ARMY SHOWCASE: Sons of Sigismund

Since I am not painting at the moment, I decided to start a litle showcase of my most favourite models and units. I am planning to post a few pics under this headline from time to time.

So to begin with, here is my fluff-wise most beloved unit in the game: The Terminators.

Squad of

Brother Sergeant Lucien

Brother Sergeant Lucien carries a Stormbolter and a power axe (slight and simple conversion of the ordinary sword). (And since he forgot his helmet in the locker, he sometimes catches the bullet first...) This squad usually accompanies Grand Marshall Hermann into battle.
To distinguish them from my other terminator squads, they have their right shoulder guard in white with a black cross and all have a white cross on their left leg.
Personally I am very pleased with my paintjob here and I think they catch some eye on the table.

Squad of

Brother Sergeant Vikar

This is the first Squad, where I tried another paint scheme different to the one displayed in Codex:Black Templar. I had seen the white cross on the helmets in a white dwarf some time ago and I really liked it. As common theme for this squad I let the right shoulder pad black with a white cross on it. And, as you can see, I put a lot of purity seals, devotional text passages and other embellishments on them to show the very pious attitude of this elite squad.
They are usually tank hunters when fielded as the two assault cannons can really put a dent into enemy tanks. (But let me say this: this is my one and only squad with two assault cannons!)

Squad of

Brother Sergeant Wolfram

This is the first squad of terminators I painted. Plainly "inspired" by the terminators in C:BT. Nothing important to say about them. Maybe only the posing of the assault cannon wielding one, as I like this pose.

and last but not least...

Squad of

Brother Sergeant Guntrecht

Assault Terminators, as you can see. That was my second squad and I got a little bit more creative... At least they have the shoulder pads in their squad-specific heraldry and that is repeated on their little shields. Actually they have been repainted several times, as I wasn't so sure how to do them and as my paint skill improved I decided to add some more details to them.
Sadly they don't see much battle. I think the only way they can be used, is in a Crusader with attached Chaplain. And this is, as sad as it is, a juicy target for opponents and a point sink for me. I like the idea and it is really cool, but to win with such a list is virtually impossible.
But I had some interesting moments with them and I hope I can use them more frequently when the new edition codex comes out.

So that's it with my terminators (and I really pray that they won't feel the nerf hammer too badly so that I can paint some more squads without screwing up every list!) A command squad embellished with Forge World stuff and robes and maybe an apothecary is still on my mind. But I think something like that will run under "stylehammer".

Spotlight on Chaos

Well well being late again. Freakin workload is just too much atm. But i still got time to finish this weeks version of Spotlight on Chaos. Lets Roll!

Spotlight on Havocs:

Well since im playing Black Legion means im pushing myself to use as many normal CSM`s as possible and therefore i never leave home without at least one unit of Havocs. Since Trotzki plays mostly Eldar and Emperor plays Imperial Guard. I normaly equip them with four heavy bolters. And i found them quite effective against Sigismunds Space Marines as well. They tend to kill their share of Space Marines by volume of fire. I can imagine them doing quite well against Trotzkis upcoming Demon army. Too bad you cant give them the Tank Hunter Ability anymore.

Heavy Bolter Havocteam:

4 Havocs with heavy bolters
5 Havocs with bolters
1 Havoc with Icon of Chaos Glory

Well here they are 10 man armed with the ability to put out 12 anti-infantry shots out on a distant of 36”. If the enemy closes in on them on 24” or less you can add another 6 bolter rounds. And with the reroll on moral tests from the Icon and a moral value of 9, they normaly dont run away. With each CSM having two attacks even when they got engaged in hand to hand combat, they normaly hold out till helps arrvies. And they only cost you like 220 points.
If been toying with the idea of giving them 4 autocannons to add some light AT fire to my army but since i got others units on AT duty i keep em that way. And i dont wanna loose too many anti-infantry shoots.
These guys have been quite remarkably and have an amazing kill count. Tons of grunts from all armies and occasionally they kill something big. Trotzki really hates them for killing his Avatar a few times.

With the upcoming 5th. Edition and the change in blast weapon mechanics, i will equip at least one troop with 4 rocket launchers. I bet they will prove quite usefull against hardend targets and normal infantry as well. When we get our first 5th Edition games going i will see if this theory holds true.

So this is it for this week. Well see hoy much longer i can still keep myself from writing something about Terminators. Im afraid it will become a quite long Spotlight then.

Cheers,
Clausewitz

Spreading some Chaos ...

After countless weeks of sacrificing and chanting the first two models of my new Chaos Daemon army have finally appeared from the warp. As I´ve already told you I´d like to do a mono Tzeentch list at the beginning that later maybe will see some additions of other god forces (mostly Khorne - got to love those models). So without further delay here are my first two choices and some tactical thoughts on both.

First my Herald of Tzeentch Narolkrell on his trusty charoit Gyz Zelleh (once a proud member of the Astropathic chor she looked a little to deep into things that weren´t her buisness).

Herald of Tzeentch
Narolkrell

When I first glanced through the Daemon Codex I really tripped over the point cost of all those heralds. They are all reasonable cheap and have quite nice abilities. Especially on chariots the also add a lot of durability on themselves and can put out a big punch. If the lose of the IC status really hurts the unit (that still has a whole lot of wounds), the first games will prove. As jetbike the herald can go quickly from one side of the board to the other (turboboosting will make him one fast bastard) and with some cover to fly behind, he really can flame, gaze or bolt the hell out of enemy models next round. And with Master of sorcery and We are legion he can unleash hell on different units. One thing I´m still unsure about is his close combat ability : he may have a lot of attacks and furious charge but his taulike melee skills will hinder him against anything tough. Thats why I really have to ask myself if the expensive soul devourer pays off at the end.

The next addiotion to my forces a big tzeentchy Demon Prince Orgonath. I always wanted to have the model and really wasn´t disappointed with it. To give him some look worthy to the Lord of Lies I swapped the head and the free hand against some deformed bits from the chaos spawn set. Even though the price is tremendous I also decieded to give him wings, because I really like to see him flying around and burning whole units to ashes with Breath of chaos or destroy some tanks with Bolt of Tzeentch.

Demon Prince of Tzeentch
Prince Orgonath

Demon Princes in the Daemon Codex are real pointburner, so I´m quite concerned that I will really carry away with him. The Mark of Tzeentch is a must of course while I think the Iron Hide my be a little redundant - but +3 is always better then +4....
Another thing I´m thinking about is if there is really a need for another tank hunter in the list. Bolt and Breath together seem to be a little to expensive for my taste and the Prince can really put a dent into tanks just by being monstrous. Playtesting will show which one of them is needed.

So this end my first little summoning... I still have 10 Horrors, 2 Flamer and a Lord of Change waiting to be done and hopefully they will be painted and ready for action soon, to have a first battle (and of course a battle report).

Spotlight on Chaos

Welcome to another episode of Spotlight on Chaos! I nearly missed the "weekly" part, but i still got time till 2400 today so were in good shape. Lets get started.

Spotlight the Chaos Sorcerer

Right now while im still working on my Chaoslord, my Black Legion Army is lead by a Chaos Sorcerer. In fact most of the time i use two. But before i hear the cries of "Lashcheddar", let me clearly state that i use a maximum of one lash. While i personally dont feel that the Lash is overpowered, i normaly just play my pals and therefor i prefer to use unmaxed armies.
So while one of my Sorceres comes with the Mark of Slaanesh and Lash of Submission. The other one uses Mark of Tzeentch and Chaoswind, or Warptime or both if i have too much points.
I use wings on both of them, while you could always use a bike for similar effect, T 5 and turboboost, i prefer the batish look of the wings from the possessed sprue. And to be honest, sorceres do not ride on bikes! Were not the Hells Angels, were Chaos Marines!

So my prefered Sorcerer loadout would be:

The Golden One:

Chaos Sorcerer with Wings, Mark of Slaanesh and Lash of Submission


This dude cost only 145 points and you get a whole lot of utility for it. The fun moments i had with Lash of Submission are just to numerous to recall.
You can move enemies out of cover to rid them of their cover save. Trotzkis Pathfinders come to mind, those dirty treehuggers!
You can move enemies behind area terrain. To prevent them from shooting.
You can move enemies towards of away from you. Letting you assault one round earlier of denying them the opportunity for it.
You can reform enemy units and just do all kinds of kinky stuff with them, just like the Prince of Pleasure would do. ;)

The Ugly One:

Chaos Sorcerer with Wings, Mark of Tzeentch and Chaoswind (sometimes with added Warptime)


This dude is quite amazing, in his own right. While he isnt as much utility as the Golden One, hes double as killy. Using Chaoswind on disembarked or deep striking troops is just pure fun. They die like flies and useing warptime you get like 5 power weapon attacks on the charge, with rerollable to hit and to wound rolls. More then enough to finish of most squads.

Alot of people use a Demon Prince instead of the Sorcerer and while he costs only 10 points more. I feel that the Prince has a big fat "Hit me right here" sign painted on his forehead. They quite amazing if you can hide them long enough. But i just prefer my Sorcerers, like with most units its a matter of personal preference and getting the unit work with your style of play.

So thats our Spotlight for Chaos for this week.

Cheers,
Clausewitz