Nevelon’s Workbench: Company command

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**Nevelon**

So I decided to go dread heavy. And by heavy, I mean all of them.

Opponent was the green menace. Been a while since I’ve faced orks. Was a lot of fun.

He had a superheavy that shot 6d6 times a round with some nobs in it, some flash gits in a battlewagon, 3 squads of truck boys, 2 tractor cannons, a dakka jet, and some grots. 2 CADs, not sure what all his HQs were. Oh, and 2 of those auto-fire battlecannon fortifications.

Kill points.

He goes first, moves up, does some shooting, kills some bikes and some light damage to some vehicles, nothing major.
My turn drop two dreads down in pods, one off to the side to deal with a truck full of boys that came over to harass my pred, the other behind the battlewagon. Neither does as well as I’d like. My duo of ven dreads with assault cannons net their first catch of the day, a squad of truck boys that moved up.
Turn two he Waaaggghs. I seriously thing I’m going to loose the game right here. Both dreads I just dropped die, as well as the pred, vindi and my speeder. Contemptor as well. But this is the watershed. I weather the onslaught bloodied, but unbowed.
My pod full of grav tacs lands. They evaporate the mega nobs. The bikes pull a lateral shift and kill the boss that just ripped open the vindi. The dynamic duo butcher a truck worth of boys and then consolidate towards the superheavy.
He’s lost a lot of his teeth at this point. The rest of the bikes die (the tech had split off, and is sniping things with his c-beamer) He strips some HPs off the dreads, but nothing major Blows up a pod I think.
My turn 3 sees my raven show up. Shoots down his dakka jet. I think this is the turn the pair of dreads punches out his superheavy.

The rest is mostly a mop up operation. Turns 4-5 are mostly my stormraven and dreads killing everything he has left. He’s not tabled, but doesn’t have a lot left when the game ends. IIRC it was 14-10 on kill points. I had all the secondary objectives, don’t think he had any. Solid victory for the Ultramarines!

Opponent was a great guy with an amazing army. Awesome conversions, some neat 3rd party stuff, and a decent chunk of RT lead in there as well. He has a blog, I’ll see if he posts something and see how it meshes with my spotty memory. Bit tired atm, so I might be mixing things up. If I can find it, I’ll drop a link in here. I know he took a bunch of pics.

My MVP of the game was the pair of AsC/Fist(sb) ven. dreads. They went through his army like crap through a goose. I think they killed 20 truck boys, a truck, the superheavy, the flash gits, and probably something else I’m forgetting. A pair of walking wrecking machines in a buddy comedy film. They waded into the last fight with one HP left each and one missing his AsC. Killed every last orc in those ruins.
If I’m not mistaken, this is my 12345th post on Dakka. I’ve mostly stopped keeping track, but that’s a fun number.

**CREEEEEEEEED**

Fun number and fun report. Venerable dreads are possibly my favourite unit in the game, nice to hear they performed well.

**Zambro**

Wow, lucky turn around for you. Quite the uphill battle, especially on turn 2. Sounds like the Orks peaked too early.

Love the list idea, too. Dreads are one of my favourite models - they epitomise 40k so well.

**Nevelon**

Both my opponent and I were a little surprised. You don’t see them talked about that often in competitive circles, as the common wisdom is "they suck.” But the last codex gave them chapter tactics and +2A. Which helps them out a lot. One of the squads of truck boys they ate was intended as a tarpit to keep their powerfists away from his superheavy. 8 WS5 powerfist attacks is going to cut it way out in no time. I think between the overwatch and that I killed the unit on one turn (might have been a little understrength to start)

BS5 and UM chapter tactics means they get to hit almost all the time with their guns. In hindsight, I never made him re-roll damage, totally forgot. I just took the ven upgrade for the skill boosts.

In the post game chat, he said that’s how a lot of ork games go. On the turn they Waggghhh, they cause a huge amount of damage. But they have no durability, no staying power. So even though 2/3rds of my army was dead by my second turn, most of his army was spent at that point. It was still a little dicy for a bit, and a fun game.

**Gitsplitta**

Nice report Nev, looks like you had a good time & your army did well. Not much to complain about there.

**brushcommando**

Fun battle report! Seeing five dreads take to the field together is quite a sight. I may have missed it during the report, what point level were you playing?

**Nevelon**

It was a 2,000 point game.

Hopefully I’ll still be able to get down there on Mondays for games. I start work next Mon, and it’s going to be a bit of a haul to get there. But if I pack and army and leave in my car, should be doable. Probably miss the next one or two weeks as I get settled in though.

Edit:
I mentioned last week that the demo/intro game I played for AoS was filmed to make a tutorial. Here's a link Short little clip that gets the basics across. Mostly voiced over, so I don’t need to listen to myself, which is a nice bonus.

**JustaerinAtTheWall**

Sounds to me like a fun time was had!

It's always nice to see an Ork battle every once and a while, always interesting. I don't know why people are so anti-dread right now, i'm using the previous edition codex, but they seem to work pretty well for me as anti MC & tank.

**Nevelon**

JustaerinAtTheWall wrote:
Sounds to me like a fun time was had!
It's always nice to see an Ork battle every once and a while, always interesting. I don't know why people are so anti-dread right now, i'm using the previous edition codex, but they seem to work pretty well for me as anti MC & tank.

There are a few reasons, some more valid then others.

There is a lot of S6-7 spam out there. It’s not that hard to glance AV12 3HP to death. And that’s just the front. Two of my dreads were killed by rear shots, and a few HPs from the AsC brothers were also from that angle. And they are still vulnerable to normal AV stuff (melta, haywire, LCs, etc.). The AV13 dreads are a little more sturdy from a distance, but are just as vulnerable to rear shots. Which they are probably going to expose themselves to if played aggressively.

Durability these days of often layered buffs. Stacking armor, invulns, FNP, re-rolls, etc. One of the problems with vehicles (not just dreads) is that they are mostly excluded from these.

A lot of the MCs we’d like to see them go toe-to-toe with can just open them up like a can of tuna. They are still good at punching tanks, But how many tanks need a dreadnought powerfist to crack open?

Their shooting, while nice, is not all that. You only get one decent gun unless you swap out the fist. So it’s 100+ points for a single heavy weapon? There are better options out there to get dakka to the table.

They are very flexible. Some shooting, some CC. Kinda tough, but not over the top. Jack-of-all-trades. 40k tends to promote specialists. Choose a job, and own it. For a dread to get it’s money’s worth, it needs to shoot up some stuff, power fist a few more things, and shug off small arms. All while traipsing across the table. Because you are paying for all those features. Now, in my game, the assault cannon twins did all that. Which is why they were my MVPs. The other dreads were not able to deliver that performance. Mostly because one of their flaws was able to be exploited by my foe.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the walking coffins. I think their flexibility is a major asset in a TAC list. They work great as a troubleshooter unit, able to shore up part of your plan once it starts unraveling due to contact with the enemy. But a lot of the competitive lists take a shenanigan/trick/combo, turn it up to 11, and ram it down your gullet. Make you react to them. If you can force someone to play your game, on your terms, it’s a lot easier to win. But I’m not a fan of that play style, so I’ll just stick to TAC lists. Where dreads do just fine.

I forgot my fresh paint report. I don’t think anything was new. The closest I had was the techmarine on bike. I think this was the first time with the c-beamer. Kinda fun. I’m normally not a big fan of small blasts, but that’s when shooting troop-like things. BS5 and centering the blast on a big tank/artillery piece makes it pretty accurate. Although I did vaporize a little cluster of orcs who took refuge in some ruins. And if you don’t have a spot in your list and just need to tack a HQ on, he works. Just flit about the back table edge and lob death blasts downrange.

**CREEEEEEEEED**

Thanks for Linking to the AoS tutorial. My Dwarfs probably need dusting off, they haven't been fielded since 2015. I'm sure they'd appreciate some time on the tabletop.

**Nevelon**

CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
Thanks for Linking to the AoS tutorial. My Dwarfs probably need dusting off, they haven't been fielded since 2015. I'm sure they'd appreciate some time on the tabletop.

I know the feeling. The last time I seriously put down an army was only once or twice early in 6th. That released in 2000. Most of my play was in 5th, so '96-2k. So that’s a decade and a half of dust on everything.

My WHFB forces saw more action this millennium as foes for the battlemat in RPGs like D&D. It helps that one of our GMs is very fond of using undead as bad guys. Them and demons. Good thing my armies were chaos and undead.

I think a lot of the action in AoS is in the list building stage. There are a lot of buffs and synergy between units that are subtle at first glance. On the table you need to figure out where to use them for max effect, and how to take out the lynch pins of your opponent’s plans. Game seems a lot more complicated then the simple rules imply.

**CREEEEEEEEED**

I've started looking around and they've squatted so much. So much Nevlon. So much. All the cool Dwarf characters are gone. The Egyptian skeletons are gone. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm even sad that they got rid of the French.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqcWAPh-pvM

**Nevelon**

CREEEEEEEEED wrote:
I've started looking around and they've squatted so much. So much Nevlon. So much. All the cool Dwarf characters are gone. The Egyptian skeletons are gone. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm even sad that they got rid of the French.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqcWAPh-pvM

Some of the rules are still there, lurking in the corners. Check out the (free) app, or download the PDFs if they are still there. When They hit the giant reset button, they did publish legacy rules for a lot of things.

I wonder if I have enough bretonians to put together a decent list. Friend of mine gave me his before he moved back to Texas. Would be a fun “out of left field” hit for the guys in the FLGS.

**Warboss_Waaazag**

It's good for us to see these updates from you, Nev. Life goes on and such. I think I speak for us all when I say we're happy to see you back up and running.

**Stormwall**

Tad bit late commenting but, that man sized missile launcher is awesome, and I think it's pretty sweet you did a list based off your models age.

Lastly, nice workbench.

**Nevelon**

Things are turning up and settling down. Although my folks are showing up for a visit tonight, with should shake things up a little in the short turn. But they are going to help me get set in the new apartment, so more long term stability. I should probably be getting ready, and should have done that yesterdays as well. But I went down to the FLGS and got in a game of AoS.

So 3 2k armies. I felt I could have probably done OK against the chaos forces, but am unsure if there was anything I could have done vs. the sigmarines. Even after the teleported behind the chaos player, and burned through his army like it was paper, I still couldn’t touch him. He was hitting/wounding on 2/3s, spamming mortal wounds like it was going out of style, and had some sort of armor re-rolling thing, so it was neigh impossible to get a wound in. I was chatting with the chaos guy after the sigmar player left, and we figured he was doing a few things wrong, but not enough to slow down the juggernought. And in the Sigmar guy’s defense, he is a very competitive player, but this was his first time with the army. So I’m OK with a nasty lists with a few play errors not being his fault; no malice and he was a cool guy.

Still nasty in spades.

Chatted with the guys about what I could do to try to make my army better. The problem is that Death is sorta in a bad spot right now. At least what I have. If I wanted to get a bunch of the ghouls side, I hear they are better. But in games with points, summoning is pretty nerfed. It lets you choose units on the fly, at the cost of your wizards time and ability to get the spell off.

One thing I noticed is that my anvils are not that tough, and my hammers not that strong. I’m used to my wights being and unbreakable block of iron that whole armies smash themselves upon. And my vampire a walking blender. But both of those jobs can be done better by the rank and file sigmarines. There are some buffs and synergies to be had, but nothing on the level of the other armies. And almost no mortal wounds, which seems to be where the action is. Next time I might risk bringing my dragon down and perching a vampire on it. Spirit Hosts look like they might make decent anvils. 3W with a 4+ armor save that’s immune to rend. 6 attacks, even if they are only 5+/4+ can do some damage, mortal wounds on 6s is a nice perk as well.

While most of my hobby budget is going to be focused on 40k, I might grab a box or two of fantasy if it would help. The start collecting box with the big mortach might give me a centerpiece model that can actually get things done. Not that I need more black knights/skeletons.

**brushcommando**

Blech. Nothing to leave a bad taste in your mouth like a bad matchup. Hope your next game goes better.

**Nevelon**

brushcommando wrote:
Blech. Nothing to leave a bad taste in your mouth like a bad matchup. Hope your next game goes better.

I think next time I’m going to request a 2 sided game. If there are extra people who want a game, we can split points. I’m just not getting a good feel for the game with the multiplayer. Not that I’m not having fun, but you take any game and make it 3/4 sided, the interplayer metadynamics tend to dominate the actual gameplay.

**Nevelon**

OK. Been a busy weekend/day.

Folks were here Wed and all weekend. I did my taxes Thursday (hint: if you are married, even just technically, file jointly), had The Boy all weekend, and just started my first day at the new job. Phew! Also did things like hang my TV on the wall, built some furniture, Sorted out the kitchen, put pictures up, etc. etc. I’m kinda wiped out, but the apartment looks a lot better.

And I found a scrap of time to get some paint in.

Not much, but forward progress. Just blocked out the parts I’m going to do in blue. Not getting sloppy here, as I want to keep the white prime clean. I know touch-ups are going to be a bear, but trying to minimize the trauma.

As a housewarming gift (and to help make Daddy’s place more appealing to kids) my folks got me an x-box one as a housewarming gift. Right now I’ve got minecraft and assassins creed syndicate. Anyone have any good suggestions for games to keep an eye out for in the used bin? I’m unlikely to pay full price, with what they are going for these days.

**brushcommando**

Nice apothecary! Is that forgeworld stuff or just the bits from the command squad on a calth marine? Also, if you want relatively kid-friendly games that are also fun for adults, see if you can pick up a cheap copy of star-wars battlefront. There's not necessarily a ton of content, but it's a pretty shooter that's gore and swearing free.

**Nevelon**

brushcommando wrote:
Nice apothecary! Is that forgeworld stuff or just the bits from the command squad on a calth marine? Also, if you want relatively kid-friendly games that are also fun for adults, see if you can pick up a cheap copy of star-wars battlefront. There's not necessarily a ton of content, but it's a pretty shooter that's gore and swearing free.

Yup. Just the command squad bits and a BaC Mk. IV. Might be a spare bit from the box glued on somewhere, but nothing fancy.

I’ll keep an eye out for that. I’m up for a good shooter, and The Boy is a big Star Wars fan.

**JustaerinAtTheWall**

Looks really good so far! You're braver than me, i'm gonna avoid as much white as I can for my UM guy. As for Xbox games, if you've got any 360 titles, those work on the One now. The Halo series is naturally good, except 4 i hear. Forza is a good racing franchise, and I find Final Fantasy to be an excellent choice in RPGs if that's your thing. XV just came out about 4-5 months ago, and it's really good.

**Inevitable_Faith**

Good to hear things are going well Nev. I love apothecaries and I'm excited to see how yours turns out.

I wouldn't call it kid friendly but if you like challenging games with a great sense of accomplishment (and a surprising amount of depth) I'd look for Dark Souls 3, it's a third person fantasy action game. Any of the lego games (lego star wars is a great example) are also a great amount of fun. If you like MOBAs then SMITE is downloadable for free and is a great game as well. If you have xbox live always check out whats on the "games with gold" part of the store, I think they swap around every month but if you see one you like it's free and you get to keep it even after it swaps to the next free game.

**CREEEEEEEEED**

Do not get SMITE Nev. Just don't. Get dota 2. Also congrats on getting all that done and finding time to get some paint on a model. The lego games are fun though.

**Inevitable_Faith**

Can you get Dota 2 on xbox creeeeed? I thought it was a PC exclusive title. I suggested smite cause I know it's on xbox and I find it much more casual than dota 2 or LoL.

**evildrcheese**

Cool apothecary!

Sounds like the place is coming together nicely, but surely the X Box will just distract from time when you could be painting?

EDC

**Zambro**

Apoth looks promising!

Glad everything is starting to settle down for you.

**Nevelon**

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I’ve got plenty of things to distract me from painting, one more is not going to tip the balance. Right now I’m doing something I’ve suggested to others, but not had to do for a long time myself. One layer a night, every night. Eventually you get a mini done! Not there yet, but seeing some progress.

I noticed on my old medic, I did part of the fist blue. Not sure if I should do that to the new guy. He’s got a few diferent details going on. I think I’m going to do the helixes in red, rather then gold, as he’s already got that on his shoulders.

**Nevelon**

Just a little progress, but finished up the base coats and started the washes. Brown down on the bronzes/golds/wires.

I think I’m going to try a little something. Give him a solid bath in nulan oil, and then clean up the white on all the flat places. See how it works. Worst case, I just go back over him with a thin white to clean him up. His fellow is a bit weathered anyway, so it’s not like he’ll be too different.

While I was painting him, I realized that context means a lot for this scheme. He’s an Ultramarine apothecary, not a World Eater.

Hope everyone’s having a good weekend.

--Nev.

**Alaricuk**

He's looking good, defo needs a bath though, that will get in all the creases