254 Mortars Ahoy!

Hey, All!

Just wanted to share that - at last - I got a tad more modelling done: three more mortar teams have joined the company...which is great, because mortars have been absolute game-winners for my last two games!

Click here to read Suneokun's excellent and passionate article on the wonders of massed mortar fire. I stole the picture above from that post too - my camera's broken at the mo.

- Drax.

253 Blog Wars!

Holy Cow, UK Readers - I just spotted this on Corbania Prime...it's Blog Wars!

This is new from 'From the Fang' - new to me but boy am I excited by the prospect! Time to start earning me some Spouse Points, eh? Check it out here...

- Drax.

252 Improvements to Codex: Imperial Guard

You all know I love the Guard, and this is an impromptu explosion of my cumulative thoughts over the last couple of years - this is simply a compilation of my considered ideas on how and why I would improve Codex: IG...
NB: For the quick version, just look for the contentious bits in red:Firstly, HQ units:

1. I'm generally fine with all of them, although I think Jarran Kell is a tad expensive. Other things I'd do include the following:
2. The Commissar Lord (and all commissars for that matter) would have a power weapon as standard...they are only Str 3, after all!
3. The Primaris Psyker would have a better second power too - nightshroud's rubbish.
4. I'd also give the advisors freedom to choose whether to force re-rolls or alter the dice rolls.

Elites:

1. Ogryns would be only 30pts each, just because it'd be nice to see more of them (something Mr. Cruddace failed to fix).
2. Ratlings are fine - I love that they have laspistols!
3. Stormtroopers would be brought down to only 14pts per model. There's no way they should cost more than a space marine, and again, it'd be nice to see more of them.
4. I'd make Veterans into an Elites choice again. It would solve so much spam (but see my entry on chimeras, below).

Troops:

1. Commissars as above.
2. I'd reduce Chenkov's cost - and that of his special rule - as I think it's a fun idea that's simply never used.
3. Sergeants would have the option of carrying a lasgun: not an unreasonable step, methinks.
4. Heavy Weapons Squads and Special Weapons Squads would have access to chimeras. Why on Terra would you not give a transport to the guys with the heavy guns and ammo?! (again, see my points on chimeras though...)
5. Special Weapons Squads would have access to krak grenades. It's daft that SWSs can't take them, but the HWSs can, even though they (a) really oughtn't to be assaulting vehicles and (b) have quite enough to carry as it is!
6. Conscripts are great, but I miss the option of a stand-alone conscript platoon - with a more practical Chenkov, this could be fun!
7. Again, if Veterans were 'Elites' again, (as the name rather implies anyway), it'd force players away from using them to claim objectives and towards more diverse lists. The bitching would be awful though!
8. Penal Legion rock: such a great fun unit design.

Chimeras:

1. Keep the same unit price, but...
2. only one Heavy Weapons Team could fire out of the hatch (see point 4, above)
3. I'd allow three normal/special weapons to fire out, (five's too many) but after passengers had fired from the hatch, the vehicle would count as 'vulnerable to blasts/templates' until the start of its next movement. Just like the old codex - some sort of balance is needed.
4. Of course, having Veterans as 'Elites' would help...
5. They should have costing options for the Forgeworld turret weapons upgrades - autocannon (+10pts) and T-L heavy bolter (+10pts).

Fast Attack:

1. Rough Riders should have both a laspistol and a close combat weapon: they should be able to fight well without their blasted lances.
2. Bane Wolves should be 140pts per model
3. All the Hellhound variants should have smoke launchers as standard, for no extra points: it's daft that they don't.
4. Valkyries and Vendettas should have a side armour of 10. 11 at best, but they've no right to be as heavily armoured as they are on the side.
5. Vendettas should be 160pts. They are way too cheap for three T-L lascannon in addition to everything else they can do. I'd be tempted to drop their transport capacity, too.

Heavy Support:

1. ALL Leman Russ Variants should be armour 14/13/11. It's insane to think that someone can open one up in a frontal assault as easily as a chimera or an artillery piece.
2. Lose the poxy Eradicators, and bring on the awesome Annihilator variant. The fluff and the models already exist, and - let's face it - if you can put SIX lascannon on a Vendetta with 12 folks inside(!) you can certainly squeeze three into a tank. Why on Earth did Cruddace omit it from the codex?
3. Camo netting would be half the cost (15pts) for artillery pieces ('Ordnance Battery' vehicles)
4. Lose the Deathstrike. Simply should not be in a normal codex.
5. I'd bring back Heavy Weapons Platoons. Sure, Heavy Weapons Squads are less robust now, but organisationally, it was a fun way to include them in a support platoon, rather than tagging them onto otherwise more manoeuvrable infantry platoons.

And finally,
Voxes and Orders:

1. Orders should work exactly as they currently do, but voxes should provide an unlimited range for officers to order their troops. Note that LOS to target (for example) would still be required as appropriate. For a lengthy rant about voxes, please see this post.

Thanks for your time. I'd love to read any comments you may have, and I've numbered the points to help you shoot me down!

Yours aye,

- Drax.

251 Old Stuff Day

What a marevllous idea: all kudos to Warhammer 39,999!
I decided to go for a couple of my very first posts, as they predate most of my readership...but looking back on them, they really are dreadfully dull! [Skip to number four if you want stuff that's actually quite good]:

1) My first post with a photo: http://admiraldrax.blogspot.com/2008/05/003-introducing-1-platoon.html

2) And I enjoyed the pics in this one: http://admiraldrax.blogspot.com/2008/05/007-salamander-and-hellhounds.html

3) And that most unusual thing: a Draxian painting tutorial! http://admiraldrax.blogspot.com/2008/09/040-painting-dpm-camouflage.html

Here are the three modelling projects I'm most proud of though, I think:

4) Me...in model form: http://admiraldrax.blogspot.com/2008/12/074-me-after-fashion.html (please note - he's shown based and finished at the foot of this post here.)

5) The 24th's objective marker (and banner, thanks to Suneokun's awesomeness): http://admiraldrax.blogspot.com/2010/01/181-sweet-objective-marker.html

6) My wheeled salamander conversion: most fun to build imaginable: http://admiraldrax.blogspot.com/2010/11/235-converted-ifvsalamander-finished.html

Cheers to all my readers, old and new, and especially to W39,999!

- Drax.