Killhaven's Weekly Articles
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1. Squat 2. Twelve 3. Dark Angels, Flesh Eaters, Flesh Tearers, Blood Angels, Blood Drinkers, Crimson Fists, Space Wolves, Ultramarines, White Scars, Iron Hands, Rainbow Warriors, Silver Skulls. 4. The Inquisition 5. Explores the fringes of Imperial space. 6. Adeptus Astra Telepathica, Adeptus Astronomica, Adeptus Custodes, Administratum, Adeptus Arbites, Adeptus Mechanicus. 7. Jokaero were a mysterious race of aliens who were capable of great feats of engineering. They constructed the original "digi-lasers", but have been long ago been dropped from the game, along with the Ancient Slann. 8. Terminator armour. 9. In Rogue Trader, Zoats were the most common of the Tyranid's many engineered slave races. They were a required 50% of a Tyranid army. Their shape was similar to that of a (green) centaur. 10. Autoguns 11. A large reptilian creature native to the Soloman system. It is also raised as food for Imperial guard troops, particularly the Catachans. 12. An Ork psyker who has become very powerful and very unstable. They are dragged around by "Minderz" and treated as weapons. 13. A rogue Ecclesiarch leader of much of the Imperium during the Age of Apostasy. His forces were ground down attempting to subjugate Fenris. 14. Home planet of the "Daughters of the Emperor", located in the south of the Ultima Segmentum. 15. Sebastian Thor, the reformer of the Ecclesiarchy and initiator of the unifying Imperial Cult which now rules the Imperium. 16. None. Gorkamorka and Necromunda boxed starters came with them, but for WH40K they were only available in blisters of 4 dice. 17. Maximus is Mk IV power armour. 18. The Ultramarines 4th Company are known as the "Defenders of Ultramar", mainly due to battles during the Tyrannic Wars. 19. A red corona symbol indicates the title of squad leader, second to the squad sergeant. 20. The Storm Lords, as well as a few obscure newer chapters.
May 21 2001 Here's a WH40K quiz to get your brains going. 1. What is a Homo Sapiens Rotundus? 2. How many Space Marine Chapters were in the original printing of Warhammer 40,000? 3. What were the names of these Marine Chapters? 4. Who or what is the Ordo Malleus? 5. What does a Rogue Trader do? 6. What are the six major divisions of the Adeptus Terra? 7. Who or what is a Jokaero? 8. What is Tactical Dreadnought Armour also known as? 9. What is a Zoat? 10. What did Gretchin use for guns in WH40K 2nd ed.? 11. What is a Grox, and what does it look like? 12. Who or what is a Warphead? 13. Who was the Apostate Cardinal, and what planet did he lose much of his power in attacking? 14. Who or what is San Leor? 15. Who said "I will steal from the plate of decadence to feed the mouths of the powerless"? 16. How many Sustained Fire Dice came in the box set of WH40K 2nd ed.? 17. What mark is "Maximus" power armour? 18. What are the 4th Company of Ultramarines known as? 19. For the Ultramarines, what does a red corona symbol indicate? 20.Which Chapter of Space Marines display their company colour on their helmet?
April 25 2001 I like Dreadnoughts, as do many other people. I have Dreadnoughts in 3 out of my 4 armies. My Speed Freeks don't have one because they can't and it would be too slow, anyway. But I use at least one in my Space Wolves, Space Marines, and Khorne armies, respectively. For all of these forces they're a natural powerful close combat/shooty combination that can be used in any number of roles. Space Wolves and Khorne are largely close-combat oriented armies. Space Wolf armies don't have to be close-combat-oriented, but they are good at it. As with many Imperial Space Marine armies Dreadnoughts can provide some high-strength close combat that is often difficult to destroy. Dreads strike in initiative order, but have the equivalent of a power fist. This means that against vehicles and average infantry they can do a lot of harm up close. This is why I love having them for my Khornate army. Khorne disdains the use of much ranged weaponry, and favours bloody close combat. This means that most of the high-strength destructive capability in a Khornate army should probably come from Dreadnoughts, big Daemons, and maybe transports. Dreads can't normally have two close combat weapons, and are actually required to have a heavy weapon. But this really isn't a bad thing. A pesky Falcon or other skimmer that's trying to put the hurt on your Elites, Heavies, or HQ from far away is tough to take out in close combat because you need 6's to hit skimmer vehicles up close. Dreads and Landraiders aren't bad at shooting these skimmers down so that you can advance into the enemy's midst with fewer casualties. This holds true for any type of Marine army, Chaos or Imperial, but it's almost a necessity for a Khornate army. While Khorne favours close combat it is often quite helpful to have some ranged weaponry. Here's where Dreadnoughts shine. They can fire their heavy weapons while advancing toward the enemy to engage in close combat. If you're lucky they can even take some hits from enemy heavy weapons and keep going forward. Extra armour is probably the most cost-effective upgrade for Dreads and any other Chaos or Space Marine vehicles. It changes a "stunned" (cannot move or shoot for a turn) into a "shaken" result (cannot shoot). While this may not seem like a big deal, it can often save your vehicle if it gets too much attention from enemy fire. For 5pts the extra armour will often allow a Dread to move behind cover or forward to do some harm. This is also useful for transport vehicles, which I'll talk about another time. Extra armour is also very easy to model onto a Dread. Just attach some pieces of anything flat or metallic-looking, or use any of the conventional extra armour bits. There are quite a few other vehicle upgrades, and using them will depend on what you like. Try them out and decide what works best for your playing style and army. Combinations of armament on your Dread will depend on what you like to use and what your Dreads are going to be doing. If you want to mow down troops then a Plasma Cannon or Heavy Bolter is a good choice for a right arm. The left arm could house a Missile Launcher if you don't want to get into close combat with your Dread, and goes fairly well with the P.Cannon and H.Bolter. Twin Lascannons or a Multi-Melta are great for blowing up vehicles or evaporating infantry. Chaos can have Twin-Autocannons, and Imp's can have an Assault Cannon. These are similar weapons with comparable range and strength. They are essentially a medium-strength, multi-shot cannons that are good for gunning down tough infantry or putting holes in light vehicles. Point cost is secondary to what you will be using your Dread(s) for, but it is important. Try not to put too much into one Dread or you'll wind up without much else if your opponent blows up your Dread(s) on the first or second turn. (Some of my opponents make a concerted effort to do this.) If you haven't put too much into a Dread and it gets blown up quickly then you can take comfort in the fact that your other units are more intact than they might otherwise be and you can avenge your fallen Dread's. Dreadnoughts have a few weaknesses. They are a little low in rear armour, making them vulnerable to weapons fire of strength 4 or higher from behind. Remember that they can only be assaulted in the rear if the enemy charge from the rear. Dreads are also high-profile targets that attract a lot of attention from the enemy. Dreads have good front and side armour, but if the enemy fire is persistent they will get damaged or destroyed. This can be partially offset by their medium size, which will often allow your Dread to move behind various types of cover to give you a "hull-down" result and turn penetrating hits into glancing hits. Dreadnoughts are also vulnerable to a few specialized short-ranged weapons such as Shining Spears, Wraithcannons, and Meltas, which are designed to blow up vehicles easily. On the other hand walker, such as Dreads, can only be attacked with Meltabombs, Krak Grenades, or Haywire Grenades if they are immobilized. This gives them some protection not afforded to other sorts of vehicles. So Dreads have their uses for armies that can field them. Just decide what you're going to do with it before you add finishing touches such as bits and paint. Then when you have it finished off you can enjoy your personal touches as it destroys the enemy or gets destroyed and lays in the middle of the field for all to marvel at!
April 15 2001 Like Quasi, I like to use Cultists as cheap fodder troops in my Chaos army. Mine reflect their allegiance to Khorne. I use the following: 1 Squad (mob) of 40 with 35 pistols/cc weap's, 2 Flamers, 2 Grenade Launchers, Demagogue with Bolt Pistol and Mark of Khorne. These guys are a good horde for overwhelming (or at least slowing down) enemy elites of any kind. I especially like to throw them at enemy squads that have power weapons, like Banshees. Flamers are cheap (2pts) but I find that they don't often get to be used. The Grenade Launchers are good 24" assault weapons. They can be used to frag infantry or Krak nasty things like Talos or Wraithlord. The pistol/ccw combo is a good cheap way to arm Cultists. This also fits nicely with the Khornate way. Close combat is the theme for Khorne. 1 mob of 20 with Shotguns with 2 Meltas and Demagogue with Shotgun and MoCUndivided. This is a nice short-ranged mob that can be thrown at the enemy after you blast away with the shotguns. Meltas are nice against ANYTHING if you can hit. I just love melting Wraithlords and vehicles. 1 mob of 10 with Shotguns and a Grenade Launcher. This mob is small but can be used to tie up or hold something until your real warriors (Berzerkers) show up. Or you can add them to the mob of 20. 1 mob of 20 with 17 Lasguns/Autoguns, Heavy Stubber, Autocannon, and Demagogue with Bolter and MoCUndivided. This doesn't really fit with the Khorne theme, but I had the models and they hardly cost any points. Set these guys up with a nice view and annoy anything in range. That's 90 Cultists in a 2000pt or more army. I use fewer in smaller games, of course. There are 2 reasons for having so many. 1) They are really cheap and soak up a lot of fire. 2) It fits with the background according to the novels and Codex. Cultists are much more numerous in many situations. Chaos cults grow for a while before most invasions by Chaos Marine forces. Read the excellent Gaunt's Ghosts novels, for examples of this. Note, though that these cultists are based on Necromunda Goliath models. They are beefy and look good for Khorne Cultists. They also have very nice weapons for use as Cultists. I bought a whole bunch of plastic ones from the GW Bargain Basement for very cheap. Then I got a few metal ones with particular weapons You can use anything inexpensive like Imperial Guardsmen or other Necromunda mini's. Metal Cultist models are awfully expensive for 4pt models and don't look Khorny or Nurgly, either. Demagogues are good cheap characters. They're not much good by themselves, but they improve your mobs with leadership and gear. The best thing about them is that they are cheap characters that can be possessed by a Greater Daemon. This can save your much more costly Aspiring Champ's and Chaos Lord from being replaced right when you need him. However, it does not do well to have a character be possessed at the back of the field. Greater Daemons, such as my Bloodthirster are best in close combat. Roll for characters at the back to be possessed last, or your Daemon will have to walk for a few turns to get to the enemy. The Mark of Khorne is good for mobs that will get into close combat. A mob which will do more shooting than hand-to-hand is better of with MoCU to give them a re-roll on the Demagogues LD of 8. Even though it's not the MoK it's not the hated Slaanesh or another weakling god to weaken your forces. (heheh) If your cultists live to the end of the game you can sacrifice them to Khorne. This hardly ever happens, as they die fast. But it fits with the Khornate theme and is good for a laugh from your opponent, no matter who wins. Cultists don't do well by themselves, though. Make sure you have plenty of power-armoured troops to balance them out. I use 60 Berzekers in 2000pts or more. Of course this is not a whole army, so don't forget things like Dreadnoughts, transports for the Berzerkers, and Daemons. I'll write about them another time. Killhaven
April 2 2001 Using Ork Speed Freeks Orks all have an underlying urge to move as fast as possible. This is ironic when one considers their low initiative value, but if you want to move fast accross the board in a game of 40K then join a Kult of Speed. A Speed Freeks army list not only allows you to make a very mobile Ork army, but actually REQUIRES the use of mobility. This is nicely reflected by their Fast Response ability and great mobility. This means that they have a good chance of reaching any point on the table, and can even succeed where many armies have difficulty in missions where you need to get past the enemy's lines into a target zone or capture an objective. This also means that you can stay out of hand-to-hand with nasty things like power weapons and Dreadnoughts while you shoot at them. Your basic troops would essentially be considered Fast Attack in a foot-slogger Ork army. Bikers are my favourite Troops choice. Not only are they tough and shooty, but they don't run away from ANYTHING. This is good when you are up against superior numbers such as employed by Tyranid, Imperial Guard, or even Eldar armies. Even though Bikers aren't that great in hand-to-hand they CAN hold their own against superior numbers of most types of infantry. Their toughness of 5, combined with their base of 2 attacks and the option of being led by a Nob with gear won't make them invincible, but in my experience they take a while to die, even against Marines or swarms of bugs. Their oily smoke is also quite useful when being shot at. This smoke not only gives the Bikers a 5+ cover save in the open, but gives vehicles behind them a "hull-down"/glancing hits table result. A Biker squad in front of a costly Battlewagon or HQ Trukk can save it a lot of hurt and get them closer to the enemy in the face of long-range guns. (Your Warboss or Big Mek shouldn't mind breathing that stuff in if it gets him into grips with the enemy.) Warbike Outriders are a nice Fast Attack Choice. They can be deployed even in missions where your Fast Attack would normally be held in reserve. They also have a slight boost of movement at the beginning of the game. A squadron of these led by a Nob with a little gear can be quite effective when you need to get the job done quickly. Deth Koptas are essentially Ork jetbikes. This means that they are not only good at moving accross the board, but they can be used to assault enemy on top of buildings, like pesky Marine heavy weapons or Eldar Rangers. They're even stronger than ordinary bikers and can be led by a Mek, who can carry a Burna. Burnas are good as power weapons, and can also be used to flush out cowardly troops hiding in bunkers or fortified positions. A flying squadron of Koptas can bring flame and dakka to just about any enemy postition to alleviate pressure on your ground-based vehicles. Trukks are another mainstay of a Kult of Speed. They are good for transporting Tankbustas, Burna Boyz, or the good-ol' Trukk Boyz. Mobile Tankbustas can be very effective for taking out Whirlwinds, Basilisks, and other tanks hanging back where they think they're safe. Your Warboss can use a Trukk as a fast way to get to the enemy with a Trukk or two of Boyz for backup. A Battlewagon or two are also quite useful. Unlike a normal Ork army, Speed Freeks build more vehicles, such as 'Wagons. So you are not restricted to one, unlike a normal Ork Waaagh. Battlewagons are nice for not only carrying 20 Boyz, but can carry plenty of firepower, all protected by the Ork's best home-made armour and some handy upgrades like the Force Field. 'Wagons are also nice for distracting enemy heavy weapons from your HQ and specialist Trukk squads. (I'll have a picture of my scratch-built Wagon once I finish painiting it.) Looted vehicles are a populare Heavy Support choice. The key here is to use something that will be of use to your army without going overboard. A Basilisk is useful at times because it has ordnance and doen't require good ballistic skill. But remember that looted vehicles aren't as reliable as the vehicles the Orks know well. They can break down and become a liability if you are relying on them for fire support. Used in missions where you have other fire support and where they will be effective, looted vehicles can be a great help. But if they are your only means of knocking out a bunker or tank you're probably in trouble. And remember to make them look "Orky". It's as easy as gluing on glyphs or miscellaneous junk, with a sloppy paint job. Stormboyz and Skarboyz are good Elite choices for their point cost and abilities. I talked about Skarboyz in a previous article, and the same tactics apply in a Speed Freek army. Stormboyz, like Deth Koptas, move 12" per turn and can be used to assault enemy snipers and heavy weapons on top of buildings. They are also nice for jumping over obstacles and assaulting enemy infantry on the ground. I find that you need at least 12 in a squad for them to be of use. They will take fire from the enemy, so you need enough that they won't run away from a few losses. At the same time, if you have too large a squad they will take casualties from crashing into terrain and will get a little bogged-down by terrain features, allowing the enemy to fire at them more. That's bad, so I usually use between 12 and 16 of them in a squad. (16 is the result of 2 boxes, I don't recommend buying more.) A Nob can help these boyz out with extra Ld and gear, so use one if you can. After their high mobility, the second-most useful ability of a Speed Freek army is that they can not only change transports, but flee to their transports AWAY from the enemy. Changing transports is useful when a mob's Trukk is blown up and you need to get that mob somewhere. (A Tankbusta mob going for a bunker, for example) Mobbing up into empty transports will help a little bit in terms of avoiding some crossfire, and when they get into their transports they automatically regroup. This is quite helpful in an army which doesn't use as many Boyz as a typical Waaaagh. Even a single Boy can regroup into a Trukk when he flees from those tough Marines or sharp Eldar blades. To use this asset well you will need plenty of transports. Warbuggies and Trakks are good for laying down fire on the enemy. You can use twin Big Shootas for cheap and plentiful firepower against infantry, or twin Rokkits or a Mega Blasta against vehicles and bunkers. Keep them out of hand-to-hand if possible. If you think it likely that they will face enemy troops which will get into hand-to-hand with them (Assault Squads, transported Marines, Striking Scorpions, or hordes of 'Nids) then you can employ the inexpensive option of spikes and blades to help protect these light and shooty vehicles. As with any army, you will want to balance power and numbers to be effective. I talked about this in the Ork tactics article and the same principles apply here. So slap on the red paint and get your engines running. Killhaven
March 24 2001 The Marine Scout has taken some criticism on various boards I frequent. I'd like to examine some of the pro's and con's of Space Marine Scout squads. Probably the aspect of the Scout that many Marine players get hung up on is the weaker armour save of the Scout as compared to the average Marine. Scout armour can be pierced by a number of weapons: Heavy Bolter, Heavy Flamer, Autocannon, Assault Cannon, Whirlwind, Griffon Mortar, Inferno Cannon, Gauss Blaster, Venom Cannon, Poison Spore Mine, and Eldar Missile Launcher all have AP4. That sounds like a LOT of weapons that can pierce your armour, especially when you consider that there are AP2 weapons as well. This being said, we should examine how often those weapons are used in games. The Heavy Bolter is available to several armies and is fairly low in point cost. Several of the other weapons are favoured by quite a few players, or so I've gathered over the last few years. This means that most Marine players can expect to face some AP4 weapons from time to time, and perhaps quite often if your regular opponents really like them. So why use Scouts if their armour is going to get full of holes? Well consider this: Scouts are good at not only infiltrating into terrain like trees and rocks in half of the missions, but can move well through terrain. Three dice to choose your movement from while moving through terrain is pretty darn good if you need to. If you have a Scout squad that has move or fire weapons like Sniper Rifles or a heavy weapon you can sit in a stand of trees and use it for cover while you fire at targets in a 36" range. Bolters are also good when you stand still, and can also be used if you want to move. So essentially Scouts have considerable potential for using terrain to their advantage. If your Scouts are jogging around in the open they'll get the enemy AP4 weapon's attention. You could use them as a decoy in this manner to avert harm on your more expensive squads, but I find them useful in their own right. Here's what I do in my 2000pt Space Marine Army: 1 Squad of 10 with 7 b.pistol/cc weapon combos (incl. a Vet.Sarge) and 3 shotguns. 1 Squad of 8 with 6 Snipes, a H.Bolter, and a shotgun 1 Squad of 10 with 6 Bolters, Missile Launcher, 2 shotguns, and a b.pistol/cc combo In 1000-1500pt games I use 2 squads with slightly fewer models per squad. Basically I have organized these squads by what they will do and what weapons they have. The first squad is geared for short-ranged shooting and close combat, with a Vet.Sarge for extra Ld and attacks to help them out in this regard. The second squad have mostly range 36" weapons that need to stand still to be of use. They can be set up anywhere allowed with LOS to somewhere the enemy will be. The Snipes and H.Bolter are fairly good at hurting the same things and have the same range. The H.Bolter can also be used to take shots at enemy light vehicles. The shotgun is there so that they have a little firepower if they have to move, and can also be used to shoot at a nearby squad sweeping at them. (Also I had an extra model with a shotgun :) The third squad is centred around the Missile Launcher, which is used at 48" range to krak vehicles or tough units, or frag enemy infantry. The bolters and shotguns protect the M.Launcher by firing on anybody who wants to get close to this squad, combining multiple shot rifles with a missile. The "Sarge" is there to help you out if you get assaulted. The second and third squads are capable of doing things that most of the more specialized Chapters such as the BA's, SW's, and BT's can't do well with their newer recruits. Whether or not you WANT to do these things will depend on your own preferences, but these ideas show one of the strengths of "Vanilla" Marine armies, namely versatile options and units. Scouts can be used for either ranged combat or close combat, or generalize like a Tactical squad. As I mentioned in the Ork Taktiks article, units work better when you use them to support each other. The second and third Scout squad aren't designed for close combat, so if you're facing an opponent with strong close combat squads (like most of my other armies) you'll do well to support them with your own assault units. No unit is invincible. In fact many units will wither under enemy fire and assaults if they're isolated. The first unit can't take out vehicles or tough units. Using units together will not only allow use of their abilities to kill enemy units, but will keep your own around longer. These Scout units need support from their power-armoured elders and their Chapter's vehicles to do well, so don't forget to balance out your infantry units with some fast attack and heavy support. Now go play. Killhaven
March 17 2001 Orks are an army that takes practice to win with. Anyone can do okay with Marine-boyz, but it takes skill and planning to wield the power of the Waaaagh. Perhaps the most important thing to remember when building and playing an Ork army is that your units need to support each other. If you send your units headlong into the enemy without support they're going to get chewed up and run away. The best way for units to support each other is to advance together near each other. So a Trukk mob and a Warboss & Nobz mob in a Trukk, which can both move at the same speed can support each other. Killer Kans or a Dreadnought and a Slugga Boyz mob can support each other. Three infantry mobs of any sort can support each other, provided they don't get too bogged down by terrain features if they are too large. I find that an infantry mob of 20 is large enough to survive enemy fire, while not being so large as to take 3 turns to get through trees or rocks. A Nob is often a good choice for a mob, as his increased leadership, strength, and attacks can keep the Boyz going forward. He should be armed and armoured similarly to the mob he's in. Mega Armour should only be used if he can be transported, otherwise he'll end up dragging at the back of the mob while the Boyz do all of the work. Burnas are nice in Skarboy mobs, but are also okay for Slugga Boyz. Big shootas and Rokkits are best for Shoota Boyz. Vehicles can be taken out by Tankbustas with Rokkits & Tbombz, vehicle mounted Rokkits, or a good Zzap Gun. I find that you need plenty of Rokkits to do enough damage to a vehicle, since only 1 out of 3 will hit most of the time. A Battlewagon firing two twin Rokkits and a Zzap Gun can scare the enemy into concentrating fire on it and may leave most of your mobz alone. A 'Wagon can take lots of fire and still remain intact, particularly if you roll some lucky sixes on your armour. Then the Rokkits and Zzap can put holes in the enemy vehicles, armoured troops, or monsters. Never underestimate the power of the Waaagh. Even though Boyz only get I4 when they Waaagh, it's usually enough to strike simultaneously with the enemy. This is much better than striking last. A Warboss and Nobz using choppas at double Initiative can be devastating when enough of them get into base-to-base contact. Power claws and 'Uge Choppas have their uses, but I've found that an HQ mob who jump out of a Trukk, charge and double their initiative are more effective when they strike at I6(Nobz) or I8(Boss). The combination of skill, strength, and number of attacks can decimate any enemy infantry. Twin-linked weapons, such as on Warbuggies, Trakks, or Bikes can lay down some impressive fire while the Boyz advance. However, these units do poorly in hand-to-hand, and should try to avoid base contact. Above all, have fun. Orks have a never-say-die philosophy "Orkses never lose." They lack pretentiousness found in Imperial or Eldar background, and you can really give them a comical quality in game play. They are a nice flavourful army which an experienced player will enjoy, even if you don't win much. Orks are never boring.
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