Blood Angel Gabriel Seth/Emperor's Champion Conversion WIP

So I recently posted some lists utilizing Seth. I think 6th made him beter, even with ferocious instincts taking a hit (though still usefull in a challenge). What helps too is that he has a wholly unique weapon, so he gets no Initiative nerfing like Dante may be facing, and who the hell knows about Sanguinary Guard. He is just an S8 combat beasty, and can still get AP2 hits when he rends, and there is going to be plenty of 2+ Armour in 6th.

The thing is though, for those of you who don't know, Gabriel Seth is the Chapter Master of the Flesh Tearers. I don't play Flesh Tearers. They are cool, don't get me wrong, but not my army. So the Character GW sells would fit, and even if I removed the Flesh Tearer icons, he would still be the same model that is in every Flesh Tearer army. I therefore wanted to make my own. But once again there would be an issue. You see, I try to find a spot in the fluff for every thing in my army/that I plan to put in my army. For this guy, captain didn't seem to fit. I already have a model for 2nd Company Captain (need to paint it) and he has a Jump Pack and Honour Guard anyways. As well, the squad my Seth will be with is 7th Company, but 7th Company Captain is going to be with a bike squad (I want the image of a Bike Captain, and who better than 7th Company). And I don't want a random Captain in 7th Company's squads. That's where this came in.

For those of you who don't know, that is the 3rd Book of the Astronomican (aka Chapter Approved 2003). You see, White Dwarf used to be filled with this game approved articles called "Chapter Approved" and in them they would have new Characters, Units, Variant Army Lists and just pure awesome rules (Vehicle Design Rules anyone?). After a whole bunch of these came out, they would add all of them to a Compendium under the same title and release them. This one happened to be the last time they did that. And as we all know, White Dwarf today is more for marketing than gaming/hobby.

I just happen to have the aforementioned tome, and in there, there is an entry for an Emperor's Champion. Not just a Black Templar Emperor's Champion, but one for EVERYONE. It talks about at some point in history, pretty much every Chapter since the Heresy has had an EC at some point. Especially First Founding chapters. So, Blood Angels definately qualify there. Basically, it describes an honoured warrior, not a captain, wielding a large two handed blade called the "Black Sword". Now, yes, this is a power weapon, but who says it has to be for all SM chapters. It is possible that the 1st EC for the BA weilded a eviscerator, so that became customary. This is where the rules of Seth combine with the fluff of the EC and allow me to make my Blood Angel EC without using crappy captain stats and to use my list without using a Flesh Tearer.

So now for the WIP photos (I apologize for the quality)

So what I used was just a DC front torso, SM Commander caped back, Khorne Berserker legs, a SW head, DC backpack, SM Commander leather tabard, DC thunder hammer, Imperial Guard Setinel Chainblade (with a chainsword motor added, behind the Baal Predator purity seals), SM banner with a SM Commander Iron Halo on top, some grenades on his right and a laurel on his left and head (one will be bronzed, the other green. His is a Champion, can't he have multiple awards). Not shown are his shoulder pads. One will be a terminator honors pad (to fit with the Chapter Approved article) and the other will hav ean iron cross painted on.

So I think he fits the rules of Seth and the image of the Emperor's Champion rather well, and more so once painted. I particularly like my solution for Seth's Blood Reaver/The Black Sword. Will definately make the model stand out IMO.

Nice thing is I had some leftover parts and was able to build two more marines. Heads courtesy of Chapterhouse Studios.

On Zeus' Anvil: Resurrection of an Imperial Thunderbolt- Part One

TLDR- Scroll down for pretty pictures

So a long time ago, I had something of beauty. A fully built, fully painted Imperial Thunderbolt. I had done it is a cream colour scheme to be one of the mighty Apostles from Abnett's book Double Eagle. I loved the Thunderbolt model, and honestly still do. It is one of the single greatest designs in the 40k mythos. It just is brooding with power, a brawler in the skies. I of course was particularly proud of mine, even though compared to the work I can do now, it probably wasn't that impressive. It did have some cool features though, as I had bought 4 hellstrikes and modeled one of them launching.

It would probably still be like that today. The cream blending, missile firing, slight super glue frosting on the cockpit window. But alas it was struck down. One summer, coming home from college, I had loaded up my jeep and without a good case to put it in, I had set it on top of a pillow in the back on top of everything. The pillow was even slanted so that if the Thunderbotl slid, it just slid into a box and rested there. It handled the trip fine and made it all the way home. When I got there it was time to start unloading the car. Unfortunately, my brother did not understand the concept of taking from the top first, so what did he do? He removed the first thing in the middle, which just so happened to be supporting the pillow that had been the safe and secure resting place of my Thunderbolt for the last 7 hours. Without the support, the Thunderbolt went into a terminal nosedive and got into a fight with the pavement that it never had a chance of winning. All in all the damage wasn't extensive, just major at one key point- a wing had broken off. Sheared right through. In doing so, some other slight damage was done and two missiles broken off, but it was the wing that put the nail in the coffin for years to come.

Over time some little progress was made here and there. I just glued the broken wing back on and used it is several Apoc games, even with the damage. But it just wasn't the same. So eventually I bought a bunch of simple green, grabbed a tupperware container large enough, and gave it a week long bath with daily scrubbing and scraping. After I had it stripped as best I could and broken down to it components I... well I let it sit. For quite some time. Something like 2 years. I have always wanted to bring it back. I could see the paint scheme in my head (especially since it was out of IA Vol 1 and already in use for my Aeronautica), I just need the time, reason, and dedication.

Then came 6th Edition and the incorporation of flyers into the game. I knew it was time. I sat down, took out the parts, grabbed mine pin vice, grey stuff, green stuff and plasticard and began reattaching stuff. After a few hours of work this is what I had. Keep in mind, both wings had been snapped off where they met the fuselage.

So then I took some primer and put down the base coat.

Next it was time to work on the pilot. Since I have to finish the interior first anyways, he seemed the logical place to start, plus was a nice change of pace from Marines.

To do the checker pattern I just did a yellow base coat stripe and a once over with a yellow layer and then put on plack dots and then went back with yellow layer paints to brighten the yellow. Then cleanup up the edges with the black and ceramite white. His boots are scraped up from test fitting, but you can't see them in the plane anyways, so I didn't really care too much. It is the top half of his torso/birds eye view angle that matter most.

Well thats good for now. I have done more work, but not too much (the cockpit and base coating the place) As for now, I leave you with what the end goal is with Aeronautica and IA Vol 1references.

1303rd Fighter Wing. This will be Flight Lt Gabriel Constantine

2000 Point Space Marine List for 6th Ed- Crimson Fist Firefight of Fury

So when looking through all the psychic powers, I really liked divination. It rocks with how well it can boost shooting units, and I thought to myself "Man, a Librarian in a squad of Sternguard with any of these powers (except the last one, scriering or whatever. But I'd just replace that with the primaris power) would just ROCK. And then I said "Well, who does Sternguard best?" The only answer: PEDRO KANTOR, CHAPTER MASTER OF THE CRIMSON FISTS. So BAM, army concept made.

EDIT: SO It was pointed out to me in the comments that SM don't have access to Divination, something I forgot to look into. Big Oops! Still a decent list IMO if you want to stay Purist. BUT an easy fix would be to take a Blood Angel or Dark Angel Librarian and Scout Squad. Probably Blood Angels on the 5 man scout squad so that they have the Red Thirst. Nice thing is the Storm is a Fast Attack and not a dedicated transport. Some points adjustments would have to be made in certain places, but I'll leave you to figure that out.

HQ: Pedro Kantor- 175

HQ: Librarian- 150: Epistolary
Elites: Sternguard Veterans (9)- 280: 4 x Combi-Melta, Rhino
Elites: Sternguard Veterans (9)- 280: 4 x Combi-Melta, Rhino
Elites: Terminator Assault Squad- 200: 5 x TH & SS
Troops: Scouts (5)- 90: Teleport Homer, Powerfist, BP; CCW
Troops: Scouts (10)- 140: 10 x Sniper Rifles
Fast Attack: Landspeeder Storm- 85: Assault Cannon
Fast Attack: Stormtalon- 130
Heavy Support: Devastator Squad (10)- 270: 2 x Missile Launcher , 2 x Lascannon
Heavy Support: Predator- 85: Sponson Heavy Bolters
Heavy Support: Vindicator- 115

Points: 2000 Scoring Units: 4-5 Scouring Units: 2 Big Gun Units: 3

So this army has alot of good firepower IMO. Kantor and Librarian each go in a squad of Sternguard (who are scoring) to buff them, especially the librarian. Things like ignoring cover or rerolling to hit coupled with their already potent special issue ammo. Hop out of Rhinos and pour on the pain. Roll the Vindicator with these guys for some super hard hitting power. 4 Combi-meltas each add to this to deal with armour or Terminators.

The scouts with Snipers hang back as a scoring unit in your own deployment zone and just pop off sniper fire, which is still good and still pinning in 6th. Set up the rest of the gunline around them, namely the Predator and the Devs. The devs should combat squad up and split their fire. When combat squading them, best layout is likely something like this:

Where the red is the heavy weapons and the bolters are the black. Soak wounds and keep the heavies alive. Nice thing is the bolters can move around the heavies as necessary to be the closet models and the heavy weapons won't count as moving for shooting purposes.

Two assault units, and set up well for bait and switch. The scouts can come out of their Storm Pretty hard and fast and throw a challenge down with the Pfist to occupy a character. Bring in the Terminators behind them or anywhere forward even while the scouts are still in the storm and shrug off anything thrown at them.

Stormtalon is good cheap Flyer Support. I hope I have its points correct though. Once the Storm has dropped off the scouts, these should be roaming around popping shots at vehicles, stripping away hull points with their assault cannons like it is nobody's business or use their high RoF to mow through hordes.

With the new emphasis on short range fire fighting and less on mechanized forces, melta is not as critical, so I honestly think that the Fists and Pedro will begin to eclipse Vulkan and his Salamanders.

2000 pt Blood Angels/Flesh Tearers: 2 Lists for 6th Edition

So further reading of the rules, and more importantly the mission rules, has lead me to develop another list. Unfortuantely, it is one with less jump packs, but this should allow me to play the mission and fit well within the new and improved reserve rules. I will be playing this list as Blood Angels, but I think it would also be a suitable Flesh Tearer list.

HQ- Chapter Master Gabriel Seth- 160
HQ- Astorath the Grim- 220
Elites- Brother Corbulo- 105
Troops- Assault Squad (10)- 250: Power Axe & Inferno Pistol, 2 x Plasma Pistol, No Jump Packs
Transport- Land Raider Redeemer- 216: Multi-Melta, Searchlight
Troops- Assault Squad (10)- 240: Power Sword & Inferno Pistol, 2 x Melta-guns
Troops- Assault Squad (5)- 135: Power Fist, Melta-gun
Troops- Death Company (5)- 225: Jump Packs, Power Fist, Power Sword, Hand Flamer
Fast Attack- Vanguard Veterans (5)- 230: Power Fist, 2 x Power Swords, Gunslinger 2 x Hand Flamers, Melta Bomb
Heavy Support- Stormraven Gunship- 216: Twin Linked Multi-Melta, Twin Linked Assault Cannon, Locator Beacon, Searchlight

Pts: 1997 Scoring Units: 3-5 Scouring Units: 1 Big Gun Units: 1

HQ- Chapter Master Gabriel Seth- 160
HQ- Astorath the Grim- 220
Elites- Brother Corbulo- 105
Elites- Terminator Assault Squad (6)- 260: 6 x Thunder Hammer and Storm Sheilds
Troops- Assault Squad (10)- 235: Power Axe & Inferno Pistol, 1 x Plasma Pistol, No Jump Packs
Transport- Land Raider Redeemer- 216: Multi-Melta, Searchlight
Troops- Assault Squad (10)- 240: Power Sword & Inferno Pistol, 2 x Melta-guns
Troops- Assault Squad (5)- 135: Power Fist, Melta-gun
Troops- Death Company (5)- 225: Jump Packs, Power Fist, Power Sword, Hand Flamer
Heavy Support- Stormraven Gunship- 201: Twin Linked Multi-Melta, Twin Linked Assault Cannon, Searchlight

Pts: 1997 Scoring Units: 3-5 Scouring Units: 0 Big Gun Units: 1


SO The 1/2 reserve rules was really annoying me and my Descent of Angels play style. Furthermore, the confusion on the Axe Mortalis and Glaive Encarmines gave me pause. They really already need to update the Blood Angels FAQ. I decided to sit down and really come up with something new and this is what I came up with.

So I ditched Dante first of all and took Seth. I had always planned on making a conversion of him, now I just have to do it sooner. Not sure if I am just going to make him some heroic champion or the 7th Company Captain. Any way, Seth, the 10 man squad without Jump Packs, and Corbulo all hitch a ride the Land Raider Redeemer. This is nice as it is an Assault Vehicle, 4 Hull Points and has a twin linked Assault Cannon which can just strip away Hull Points. Went with Plasma Pistols as it gives me some good AP shooting while maintaining attacks, they have a good chance of peeling away hull points, and I didn't want to rip arms off models ;)

Seth is great now, as he has an S8 rending weapon that strikes at initiative 5, and is good in challenges if he is forced to take one with his Ferocious Instincts rule. And at 160 points, he is well worth his cost. Corbulo is a nice boon as well, giving furious charge and FNP to the whole unit.

Astorath and his Death Company ride in the Stormraven, which is Scoring in Big Guns Never Tire missions (provided it isn't zooming). Just a great assault unit, and an assault vehicle. Plus as a flyer, I have great flyer defense made even better by the fact it has twin linked assault cannons. As we all know, Astorath really brings some power to the army, making them all Fearless Furious Charging on a 4+. Death Company are the new Super Troops- Furious Charge, Rage, FNP, Fearless, Hammer if Jump Pack Charging. Just generally AWESOME. If only they could score :(

15 Normal Assault Marines to just jump around, pop melta shots and just generally wreck my opponents day and score. Especially nice if around Corbulo at all. And possibly made all the better by Astorath all the time.

The Vanguard are scoring in Scouring Missions which is nice. The Locator Beacon on the Raven makes their Heroic Intervention all the more reliable, and I can use Corbulo's Far Seeing Eye to keep them from coming in before the Raven. Just a general wreck your day kinda unit as always.

For the second list I traded out the Vanguard for a unit of Hammernators. With 6 they can still fit in the Redeemer, soak tons of fire, and statistically beat out another unit of hammernators if/when I come across them. I had to shed 1 plasma pistol and the locator beacon, but I didn't need the locator anymore so much and I think another terminator is well worth the loss of a plasma pistol. These guys will just run as often as possible to slug across the board, or as I said, take the redeemer from Seth and his guys.

The one thing that really annoys me is the back of 1 pt upgrades. In 5th, I felt fine not taking search lights. In 6th, you need them. There should be a few more 1 pt upgrades back in each book. Something like a purity seal or auspex. Just something to make it so I can fill in the gaps left by search lights.

Well there you go. I have a little shopping to do to make this list (isn't that just what GW wants with new editions/codices anyways). Wish I could fit in more toys, like Sanguinary Guard. 3000 Point games would probably see a second detachment with Dante and Sanguinary Guard mixed in, but that is a thought for another day.

2000 Pt Blood Angel List for 6th Ed

PLEASE NOTE THE DATE OF THIS POST- FOR MORE RECENT LISTS CLICK CURRENT LISTS ABOVE OR THE LISTS TAG ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE PAGE.


So this is the first list I have for sixth edition

HQ- Commander Dante: 225
HQ- Astorath the Grim: 220
Elites- Sanguinary Priest: 75- Jump Pack
Troops- Sanguinary Guard (5): 250- Powerfist, Chapter Banner, Infernus Pistol
Troops- Assault Squad (10): 240- 2 x Melta-guns, Infernus Pistol, Power Sword
Troops- Assault Squad (10): 235- 2 x Melta-guns, Power Fist
Troops- Assault Squad (10): 225- 2 x Flamers, Hand Flamer, Lightning Claw
Troops- Death Company (5): 190- Jump Packs, Power Axe
Fast Attack- Baal Predator: 115- Flamestorm Cannon/Assault Cannon
Fast Attack- Vanguard Veterans (5): 225- Powerfist, 2 x Power Sword, Gunslinger 2 x Handflamers

So you may notice that this is a TON of Jetpacks. Hammer of wrath is a great rule, and jetpacks are super mobile and really the best way to increase the reliability of an assault army.

I have taken away one of my tanks. Tanks diminished in efffectiveness. This is essentially either a 115 pt flamestorm bomb to outflank OR I use the assault cannons as my anti-air defense (twin linked helps with those snap shots, and it should easily tear apart flyer armour if it hits).

So I took out the Librarian and added Astorath. Furious Charge may not be as good, but still it help, and to be fearless is no longer a bad thing (no retreat wounds sucked). And now Death Company are the greatest shock troops, so you need a Chaplain for them.

So DC have Rage, giving +2 A, have a chaplain to reroll to hit and to wound (does this include Hammer of Wrath Attacks?) and still have FNP and Furious charge, which while not as good is still nice. These guys will be premeire assault troops and have very few downsides now.

The Vanguard lost their thunderhammer, as being concussive no longer help against vehicles, making thunderhammers kinda a 5 pt waste over power fists. The gunslinger is an addition in part to keep 4 bolt pistols, and in part to just be AWESOME. Dual handflamers woot.

Sanguinary Guard are still great, if not better now. Since fewer things have AP2, their 2+ saves are amazing. All the old benefits still apply, and have Dante with them still makes them really potent.

The priest is reduced from 3 to 1. With FC and FNP not as effective, they are no longer MUST BUY so much. Astorath does a good part of his job for him, but is only 50% reliable. The Priest still gives a nice buff in a 12" radius that I can't complain about. As well, I can use him to dive on challenges if need be.

One thing to note, as I interpret the rules, Sanguinary Guard, Dante and Astorath all have AP3 Melee weapons, even if they are holding an axe (Axe Mortalis, Executioner's Axe) as they fall under the rule for Unusual Power Weapons found on page 61 of the 6th edition rulebook. This really makes them potent choices still as they still manage to get their high I rather than being combat beasts that have to strike last.

Gothmog's 6th Edition Review/Rant/Questions

So I finally got my copy of 6th yesterday. AND MAN WHAT A TOME. This thing is huge. I feel like I am going to have to get a starter set rule book. I got the gamer's edition, and while I like the bag, the buckle is facing the wrong way! It rubs my sternum into oblivion pretty quickly which is a bummer. The one other non rule related comment I have is OMG OMG THE TERRAIN. I love the featured terrain and I really wished GW terrain was cheaper. I would honestly buy tons of it to make huge projects like in the books, but since I can get by in the game with home made terrain at a fraction of the price I don't bother.

Okay, now for rules. I am going to likely jump around alot at this point, point out some jewels that you likely missed, and really hit on my biggest pet peeves that aren't getting too much discussion. Where I can, I will endeavour to provide pg numbers for references.

All in all I like the improvements and can't wait to get games in. There is nothing horribly dissapointing about the game as a whole and I can't wait to see the meta take shape here over the next several months.

I will try and start positive and actually, quite obscure (I have had to point it out to each of my friends).
DID YOU KNOW You no longer count the entire squad as moving when one moves. It is model by model for determining shooting (pg 13, Under Moving and Shooting). This is great for defensive fire. You can now leave your heavy weapon stationary and move your squad around him to make sure you have range. Combine this with premeasuring, you can figure out where to precisely place your flamer or melta and leave your heavy weapon in place and get fully effective fire. Realise that your unit isn't in cover as well as you thought, well adjust them, keep your heavy still and BAM still full fire power.

Artillery (pg 46). Now you are scratching your head. Artillery Gothmog? Really? Who uses it? Well, I do with my Siege Kried "Genswick". The fact they are T7 2 wounds per gun is great. Gone are the days of a single glancing hit ruining a heavy mortar. On top of that, the fact it isn't a "vehicle" means it has 360* arc of fire. So my heavy mortars are now 50 pt, T7, 2 wound (plus crew) S6 AP4 Lg Blast Ordanance Barrages that can reroll scatter. These will be so much FUN.

Beasts (pg 48). They can now charge into ruins (pg 98). Hormaguants REJOICE!

Vehicle Squadrons (pg 77). The fact that an abanddoned immobilised vehicle is a seperate unit instead of destroyed now is great. It sucked that one immobilised Russ essentially immobilised them all. Now an immobilised vehicles can sit and fire its weapons while the others continue to move and fight.

Unusual Power Weapons (pg 61). Really the saving grace of Characters with Axes, like Dante and Astorath. Lets these combat beasts strike at Initiative still, albiet AP3, but without falling to the crushing Unweildy rule. Good for my sanguinary guard as well.

I am nuetral on wound allocation. It seems a little clunky, especially say in CC with multiple units of mixed T and Armour Saves and Characters. It will likely get confusing fast, so make sure you have pen and paper to take whatever notes you need.

QUESTION/RANT
Can I place a flyer in hover mode on the table during deployment. As I understand now, I can't and it has to start in reserve. To me this is pretty dumb, as in modern warfare, armoured formations and the like travel under cover of CAS all the time. In addition, it isn't like these battles are all unexpected/ambushes, so why can't air support be immediately on hand for the battle?

NOW MY RANT

Power weapons/Force Weapons (pg 61). This ruins alot of thematic/conversion opportunities AND forces alot of rework on models in alot of cases. One of my friends LOVES his librarian model with a force staff, BUT HATES the rules, and I agree. AP4 on a SM character is bleh. So he is forced to either get a new model/convert the one he has and give up that which he loved. As for me, I had been trying to add as many axes to my Blood Angels as possible, but now I don't want to, which sucks from a purely hobby persepctive. As well, so much is now up to interpretation and WYSIWYG. Furthermore, what is to stop me from magnetising my power weapons on sergeants. They are all the same point cost. Why not just switch it as I see fit?

POWER AXES!!! These are horrible! Well okay, they are good, but horribly unfair IMO. They are far more effective for low I armies, and low S armies. To me, they should have just been minus 1 Initiative, but to make them I 1 is atrocious. Why can't a genetically enhanced super warrior swing an axe faster than Cadian Sergeant McMinPoints.  Furthermore, if I have a character FORCED to take an axe he can now easily lose to a naked sergeant with nothing but a powerfist (likely as cheap, say SM with Axe and IG with fist). Not only that, but he may be subject to instant death and be stuck in a challenge.
Low I armies have no reason not to take axes. They were going to strike last anyways, why not be higher S and AP2 at the same cost of AP3 Low S, you strike second anyways. So I am going to use IG as an example again. An IG with an Axe went at I 3, pretty much after everything. So now they get to be S4 and AP2 and still go after everything. Much better chance to wound and kill armies like Space Marines. Now lets look at the Space Marines perspective on this fight. If he has an axe he now can't kill this threat before hand, and doesn't have to great of an improvement to wound (and none if he had furious charge) and really has no benefit of AP2 against them.
Basically what I am getting at is a power axe is a poor man's power fist. Doubling S3 was never going to do much, and you couldn't get +1 A for 2 CCW. And it is still cheaper than a fist. Where as a rich man really doesn't benefit as S5 over S4 isn't very significant, and not at the price of I1. Might as well take the fist instead, which costs more.

POWER MAULS/STAFF- Way to nerf librarians and chaplains. Especially Chaplains. Not like I have much choice in their weapons (well I do with Librarians, but see above about my friend) but a Crozious is now far less effective and really just makes them worth it for their buffs rather than their ability in combat.

Reserves- This is irritating to me. The fact I can no longer play all reserves lists. Yeah, it probably adds alot of balance back in, but it really kills alot of fluffy builds. Lets list some now
-Descent of Angels
-Deathwing
-Imperial Guard Drop Troop Regiments
As well, the innaction of units coming in from reserve kills some major fluff points such as
-Ork Kommandos
-Tyranid Genestealers
I hate rules that spoil fluff, and this one hits some lists hard. Can you think of any others? Fortunately drop pod assault is still viable (which makes SW the only viable way to do DW, Ironic right?)

Transports- The fact that no matter when I disembark I can't assault is terrible. It really nerfs assault armies who now have to disembark, suffer a turn of shooting, charge, and then suffer overwatch and HOPE they make the charge. Pretty rough IMO, and definately gives shooting armies an edge. I also feel bad for mech assault armies that people have invested so much money in. BA Razorspam for instance. Not only was all that money spent on Tanks, none of the marines in it have Jump Packs meaning that the player has to replace EVERYTHING or do alot of conversion work or just suffer the pain of shooting.

Non Metallic Metal Sanguinary Guard Complete

I finally finished my Non Metallic Metal (NMM) Sanguinary Guard. One of the more challenging yet rewarding things I have done as a hobbyist. They were technically difficult and TIME CONSUMING. That was the toughest part, I'd sit down to paint, put on a movie, and the movie would end and I'd still be holding the set of arms I was working on at the start. Okay, maybe not that bad, but still, it was a long process getting the shading, blending and details just right. Goog thing I am only doing one NMM squad, though I still have to do my finecast Dante, but that is for a later day.

Now for the eye candy:

Brother Raphael

Brother Cesare

Brother Angelo

Brother Erasmus

Brother Micheletto

I based the intial process off the Sanguinor guide that was in the WD released when BA came out, but over time developed my own way and approach (especially since I was getting different results anyways).
Snow bases don't really pop on these guys, but they tie in with the rest of my Blood Angels on snow, who do pop really well with the red on white.
Minor bitz swapping with Death Company for heads (and one CSM head). And obviously I used 2 jump packs from Chapterhouse Studios. The packs I didn't use from the kit will go on Sanguinary Priests. As well, the powerfist is a generic Assault Marine fist. I thought it a more dynamic pose without diminishing the BA feel, while I can use the fist from this kit on a normal marine later and really make them feel more like a son of Sanguinius.

6th Edition- 10 Things I Like/Hate About You - Discordian

Have they just stopped coming up with ideas, I was just looking for the movie poster and was like whhhhhaaaaaa

I’m going to highlight the 10 things I like about the new game and the 10 things I hate.

10 Things I like

 1.    Shooting wound allocation – Okay I thought about it for an awhile and I kind of   like it. It helps armies defend against hoards that used to just remove from the back, and it kind of gives a fake sense of expanded board size potential.

2. Vehicle Hull System – I can’t even begin to count how many times a game has been ruined for me because some silly 35 point rhino refused to die from chart damage. It also means that a single glace can’t shut down a main battle tank from shooting.
3. Cover save drop – So now for the most part terrain gives only a 5+, this makes me pretty happy because it means that not everyone on the table has 50% chance to ignore anything I do to them with my crappy rolling skills. Although 25% is all that required for vehicles to get saves now.
4. Unit Varity – There a lot of rules now in place to expand the different unit types. What they can shoot, move, assault, and do is very well defined and really adds a lot of pros and cons in picking one unit over another when it comes to functionality.
5. USR Varity - There are so many added USRs some don’t even have units that use them yet. It helps increase the standard knowledge base players use by adding a lot of tiny rules to the BRB that only showed up in obscure places in army most people don’t have access to.
6. Shooting Weapon Library – Every weapon is described in this new edition and it comes complete with examples for each. Instead of just have blocks of text describing what does what; it has a block of text followed immediately by several varied weapon profiles so you don’t have to go searching somewhere else to see an example.
7. Reserve – You can only have half your army in reserves (things that have to start in reserve are excluded from this number, and also everything comes on turn 4 regardless of rolls). The days of jerks just not playing the game from the beginning are over. It made it to easy for people to protect there stuff and destroy yours, and if it was an objective mission they would just have things deepstrike or fly on to contest last turn and you usually couldn’t do anything to respond. It was just not fun for the person playing against reserved armies and now it’s gone.

Surprise! I'm winning becasue where I'm standing is just off the table! I'M GENIUS!

8.   Psykers – They are far more flushed out and have a lot of added options now with the addition of the schools of magic. Every type of psychic power is described and how it interacts game wise it pretty well flushed out as well.

9.   Squadrons – No longer can a salvo from a heavy weapons squad just punk every member of a squadron. You can also choose to leave behind an immobilized member instead of just having it be destroyed.

      10. Terrain – Terrain does stuff now. Awesome.

Now for 10 things I hate

1. Flyers – I like adding units and changing things up. But I do not like flyers right now. The older armies are not designed to deal with it and simply saying “you can just ally with someone who can” is a total rules cop out. The only saving grace I see right now is the reserve limitation. Even though flyers don’t count for reserves, if you want to have things mounted in them you have to have things on the board. You can’t just have an air force fly on 2^nd turn.
2. Challenges – Really…. Fantasy Really! In 40k YOU TOO can now tie up awesome close combat characters when your sergeant with a shaky voice goes “hey man kill me really hard first and waste all your bonuses for charging just on me”. Next assault phase you then get stuck killing dudes and if they actually happen to not be fearless and or a space marine you might be able to get out of being locked up by a stupid throwaway squad. Fingers crossed that you might have Hit and Run and that the unit you assaulted didn’t have another close combat character that instead of fighting you is now butchering the squad around you. Hopefully you have a worthless sergeant to throw at him so your main character can kill people.

I’m sorry Mephiston, GW hates you because you're too awesome.

  

3. Death of Finesse Fighters – Power weapons have changed to be absolutely useless against 2+ saves. Most Xenos now are shit out of luck (except Necrons, but they are hardly finesse they are just broken beat sticks now). There are a few exceptions but most Xenos HQs are now relatively useless because they relied on swinging first in close combat with weak str attacks that at least by-passed armor, now they have weak attacks that cant hurt you if you happen to be any marine/ necron generic HQ because you have the 2+ war gear. Eldars are hit hard by this because they can’t get generic choice 2+ saves or weapons that pierce 2+ on them.
4. TH/SS Terminators – This goes back to the above comment. Terminators in general are now the bestest things ever. They come with a good defense and have a weapon that bypasses others. They swing last but whatever, anything that swings before them better swing a lot because the averages are severally stacked. Characters that can use this equipment are super happy now because they can tank anything in the game short of monstrous creatures (most aren’t characters so you can’t challenge the hidden fist anyways) or themselves. Allies makes it so now everyone can get the best ones that have FNP on top of that as well.
5. Speaking of which – I’m glad fnp has been dropped to a 5+, the problem is now the only way to bypass it is with instant death. Low AP shots which have always been expensive have lost a lot of ground here. FNP on things with 2+ saves or high toughness in close combat will be pretty ridicules.
6. Close Combat Wound Allocation – SO I get to pick the person who gets the wounds allocated to at each initiative step. What happens if I have one guy in the squad who has a really good defense…. say…. A nemesis warding staff….. I was rebuilding my grey knights after the introduction the new rules and was like wait what if I buy one guy with a staff in all my squads, it doesn’t even have to be the Justicar, so challenges can’t pull him away. I can dump the wounds that would normally kill a bunch of dudes just on him. This only works on units that all have the same initiative step…. This is like most. So I found at least one way to deal with Assault terminators, power weapons, rends, monsters, and Balrogs. It’s not a guarantee because weight of numbers will kill a one dude shield barer but it’s not unrealistic to assume that a staff can soak up 5-7 wounds while the rest of the squad keeps swinging away and praying. This is just dumb and I wished they had kept the normal allocation rules because not just grey knights can pull these shenanigans.
7. Character Goofers - All Paladins are characters………….. Really….. Every single model in that unit can look out sir on a 4+. Also that’s 16 Master-Crafted Psycannon shoots that have precision strikes on rolls of 6 to hit.
8. Psykers – I know I said I liked how they did it, but I have few issues. One, Psyker powers are random; most armies can only get two rolls on the table and if you happen to get a big one you usually can’t cast them so you have to settle for the basic one. Two, Eldar are master psykers of the universe and they get access to only two schools; they have guys that shoot fire out of their eyes and can spin tanks around, yet they don’t get access pyro and telekinesis…..

Thought Lighing only hurts your Thoughts

9. Fortifications – GWs answer to flyers. You can buy one gun that can shoot at flyers but has to be on the table turn one. So it gets shot to shit because it can be targeted turn one if your opponent cares. Also they are all nice expensive models that most people don’t just own for the hell of it. ALSO the fortress of redemption is stupid, you can hide and entire freaking army behind it.
10. Close Combat Weapons – I got irritated when the rules said to look at your model and figure out for yourself what he’s holding. I see a tomahawk does that mean I can throw it….. My Kroot have knives strapped to their guns does that mean I shoot Knives or can I shoot the guns in close combat because they are the close combat weapon you speak of…. Typhus has a giant scythe it’s apparently an ax now that chops, not similar to idk a scything motion at all……. You can claim that they did this to help hobbyist who have made awesome models. But that’s the problem you can just do whatever you want to suit your needs and there no point chart for these random weapon types. Most Special Characters have clearly defined weapons, couldn’t they have just made a quick chart for each book. The rules they have in this section aren’t really that bad but they decided to idk not to actually update every codex or something and got lazy. Maybe they where burnt out from writing all the shooting weapon rules.

There are things I like and hate. But Im trying not to dwell on it

I’m going to try and stay neutral right now, it’s far too much to say I’ll try and stay positive if you couldn’t tell by my hate list.

But I’m going to play games and I’m going to adjust what I play using only models I own. Stay tuned for how that goes.

What are your likes and dislikes of 6^th?