I intend this to be an article/blog about my preparations to attend the Las Vegas GT. It will chronicle the building of my GT army from start to finish. It will document my steps as I design my army using the latest and most advanced methods of theory-hammer. Then it will move on to modeling and painting as I build it, and it will finish with my battle reports at the Las Vegas GT, and my final thoughts on the experience.
by blackmoor
The creation of a GT army from start to finish
Introduction
I am a hard core tournament player and generally only play in RTTs. I travel around and go from RTT to RTT...kind of like Caine from Kung Fu, but I wander around looking for 40k. Last Year I played all over the West Coast from Salem, Oregon to San Diego. Since moving to Jacksonville I have been driving 100+ miles to play in Orlando, and 200+ miles to play at RTTs in Tampa. Last year I also played 40k in Chicago and Baltimore, so I have played all over the country.
One thing about me though, is that my writing ‘skill set’ is not optimal, so this might not be the most well written article.
My GT experience.
This last year I attended both the Las Vegas GT and the Baltimore GT with my Eldar. I went 4-0-1 at the Las Vegas GT finishing with 80 Battle points in 7th place. In Baltimore I went 5-0 and I finished with 97 battle points, landing me in 11th place. What stopped me from doing better in Las Vegas is my painting score, so I will need to work on my theme, my painting, and the overall presentation. At Baltimore my sportsmanship (and painting) stopped me from doing better. So I need to work on not being such a jerk when I go back east.
The Timeline
- May10th Demon Codex release
- June 1st Modeling begins
- July 12th Release of 5th edition
- August 23 Los Angeles Games Day
- Sept. 6th and 7th Las Vegas GT
May10th Demon Codex release
Since one of the armies at the top of my list that I am thinking about building is a Demon army, I will need to wait until the Demon Codex is released so I can see if it is a viable army, and compare it to the others. I have looked though the Codex briefly, but I need to build some test lists to see if I am happy with the results. After that, I can choose an army.
June 1st Modeling begins
I am moving across the country at the end of May, so I will not be able to begin the actual construction of the army until June. The LVGT is Sept 6th so I will have 3 months to finish the army.
July 10th Release of 5th edition
After building my army, and creating my list, I might have to change it slightly to conform to 5th Edition. I do not think that 5th Edition will be a radical change so it is my belief that a good army in 4th Edition will be a good army in 5th Edition.
August 23 Los Angeles Games Day
I hope that I can finish my army in time to take it to LA Gamesday. Since I am going to be building an army that I have never played before, I will need some practice games to see what I can, and can’t do. I do not know what the gaming scene is like where I am headed, so Gamesday LA might be the first time that I get to play this army. It is a good thing that this year they have raised the points to 1750 to match the GT circuit.
An example of finding out what an army can and can’t do happened to me at the Adepticon Team Tournament. Most of us had never played Tau before and I knew that they are bad in assault, but until you play the army, you can’t appreciate how truly awful they are at it.
Sept. 6th and 7th Las Vegas GT
This is the final date. I need to finish my army completely by then. It is possible that I found some problems and issues that I did not like about my army at Gamesday LA, and I will have 2 weeks to try to tweak the build, and finish the army.
GT scoring
Battle points
You can get a maximum of 20 points per game for a total of 100 points. In the past they have awarded 20 for a massacre, 17 for a major win, 13 for a minor win, 10 for a tie, 7 for a minor loss, 3 for a major loss, and 0 if you get massacred. They changed their scoring around at the Baltimore GT though, and went to the Adepticon scoring system where you were awarded points for completing a primary objective, secondary objective, and a tertiary objective. So far we do not know how they are going to break down the battle points for the LVGT, but my guess is that we will have to wait until 5th edition comes out to get a little more clarity on the battle points and missions.
Maximizing your battle points
As a general rule you need to destroy your opponent without being destroyed. You can’t squeak by getting minor wins, you need to get massacres. So how do you do this? Mission, missions, missions. The only way you can get big wins is through bonus points from fulfilling the missions' objectives. Always remember the missions!!! Keep your opponent from achieving them, and always go for them. Without them, it is nearly impossible to get a big win.
For an example:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/170117.page
This was my 5th game at the LVGT. We were all the way up on table #2. The mission was Recon (you get bonus points equal to each scoring unit in the enemy deployment zone).
The game was going poorly for me because my opponent blew me off of the table. He only made one mistake: he forgot about the mission objectives. He had plenty of scoring units (and fast moving ones at that), and I didn't. Only because of the bonus points from being in my deployment zone, and him with none in mine, I ended up with a minor win.
Appearance
There are four parts to the appearance score. Painting, Conversions, Basing and Display base.
Painting
The first part of the appearance score is painting. This one is hard to improve, or get to the level you need to be at because this is both a skill and a talent. It is a skill because you can work at improving your painting score by reading articles on how to paint, and take your time and do a good, clean paint job. Then on the other hand it is a talent and there is a certain amount of ability you either may, or may not have. As far as the GT scores go, make sure you have a neat paint job, all of the colors of the armies go together, the whole army matches, squad and units all have markings, and you add little details like transfers etc.
- Army is fully painted, but only to the three-color standard of base-coating. 10 Points
- Army is beyond fully painted, additional steps beyond the three-color standard. 15 Points
- Painting is Uniform: Not a mix of schemes, styles, and looks. 1 Point
- Clean base-coat Colors: Base colors are painted neatly. 1 Point
- Details: Details are painted such as eyes, buckles, and jewelry. 1 Point
- Clean Details: Details are painted well (clean, have highlights). 2 Points
- Hand-Painted Details: Details (that are well executed) have been added such as unit markings, banner artwork, blood marks, dirt on cloaks, etc. 2 Points
- Artistic: Banners, markings, and details are hand painted to an incredible degree! 2 Points
- Discernable Highlights/Shading: dry-brushing, lining, shading, inking, etc. (not required to be clean) 1 point
- Clean Highlights: Lines are neat, dry-brushing is appropriate, inking is controlled and not sloppy. 2 Points
- Layers of Highlights: More than one layer of highlight, which may include shading, highlights over inking, blending, etc. 2 Points
- Beyond Basics: Highlights have been blended, shaded, or layered well – beyond the basic highlighting techniques of dry-brushing and inking. 2 Points
- Masterful Blending: Highlights have been masterfully blended, shaded, or layered. 2 Points
- Overall Appearance: Overall appearance is amazing! Everything works great together to create an awesome scene. 2 Points
Conversions
You need more than a stock army to get a good score, so you need to swap out a lot of parts, and make unique figures. This part of the hobby is getting both easier and harder to pull off. It is getting easier because GW is producing a lot of plastic models which make it easier for conversions, unlike metal models that are hard to change. Also, the plastic models and kits are coming with a lot of options that you can use to create unique models. The reason why it is getting harder is that GW ended their bitz service. The end of the bitz service means that it is very costly or nearly impossible to do some armies that you would like to.
Conversion Points
- Minimal: The army has some elementary conversions (head and weapon swaps, arm rotations) or a couple interesting swaps. 1 Point
- Minor: Units have multi-kit conversions including head and weapon swaps. This is for more than a few models such as a unit. 2 Points
- Major: The army has some difficult conversions that use things such as putty, plastic card, drilling, sawing, minor sculpts, etc. This could also apply to the entire army having very well done multi-kit conversions (see above) 3 Points
- Extreme: The army has some extreme conversions, which could be: a scratch built conversion or sculpt of an entire model, a large amount of models with difficult conversions (see above), or the entire army is extremely converted 4 Points
Basing
Basing points is easy for small armies and a little bit harder when you have 150 models. There are many ways to base your army, and normally you can get good basing ideas from the theme of your army. For an example you can do snow bases for Space Wolves, Lava bases look good for Chaos, urban rubble for Imperials, etc.
- Based/Detailed: Bases have basing materials (flock/sand/tiles) or details painted on them. 1 Point
- Extra Basing: The bases have multiple basing materials (rocks/grass), extra details painted on them (cracks in tiles), or if extra basing is inappropriate, basing is done very well (eg. rolling desert dunes). 1 Point
- Highlights: Bases have highlighting (shading/dry-brushing). 1 Point
- Special details: There are extra details on the larger bases (helmets, skulls, animals, building rubble, etc.)
Display Base
In the past it was never spelled out if a display base helped your appearance score or not, but now you do get points for it. This year you can get up to 2 points for your display base. Your base can be anything from a simple board that matched your basing to a large diorama. It is up to you to how much time and effort you put into it.
- Display Base: Basic based & highlighted or detailed display base. 1 Point
- Something Special: There is something above and beyond about a model’s painting, the display base, a conversion, or the basing (eg. movement trays are based/highlighted). 1 Point
Player’s choice
They have awarded up to 5 bonus points if you get votes for player's choice. You get these votes from your peers. Everyone walks around between rounds 2-3 and votes for an army that they think is the best. Since it is unclear if you get bonus points for it this year, but in the past if you have a good paint job, with interesting conversions and an exceptional display base you should get some votes…or just talk some of your friends into voting for you.
Sportsmanship
These Sportsmanship scores are basic behaviors. This year they have totally gotten rid of comp (you can argue that it was gone last year), so all you have to do is act like a normal human being and you will do well. I predict that there will be a lot of people tied for max sports. Since you should get max sports points, you can focus on Battle and Appearance.
Compulsory Trappings
- Did your opponent show up on time (or early)? 1 Point
- Did your opponent have all the materials they needed to play (dice, templates, army list, rules for their army, rules for the game)? 1 Point
- Did your opponent play their turns in a reasonable amount of time (taking in account time to plan strategy, and includes playing throughout all the phases)? 1 Point
You should always show up on time, and there are many reasons for it. The first is that if one of you has a horde army, then you want to start as soon as possible. The second is that you want to be the first one to the table so terrain does not get moved so it is “unfavorable” if the tournament’s terrain is fixed. You should always bring all the tools for the game as well as a pen. Also bring a lot of copies of your army list to the tournament. You need the # of games +2. That way you can give one to the tournament judges, one to each of your opponents to keep, and one for your copy. You should always finish a 6 turn game. If I get less than 6 in because you brought a horde, I am taking off a point.
Game Play
- Did your opponent measure accurately for both model moves and shooting distances? 1 Point
- Did your opponent solve rules disputes by showing you the relevant passages in their rulebook (or, if that could not be found or remained confusing, was amicable about bringing over a Rules Judge)? 1 Point
- Was your opponent’s army easy to understand with clear conversions or completely WYSWIG? 1 Point
- Do you think your opponent built an army based on the theme of the relevant gaming universe and supplied background for that army (as opposed to a force built purely for winning with little or no regard to that army’s established background)? 1 Point
These are pretty basic. For movement I have a 6” ruler I use so that my opponent can see that I am moving the right amount. This is also one of my pet peeves when a walking army moves 8” a turn. The last “theme one seems like the only subjective one, and the only vestige of comp.
Behaviors
- Was your opponent of good humor and amicable when not concentrating on strategy or planning out moves (this does not mean they put on a one man circus for you, but rather was not angry/grumbling/complaining/obtuse during your game)? 1 Point
- Was your opponent helpful in explaining correct rules, explaining how their army works? 1 Point
- Win or lose, was this person the type of opponent you look forward to playing again? 1 Point
Don’t be a jerk, and treat your opponent the way you want to be treated.
Favorite opponent
At the end of the GT you will vote for your favorite opponent, and it is possible to get 5 bonus points. Not too much control over this, so be nice.
Selecting an army
40k Game Theory
I am about to make generalizations, so keep that in mind.
Let’s talk about how armies win. You have 3 types of armies.
- Assault
- Shooting
- Hybrid (a combination of shooting and assault)
Assault armies win by imposing their will on their opponent. That means they have one goal, and if they can achieve this goal they will win. The make up of assault armies are around 90% Assault to 10% Shooting. To give you an example of assault based armies they are Wytch Cult, Stealer Shock and Horde Orks. These armies try get into assault as fast as possible, and beat the other army down. There are also Space Wolves and World Eaters, but they are unable to get into assault, so they are unsuccessful.
Shooting armies are made up of 90% shooting to 10% assault. The Shooting armies are IG, Tau, and SAFH Space Marines. They win by out shooting other shooting armies, and destroying assault armies before they can get close.
The weaknesses of these armies are that they can dominate a lot of armies, but they have bad match ups that they struggle to overcome. Centurian99 won the Chicago GT and the Adepticon Gladiator with his stealer shock list. His army has a lot of trouble beating Mech Tau and Eldar, so he was fortunate that he never encountered either of those armies.
The same goes for shooting armies. If our opponent can out shoot you, how do you win? You are not going to race across the board and assault, or if an assault army gets into assault with you, you are in a lot of trouble.
As a general rule though, shooting armies are superior to assault armies. The reason why that even the most successful assault armies will take casualties crossing the board, and even when they do get into assault, they will get engaged by counter-assault elements, and they will get damaged by defenders. What happens is that assault armies lose a lot of points even in games that they win. The other side is that a shooting army can win, and take few casualties. This makes it easier to achieve a massacre result.
Hybrid armies have more of an even balance of assault and shooting. They try to assault the shooting armies, and they to shoot up the assault armies before they engage with their assault elements.
Everyone has different playing styles, and each player needs to find the style they like, and that they can win with. For me it is the Hybrid armies. I like to be fluid in my approach. I like to think on my feet, and try to figure out a way to win as the game goes on. I like how that in each game I have to find a different way to win.
Army Tiers
Army Tiers or the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
All armies are not created equal. There are good armies, ok armies and bad armies. Since the GTs have abandoned comp scoring, there is no longer affirmative action for bad armies. If you are looking to win, you would be better served to take one of the hardest/cheesiest armies available to you.
When we say tiers, what we are going to do is separate and categorize the armies. The top tier are the hardest armies that anyone can win with. The middle tiers a skilled general can win with, and the bottom tiers no one can win with. There is much arguing, and no real consensus on what armies belong where, but this is my take on it for 1750 point, take-all-comers lists.
Tier 1
Orks/Eldar/Tyranids
- Orks are just awesome. They don’t die when their Trukks explode. They have great shooting from Lootas, they have a unit that can come on from anywhere, and there are very few armies that can kill 120 orks. The only weakness they have is AV 14.
- Eldar are great at points denial. They have Jetbikes that can hide in the assault phase, rangers that get a large cover save, unkillable skimming tanks, and the best assault unit in the game. They might suffer in 5th edition, but for right now they are a very strong list. From last years GTs they consistently put in some of the highest battle scores.
- Tyranids are one of the top tiers armies because of the Godzilla list. It is very hard to kill 7-8 TMCs backed up by Genestealers. They get better in 5th if they remove escalation, and add run. They might be able to have 8 TMCs running at you with dual Scything Talons. Tyranids also work as a Stealer Shock list as Centurian99 proved as long as you do not face a skimmer army.
Tier 2
Necrons/Tau/Dark Eldar/Blood Angels
- Necrons can be made into a couple of successful builds. All destroyers are resilient and have good long range fire-power. 2 Monolith armies sacrifice ranged shooting for increased durability. The possibly of getting into a bad position and phasing out is their one weakness.
- Tau have J-S-J crisis suits, Fish of Fury, and Railguns. They are an excellent shooting army, but have 0 counter assault (Kroot don’t count).
- Dark Eldar are an army that is very fragile, but in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing, they are one of the best armies in the game. They can pack a lot of BS4 Dark Lances, Wytches, and they are very fast.
- Blood Angels have some good special characters, lots of assault cannons and assault marines as troops. They are a good all around army.
Tier 3
Space Marines/Black Templar/Chaos Space Marines/Dark Angels/Witch Hunters
- These are the MEQ armies. MEQs do not do well at tournaments for a couple of reasons. Everyone tools up to beat them, so they are prepared to kill them. Most people play them all of the time so they know how to beat them. They are also a lot of people’s first army, so the players at tournaments might not be as skillful as the other armies.
- Chaos took a big hit with the new codex but they still have a couple of power builds with 9 oblits and 2 lashes.
- Witch Hunters have done very poorly at US GTs, but they are a good army. It might be because they have all of their ranged heavy weapons in the form of Exorcist tanks. They also are poor in assault, but they have good short ranged shooting.
Tier 4
Imperial Guard/Space Wolves/Daemonhunters
- Imperial Guard are a bit all over the map as far as GT battle points from last year. One guy scored 80 battle points at Las Vegas, and I think Don Mondo scored a 74 at Baltimore, but for the most part they litter the bottom of the standings.
- Space Wolves are an assault army that has no way to get into assault. They did ok as a drop pod army until everyone figured out how to beat drop pods.
- Demonhunters are good against horde armies, but they can’t kill vehicles or anything with a 2+ save.
How I select what army I will play
Since this is a no comp tournament, what army should I take to the LVGT?
I know that I should take the hardest, cheesiest army I can make, but I have never been that type. I do not want to play Orks, I have a Tyranid list, but I am not interested in playing them. Necrons and Tau are out as I never liked those. I played Eldar last year, so I do not really want to play them again either.
So how do I pick an army?
I choose a theme I am interested in, and build my army around it.
So here are the armies I am interested in from the ones that I want to do the least, to the ones that I want to do the most. :
Eldar
Theme: Harlequins.
I like the idea of doing a harlequin army from the Citadel Journal. I will take the units from the journal, and try to convert them into the new Eldar codex.
The look: It will be a colorful army. Everything will be a mix of the new Harlequins and the older models. The Venoms will be modeled out of a combination of a Vyper added to a DE Raider body. The jetbikes will be modeled with the harlequin jetbike canopys. The Dark Reapers will be Death Jesters converted hold Reaper Launchers.
Models needed: None
Pros: Tough army. If painted right, looks great.
Cons: I did Eldar last year, and I want to try something else. About a year ago this was going to be my Baltimore GT army. Very few models to paint, but they need to be painted to such detail it takes a long time.
Space Marines/DH/WH
Theme: High Lords of Terra
The look: Each unit represents a High Lord of Terra.
Models needed: ?
Basing: Urban Rubble
Pros:I have no idea how the parts will work as a whole.
Cons: I do not have a lot of the units that I will need. It will take a lot of modeling.
Space Wolves
Theme: Space Wolves are their own theme.
The look: Snow, land speeders as snow mobiles, bikes as snow mobiles.
Models needed: LR Crusader upgrade kit.
Basing: Snow
Pro: Space Wolves look great.
Cons:Slightly effective build is with Drop Pods which I do not want to buy. New codex coming out soon. Very few troops, and do to the nature of the army will see a lot of action.
Space Marines/Chaos Space Marines
Theme:Pre Heresy Thousand Sons.
The look: The red TS colors. Egyptian symbols etc. Trying to match the look of the Colors of War books with the Sabertooth artwork.
Models needed: Metal Land Speeders/None Need decals printed
Basing: Urban Rubble
Pros:Regular MEQ durability. Can be built either as a SM or CSM army. SM can be built with 4 librarians shooting 4 fury of the ancients. CSM can take Ahriman and TS Marines with additional sorcerers.
Cons: CSM suffer with the theme because they need Oblits to be effective. SM Leadership 8. CSM can take Ahriman
Demons
Theme: Pure Tzeentch Demons
The look: All metal models are hard to convert, so it will be basic, but the Horrors will be very colorful. Extra attention and conversions on the HQ models and Soulgrinders.
Models needed: 10-20 horrors
Basing: Lava
Pros: First turn shooting. Durability
Cons: Deep strike and splitting the army in 2. Unknown how the army will perform.
Witch Hunters
Theme: SoB + DH -=I=-
The look: All metal models are hard to convert, so it will be basic. Celestine will be given Pegasus wings and a Nightbringer base. The Rhinos will be given the Immolator upgrade kits. The vehicles will be lit up with LEDs. The display board will be a cathedral.
Models needed: 2-3 Exorcists
Basing: Urban Rubble
Pros: Good with Hordes and MEQs
Cons: Poor assault. Very dependant on Exorcists.
Imperial Guard+DH
Theme: Chaos Renegades.
The look: This will be an IG army using forge world renegades. The vehicles and everything else will be chaosified. The Basilisk will have a hellcannon’s barrel. The Inquisitor will be a Dark Magus, and his retinue will be chaotic. The assassin will be a combination of demonette + death cult assassin. The grey knights will have a lot of chaos bits added.
Models needed: 20 forge world renegades. LR Demolisher bits
Basing: Urban Rubble
Pros: Hard to say.
Cons: Godzilla Nids troublesome.
The Finalists
I put up a (non-binding) poll to ask the Dakka Dakka community what army I should play. http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/211387.page Two armies took a large lead over the field and that was Demon Codex and Witch Hunters. My favorite army was the IG traitor guards, but it did not resonate with the community.
So with the help of the Dakka Community, the choices came down to
Witch Hunters
Well, when I won the ‘Ard boyz regional for Southern California I won a free army. I selected Witch Hunters with my intention to play them for this years GT system. So this is just fulfillment of my plans.
The Witch Hunters only have a few disadvantages. One is that the army is an all metal army, and expensive. Since I won an army that roadblock has some what been removed (though I do need to buy some exorcists). The other problem is converting and all metal army. The second problem is that they do struggle against AV14, but against everything else they are an excellent army.
The advantages of playing Witch Hunters is that they have very few bad match ups. The fact that Exorcists can move 6” and still fire at full effect is an awesome ability. They have a lot of close in fire power to eliminate horde armies means that they are a good take-all comer’s army. They are not that good in assault, but they have a few options to try to minimize the impact of getting in assault. What I look for in an army is if it can go up against the power builds and come out ok. I think that the Witch Hunters have the tools necessary to allow me to win.
Demons
Since the Demon codex is so new, no one knows how it plays yet and it has a lot of rules that untried and untested.
There are a few build that have bubbled to the surface so far. The 2 Greater Demons with 3 Demon Princes, also the Nurgling horde. There is also the Tzeentch shooty armies and the Nurgle build with the tallyman.
I have a couple of thoughts about Demons though…when the Space Marine codex first came out, there were a lot of drop pod armies that did really well. Demons might be the same way, and people will start to figure them out because of experience playing against an all deep strike army. My guess is against the top players they are going to be a lot less effective. Also they have a lot of bad match ups (mystics anyone?).
It is my belief that they will end up being just like the Orc and Goblin army book for WFB. The reputation for the Orc army book is that it is a good army, but just too random. So, in a 5 game GT environment they will do well, but bad rolls will bite them in the rear in at least one game.
Demons should be the same way. Do you get to start the game with the half of the army that you want to start the game with? Do you have bad scatters rolls when you deep strike? Do you scatter too close and lose units, or right in front of your opponent and into rapid-fire range? Do you scatter too far away and become a non-factor? Do you roll bad for reserves and not get any units on turn #2, or do you have a lot of units staying in reserve until turns 3 and 4? Etc.
My army choice
Since I am in it to win it, I am going to be playing Witch Hunters.
Building a list for winning a GT army
Genesis of a list
So far I have been on my list for about a month or so, and it has seen many changes, and should still see some more by the time it takes the field. I want to play it at the Game Empire Pasadena RTT on July 12th, so that gives me an aggressive timeline of about a month.
The List Version 1.0:
HQ
- Inquisitor Lord w/Liber Heresius, Bolter
- 2 Sages
- 2 Familiars
- 2 Gun Servitors w/Heavy Bolters
- 1 Gun Servitors w/Plasma Cannon
- Inquisitor Lord w/Emperor’s Tarot, Psychic Hood, Psycannon
- 2 Mystics
- 2 Sages
- 2 Familiars
- 2 Gun Servitors w/Heavy Bolters
- 1 Gun Servitors w/Plasma Cannon
Elite
Troops
- 9 Sisters of Battle w/Melta Gun, Heavy Flamer
- Sister Superior
- Rhino w/ EA and Smoke
- 9 Sisters of Battle w/Melta Gun, Heavy Flamer
- Sister Superior
- Rhino w/ EA and Smoke
- 4 Grey Knights w/2 Psycannons
- 4 Grey Knights w/2 Psycannons
Heavy Support
- Exorcist
- Exorcist
- Exorcist
I like the idea of 2 Inquisitor Lord going into battle with there 2 retinues following them.
I will go into the reasons why I made the choices I did later. For example, why no faith? When I only have 2 SoBr squads, I would have to pay the points to make the Sister Superiors to Veteran Sister Superiors, then buy 2 books. I think that is around 60 points for 2 Faith Points and the Books. Then I can pay even more points to buy them some weapons. The cost to benefit was not worth it.
The option I am thinking about is to add a Cannoness with some cheap upgrades, and then paying for the 2 VSS. That way I will have 4 Faith Points which make it a bit more worth while. To pay for it though I would need to make an Inq. Lord into an Inq which I am reluctant to do.
List version 2.0 and Version 2.1
Well, I have fallen behind in my army progress so I have to cut corners.
My new list is:
The List: Inquisitor Lord w/Scourging, Bolter, 2 Sages, 2 Familiars, 2 Gun Servitors w/Heavy Bolters, 1 Gun Servitors w/Plasma Cannon
Note: Not much change. I had to take off the Liber Heresius and traded it in for Scourging.
Inquisitor Lord w/Emperor’s Tarot, Psychic Hood, Null Rod, Psycannon, 2 Mystics, 2 Sages, 3 Familiars, 2 Gun Servitors w/Heavy Bolters, 1 Gun Servitors w/Plasma Cannon
Note: I added the Null Rod. This unit can put out some firepower, and I want it to ignore psychic powers. So those nasty little Harliquins or any Fortuned unit will get a nasty surprise. You know those Wraithguard units or Avatars that are so tough? Now, not so much.
9 Sisters of Battle w/Melta Gun, Heavy Flamer, Veteran Sister Superior, Book of St. Lucious, Rhino w/ EA and Smoke
9 Sisters of Battle w/Melta Gun, Heavy Flamer, Veteran Sister Superior w/Book of St. Lucious and Power Sword, Rhino w/ EA and Smoke
I upgraded these to Veteran Sister Superiors. I wanted to save points, but the book of St. Lucious is a must have for 5th edition. It also give me 2 faith points, and a possibility for 2 more through martyrdom.
Exorcist w/ Extra Armor
Exorcist w/ Extra Armor
Exorcist w/ Extra Armor
Nothing new here other than Extra Armor. That way I can withdraw behind some LOS blocking terrain if they get stunned.
New Additions:
I had to change my list for a couple of reasons. The first is that I have fallen behind with my painting and modeling, so I have to cut corners. I have some storm troopers and Chimeras painted up to a high standard from Dakka Detachment #1’s team tournament from 2 years ago. The other reason is that it makes it more of a truer Witch Hunters list, and the last reason why is that it makes my list a little better.
Possible add on #1
Elite Inquisitor w/Psycannon
This is just an add-on unit to help one of the Ing. Lord’s squads. He is only 50 points, and can help lay down some additional fire.
Eversor Assassin
I need some counter assault, and I might put all of my eggs in a small and fragile basket. The Eversor can also infiltrate and come in from the sides for an 18” charge range. Plus they have melta bombs for those pesky vehicles that I can’t take out.
5 Storm troopers w/2 plasma guns Chimera w/Multi Laser, Heavy Bolter
5 Storm troopers w/2 melta guns Chimera w/Multi Laser, Heavy Bolter
To make up for losing the 4 psycannons I added one psycannon Inq and the fire from the Chimeras. I also added the firepower of the storm troopers which is pretty good. The Cons of adding these units are: increased the Kill points, storm troopers are not as durable as grey knights, worse assault capability. The Pros are: Vehicles to help screen Exorcists, Increased firepower, faster moving troops for objectives, more vehicles for target saturation.
Possible add in #2
5 Storm troopers w/2 plasma guns Chimera w/Multi Laser, Heavy Bolter
5 Storm troopers w/2 plasma guns Chimera w/Multi Laser, Heavy Bolter
5 Storm troopers w/2 melta guns Chimera w/Multi Laser, Heavy Bolter
Dropping the Eversor, and the Inq w/Psycannon and I am adding and additional Chimera and storm troopers.
Dropped from the first list:
Calldus Assassin
I love Word in our Ear, and the ability to show up anywhere on the board, but with so much high leadership out there, the template attack has lost a lot of it power. Add to it the 5th edition assault rules where she gets counter-charged when she charges, and the new FAQed jump back rule where she gets charged every turn, she becomes more of a liability for those points.
4 Grey Knights w/2 Psycannons Grey Knight Justicar
4 Grey Knights w/2 Psycannons Grey Knight Justicar
I dropped these mostly for the time it would take them to paint and convert, so some corners need to be cut. Also there is some ambiguity as to how they work with the Demon Codex, like sustained assault, that I do not have to worry about yet.
The List Version 3.0
8/26 Update
Like I was saying, a list is never a solid thing that stays the same. It changes and takes shape over many games and weeks so that it then becomes a focused tool.
Inquisitor Lord w/Scourging, Bolter, 2 Sages, 2 Familiars, 2 Gun Servitors w/Heavy Bolters, 1 Gun Servitors w/Plasma Cannon
Inquisitor Lord w/Emperor’s Tarot, Psychic Hood, Null Rod, Psycannon, 2 Mystics, 2 Sages, 3 Familiars, 2 Gun Servitors w/Heavy Bolters, 1 Gun Servitors w/Plasma Cannon
Calldus Assassin
Elite Inquisitor w/Psycannon
9 Sisters of Battle w/Melta Gun, Heavy Flamer, Veteran Sister Superior, Book of St. Lucious, Rhino w/ EA and Smoke
9 Sisters of Battle w/Melta Gun, Heavy Flamer, Veteran Sister Superior w/Book of St. Lucious and Rhino w/ EA and Smoke
5 Storm troopers w/2 plasma guns Chimera w/Multi Laser, Heavy Bolter
5 Storm troopers w/2 melta guns Chimera w/Multi Laser, Heavy Bolter
Exorcist
Exorcist
Exorcist
I really like the Calidus. The word in your ear, the ability to strike any where, and the destruction of low leadership units means that I missed her, so she goes back in. Also she will add a slight (very slight) counter assault in an emergency.
A added the Elite Inquisitor w/Psycannon in to make up for some of the firepower lost by losing one of the Chimeras. I can add him to either Inq Lord (especially the DH Inq) for added firepower, or put him in a sister’s squad so that he can shoot with them protecting him.
But both of these might change depending on how much time I have to paint. The list with 3 chimeras has a lot of armor, and the more armor you add, the harder it is to knock out. The list also drops down from 5 scoring units to 4. It also loses the ranged firepower of 2 plasma guns, and a chimera’s shooing and only gains a Psycannon.
My main concern though after dropping the Grey Knights is the loss of any kinds of assault, and that is my major concern. I have never played an army with no assault, and it is worrying me.
The first real test of this army will be the Gamex RTT on Labor day where I will see if I can handle no real assault elements.
Modeling and Painting
Aright, it is time to start modeling. So with about a month, I have to work on:
- 2 Inquisitors
- 16 Inq retinue
- 1 Assassin
- 20 SoB (I want to paint up about 44 so they will look the same)
- 10 Grey Knights
- 4 Rhinos
- 3 Exorcists
And here is everything spread out:
Each unit is on a different white piece of paper. The Rhinos are in the back right, and right in front of them are the Grey Knights in their baths of Pine Sol and Simple Green. The SoB are to the left of the rhinos in a box top.
=== Update 8/26/2008 ===
Well here I am with less than 2 weeks to go. I have almost nothing done, and it is looking bad.
By the end of this week I hope to have the Sisters of Battle done. I also want to have the base coats on everything else by Sunday. Since I was unable to take the army for a try out in a competitive 5th edition environment, the really first trial of my army will be at the Gamex convention on Labor Day. Then I will spend the rest of the week finishing up the Inquisitors and there retinues.
To cut some corners there was no was that I could make a display board for myself, so I had to out-source the creation of it for me.
Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Lord
I love the model they have for the female Ordo Hereticus Inquisitors. Since it is metal, I do not see too much converting, of it.
But there is one thing I hate about it…the hair! So that has to go. I have several choices for changing it though.
- Head swap
- Green Stuff new hair
- Cowl or hood
There are very few good GW female heads, and most of the good ones are elves, so if I do go with the head swap, I might need to file down some pointy ears. I might check out some Reaper heads to see if they have any that I like, but head swap might be the last choice. The second option is green stuff, but my green stuff work is weak. It will only cost me a little time to try to see if I can make some hair that I am happy with. There are some tutorials around about making GS hair, so I will need to check those out. And the last choice is to do what any woman does on a bad hair day, and cover it up! Since my GS work is weak, I might use the hood of Solomon Lok to cover her head.
Well, here I am after trying to remove the hair, I did not like the outcome, so it was “Off with her head”. I took the bone saw to the top of her shoulders to remove her collar and what remained of her head. I carefully drilled out the resin on Solomon Lok’s cassock so I fit it with a new head. I had a spare St. Celestine lying around that I got when I bought a load of Night Lords off of E-bay. It was just the body and head with a green stuff hood on her. I carefully removed the greenstuff, and trimmed the hair so it will fit into the cassock, and I am going to set it on top the shoulders.
Update 8/8/2008
Progress so far. I could not put a metal head inside of the cowl, so I used the only female head I had available...that of the SoB gunner from the immoliator sprue. I need to cut down the top a bit more so the cowl fits better on her shoulders. I also need to clean up the green stuff on her left arm.
Retinue
I like the idea of having an all female retinue for the Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor Lord, and to differentiate it with the Ordo Malleus Inq. So for the Gun Servitors I am thinking about converting the Churgeon and the female acolyte to carry Heavy Bolters. To witch-hunter them up I want to use a heavy bolter from a repressor and an immolator. For the plasma gunner I will use the Escher from necomundia. For the sages I might have to use Sisters of Sigmar figures from Mordhiem. The last piece will be for the familiars I will use the cherubs.
Update 8/8/2008
Here are the sages. I liked how they came out.
Gun Sevitors. I said how I would make them above under retinue.
Familiars. I am going with the stock models. If I need one more I might pick up the one that is dragging the bolter.
Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Lord
My Inq Lord will be several pieces all stuck together. I will use Inq. Cortez, a GK Psycannon, Solomon Lok bits, and a few others.
After going through my bits box, I found an old Inquisitor that I was working on. I liked the Inq they did in the Demonhunters codex that was a robed Dark Angels, with a Space Wolf’s head. So I thought if I am going to use Lok’s lower half for the Inq Lord, I need to have a robed top. I hacked my way through the figure and this is the result:
They do not fit together as well as I like. It looks like I might have to whip out the greenstuff and to grind the top down a little bit to make them fit. I might also just order a plastic Dark Angel to work with. I do not know if the brittle resin on the bottom can handle the all metal top.
Update 8/8/2008
I used Cortez for the most part, a SW head and half of the GK terminator psycannon. I ground down his hammer and put the top of an IG mystic on the handle for a null rod. I also ground down a SM shoulder pad for the psychic hood. Almost done, he just needs some cleaning before painting.
Retinue
Since most of the army is going to be metal models, to show my conversions and to get creative I will have to do it with the retinue. For the familiars I will use Servo Skulls, for Sages I will use Empire Wizards, Mystics will be forthcoming.
Update 8/8/2008
Here are the warriors. I am using some old servitors that I had for the heavy bolters, but the plasma cannon servitor is not looking very good. I think I will re-position the huge claw so that the plasma cannon rests on it.
Here are the mystics. They are pretty much done. Just need some cleaning up.
The sages are stock. Due to 5th edition basing I can't do anything really creative with them. I do not like the model of the painted one, so I might have to make something else. I have an idea of taking the radar array in the rhino sprue and mounting it on a tri-pod with a cable going into an auspex.
The familiars are forge world servo-skulls.
Assassin Canceled!
For the Calldus Assassin I will use a Death Cult assassin body weapons form a Calldus assassin, with legs from a DE Scourge.
Update 8/8/2008
Due to 5th edition, I have decided to drop the assassin. With counter assault, and the nerfing of jump-back, as well as me being behind schedule, she will be shelved.
Sisters of Battle Squads
Since these are all metal I will not be able to change much. I might convert the Sister Superiors from Seraphim SS, but they have the problem that all of their knees are stuck together, so it will be hard to get them apart to model them walking.
I need to paint up some test models but the color scheme will be purple armor, with ivory cloth, and gold trim.
6/24/2008 I just received my 4 SoB with Melta Guns and 4 Sister Superiors in the mail. I need to add some books to them for Books of St. Lucious, but they are going to be pretty much stock. I do not like the Sisters with helms, so when I tossed out all of the Stormbolters, Flamers and the box set’s Sister Superior, I was left with very few helmed heads, just the way I wanted it! Right now I am in the middle of filing down all of the flash and mold lines, and it is rather slow going.
7/5/2008 I finished cleaning the models and drilling out all of their barrels. They are now ready for basing.
SoB Rhinos
These are easy…Rhino+Immolator sprue=SoB Rhino
I finally found my last rhino that was packed away, and I am ready for a day of rhino building along with the Exorcists.
Here is a modeling note for anyone who ever builds a rhino. Do not bother with the interior, and glue everything shut. I use to paint all the interiors for my Rhinos but then I stopped and glued all of the doors shut. Why?
Here is a picture of my Word Bearers Rhino:
It took me a few hours to do this, as well as many bits and decals, and do you know what? No one can ever see it. The space is dark and hard to see, and no one ever notices it. So people, do yourself a favor and unless you are going for a golden demon, just ignore the interiors of your vehicles.
7/5/2008: I finally got around to building my rhinos. It took a little while longer than I thought it would. With the immoliator tops and bits they look nice in the Witchhunters codex, so I hope with my color scheme they will look ok.
With the clear Cupola "glass", the GW pictures just have it with clear plastic. I think this is a mistake because they have a pattern to them like a rose window in gothic churches, and it would be a shame not to take advantage of this. So what I am going to do is mix inks with Future Floor Finish to make it seem like the windows are stainded glass.
Grey Knights Canceled!
My Grey Knights are painted up poorly from other campaigns, so they need to be rejuvenated to GT standards. That means that they are going for a swim in simple green and pine sole. These figures are metal too, and hard to convert, but I have some ideas for them. I will put top knots on them, and I might add capes. For the Justicars I might add lion heads to make them stand out.
After the Grey Knights took a swim in the Simple Green, they came out very well. The paint was easy to take off, and the plastic was nice and firm. The Pine Sol on the other hand did not take the paint off as well as the Simple Green, and the plastic was semi-melted, soft and pliable. In the future I will use Simple Green not only because it took off the paint better, did not melt the plastics, but the scent, and the lack of toxicity is what made it the choice for me.
Update 8/8/2008
Do to me being way behind schedule I need to cut some corners. I found a good source of plastic lion bits in the High Elf chariot too. I am certain that this unit would have looked nice, but the grey knights have to go. They will have to wait for a future GK project.
Storm Troopers and Chimera
Sturmtruppen Plasma Squad #1
Sturmtruppen Plasma Squad #2
Sturmtruppen Melta Squad #1
Sturmtruppen possible flamers options
Chimeras. I need to add some Inq bits/decals
Exorcists
I went to the battle bunker in LA and they were sold out of the Forge World Exorcists, so I will go with the GW ones. They do have a distinctive looks to them that is unmistakable for SoB.
6/24/2008 I just received my 3 Exorcists in the mail. They are Rhinos+Immolator sprue+a big package of metal bits. I think Sunday will be vehicle day.
Gamex RTT (Coming 9/1/2008)
Well, I made the trek to Los Angeles to play in the Strategicon RTT. I drove a long way to play in it, and it took a large amount of my precious painting time to play in it.
It was a bit of a disappointment for me.
Round #1 I played against a Catachan army. That is right, an army that hasn’t existed in a long time, and is definitely not 5th edition compatible. My opponent infiltrated a few units, and had the rest come on from the sides. Because of time, we only got to turn #5 and I ended up losing. If I had another turn or 2, I would have finished him off. I had lost hardly any units, and he was getting the crap beat out of him.
Round #2. I played Tau. I ended up losing another game because we only got to turn #5 as well.
Round #3 I played against a World Eaters army that I blew off of the table. That one I finished early.
Because I have been working on Saturdays, this was games #2-4 of 5th edition for me. I learned a little bit, not as much practice or as much of learning experience that I wanted. My 2 losses were because of time though, and I would have won if we got to turns #6 and #7.
Follow-up: The Las Vegas GT
This article is continued in Blackmoor goes to the Las Vegas GT Part II (The GT)