Hobby update

So it's been a while since I put up any hobby posts. With family holidays south and the school holidays taking up a lot of my time recently I haven't had much chance to post anything, although I have been chipping away at the to do list in the back ground. As always this list has grown with the birthday haul and at this rate I'll not finish my list before the end of the year.  

Anyway, I am currently working on my assassin's, the Warhammer+ exclusive plus an Eversor Assassin. While the Vindicare assassin model that came from Warhammer+ is a lovely model, it's not a very practical model for the table top, so some modifications were carried out.

Modified Sister's statue

Replacement middle section

As you can see, I've split the model in to two parts, the actual Vindicare assassin and the statue of the sister. To do this I had two options. Cut the Vindicare off the main model below the feet or replace the central floor section the Vindicare is standing on. I chose to do the latter and replaced it with plasticard. 

Stand alone Vindicare assassin

The model itself sits nicely on a 32mm base and since this picture was taken I've added rubble and basing paste to it to make it look more like broken building, as this model will be spending most of its time in building rather than on the grass, like all the other models. 

Original model

As you can see from the original box art, this is quite a nice diorama but is quite large for the tabletop.

Eversor Assassin

In addition, I've built the Eversor Assassin to the instructions. I did consider building it without the base and have him running on the ground but I deduced not to as it does look cool and the base section isn't really big enough to use as a separate price of terrain or anything. 

In addition to these two models I have also completed my first born Eagle Knights and also my repulsor I got for my birthday, also in eagle knight colours. I will post up photos of these when I can, most likely the repulsor will be up next, as the first born Eagle Knights are currently boxed up for those own safety!

Astra militarum unit reviews - part 8 - Militarum Tempestus

In this entry we have the Militarum Tempestus Scions units. 

The Militarum Tempestus Command Squad is the scion equivalent to the cadian and platoon command squads. If you’re taking more than one squad of scions, chances are you’re going to take one of these as well. The have the same bonuses as the other command squads, the standard grants extra OC, the medi-pack gives a FNP and the Master vox throws out orders to 24 inches. However they gain another option and that’s the command rod, to enable the unit to have two orders on it at the same time. While not as good as the Kasrkins version, as you need to issue both orders, it’s still very good.  The Tempestors ability to give the unit sustained hits is also going to be useful to help scoring wounds with the S3 weapons. One other ability the tempestor has and one that i nearly missed, is that if the tempestor is your warlord then Scion units become battle line, meaning you can take 6 instead of only 3. 

The Tempestus Scions are the only battle line option for the Militarum Tempestus force. The storm troopers ability to re-roll hits is always useful and they also have the standard vox-casters ability to regain CP. overall they are a good unit, however there are a few little issues. The first is that you can attach two leader units to this unit, yet there are none that can deepstrike apart from the MT command squad. So no attaching commissars or psykers if you want to deep strike the unit, the same with things like bodyguards. If you start on the table, its fine but most of the time you’re going to want to deep strike these guys in. The  other minor issue is that you cannot attach any other officer units other than the MT command squad, which means that if you do attach a command squad to a unit, unless its a 5 man unit, you can not put it in a transport. I would like to be able to put some sort of single model officer unit and another leader unit on to a full 10 man unit and stick it in a Taurox Prime and drive it up the field but I can’t, it either has to be a 5 man unit or either deep strike with only a command squad or walk up the field.   

The Taurox prime is the Militarum Tempestus dedicated transport. While the other transports can be used (as far as i can see) your most likely going to take the taurox prime, as the prime is good, its fast, has some punch but it is not very tough. With a capacity of 12 it’s not great, as mentioned above, but it’s pretty usual and means that you can’t take a full squad with both leader units. The fire support ability is good, mostly as it just says attacks, not specify which attacks, meaning that you could potentially have 3 different options to attack with your disembarked models. 

One other note on the Scions is the Valkyrie. Now, I’ve mentioned the Valkyrie before but in when looking at it in terms of the scions only there are a few more options that appear. You can deepstike down a unit in your opponents movement phase, once you’ve seen the opponents moves, hide them ready for a close range strike next turn, however, you need to be very careful with positioning. I think the most likely time to use this ability if when you think that the Valkyrie is about to be shot out the sky and you need to get the squad out and keep it some what safe. Being able to take more fliers again is also useful for scion only armies to give you a better anti-vehicle option than melta guns or Taurox krak missiles. Three flying around would be very interesting. 

The scions are still a very good army that lack a few key parts. Not having any ability to have heavy weapons without guard support is an issue and having a limited number of units is also a problem for pure scion armies. However, with the current setup, this is not really much of a problem.

Astra militarum unit reviews - part 7 - Superheavy

Now we come to the big boys and girls, the superheavies. These have never been overly popular on the table top, mostly due to their cost and lack lustre rules, however, they have got better and some of them may actually be quite useful. 

The Baneblade is the vehicle we usually think of when we heard Guard super heavy tank mentioned. It has long been the go to super heavy and still seems to hold that position. Granted it’s not as pure vehicle killer of the shadowsword or anti-infantry of the Stormlord but it is a very good alrounder, capable to taking on many vehicles and infantry alike. Its rolling fortress ability is going to be useful to both infantry and vehicle and i can see a formation of several Russ’s and baneblade trundling up the table. This still seems to be the go to version and is again the most likely version we will see.

The Banehammer, to me is completely surplus to requirements. It has a cannon with the same profile as the baneblade but less shots, so why wouldn’t you take a baneblade. It could be due to the 26 transport capacity and the 12 firing decks but with the extra heavy firepower and special rules of the baneblade, do you really need this? The Quake special rule is nice, forcing units to take battle shock tests within 3” for the target unit but the range is very small and there are not going to be many times when this rule affects more than one or two units. I really don’t see why you’d take this over the Baneblade.

The Banesword doesn’t really have a clear role to me. It’s got a good main gun, that triggers deadly demise tests on a 3+ rather than a 6 but if you’re after a vehicle killer, you would take the Shadowsword or maybe the doomhammer. I can’t see why you’d want to take this model over several of the others.

The Doomhammer is a budget Shadowsword and if that’s want you want then you’ll take a Shadowsword. However, it does have an ace up its sleeve, its transport capacity and firing deck. While only being able to take 26 models with 12 firing, it’s still a very useful addition to the close range firepower of this unit, which its going to need with the 24 inch main gun. The fact that it always counts as in half range against vehicles and monsters, thanks to the close-range ability, the damage it can do is still going to be less than the Shadowsword. 

The Hellhammer is my favourite super heavy and the one i have. It was never the best but now it has arguably got worse. While toughness has gone up, the hellhammer cannon is still sitting at S7. Ignores cover and ignoring the penalty for shooting while in engagement range are good, there is very little reason that you just wound not take a baneblade. If you think you see one of these on the table, it’ll actually be a baneblade.

The Shadowsword. There is little explanation needed for this titan killer. This has one job and one job only and it does it very well. With 2 to 4 shots at S24 with D12 and the devastating wounds ability, this tank has the ability to chew threw armour like butter. However, if there are no monsters or armour, then it’s a bit useless. You will see this thing on the table, as 10th seems to be a vehicle heavy meta, even if it wont be the most popular super heavy you face.

The Stormlord is a strange beast, it is really a pure anti-infantry super heavy. The Mega-bolter not very strong, only S6 and will struggle to even take out marines, its strength lies in its 24 firing deck positions and 40 man transport capacity. Filling these positions with heavy and special weapons makes this a significant mobile fire platform capable of putting out a substantial amount of low strength fire power. However, this mostly means that it’s left sitting on the shelf in almost all cases. It’s a great fun and fluff vehicle but little else. 

The Stormsword is probably one of the weakest superheavies and sits in a similar position to the Banesword, as it doesn’t seem to have a clear role. While the Concussion wave ability is good for spreading mortal wounds around, the range is very small and wont do any serious harm to any units. The main gun is powerful and it can do damage but its not really a vehicle killer and its to powerful for infantry. I’m really not sure where this fits in to the super heavy structure or why you’d take it over many of the other models.

Astra militarum unit reviews - part 6 - Leman Russ

This time round we have the Leman Russ Battle Tank and all its variants. In the past we had two versions with multiple weapon options, now however, we have multiple versions with just one main gun option. This mean that we can field an incredible number of Russ variants in a game, 24 when including commanders! Not that you’ll have enough points for 24 tanks! A couple of notes on the Russ, all the profiles are the same, there is no difference between the short ranged and long ranged hulls and secondly all of them will be equipped with hunter-killer missiles and sponsons, as they are both baked in to the price. The type of sponson will change depending upon the main armament.

First up the standard Leman Russ Battle Tank. The basic tank, which is out classed by a lot of other versions. The Armoured Spearhead ability is a good ability, enabling you to re-roll hits but overall doesn’t make up for a slightly lack lustre gun. You’ll see them on the tanks top due to their iconic nature but they are far from the go to version.

The Leman Russ Demolisher on the other hand is one of the go to versions. It has long been one of the best versions of the tank and continues to be so. While it only has a short 24 inch range, it packs one hell of a punch. The same number of shots as the battle cannon but stronger, with better AP and more damage potential. The Line-Breaker ability also makes this unit even more potent, as it doesn’t matter if it gets in engagement ranger or not, you’re still getting splatted. Paired with flamers for defensive fire or multi-meltas for extra punch, this is the go to Russ.

The Leman Russ Eradicator has always been an odd tank. Back in the day it had some use, but now it struggles to find a role. It has a similar rule to the demolisher, letting it shoot at units in engagement but you’re going to take an actual demolisher over this pretty much all the time. It’s nice to have ignores cover on the main gun, but its low strength and AP mean that it’s not going to be very useful at taking out targets most of the time. This has never been a popular unit for the table top and I don’t see that changing when it just doesn’t have the punch to stand out from the rest.

The Leman Russ Executioner could have been so much more than it is. It is great as an anti-elite infantry killer, especially when paired with the plasma cannon side sponsons but its plasma profile is nothing special. Being able to add 1 to the hit rolls thanks to Gung-ho is good but most of the time you’ll not be wanting to waste shots on half strength units. I would have liked to have seen less shots on a stronger profile. I think that you’ll see more of these around than the Punishers while filling a similar role, as although they don’t kick out as many shots, they can take on a much wider range of targets. You’ll see a few of these around in the anti-infantry role.

The Leman Russ Exterminator has always been an odd ball in the Russ line up. It has never really had a place or a use, not good at anti-horde due to low shots, not good as an elite kill due to low AP, not good at vehicles or monsters due to low strength and the trend continues. While the Withering hail ability is useful by increasing the AP of subsequent attacks by other units, it really doesn’t make the Exterminator viable. You wont have seen these on the table top and your not likely to any time soon.

The Leman Russ Punisher is a great anti-horde vehicle, especially with its devastating wound special ability (against non vehicle or monster units). Tooled up with bolsters and a stubber, this thing can put out a substantial number of shots. It will however struggle against any sort of heavy infantry, monsters or vehicles, as it always has done. If you know that you facing a horde list, then one or two of these is a must but they are a niche vehicle that wont work a lot of the time. If you see a Russ heavy list, id expect one of these in there to deal with the infantry but otherwise i doubt you’ll see many.

The Leman Russ Vanquisher is your dedicated tank and monster killer, putting out a substantial amount of damage that few units will be able to ignore. Unfortunately it’s not enough to kill most things and no longer ignores invulnerable saves, meaning it can be stopped. It also suffered from being just a one shot weapon, meaning it’s just as likely to hit as it is to miss, not something you want when targeting a priority unit. The tank killer ability to re-roll wounds is useful, as even at S18 you’re still wounding lots of things on 3’s. Paired with a hunter killer missile and lascannon you have a good chance of doing damage but overall it’s still not quite the one shot weapon it should be. You’ll probably not see many of these around.

It seems that in this edition as with a lot of previous editions, the Leman Russ Demolisher is still the king of the Battle tanks and will be a familiar sight across table tops for many years to come. Some of the others have uses but none are as good as the demolisher for outright fire power.