standard. At the moment this list isn't legal though as the librarian is a bit of a grey area. God knows what you're meant to take for the other HQs in that detachment though!?!

This list looks pretty nasty and you can't for a second argue it isn't fluffy! I don't think it's hugely filthy either. Strong yeah, but not filthy. That's 30+ bikes with 3 speeders and a flyer. Pretty low model count. I'd be very tempted by this.

Conclusion
You know what, I really thought this would be a lot more difficult than it's turned out to be. With the duplication limits I thought I was going to struggle to fill the points. I'm not going to pretend these lists are perfect as I only threw them together to give me an idea of what is possible. It's worth bearing in mind that assuming everyone wants to go down the fluffy route there won't be as many awful lists to face so certainly the Tau and DA lists would be strong contenders. Think about it for a minute. Only two wave serpents in an Eldar list and then only two units of windriders too with a maximum squad of 6. There'd only be two Night Scythes and two Ghost Arks in a Necron list too for example.

I've come away from writing this really motivated to come up with some other lists and improve upon the ones I've presented above. It's a really interesting army selection method without a complicated list of banned things like Blog Wars might end up being. A lot of the things that might end up being overpowered at Blog Wars wouldn't be allowed. For example since the Skyhammer requires two pods, two dev squads and two assault squads you simply couldn't field it at Fluffageddon. It's not a perfect system of course and it still favours some armies but what system doesn't?

I can't wait until we get chance to do some playtesting to see how these lists pan out and what the game is like with less filth.

Guest Post: Fluffageddon Reminder

A Warhammer 40K 1850 point Singles Tournament

Saturday 5th September 2015

Northwest Gaming Centre in Stockport

Matt here again, just writing a quick post to remind everyone about my first 40K tournament coming up in September.

Fluffageddon is a slightly different take on the regular 40k tournament model.

The aim of Fuffageddon is to create a tournament that is enjoyable for everyone who attends. I have tried to create a system that is fair and rewards people for bringing more varied army lists that are enjoyable to both play with and against. The restrictions and comp rules are there to prevent people bringing filthy spammy lists (you could say unfluffy) and encourage people to think outside the box a little more a try something a bit different, maybe an army that better represents the faction they are fighting for (you could say fluffy).

Granted it is still possible to bring a load of filth even with the restrictions I have put in place, but that is why I also have a set of prizes that are only available to the top ranking ‘fluffy’ armies (to see how your army can qualify as fluffy see the rules pack). This should hopefully serve as further encouragement to bring something a little more friendly and fun to use.

I have had loads of interest in the tournament so far and everyone seems very positive about the idea. A few have commented on how the restrictions make list building a bit more of a challenge, but also said how they are enjoying that challenge.

The rules pack is available here.

Please drop me an e-mail or post a comment on here if you have any queries. A few people have already sent me lists to check for fluffiness and so feel free to do that too using the e-mail address in the rules pack.

As soon as you buy a ticket your name will go on the list which can be found on the Fluffageddon page, found by clicking on the Fluffageddon image on the right.

I will post up more information about the event, such as prizes etc, in the next few months. But basically if you’ve attended Blog Wars before then you can expect a similar experience, just with different rules, a slightly different format and a more attractive (but maybe slightly less experienced) TO on the microphone.

Hope to see you there,
Matt

From The Fang Blogroll

Just a quick post this evening to say that I'm always prepared to add other blogs to my "Recommended Reading" segment on the right (web version of the blog only). I know there were a couple of people who'd already sent requests to be added but there's been an issue with Blogger preventing me from adding them so please get back in touch and I should now be able to add you.

I tend to filter through them from time to time and remove blogs which haven't had posts for a few months but other than that there's no restriction. Well, they have to be wargaming related at least (though not necessarily 40K). I'm always looking for more blogs to add to my own reading list so the more the merrier!

Please use the "contact me" link on the right (again web version only) and send me your details and I'll add you as soon as you can. I'd appreciate you linking back to From The Fang in return but again, this isn't compulsory. I get a reasonable amount of traffic, around 1200-1500 pageviews per day, so hopefully you'll see some extra visitors.

Blog Wars Army Lists and Self Moderation

The worst part of putting together the rules pack for any Blog Wars event is, without a doubt, the army selection criteria. Of course this is becoming more and more difficult with each change GW makes to our beloved game. I want to talk to through some of the decisions I've made for BWX (coolest acronym ever?) and also discuss a few things that I'm unsure about.

The most important part of the process for me is consulting you guys. I have a certain point of view on everything 40K related and army selection is no exception. Inevitably part of the identity of Blog Wars comes from my own beliefs about what makes for a fun event. I originally created this event as a means of bringing the blogging community together to roll some dice but it's grown from there and I never thought I'd achieve the 48 player attendance we had at BW9. Community aside, the key for me was that Blog Wars should be the kind of event I'd want to attend if I wasn't running it.

At the time I created Blog Wars I'd only recently entered the tournament scene but what I found most frustrating was that the GW events had such appalling prize support and that the independent ones seemed to reward WAAC gameplay more than actually enjoying the games and meeting new people. This can be a pretty lonely hobby at times when you're sitting in a room painting miniatures by yourself (or blogging endlessly about the minimal hobby you actually get time for). Tournaments should be where we all get together in a relaxed environment and throw some dice.

Why am I talking about all this? Well, it's important to understand my motivation for "banning" certain things. The perpetual "comp" for the event, the compulsory special character, was put in place to shake up the scene at the time which was banning SCs rather than making them compulsory. Of course they can be exploited for their rules but I see them as bringing character (pun intended) to what can easily become a stale scene of spamming of the strongest units. You don't talk about how your 24 broadsides easily gunned down an opposing army in two turns. You talk about that time when Arjac Rockfist took on a Bloodthirster and two daemon princes in combat and lived to tell the tale.

It's difficult to translate that ethos into army selection criteria though. For every restriction I make to limit the use of a particularly nasty combination, I seem to prevent someone doing something fluffy and/or fun. A prime example was the introduction of supplements. I originally wanted to ban them to prevent the use of O'Vesastar etc. Trouble was that I had a couple of people who had designed their Tau army around the Farsight Enclaves book. I therefore decided that every time I run an event I will try to keep restrictions to a minimum and trust people to write their lists in the "spirit of the event". I throw that phrase around a lot but it's right at the heart of why I created Blog Wars. I want people to bring something a bit different, something that wouldn't necessarily do well at a mainstream event but might surprise some people at Blog Wars.

Where am I going with this?
Good question! I often wonder that when I'm writing blog posts! Anyway, there are a couple of issues that have surfaced since I published the BWX event pack so here goes:

Exclusive Dataslates
Games Workshop have taken the sickening step of releasing bundles that come with their own exclusive formations. Paying for rules is nothing new and frankly it's what the game boils down to even without these new offerings from GW. However, it's yet another source of rules I have to be aware of and make a decision about. For those of you not familiar with them there are currently three in circulation:

• The Exalted Court of House Terryn
• Cohort Mechanicus
• Skyhammer Annihilation Force

I'm sure GW will have added more by the time BWX comes around but let's look at the current crop. Well we don't have to worry about the Exalted Court because it requires 5 IKs and BWX only allows a maximum of two per army. The Cohort Mechanicus is a nice way of brining together the Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus books which I'm all for but basically it allows both Canticles and Doctrina to be used for the entire formation and adds a couple extra. One gives upto a 4++ save for a turn and the other gives +3 to BS and WS for a turn, both of which are pretty powerful. Still, all of the AdMech stuff is reasonably flimsy so I don't think it's too obscene.

The Skyhammer Annihilation Force is a bit more difficult. This a formation for the new SM book and includes two assault squads with jump packs and two devastator squads in drop pods. The key bonuses are that the whole formation arrives together automatically on either T1 or T2, the assault squads get to assault when they arrive and the devastators get Relentless when they arrive. That basically negates the drawbacks of reserving them. Not only that but the Devastators can force a morale check on 3D6 for any unit they target. A failure forces them to go to ground and prevents them firing Overwatch. Not only that but if the assault squads charge them they get to re-roll to hit and to wound for a phase. 

Just writing that out makes me feel uncomfortable about allowing it but I want to hear what you guys think. There's an extra avenue for abuse too with the Combat Squads rule. You could easily cause 4 units to Go To Ground and charge four separate units. As I say, I want to hear your thoughts but it doesn't sit right with me.

Flyer/FMC Spam

This is trickier to call. I received a few comments about the list that came second at BW9 which was a Tyranid list with multiple FMCs. It's difficult because on the one hand I think that there are only a limited number of "viable builds" for Tyranids to be competitive and FMCs are part of their identity. The other side of it is that there should be lists like this as a counter to things like three Imperial Knights (which were an issue at BW9 but aren't allowed at BWX). 

There should be lists with lots of flyers so that there's a rock to some scissors. Obviously in a three game event it might meant that a list seems over the top but in a longer event it would meet it's match. Players should design their lists expecting to play at least the odd flyer and meeting multiple flyers should present a challenge to attempt to overcome. Again though, I want to hear what you guys think.

Special Detachments (e.g. Necron Decurion, Eldar Warhost, etc)

These are a whole new can of worms opened up by GW. My first objection to them is that they bypass the "two detachments/formations" only by allowing your to take multiple formations whilst still only taking a single detachment. That seems unfair on armies without them for a start.

What makes them worse are the bonuses which apply to the whole detachment. Using the Decurion was an example, the whole army gets +1 to its RP rolls. That means a 50:50 chance of negating any damage for the most part. It's better than FNP even before the bonus. What that basically means is you need twice as much firepower to kill a Necron unit than you would without RP. You may disagree with me but I really don't think Necrons need any help. There similar issues with the Eldar and SM detachments and again I really don't think those armies need help being competitive.

Let's be clear here, I'm not saying the individual formations aren't allowed. I'm just saying that a detachment of formations isn't. Nothing is completely final though, I really do want to hear what you think.

Conclusion

Ultimately the decision on whether something is too filthy or not can't be properly made until I've seen the general standard of the lists. I try to ensure that there's a decent mixture in there. I don't want everything to be crap but nor do I want everything to be incredibly strong. Neither situation makes for a fun event.

Hopefully the missions help to moderate things somewhat as certain types of army simply won't do well at every mission. There are some exceptions to this of course. The other thing to consider is we're not talking about what's good in a normal tournament setting. Blog Wars will inevitably be a bit softer than the usual independent events so something that feels underpowered there might actually do well at Blog Wars. Banning the Gladius when 5 Imperial Knights are permitted would be unfair but when other armies are restricted too the overall power level is lower and the better codices will still rise to the top.

On the other hand I hate telling people that they need to change their list. Even if they submit it well in advance to check if it's alright. I hope this post goes some way to expressing how difficult it is to keep things friendly without losing the competitive side of what is, after all is said and done, a tournament.