Morlock-Bloodletter's Weekly Articles
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Good day to all of you Plague Tower visitors, I have returned from the depths of warp space to deliver you yet another article for your perusal. My topic this week is going to be…… You may be wondering now what it is that I am talking about so I will start off by explaining this in a little more detail. This article will show you the exact steps I take in deciding what models I am going to buy and then eventually field for my Warhammer 40K armies. This process is actually really easy when you take a good look at it. Ok to start off I usually check around to see what I am most interested in before I go into the tedious task of spending my hard-earned moola, (money for all you who have not heard the term). I look to see which specific models I want for the army I select as well. Some people want the plain jane models to represent but as you can see from the galleries on this site, WE LIKE TO CONVERT, and to do that you need specific models. I find the best way to go on GW web site and browse or, look through their outdated and current Citadel Miniatures Catalogue. For this article I will tell you about my current army in production, the Space Marine Chapter of The Dark Angels. When selecting the models for the units I want I ALWAYS start with the standard mission, force organization chart, That way if I don’t ever get any other units I can at least play a small game, according to the rules. In this case, according to the rules I need to have 1 HQ and 2 TROOP choices. For my HQ I wanted a good, strong leader that I can add a little style to. I chose an Interrogator Chaplain and added a Jump Pack! Very good move range and with his assaulting ability the movement is a great plus! Then I wanted two basic TROOP core units that are good and strong and can lay a nice field of support fire. I Chose for TROOP 1 a ten man Tactical Squad with a plasma gun and missile-launcher for good long-range support. TROOP 2 was a different story as I wanted something a little harder hitting for those pesky vehicles that may be coming my way, I chose a six man Tactical squad with a melta-gun and put them in a Razorback with twin-linked lascannons. A very good move and shoot unit. So for the basic list I have a very versatile unit selection complimented by a leader that can move to support the troops where ever they may need him, all of this for a mere 492 points (give or take). So now I can play a nice 500-point game. Now I just don’t stop there, I then start adding the rest of the Standard Mission Force Organization units that I can add, i.e. I add 1 more HQ, 4 more TROOPS, 3 ELITES, 3 FAST ATTACK and 3 HEAVY SUPPORT. I feel that if you fill out your list with units that you have designed to work together then you can make killer army lists for your games because you know what goes best with what. Then the point factor becomes a technicality to reach rather than a number to fill up to. I don’t mind leaving a bunch of points UNDER the point max on the game if I feel comfortable with the units I have selected. I always FILL the units to their maximum as well. (Exception, I designed one unit of ELITES to go with one of my HEAVY). So on to the rest of my army selection. I will start with my other HQ, I chose a Hero with a command squad and a Rhino for transport. Now not to have specifics or anything but I always max the unit so the command squad is 9 models (to fit in the Rhino I had to take one less). I also like the options to upgrade three of the models to an Apothecary, Techmarine and Standard Bearer. It just gives you more options for the unit. I am adding a full List at the end of this article so you can see what I have added for the WYSIWYG “What You See Is What You Get” rule to the units I select, that way I don’t go too long describing each model. For TROOP 3 I have added another six man Tactical Squad in another Razorback, this one is also for designed for long range. I have given the unit a Lascannon and Plasma gun and the Razorback has the default Heavy Bolters to support the Tac Squad, as it targets vehicles and what not. TROOP 4 I added some flavor to my army with by going with a ten man Scout Squad made for long range sniping. This includes six sniper scouts and one scout with a heavy bolter. The other scouts will have bolters. TROOP 5 I kept with the Scouts with this one, another ten man squad this time designed for close combat. All 10 marines have close combat weapons and bolt pistols. Finally for TROOP 6 I went back to the good old Tactical Squad with another ten marines this time with assault weapon and heavy weapon options. I have a Heavy Bolter for the enemy infantry and light vehicles and a Melta gun for those pesky tanks. They also have a Rhino in the list so that I will buy the model for them in case I ever want to use it. Sometime it is best to be stationary and wait for the enemy *COUGH-TYRANIDS-COUGH*. For my ELITES I have picked some very devastating combinations that will work well in both the support and assault categories. ELITE 1 consists of a very basic unit of eight Deathwing Terminators. “But Morlock, I thought you said always max your unit out?” Well to be honest I have selected this number for a specific purpose. Not only can eight Terminators hold up under any circumstances, not only are they stubborn and not going to run for any reason regardless of losses, not only are they one of the most feared units in the game itself but I have them at that number so that I can field a Land Raider Crusader as a HEAVY SUPPORT unit for them to ride in style! I originally pondered getting a Deathwing command squad for HQ 2 but the point cost would’ve been astronomical, not to mention modeling the special characters (Techmarine, Apothecary etc.) in Terminator armor SOUNDS fun but I was not about to tackle such a feat YET. My other two ELITE are Dreads. I have one for assaulting with a close combat weapon and assault cannon and one for support and vehicle hunting that is equipped with Twin-linked Lascannons and a missile launcher. FAST ATTACK, ah my graceful specialists of death and speed. The next three units have to be my favorite units in the entire army. FAST ATTACK 1 is my compliment to the Chaplain with the jump-pack, a ten man Assault Squad with two Plasma Pistols and a Veteran Sergeant with a Power Axe to do some serious butt whipping! This unit used in conjunction with the Chaplain should be and needs to be feared by all that dare oppose it, but I am biased hehehehe. FAST ATTACK 2 is a nice one to accent the Assault Squad and provide a very nice field of fire for support. This unit is three Ravenwing Land Speeders decked out with Heavy Bolters and Assault cannons. You are looking at a possible 18 shots, 50% Str 5 and the other 50% Str 6. That is just beautiful. Not to mention these are vehicles with a 6+ invulnerable save! FAST ATTACK 3 is a nice assault unit that has MUCHO support capabilities. It is none other than a Ravenwing Bike Squadron with Attack Bike. Five Space Marines riding bikes with the additional Attack Bike for vehicles and such and this unit is ready to go. As with the speeders these also have a 6+ Invulnerable save. My HEAVY SUPPORT units are very simple and they work well in their roles as HEAVY SUPPORT. HEAVY 1 is none other than the previously mentioned Land Raider Crusader for the Terminator Unit. 255 points, I only use it for the more expensive games, 2,000 points or more. HEAVY 2 is a Devastator unit, Ten men, two Plasma Cannons, a Lascannon, and Missile Launcher. I fill out the unit so that when I start to take damage I don’t start losing big guns right away. That is a must for ANYONE who uses this unit! I can’t stress it enough. HEAVY 3 is a basic troop killer, a Whirlwind uses an ordinance template and has a nice long range of 48”. Of course you have to guess but that aside it is worth the measly 75 points it takes. Now of course this is what I plan on buying and stuff I already have. If you happen to play Dark Angels or Space Marines for that matter this list may be useful if you are just starting out or a seasoned veteran. That is my hopes for this article. See ya next week (or so) same Plague Time, Same Plague Channel! CYA! MORLOCK
March 26 2001 Well to continue I will give a quick recap of last week……read last weeks article! Hehehe, with the recap out of the way we can continue. This week I am going to finish my Black Templars 101 with the rest of the unit types available. Let’s start with the ever-popular Elite units, what can I say? The marines have one of the best elite selections available in the game, Terminators and Dreads. Now while the dreads are vulnerable to heavy weapons fire the new rules for the Terminators gives them a 5+ invulnerable save to lengthen their time on the board. Either selection would be a good one; in fact I would probably take one unit of each in any given army list. Now if you are playing a high enough point value game I would even build a Termie unit around a Land Raider Crusader, maybe an assault unit of Termies filled with Lightning claws and Thunder hammers mounted in the Crusader. But as we all know the Dread is just a classic Marine player choice as far as Elites go so I have no real arguments against them. Now for the Black Templar Fast Attack units my favorite by far is their assault squad, “well Morlock, what makes them so different from all the other Marines assault squads?” Thanks for asking! I’ll tell you. THEY CAN USE STORM SHIELDS! Yes that’s right, instead of bolt pistols they can have storm shields making them damn near unstoppable in HtH combat! I max it out too, 7 marines with the storm shields and 2 with plasma pistols and Senior Initiate with a power weapon or a powerfist! Go to town baby! Screen them behind the two big troop units and when you get into striking range WHAM BLAM, jump over the enemy and slam them from behind while you engage them from the front with the troop squad! Talk about a total sandwich play! I do apologize for making this so short this week but next week will be much bigger as I will have more time to write. I also will be finally getting some pics up here as well! Viva Bartertown, welcome aboard I-Kore and Sabol Designs! Can’t wait to get me some of that fine Void stuff and some great terrain to play it on! Be back here next week, same plague time, same plague channel! Your ever humble, Morlock
March 11 2001 I would like to first of all thank Quasi for inviting me to help out with this new page, so you buggers better be reading it! I had the “assignment” if you will, for almost a week now and for the life of me I could not think of anything to write about. So after browsing my favorite discussion board (Bartertown GW discussions for those who do not know) I have found the most perfect topic, it will help those in need of tactics, namely for the Black Templars. When I started my marine army I went for about a month using a plain Jane list out of the codex for the Space Marines, usually playing my good buddy Chaz. We deliberated for some time as to which Chapter for me to play, he was playing Dark Angels at the time so I knew it would not be them. I had 10,000 points for my WHFB Orc and Goblin army so I really wasn’t all too thrilled at starting anything with green. Right at that time the Codex Armageddon was released and after a quick glance I found the perfect Chapter, Black Templars. They are easy to paint and have some very nice special rules, if you will, that added to the appeal. Not to mention there aren’t very many Black Templar armies in our area. So with very little hesitation I grabbed the New Codex and headed for home, (I got halfway there and turned around because I had to pay for the book ;) ). I have noticed a lot of questions concerning the Templars and how to use them, as well as other rules questions. So I have written this article in hopes of shedding some light on them. First of all I would like to point out a few rule clarifications for those who are either misinformed or just plain wrong about them. 1) The Emperor’s Champion HAS to be taken BUT does not count towards the totally # of HQ choices, i.e. you can have two more HQ units including the Emperor’s Champion. Furthermore he CANNOT be given a Command Squad OR any other equipment (no he can’t have a jump pack!) Lastly about him, the Black Sword is counted as a POWERFIST if used two-handed meaning HE STRIKES LAST! 2) There are units that the Templars CANNOT use, namely Devastator squads. They also do not use scouts and for those that love bikes, they can use bike squads but if you want that attack bike you must take a Fast Attack choice and use a separate Attack Bike squadron because they aren’t available as normal with the bike squad. That actually may be backwards so please don’t come after me if I said that wrong. 3) OK this point is for Grotsnik whom I have deliberated with for some time on. The Black Templars can not get crossfired or run off the board BUT they can be broken for more then one turn per the new reading of the “And They Shall Know No Fear” rule. The reasons for this are in the codex but I will put them as follows as well: The Templars are full of something called “Righteous Zeal”. This means that they do not test for morale while in hand to hand but, they do test when they are not in hand to hand and get shot up. Now, If they “break” after failing a morale test from shooting they MUST charge the closest enemy unit at the normal fallback rate. If they get any models into base contact because of this they are to be considered as having made a sweeping advance into the new unit. If they fail to reach the new unit then they can reform using the new ATSKNF rules on Marines and Auto Regrouping. If for some reason they cannot reform then they will continue to charge the nearest enemy unit until they reach them OR they are able to reform. Now as far as tactics go I used the following and did very well when I applied them. I first read the “Sphere of Influence” article in the Portent.net site and began using that in ALL ARMIES! It is a very good theory that works very well in any type of wargame. Then after reading through the list and special rules available to the Templars I gathered that these are the “Sane” version of the Blood Angels, I.E. without the taint of Chaos. Their fanatical use of close combat weapons and larger sized units is a dead give away as to the basic strategy, use large units with CCW’s and get them into hand to hand QUICKLY! My favorite use of this included 2 full sized (15 man) tactical squads with the Power sword and melta-gun options on one and the other had the Powerfist and melta-gun. Give at least the special option troopers some purity seals seeing as how any and every model in the entire army can have them at a cheap 2 points per model, giving them a better roll percentage when and if the “Righteous Zeal” comes into play. Just be sure NOT to remove them as shooting casualties right away. It is a waste to put them in a Landraider Crusader unless playing a very LARGE point value game, the 255 points is just not worth it! When deploying, those two units are best when placed next to each other about 4-5 inches apart (if terrain allows it) and place the Emperor’s Champion in between the two so that he can support which ever unit needs him the most. The next unit I picked was another HQ to finish off the requirements for any Standard battle (remember the Emperor’s Champion DOESN’T count towards your allowed HQ units so it works both ways). I chose a Chaplain with a command squad in a rhino. I armed the Chaplain with a Master-crafted bolt pistol and gave him Terminator honors for the extra attacks. The command squad consisted of a standard bearer with power sword, techmarine with powersword and servo-arm and an apothecary with a powersword. Now I have found a slight problem with the way the list is set up, it says to use the command squad as in the Space Marine Codex but the Templars do not have Sergeants or Veteran Sergeants. So I decided to use the same rules as the tactical squad but at the higher point cost and without the Neophytes (why would Neophytes be in a command squad?) I gave them the Power fist and melta-gun option (without any Devastators you need something to stop dreads and vehicles!) and they were all given the CCW and Purity seals! Placing this unit on one of the far flanks is ideal. What I usually did was drive the Rhino farther out in front of the two tac squads in order to get a HtH combat going to either tie up a rather nasty unit of put the HtH in between the enemy’s heavy weapons and the tac squads. Well that will finish off this week’s article. Come back next week when I finish off my “Black Templar 101” which will include fast attack units and elites! So stay tuned, same Plague time, same Plague channel! ;) M
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