The Independent Characters

Kudos to the guys producing The Independant Characters podcasts. It has quickly become my favorite podcast for 40k out there. While certainly not G-rated, they are a little tamer than a lot of the others who often swear for swearing's sake or shock value. Their interviews are insightful. They ask pertinent questions and have tackled subject matter with out sounding pedantic or condescending. In all, when I listen to their discourses and opinions, they sound like the kind of guys I would like to hang out with.

Thanks fellas, and keep up the good work.

Thanks for reading,
T

Dads, Friends, and Fandom

This Blog is linked to my Gmail account via Google Buzz. When I was talking to my Dad last night he said that he was following my blog (Though not actually amongst my 9 awesome followers!) and said my stuff,"Looked cool." That was surprising, because my Dad knows eff all about miniature games. He doesn't have a clue what any of the words mean, he just likes the pictures.

I was thinking about how someone could be "into it", knowing nothing about it? Then it occurred to me that being vested in someone can still let you enjoy it. Deke Stella is without a doubt my favorite painter. You can see his work in the webstore of his miniature company, Soda Pop Miniatures. Now, lasciviously posed, scantily clad, anime chics are about 180 degrees from what I normally think is cool. There are exceptions...

But I digress. I throughly enjoy all of his paint jobs for his miniatures. As a matter of fact I love them. In some instances they even make me like the model more, despite it being something in a genre I wouldn't look twice at normally. Other than, and not looking to gloss over, the fact that he is just really good, I think Deke is my favorite because he is my best friend. Every time I see something that he has done, I can not only see the model, but also the thought process behind it. I can imagine, after having painted for countless hours at his side, the spots where he cursed the model, and the other spots that I know he was stoked to work on. In all, it is just cool that he did it.

As a new father, I am stoked when my daughter just waves. I can guess I can see how my dad could be into this blog with almost no frame of reference. It is all the better when the person you like is also talented, as is the case with Deke.

So thanks, Pop, for being a fan, and thanks Deke for being an awesome painter. Thank god no one I care about, to my knowledge, is involved in reality television. That is just something that I would have to work really hard to see merit in.

Thanks for reading,
T

Black Templar Vows Part 4

*Picture used w/o permission, glad to take it down if the artist wishes.

Alright. According to the internets we are are saving the best for last. And in many ways I am inclined to agree. Today's vow is:

Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Odds

This is the most expensive vow at 50 points. It gives all your Templar USR Preferred Enemy. The vow affects dreadnoughts but not Neophytes. The second part of this vow is that if a unit is in range of an assault of an enemy unit it must assault them.

This vow actually took awhile for me to appreciate. The having to assault in conjunction with Kill Them All (A Black Templar rule that requires units to make a Ld test at -1 to shoot at anything other than the closest unit.)made me feel like at times I was not in control of my army. I had some canny opponents who would get an Ironclad or Wraithlord to where my squads had to assault it. The that Templar squad would be tied up all game, or until they were killed. I had even been victim to a very clever use of a Rhino pulling my guys off of an objective late game. And I didn't even get the Rhino since Preferred Enemy doesn't work on vehicles!

However, once you get your target priority worked out, and see some of the tricks coming, this vow becomes pretty nasty for a control type player. What assault army wouldn't love the chance to premeasure their assaults? This vow never states that you have to charge the closest squad, just that if a squad is within assault range you have to charge. It can easily be inferred from that rule that you measure to see what all your squad can charge. This knowledge can be used in a lot of ways to keep you out of undesirable assaults. Be it charging the best target, or declaring an assault you will probably fail, like one 6" away through difficult terrain.

And of course, the obvious, once you do get into assault you get to reroll all of your "to hit" rolls. Which normally makes it so that you crush whatever you are assaulting. This can be a problem, in that you often want to wipe out your opponent during their assault phase so your squad can't be shot at. But that is a different matter entirely.

One thing to note with this vow is that, if you think you are in a position where you will be able to pick your favorite assault, be sure not to shoot. Also, even though it is expensive for Templar, buying Krak grenades can help you out if you get drawn into an assault with something AV 11 or 12. Also, because neophytes don't benefit from this vow, it might not hurt, in lower point games, to leave them at home.

An army I might run under this vow would be small and rely on spending the game locked in close combat. At 1,500 points would look something like this:

1500 Pts - Black Templars Roster



: Emperor's Champion (1#, 140 pts)

   1 Emperor's Champion @ 140 pts (Bolt Pistol; Crusader Seals; Frag Grenades; The Black Sword; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

      1 Armor of Faith

      1 The Black Sword



HQ: Commander (1#, 155 pts)

   1 Commander @ 155 pts (Marshal)

      1 Marshal (Crusader Seals; Power Weapon x1; Combi-Meltagun; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

         1 Adamantine Mantle

         1 Combat Shield



Troops: Crusader Squad (11#, 505 pts)

   10 Crusader Squad @ 505 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Meltagun; Power Weapon; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

      1 Land Raider Crusader (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 15 models; Access Points: 3; Extra Armor; Frag Assault Launchers; Multi-Melta; Dozer Blade; Twin Linked Assault Cannon; 2x Hurricane Bolters; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)

         1 Blessed Hull



Troops: Crusader Squad (11#, 505 pts)

   10 Crusader Squad @ 505 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Meltagun; Power Weapon; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

      1 Land Raider Crusader (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 15 models; Access Points: 3; Extra Armor; Frag Assault Launchers; Multi-Melta; Dozer Blade; Twin Linked Assault Cannon; 2x Hurricane Bolters; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)

         1 Blessed Hull



Fast Attack: Attack Bike Squadron (2#, 130 pts)

   2 Attack Bike Squadron @ 130 pts (Frag Grenades; Multi-Melta x2; Accept Any Challenge, No Matter The Odds)

      1 Space Marine Bike (Twin Linked Bolter)



Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 65 pts)

   1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 65 pts (Multi-Melta x1)



Total Roster Cost: 1500

Distraction!

Do you ever get distracted? Me too! OMG are we twins? Anyway, I am going to interrupt this series to show off what I did this weekend, which consequently, was not what I was supposed to be doing.

From Stuff I Have Painted

Players and fans of Warmachine may recognize this color scheme immediately, because I stole it from the Retribution of Scyrah. But I am getting a little ahead of myself.

What happened was Deke and I were talking about color schemes for my Black Templar. I was thinking maybe I wanted to do something other than black and white. As a matter of fact I was just going to have a lot of white. Having never painted white as a majority color, I began flipping through the various books and magazines I have on hand. I was looking to brush up on various painting guides for painting white. One of the first places I looked was the Retribution of Scyrah forces book. As I was looking through their tutorials I kept being struck with how striking the colors could look on a fire warrior.

Next thing I knew, and after laying pavers all day Saturday, my marine was off to the side, and one of my countless fire warriors had taken his place in line.

From Stuff I Have Painted

From Stuff I Have Painted

The guides from the Forces of Warmachine books are really good, and clear. As a matter of fact I have been buying all the "Forces of" books to build a library of good painting guides as nearly all the major colors are covered between all their factions. Though the tinting of the metallics in the Ret book included verbiage like "drop". And my drops and their drops were different, since my base coats came out a lot darker. I a can do a lot better with some practice on shading the white for future models. I will finish a squad in these colors and add it my existing hunter cadre. I don't really care if they are a different color, maybe Commander K' Apow had to call in some reserves?

Thanks for reading,
T

Black Templar Vows Part 3

Alright. It's Friday, I hope you all are as stoked as I am. Today I am going to give a little run down on my favorite of the Black Templar vows:

Abhor the Witch, Destroy the Witch

This vow affects all units, including vehicles. Before the Scout move, if your opponent has a psyker, all of your units consolidate d6" towards the nearest visible enemy unit. Crusader Seals will let you reroll this consolidation. In addition, any psychic powers that affect one or more of your units are canceled on a 5+. The "down side" is that your units with Infiltrate must deploy with your army.

This vow costs you 20 points. And in quite a few games it won't do you any good. But at the same time it can't hurt you either. I think there is only one entry in the Black Templar's codex that can Infiltrate, and that is at the expense of Furious Charge. Don't get me wrong, I am not excited that I have to pay 20 points to not have to worry about a downside. But I will take it.

Where this vow really pays off, obviously, is when your opponent does have a psyker. If your opponent deploys at the edge of their deployment zone a roll of a 5 or 6 will let a unit in a land raider get into assault even if you have the first turn. It is gimmicky, and highly situational, but it is there if you need it.

Better than any of the potential shenanigans, and the reason I like it, is because this vow is the only form of psychic defense Templar have. Templar can not field librarians, so no hoods. Be it lash, Jaws, or whatever, at least with this vow I am only bent over by it 2/3 of the time. One thing to remember as well, is that in the case of obscured vehicles, you get this in addition to your cover save. So if a brain bug is blasting your tank in cover, you get a 5+ and then a 4+.

Having this vow doesn't hurt you, unless you are a proponent of infiltrating Sword Brethren. And though situational, when facing psykers, you are offered some protection, as well as afforded a few unique opportunities for repositioning or early assault.

The Black Templar list I have been running under this vow looks like this:

1500 Pts - Black Templars Roster



HQ: Black Templars Chaplain (4#, 182 pts)

   1 Black Templars Chaplain @ 182 pts (Master of Sanctity)

      1 Master of Sanctity (Crozius Arcanum; Crusader Seals; Rosarius; Frag Grenades; Melta Bombs; Bolt Pistol x1; Cenobyte Servitors; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

         1 Rosarius

         1 Adamantine Mantle

         3 Cenobyte Servitors (Close Combat Weapon; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)



: Emperor's Champion (1#, 110 pts)

   1 Emperor's Champion @ 110 pts (Bolt Pistol; Crusader Seals; Frag Grenades; The Black Sword; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

      1 Armor of Faith

      1 The Black Sword



Elite: Dreadnought (1#, 108 pts)

   1 Dreadnought @ 108 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); Assault Cannon; Dreadnought CCW; Storm Bolter; Smoke Launchers; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)



Troops: Crusader Squad (6#, 184 pts)

   5 Crusader Squad @ 184 pts (Bolter x3; Flamer; Heavy Bolter; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch; Razorback)

      1 Razorback (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 6 models; Access Points: 3; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)



Troops: Crusader Squad (10#, 433 pts)

   9 Crusader Squad @ 433 pts (Bolter x7; Plasmagun; Multi-Melta; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

      1 Land Raider Crusader (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 15 models; Access Points: 3; Extra Armor; Frag Assault Launchers; Multi-Melta; Dozer Blade; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Assault Cannon; 2x Hurricane Bolters; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)



Troops: Crusader Squad (19#, 289 pts)

   10 Crusader Squad @ 289 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Frag Grenades; Meltagun; Power Weapon; Neophytes; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)

      9 Neophytes (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x9; Frag Grenades; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)



Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 65 pts)

   1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 65 pts (Multi-Melta x1)



Heavy Support: Vindicator (1#, 128 pts)

   1 Vindicator @ 128 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Smoke Launchers; Demolisher Cannon; Storm Bolter; Abhor The Witch, Destroy The Witch)



Total Roster Cost: 1499


The giant squad is accompanied by the Chaplain and his cenobite servitors. Their purpose is far more aesthetic than tactical, however the squad can be surprising from time to time.

Thanks for reading,
T

Black Templar Vows Part 2

The vow we are looking at today tends to be the red-headed step child of the Templar Vows. In many other blogs the most mention it gets is a single comment like, "Sucks."

As you may have guessed, today I am going to rap a little about the vow:

Uphold the Honour of the Emperor

This vow is the cheapest, at 10 points, and makes it so that no unit may benefit from a cover save. In exchange for this, all units gain a 6+ Invulnerable save and are immune to the effects of Pinning. Vehicles are unaffected by this vow.

Ok simmer down. I can hear the shouts of, "No cover save! Why would you do that?" You are not wrong, the prevalence of the 4+ cover save in this edition is very helpful. It has become something that people have come to count on. So much so, in fact that most people I know who play against marines just build their lists assuming that they have a 3+/4+.

I have seen quite a few lists recently that are designed to kill marines by making them make too many armor saves and leaving AP by the way side. When playing this type of lists, this vow is not that detrimental. If they are flooding the 3+ dice pool, they are certainly flooding the 4+ one as well.

The main thing this vow has going for it, is it makes your mandatory HQ choice cheap, points wise. But because a major aspect of the new edition is no longer available to you, you have to build a list that isn't going to count on cover. Mechanized assault based lists can do well with this vow. Since Black Templar have the "old" smoke, and the vow doesn't pertain to vehicles, your vehicles will still benefit from obscurement, or only get glanced for a turn, letting you run them out there for a turn to set up your assaults. Hopefully you can drop your guys off into close combat so they can't be shot at with AP weapons anyway. Also, when you are in assault, everyone has the outside chance of surviving the power wep/power fist attacks. I am not saying you can bank on it, just that it is possible. Lastly, because you are immune to pinning, even though your transports are being opened, your guys probably aren't stuck for a turn.

Of all the vows, I think that this one completely dictates your army build. That being said, if you enjoy a mobile assault play style this vow can be very helpful. Is it as helpful as having Preferred Enemy (We'll get to that)? Probably not. But with BT's paying more for transports anyway, the cheaper vow can allow you to have more stuff down.

One thing to keep in mind is that bikes are less than ideal under this vow. The save granted from Turboboost is a cover save.

I like this vow against quite a few Tyranid lists. They abundance of MC's makes it so I can get the occasional "6" to live, and most of their shooting doesn't AP so I am not missing my cover save. A 1,500 point list that I might run under this vow would look like this: Note this is one of the few lists where I do not have a Marshal because I am relying on being in close combat as much as possible, where I am Fearless.

1500 Pts - Black Templars Roster



: Emperor's Champion (1#, 100 pts)

   1 Emperor's Champion @ 100 pts (Bolt Pistol; Crusader Seals; Frag Grenades; The Black Sword; Uphold The Honour Of The Emperor)

      1 Armor of Faith

      1 The Black Sword



HQ: Black Templars Chaplain (1#, 167 pts)

   1 Black Templars Chaplain @ 167 pts (Master of Sanctity)

      1 Master of Sanctity (Crozius Arcanum; Crusader Seals; Rosarius; Frag Grenades; Bolt Pistol x1; Uphold The Honour Of The Emperor)

         1 Rosarius

         1 Adamantine Mantle

         1 Artificer Armor



Elite: Dreadnought (2#, 145 pts)

   1 Dreadnought @ 145 pts (Unit Type: Vehicle (Walker); Assault Cannon; Dreadnought CCW; Heavy Flamer; Drop Pod)

      1 Drop Pod (Unit Type: Vehicle (Open-topped); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Power of the Machine Spirit; Storm Bolter; Immobile)



Troops: Crusader Squad (11#, 459 pts)

   10 Crusader Squad @ 459 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Frag Grenades; Flamer; Power Weapon; Uphold The Honour Of The Emperor)

      1 Land Raider Crusader (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 15 models; Access Points: 3; Extra Armor; Frag Assault Launchers; Multi-Melta; Dozer Blade; Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Assault Cannon; 2x Hurricane Bolters; Assault Vehicle; Power of the Machine Spirit)



Troops: Crusader Squad (11#, 248 pts)

   10 Crusader Squad @ 248 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Frag Grenades; Meltagun; Power Fist; Uphold The Honour Of The Emperor)

      1 Rhino (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Fire Points: 1; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter; Repair)



Troops: Crusader Squad (10#, 231 pts)

   9 Crusader Squad @ 231 pts (Bolt Pistol x8; Close Combat Weapon x7; Frag Grenades; Meltagun; Power Fist; Uphold The Honour Of The Emperor)

      1 Rhino (Unit Type: Vehicle (Tank); Transport Capacity: 10 models; Access Points: 3; Fire Points: 1; Smoke Launchers; Storm Bolter; Repair)



Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 75 pts)

   1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 75 pts (Multi-Melta x1; Heavy Flamer x1)



Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (1#, 75 pts)

   1 Land Speeder Squadron @ 75 pts (Multi-Melta x1; Heavy Flamer x1)




Total Roster Cost: 1500


Thanks for reading,
T

Black Templar Vows Part 1

There is no shortage of bad press for the Black Templar's vows. Many have asserted that there is really only one worth taking under the new rules. I don't share their sentiment. Not because I think they are wrong, but because I think that a canny player can find a place for each vow within their army. Over the next couple of posts I will run down some of the value I see in each of the vows. The purpose of this is not prove the internet wrong, or to profess to have a better understanding than others. It is to illustrate that if people would like, there are ways to make any vow work. And because, when building a Black Templar force, you have to have one, you may as well make the most out of them. This post, and the three following, will look at the vows in the order they are presented on pages 24 and 25 of the Black Templars Codex.

Before we jump right in, for those who don't know, every Black Templar force of at least 750 points must include an Emperor's Champion. When you buy an Emperor's Champion you must also choose/buy a vow with him. So in essence, unless playing relatively small games, you have to take a vow.

Suffer Not The Unclean To Live
This vow will cost you 35 points, and comes in as the second most expensive one to take. The vow makes it so that you are treated as +1 STR when rolling to wound in assault, however you are strike at -1 Initiative. You still count your as your normal initiative for catching people in close combat. It also specifically states the bonus to STR does not stack with Furious Charge.

This vow is one that that like two others, makes me feel like I am paying points to be penalized. But there are places in which this vow can really do well. As you imagine, they are on units where initiative doesn't matter.

One of those units is shooty terminators. Because Black Templars are operating under an old Codex a favorite squad of mine is the 5 man squad with two assault cannons and Tankhunter (255 points). I like Tank Hunter with this vow because with the +1 STR not stacking and being primarily powerfists, Furious Charge is all but wasted. This squad, in conjunction with this vow, can get into just about any AV reliably, especially considering they are assaulting vehicles at STR 10 (Fist for 8, +1 for vow, +1 for Tank Hunter).

Yet another silver lining for this vow is that you can easily make up the cost of it by just not giving you rank and file frag grenades (BT's still have to pay for them). There is very little difference between I 3 and going last against other marines. Against the nastier stuff you bring a land Raider Crusader to give the guys that need to assault into cover the benefit for at least one assault.

Although it seems like, because of the vows benefit coming in Assault, this vow would do well in an assault focused list, I tend to find the opposite to be the case. Assault focused lists are hurt badly by going at I 3. This vow is actually more helpful to me in "shooty" lists. I realize this assertion only really applies to Black Templar players. Many would say, "If you want to play shooty marines why play Black Templar?" All of that aside, being able to unload bolters/assault weapons/heavy weapons into a squad assaulting you next turn is going to be nice because they don't hit back. When your guys are finally assaulted, odds are you will attack after the squad assaulting you, but at least at STR 5 you will able to drop a wound or two off on your way out. Really if you have an opponent that eats a turn of shooting, then assaults you anyway, they were probably going to kick your ass no matter what initiative you went at, or they are tossing a Hail Mary.

As a side note, dreadnoughts are also bound by this vow, and if the dreadnought has a dreadnought cc weapon it only hurts them. I don't normally run dreadnoughts under this vow if they have dreadnought CCW.

Following is a list I would play under this vow. It is a primarily shooting list that would use one assault based Crusader squad to for counter attacking:

1 Emperor's Champion @ 125 pts (Bolt Pistol; Crusader Seals; Frag Grenades; The Black Sword; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live)

Commander @ 106 pts (Marshal)
(Crusader Seals; Holy Orb of Antioch; Power Weapon x1; Bolter; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live)

5 Sword Brethren Terminator Squad @ 290 pts (Power Fist x4; Storm Bolter x3; Chain Fist x1; Assault Cannon x2; Tank Hunters; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live; Drop Pod)

10 Crusader Squad @ 448 pts (Bolt Pistol x9; Close Combat Weapon x8; Meltagun; Power Weapon; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live)
1 Land Raider Crusade

6 Crusader Squad @ 210 pts (Bolter x4; Plasmagun; Lascannon; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live; Razorback)
1 Razorback (Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon)

5 Crusader Squad @ 189 pts (Bolt Pistol x3; Close Combat Weapon x3; Plasmagun; Missile Launcher; Suffer Not The Unclean To Live; Razorback)
1 Razorback (Smoke Launchers; Twin Linked Lascannon)

Vindicator @ 128 pts (Smoke Launchers)

Total Roster Cost: 1496

Thanks for reading,
T

This Year's Goal

So it has been kind of quiet here at the ol' MPB, which is a good indication that the transverse is occurring in my life. It has been a bit of madness over the summer months. We decided to buy a house, a grueling nightmarish, process that took three months to complete, and has claimed every weekend I have had since the transaction concluded.

In addition to that, I did accomplish my goal of attending Astronomicon, Vancouver. I brought my Tau, and while they were not finished, they were completed to event standards. The tournament was amazing, I scored right in the middle, tying for last place in Sportsmanship, which was determined by my opponents. Apparently I was not fun to play against. Maybe there was a communication break down because I am not fluent in Canadian ? I didn't take any pictures of my "good enough" 1,500 point Tau army so you will just have to take my word for it that it was done.

So then, on to the next. Apparently I am, at my core, a 40k masochist. I go from fighting against one outdated codex to another, deciding I need to build a Black Templar force. There are a myriad of issues with the Templar, and I have heard about all of them. Despite that, and because it hurts so good, I have charged head long into my Templar force.

I have already assembled about 24 Initiates, 9 Neophytes, an Emperor's Champion, and the Black Reach captain. On the desk is a Razorback that has just gotten under way. I haven't snapped a lot of pics or anything because I haven't done any all too crazy conversions, and I am sure you all have seen plastic marines primed black.

This is the new goal. While I met the goal last year in that I competed, the "good enough" standard to which the army was done has kind of sapped some of the glory. So this year the plan is take a "finished to my standards" army. Fingers crossed, here we go.

Thanks for Reading,
T