NI24 game 1

 After a fairly gentle ferry ride, we arrived at the tournament rested and ready. After the usual admin we moved in to our first matches. Now, I didn’t get many pictures during the event, as I was pretty busy concentration on the games, as you can imagine. 

My opponents list for this game was an armour heavy sisters list, with a squad of battle sisters, a dominion squad and two seraphim squads backed up by the Triumph of Saint Katherine, Morvenn Vahl with Paragon warsuits, two casitgators (one battle cannon and one autocannon) two Exorcists and two Immolators.

All the armour was going to be a challenge for me, as I had some anti-armour but not enough for all the vehicles facing me. The Exorcists were also a worry with their powerful indirect firepower, these were going to cause me a lot of problems. 

Deployment was pretty standard, I split my forces across my lines and my opponent did the same. 

The paragon war suits are a beast of a unit, especially with Morvenn Vahl. 

While.i managed to make down a few of the vehicles, I was unable to really do enough damage to stop the sisters from pushing forward on all fronts. The exorcist proved themselves to be very damaging, doing significant damage to my vehicles over the course of the battle. My scions did prove themselves again though, proving they were the right choice for the tournament, dropping in behind the enemy and wiping out a squad of sisters holding the home objective. In the following turns they could have been very useful in pulling the enemy back or generally causing problems. 

By the time that the game finished on turn 3, I had some troops left but most of my vehicles had been destroyed. I still had enough to keep the pressure up but I think it would have been an uphill battle to keep my infantry alive and scoring points. 

This game only got to turn three for a number of reasons, partly due to a lack of rules knowledge from my opponent, partly down to both of us being to slow with our play, along side the usual distractions of running in to people.eypu haven't seen for a year. The low score of the game was down to some poor cards, with my opponent only scoring two of the six cards and me only 3 of my six. However, my biggest scoring mistake here was on the painted points. My opponent had an army that was 95% painted, only one vehicle was not fully painted with just the base colour and one other on. I gave him the ten points, as it was close enough, however, subsequent opponents were a little more harsh, with both of them scoring him 0. As I was mostly there for the fun of it, I wasn't bothered but it would have changed the result, giving me the win and while at the time I didn't feel like it was an issue for his army not to be 100% painted, given that tue others did, I feel like this could have changed the whole tournament for me. Before the tournament, when discussing the painted scores I advocated for a central decision and I now I am even more certain it should be centrally scored and not down to each individual table to decide.

Anyway, enough moaning, what did I learn from this game? The game confirmed a lot of what I had hoped for. The DKoK did their thing and were resilient, although one squad was wiped out, it took quite a lot to shift them. The Armigers weren't great and I think it was a mistake to bring them, they are just too swingy in terms of hitting and damage. Something with more reliable damage output would have been better. The vanquisher also couldn't hit a barn door. The scions did thier job though, so the was good. Overall a good game, I think I could have played it better, bulking up my anti-armour units in one group and hitting each enemy vehicle in turn rather than spreading out and trying to take as many as I could at once. 

All in all, I was happy with the first game and was looking forward to the rest of the tournament.

Games 3 recap - Sisters of Battle

 So after a bit of a break, mostly due to our family holiday, i got my third league game in. This was the first game where i though i might have a good chance of actually winning, as although the sister are a power armoured army, they are only T3 and so my lasguns would actually have a good chance of wounding them. However, being a game of both dice and cards, you can never be to sure about the result.

The game started well for me though, with a good draw on the mission and the deployment, being hammer and anvil, so keeping the sisters at range for the first turn or two. The fact that i also got to go first made a big difference as it meant i could get the first blows in. 

Guard deployment.

Sisters deployment

The table

As you can see the table was nice and symmetrical, so no side could claim an advantage early game. The big building in the centre, formed from the pair of building ruins, are obscuring terrain, blocking line of sight for everything but my Hellhammer. 

Priority targets

My first turn, and first turn of the game, was focused on taking out some of the main threats to my army. In this case it was the Sisters predator (Castigator??) and the rhino containing the Repetia. I would have liked to hit the paragon warsuits with their multi meltas, but I couldn’t see them. With some lucky shooting from the hellhammer and some supporting fire from other units, i managed to take down both these targets but targeted little else.

Sisters push early

In response to my tentative start, the sisters pushed up hard, with the repentia advancing and charging all the way in to my forward lines. The big damage however was done by the sisters with their melta guns (celestians??), who scored only two wounds but did a massive 12 damage. With all the chip damage down by the other squads, the hellhammer was crippled. The Paragon warsuits only managed to do a couple of wounds luckily, otherwise the big lad would have been gone turn 1 again. 

Sisters turn 1

The repentia slicing and dicing guardsmen

Turn 2 and the hellhammer took some modicum of revenge on the sisters, throwing out shots left right and centre to take as much down as it could before its inevitable demise. Unfortunately it wasn’t as effective as i would have liked, as the paragon warsuits managed to survive with very little damage done. As it was, it was the “not penitent engines” engines that killed the hellhammer in combat.

Sisters eyeing up their target

By this point, the bottom of turn 2, i was starting to get a little worried. I had done damage but the sisters were not getting up into my lines and i was in damage of being folded up from one side to the other. My big anti armour unit was gone and others were not in a position to take on many targets, so the last sisters vehicle, the Immolator, was pretty much free to just go round burning stuff at will, which it pretty much did until the end of the game. 

Sisters in my lines

By this point, Turn 3, i was slightly worried, however, i had one advantage i could play. The Scions had dropped in the back last turn and now i had units to the front and back of the sisters, meaning there were few places they could hide and i could advance on their home objectives. The scions really came in to their own in this game, with ap-2 against T3 units they were actually killing sisters at a significant rate. 

The trap closes.

However, i had a minor problem i had to deal with. A paragon warsuit was right up in my line, slicing guardsmen to bits with impunity and so it had to die and die it didn’t! It took 2 turns of throwing several squads and my warlords command squad at it to kill it off and it was only on one wound for most of that time!

Necrons appear on the flank! 

Ignore these, they are my youngest child’s, he just wanted to join in.

By now we're in to turn 3 and were trying to put the squeeze on the sisters. Unfortunately, they were not going to roll over without a fight. The immolator was busy toasting characters over in the corner but I had managed to take out a chunk of the other models. It was at this point that Morvenn Vahl stepped up to the plate and started munching squads. 

End of turn 3

In turn 4 the flyer finally died, taken out by Morvenn Vahl's missiles and bolter, in-between munching squads with her blade. I did manage to put a few wounds on her but not nearly enough to kill her. However, by this point I don't think it really mattered, I had the advantage and was doing what I could to keep it, even if that meant feeding units to be munched.

Morgen Vahl ripping through the scions

End of turn 4

At the end of turn 4 it was clear that I had won but there were still points to play for. The paragon warsuit was still causing me bother in the backfield, refusing to die no matter how much I hit it! In turn 5 there was little for me to do, I finally managed to take out the immolator, just! And I finally took down the paragon warsuit! This one model and Morvenn Vahl were responsible for the majority of my infantry deaths I think, with Vahl claiming two Scion squads,a Scion command squad and a character (plus the flyer) all by herself and the paragon warsuit killing off at least a squad and a half of infantry as well. There was little for the sisters to do in turn 5, with just one model remaining. However, Morvenn Vahl claimed the last of her vistims, a priest before moving into take on a platoon commander. Unfortunately for her the battle ended before she could claim his scalp.

The battlefield

In the end, there was very little left on the table for either side. The Sisters were the worse off but the guard didn’t exactly come through  unscathed. 

The survivors

The sisters ended the battle with just Morann Vahl and the guard ended with less than 3 guard squads and a command squad. Points wise I don’t think there was much in it. 

The guard castle still holding firm!

In the end 

In the end the game was really good fun and I’m so happy that i managed to pull out a win. The guard were just able to keep pushing and the cards came out in my favour this time. I think that i was lucky to win by such a margin but I’m glad that it wasn’t a major win (winner has twice the VP of the looser) as i think that wouldn’t have been a true representation of the game. Again, the Hellhammer did a sterling job and really shined with the T3 enemy models. Next up were the Eldar and i was hopeful that i could pull out another win. 

Sisters of Battle Kill Team

So after a long wait, I've finally got my sister's of battle painted up! It's been nearly two years since I received the sisters as a birthday gift. They have been built for quite some time, probably most of that time and undercoated for at least a year but finally they are here and finished! 

They were originally made as a Kill team for the 2018 version, alongside a couple of special characters but with the transfer to the 2021 rules there were some changes and some issues, namely the loss of the special characters and being two models short due to roster restrictions. Then they have sort of been superseded by the sisters Novitiates kill team but I'm hopeful we will get a bespoke team for these sisters at some point. 

So that being said, all my kill teams have a little back story to them and these girls are no different;

The sisters of the Golden Orb, A minor subsidiary of the Order of the Valorous Heart, are a crusading force, who often send small forces of sisters off to nearby warzones to assist in cleansing the unclean and unholy and to minister to the populous. Squad Lucinias, is the third squad of the second missionary force and is a veteran of multiple crusades, they have seen almost everything that the galaxy has to show, from daemons to plagues to xenos to the darkest depths of humanity and yet their faith shines brighter than ever and their blades are still as Sharp as the day they were forged. These sisters believe that by enduring these tests of faith and coming out unscathed that thier faith in the emperor is true and pure and that they are chosen to be his sword, his retribution. One of the things that stands these sisters out from many others is their silence on the field of battle, these sisters only break their silence once on holy ground.

Mission: Piety in suffering, Background: crusade veterans, Squad Quirk vow of silence

Piety in Suffering: Prove your unshakeable faith by enduring hardships and dangers that none but the Emperor’s chosen could long survive.

Crusade Veterans: Long years have these Battle sisters been on crusade. They have overcome many horrors, been honed like sharpened blades, and their faith burns hotter than ever.

Vow of Silence: Speech has been forbidden these warriors until they fulfil their duty. 

 Sister Superior Danica Lucinias and Icon Bearer Amelia Sacristus,

 Sister Superior Danica Lucinias is the most experienced of all the sisters, having served for more years than she would like to admit. During this time she has seen the highs and lows of humanity and has come to despair at the state of humanity, for guilt is universal, it is only the depth of that guilt that varies and she delivers the Emperor's justice to all, and let's the Emperor decide their fates. 

Trait: Sorrowful: The heresies of Humanity and their foes alike have brought this warrior to a state of perpetual mourning. To her eyes, all are guilty of sin. She discharges her duties with a mournful air, deaf to pleas for mercy, or claims of innocence.

Cherub because everyone needs a Cherub

The Icon bearer or the Simulacrum Imperialis as the sisters know it, Sister Amelia Sacristus, is an solid uncompromising character, unyielding in the face of the enemy and unmerciful in battle. She has stood as a rock against all who have tried to despoil her charge and has found herself at the heart of many battles, steadying the line and rallying all those at her side.

Unmerciful: This warrior channels all her hatred and fury into destroying her heretic foes.

Sisters Eliza Shengg, Danica Dasyrov and Amelia Serenitas

Next up are the battle sisters, some of the newest recruits to the squad, still keen to show their devotion and faith 

Sister Eliza Shengg is seen as reckless and headstrong, often seen at the very heart of the battle, trying to deliver the Emperor's justice all on her own. She has be sanctioned many times for loose interpretation of orders but there is no denying her devotion and faith.

Scourge of Heretics: Teetering on the brink of religious lunacy, this zealous warrior seeks to purge all taint of heresy from the stars in as violent a fashion as she can, with no thought at all for her own safety, or that of her sisters.

Sister Danica Dasyrov is very different a warrior than many of her sisters. She takes her duty to the Emperor very seriously, and see's her every action as an act of worship.

Solemn: Battle is a sacred duty to this warrior, who treats every engagement as an opportunity to praise the Emperor with reverence and dignity.

Sister Amelia Serenitas is often hailed as a prime example of a battle suster, for every action is carefully executed to be as precise and perfect as can be, from every step she takes, to every shot she makes, for the Emperor is perfect in everyway and so should every act of worship and devotion.

Precise: The Emperor applauds diligence. Every act is one of worship, and all worship should be perfect in form. So this warrior believes, and she strives always to practise what she preaches.

Sisters Lisbett Bellicos, Helencia Serenitas and Danica Caritas

These sisters have been elevated to the role of Specialist Sisters or Gunners. They have shown themselves to be solid and reliable sisters, capable of acting on their own initiative during battles.

Sister Lisbett Bellicos wields her flamer with confidence and an easy formed over many years. No matter the foe, she stands sure and steady, her faith in her flamer to deal with anything undoubted and her faith in the Emperor to protect her undiminished. 

Fierce: No threat, no matter how fearsome, can shake this warrior’s faith, or still her relentless aggression.

Sister Helencia Serenitas has seen many things and been many places. Heretics are all around, hiding in every door way and behind every wall. She hefts her trusty storm bolter and delivers justice and retribution to whoever is brave or stupid enough to show themselves, no matter their claims of mercy or innocence.

Sorrowful: The heresies of Humanity and their foes alike have brought this warrior to a state of perpetual mourning. To her eyes, all are guilty of sin. She discharges her duties with a mournful air, deaf to pleas for mercy, or claims of innocence.

Sister Danica Caritas is one of the most aggressive and fierce warriors amongst the squad, charging forward to bring holy fire forth to the enemy, incinerating foes with her melta gun, trusting her faith and fury to carry her though.

Fierce: No threat, no matter how fearsome, can shake this warrior’s faith, or still her relentless aggression.

Sisters Danica Honourifica and Eliza N'Bata

These two sister have also shown their abilities and reliability on the battlefield as well but have also shown greater physical strength to match their spiritual strength and as such have been gifted even heavier weaponry. 

Sister Danica Honourifica reveals in the glory of battle as she delivers swift justice to the enemies of the Emperor. Her heavy bolter delivers death and destruction wherever she points it.  

Rapturous: The furore of battle fills this warrior with holy light, and the simple joy of cleansing the galaxy in the Emperor’s name.

Sister Eliza N'Bata holds herself as a shining example of the faithful and despises all those who do not bath themselves in the light of the Emperor, seeing them as unworthy of pity or mercy, barely fit to receive the cleansing flames of her heavy flamer. 

Aloof: This warrior has nothing but contempt for all those not of the Imperial faith, looking down upon her foes with disgust.

Next up we have the Frateris Militia! Now remember when I said that the rules changes from 2018 to 2021 meant that I could not field a full team of sisters anymore, well here are my two stand in models, the Frateris Militia. These are members of the population that have listen to the call to arms and have come to fight side by side with the sister in holy war on the unbelievers. Ranging from rag tag bands of peasants to highly trained and well armed veterans, the Frateris Militia come in all shapes and sizes, these two come.in the shape of Imperial Guard Veterans. 

Confessor-Sergeant Dekker is a veteran soldier who had thought his soldiering days were done but when a war of faith came calling he could not stand by and watch. Taking his old uniform out for where it lay gathering dust he heeded the call to arms and rejoices in continuing the Emperor's work bring death and destruction to the unfaithful and unworthy.

Unmerciful: This warrior channels all her hatred and fury into destroying her heretic foes.

Confessor-Sergeant Kolson has alway been a true believer in the power of the God Emperor and

Firebrand: Preaching as she fights, this warrior proclaims the magnificence of the God Emperor and bellows out his catechisms as she purges the unclean foe.

WIP

Gottfred De montbard, repentia, pious vorne, 

Sisters of the Golden Orb

 While my sisters are not painted yet, they are primed and ready to paint and, as you'll see from the paint scheme below, they shouldn't take to much painting up. 

The Order of the Golden Orb

Orders founding Convent -	Convent Sanctorum (Ophelia VII)
Orders Originator -	Order of the Valorous Heart
Orders Founded purpose -	Crusade
Orders Founding -	c. M37 during the Age of Redemption
Orders flaw -	We stand alone
Orders Demeanour -	Relic Keepers
Figure of Legend -	Battle Sister Meshea
Deed of Legend -	Slayer of the Nurgle Daemon Prince Buboe the Plaguebringer
Orders Homeword -	Deathworld of Galara IV
Homeworld terrain -	Contaminated Desert
Homeworld Influence -	Minor Influence
Orders Oragnisation -	Slight Variation
Orders Doctrine -	Orbital Insertion
Orders Divergence -	Modified Vehicles
Method of Worship -	Honour Those Gone before
Order size -	Ranks complete
Alliances -	Various Space Marine Chapters, including Emperors Disciples and Brazen Hawks
Enemies -	Chaos Space Marines and the Mutants\Abominations of the Morthern Wastes
Notable Relics -	Globus Cruciger of Sister Meshea

• 
  

The order of the Golden Orb is a minor order of the Adepta Sororitas, based on the death world of Galara IV in the outer edge of the Segmentum Pacificus. The order is relatively large for a minor order although it contains only a small number of full trained battle sisters. 

The order was formed during the period known as the Age of Redemption, when the forces of the Sororitas spread amongst the stars, bringing with it the word of the Emperor. On Galara IV, a force of sisters from the Order of the Valorous Heart came across a neat of Nurgle cultists who had spread there vile beliefs across the planet. During the cleansing of the planet, the cultists brought forth a great plague of daemons, including a Daemon Prince of Nurgle, known as Buboe the Plaguebringer. The Daemon cut great swathes through the Imperial lines in an unstoppable rampage, trailing lesser daemons in his wake. All hope seemed lost as the cultists and daemons surged back across the surface of the planet. The forces of the imperium tried their hardest to protect the population, evacuating them from the approaching hordes. It was during this process that the miracle of the great gate happened. As the horde approached one of the final sanctuaries, one of the few ports on the planet and the only one still able to accommodate the ships used to evacuate the loyal population, all efforts when in to holding the walls. This effort proved lacking and the Great Gate was breached. At the news, a squad of Sisters rushed to plug the gap. Charging headlong into battle they ran straight in to the Plaguebringer, at the head of a mighty column of daemons. The sisters fought valiantly but could not hold back the tied, falling one by one, until only two stood. It was at this point that Sister Meshea, on her first mission as a fully fledged Sister stepped forward, brandishing the sister superior's power sword, and shouted a challenge to the Daemon Prince, stating that he would not pass until all were safe. The Daemon laughed and charged, swinging his great sword wildly as he did. What happened next has passed into legend, for Sister Meshea fought the Daemon, sword to sword, standing her ground against all the he could throw at her. She fought on long past the time that any mortal woman should have been able to, she was still standing, blooded and battered, when a voice, deep and resonant spoke behind her, stating simply that her duty was done and she may rest. As she dropped to her knees, a squad of Astartes, from the Brazen Hawks, stepped past and sent the foul beast back to the warp from where it came. Sister Meshea was recovered by her fellow sisters, every plate of armour buckled, every bone in her body broken and her skin broken, blistered and bloody. While many witnessed the dual, one account stood out more than most, that of the only surviving sister from the squad, Sister Chastity. Her account was the only full account of the dual, from start to finish and is backed up by the testimony of numerous other witnesses. When she watched the battle, she talked of a bright pure light emanating from Sister Meshea, of how she moved with a grace and speed that was beautiful to behold and how every blow she struck, no matter how slight, cause the beast to recoil as if struck by a battle cannon. It was not these facts that made her retelling of the event remarkable, it was the fact she survived, as she had been pulled from the melee by Sister Meshea before the dual had begun but because she had been blinded, eyes burned from their sockets by the Daemon Prince. 

Sister Meshea was laid to rest and her armour laid out in a small chapel near the Great Gate. In the years that followed many thousands of worshipers came to the chapel, which grew and grew, until it formed the largest building on Galara IV. During this time there were numerous "miracles" claimed by the various citizens that passed through, although none were ever authenticated by the Ecclesiarchy. The Chapel, now more a cathedral, also attracted a substantial population of its own, with various Imperial cults springing up, with priests, preachers, nuns and monks taking up residence within the building and surrounding area.

When the Sister went to leave, several requested permission to stay and guard the Chapel, claiming that they had had visions that required them to stay. With this, the sisters present petitioned the Canoness of the the Order of the Valorous Heart to form a new order, which was granted and so the Order of the Golden Orb was created. 

The Golden Orb, after which the order was named is a Globus Cruciger, which belonged to Sister Meshea and is the Orders most holy relic. It was also the only item on her that was untouched by the dual with the Daemon Prince. 

The Order still resides in the Chapel, which now takes over the whole of the Great Gate and the surrounding star port. It is the biggest single building and forms the biggest concentration of people on the whole planet by a considerable amount. The order itself is a minor order, with Galara IV and the Chapel being the only location that the order resides. It recruits from the surrounding systems, although the vast majority of recruits find their own way to the Chapel. The Order is large for a minor order, but is formed of only a few hundred fully trained battle sisters with over a thousand trainee's split between numerous ranks, with hopeful members moving through several stages from aspirant to initiate to novitiate to neophyte before graduating to battle sister. This is a process that takes longer than most other orders as many of those who come to the Chapel to join the ranks are afflicted with the various ailments and minor plagues that lurk within the system, even though millennia have passed since the Nurgle cultists spread their vile plagues across the lands. Healing these new aspirants can take time, and yet more time is needed for them to gain the health and strength they lack growing up in such an inhospitable environment. This not only means that there as a substantial number of aspirants but also a high number of losses or failures within those who try to become sisters. Many of these failures go on to become useful members of the wider order, joining the ranks of the orders Hospitaller and Dialogus, as well as a few joining the ranks of the Families, Primaris, Madriga, Fenetrus and Vespila orders. 

Galara IV itself is classed as a death world, for ever since the Nurgle cultists released there plagues across the world, the planet has gone from being a desert back water planet to a death world, with endless deserts broken only by disease ridden swamps, dank malformed forests or ground hugging fogs of plague ridden water. The locals have adapted and learnt to avoid these and many other dangers but the air and ground is unclean, despite the best efforts of the imperium. There are similar occurrences on many of the world's in nearby systems, and it is believed that there is still Nurgle cultists at work. As such the sisters of the order often set off on minor crusades to purge world or systems of any taint that can be found. 

The order does not rule the planet of Galara IV, but merely watches over it and advises the main nomadic tribe leaders, ensuring that the interests of the order are protected.  Canoness Regina leads the order ahead of her Palatines. As the order only contains a small number of battle sisters, there are only 5 Palatines, in charge of the five missionary forces, each up to 50 sisters strong, that the order can deploy. Usually 3 of these missionary forces will be active at one time, crusading around the surrounding region, chasing the enemies of the imperium. Of the other two, one will be tasked with protecting the Chapel and one will be recovering and rearming, ready to embark on a new crusade. 

One of the tasks that the sisters have to perform is the routine cleansing of the northern wastes. This is an area of dense mountainous terrain, criss-crossed with paths, tunnels, passes and valleys, and is known for its high levels of contamination. The sisters sweep the area on a yearly basis, destroying as many of the mutants and abominations that reside there. This is also where those in their latter stages of selection, the novitiate's and neophyte's, are trained and tested. There have been many attempts to cleanse the area completely, it has always proved impossible due to the labyrinthine nature of the region. These yearly purges however keep the numbers at a level where they cannot pose a threat to the wider populous. 

Colours of the Order

Catching up on the news!

Well, it seems like it's a good week for news or at least news that interests me, posted here on the community site (HERE). Following on from last weeks news that there will be a new Kill Team game and the preview of the Van Saar's Necromunda gang, we have been shown some more teasers in the form of a new heavier knight and sisters of battle! Yes it has finally happened!

We'll start this post with the new knight, as i want to save the best bit (aka sisters) until last. So the new knight? Well so far we have only seen one picture of it or rather video, the one released on the community page but I suspect that this will be only one of several builds, 3 I recon. This is the super heavy of the super heavy knights, a proper mini titan by the looks of it. I think that this will be quite a shooty knight, with only limited options for combat weapons, only the chainsaw, as they all have one of them. I don't think we'll see the fist option on this one. I do think that we will see new weapons, as one of the weapons in the picture looks like a plasma weapon to me. The main builds will be one with chainsaw plus other weapon. One with two long range weapons and one with 2 short range weapons, that's my thoughts anyway. With the release of Forgebane, and the Knight Armiger's, we now have a full set of knights. Small fast attack ones, middle general ones and heavy supporting ones.

I plan on getting a Forgebane box at some point, probably for my birthday or at least with my birthday money. This will start my Knightly house, which I only have a rough outline for, as I started thinking about it when the Renegade box was released. This will give me two Knight Armigers and some Skitarii and i will get some more swapping my Nercons for the Skitarii from a mates boxset. What I need to do is think about what knight I want to lead my force. The new knights look really nice, both of them are really well modelled, although the new big knight does look like its a bit Orky, with all the guns stuck all over it. I don't think that I will be looking to get one any time soon, as I think that standard knight would be a better fit for my House at the moment. I think that if you own a couple of knights, then the new one will be a good fit as a centre piece in the army.

There was also some other news in the form of Combat Roster, a new list building program that will appear on the Community site, next to the Age of Sigmar Warscroll builder. While this is a great idea, I'm not going to use it as it is only for Power Points and not for matched play points. There is supposed to be a proper app coming out in the near future but I will have to see about this, as I don't know if they will charge for it or not. If they do, I will have to see how much it is, if its cheap then I'll get it, if not then I won't bother and stick with battle scribe. The one good thing about this though, is that they designer is someone who has already designed a program to do the same thing and GW have looked at it and gone, this is good, lets get the guy on board and make it better, rather then doing what they use to do and try to sue the guy. This is another example of the new GW and again its another good move.

The next thing that I though that I would touch on the codex release schedule. We know that the Knights were going to get one, as they had the preview of the new big knight, but there interesting one is the Deathwatch Codex. This is interesting as there is the hint of being able to take Primaris Marines in mixed squads. The issue is whether you will be able to take mixed squads of old marines and new marines. This is about the only way that i would look at running Primaris marines these days, as it means that I wouldn't need many, just a couple of them and maybe only one or two of each.

The last thing to note before we get on to the big one, is that there was just a picture from an up coming White Dwarf, showing a battle between Orks and Guard. The thing that seems to have gotten people interested is that in the back of the picture is a big walker thing. There seems to be lots of views, from a new mega-dread ork walker to the fact that its just a looted Dreadknight. I'm leaning more towards it being a looted vehicle rather than a new model but time will tell.

So, here it is, the biggest news of all. Sisters of Battle are finally getting a plastic kit or many!. Yes, it has happened and its no longer myth or legend. There have been many rumours over the time, many even said that Sisters were ready to go, just sitting in a warehouse waiting, which is obviously nonsense. Unfortunately its going to be a while until we actually get the sisters, as they are, by the sound of it, still on the drawing board. It appears that GW haven't been working on Sisters in secret at all, I'm not even sure they have been listening to the community on this for a long time either. I feel that this has come around solely due to the survey that occurred a while back. All I want to know is why it took them so long? There have been lots of people going on about plastic Sisters for years and every time there is a rumour about plastic Sisters the internet goes mental. They should have been on this years ago really but I'm not going to complain to much, instead I'm going to start saving my money. I don't plan on getting a full army of Sisters, but I will get a couple of boxes, even if to just boost the sales figures a bit and show that Sisters was worth it. The plan would be to get a small force to use in games like Kill Team and as a Patrol detachment in games. I like Sisters a lot. I just hope that they do justice to the aesthetics of the Sisters, I would hate for them to go too much one way or the other, however, with things like the Daughters of Khaine, GW really seem to have got to grips with modelling females.

Its going to be a long road until we get Sisters in hand, but i am really excited by this, especially as they say they will keep us up to date with where they are in the process and potentially give us input in to the actual models. This is a great step for GW, even if it is a bit late!

Other 8th codices

So what of the other forces that I use? Well, currently I run the Disciples using Imperial Fists tactics, the Stone Dragons as Wolves, Brazen Hawks as Black Templars. Plus I plan on running an Inquisitional detachment with Grey knights, deathwatch and sister. So what are my thoughts on these armies?

Well, most of my thoughts on these armies are pretty thin, hence the single post, as I run most of these for the fun of it rather than for anything serious. Ill start with the Space Marines codex, for no other reason than its the first one I thought of.

So what in the codex would I chane, either in points or options? Points wise I couldn't really say what I'd change as I think that most things are pretty well coasted, well, the bits I use anyway. I also think that there are no gaps in the units, as there are options for everything and more often than not, several options. Granted some units are better than others, think grav-centurions over grav-dev's. There really are just two things that I think need looking at, the first being said grav-Dev's.

Now I'm not against grav or anything, but I think that a devastator marine should not have an amp, a centurion has a grav and amp as well, which seems odd. A normal marine carries a lascannon, or a heavy bolter, but a centurion can carry two lascannon or two heavy bolters, but a normal marine can carry a grav and amp but a centurion can only carry a grav and amp as well? Surely it should be capable of carrying 2 gravs and amps or a marine can only carry a grav and not an amp as well? Now a centurion with two gravs would just be silly, so I think that a normal marine should lose the amp. They will still be powerful weapons, but would be more logical in my view.

The second thing I would like to see I the codex is a change to bikes. I don't mean the actual bikes or anything but the weapon loads. Surely after several thousand years, someone has thought to pull off a bolter and stick something else on there? I mean the Dark Angels managed to do it with plasma guns, but no-one else has thought of this? Not even the White Scars? I don't think that everyone should be driving around with plasma talons, I'm more thinking that one bolter is removed and you loose the twin linked, but have the option to fire both weapons. I think it would be good to have the option for a melts or Flamer on the bike. I know that the marine riding the bike can take these weapons as well, and that would prob need adjusting but I like the idea of bikes with things other than bolters.

In terms of formations, the only thing I think is lacking is a proper formation for the Black Templars, with crusader squads as part of the core instead of tactical squads. There may well be on option for this already, and I might just have missed it, but as far as I'm aware, its only the standard gladius or the ones from Angels of Death to choose from.

For Space Wolves, my knowledge is even weaker but I do think that some of the recent rules and units are a little bit too strong, mainly the Wolfen. The Thunder Wolves are pretty strong as well, and possibly a little cheap for what they are. The only real question I see is with the various Claw units, blood, sky and swift, and the fact that they are still BS3. With all the other scout units being BS4 now, leaving these units as BS3 seems odd, but increasing them would change the whole setup of the codex. In truth I don't know what the answer to this problem is, lucky its not something that's going to affect me, as I don't really play SW and neither do any of my opponents.

The only other codex that maybe affected by the arrival of 8th is my Imperial Allies codex, one I dont actually have yet (birthday present sitting in the cupboard). Will this codex cease to exist? Or will it continue on? I hope it will continue on, as it solves a lot of problems for me, enabling me to field units and armies without having to buy multiple whole codices. Hopefully the new sisters codex (if there is one) won't be to much of a change as to affect the sisters units in the book, not that ill be using many of them and hopefully the same can be said for Grey knights and deathwatch. At the end of the day, I could always just sub units, like for like.

As for the other codices in the GW universe, in afraid in completely clueless, whilst I know of many units and some formations from other books, points costs and rules are beyond me. Yes there are certain units (wraithknight) and formations (Tau Stealth  Cadre I think its called) are either under costed or over powered, but then everybody knows these things and their are lots of people more informed than I am and able to make better arguments for fixing them. For me, the main thing I want to see from the other codices is a leveling of power and universal (and sensible) formations.

At the end of the day, its pretty much anyone guess what 8th will bring.