Before I begin putting out the second half of my Nova Open games, I wanted to post about a new list idea that I've been working on (partially inspired by Darkwynn's 2000 point army). I had been thinking about how to manipulate the Kill Point portion of Nova Open, as well as having a good, solid way to perform in the other two mission goals (objectives and table quarters). What I came up with was a Land Raider list. It makes me smile a little bit in its hilarity, but I certainly wouldn't like facing it. That's for sure. lol! Got to love these rock armies. ;)
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Quite an ambiguous title isn't it? Rightfully so. It is similar to players asking for advice on how to build a Black Templars army (or any army for that matter) that is effective, but fun to play. More times than not, this ends up being a complete contradiction. Everyone decides on a codex for one or more reasons, so when they are looking for advice, they've already made up their mind somewhat on the unit choices. One doesn't pick up a Tau army because they want to play close combat. Nor do you play Tyranids if a gunline is what you're looking for. Space Marines, of all varieties, can do both shooting and close combat reasonably well in general.
How is a person to know what fulfills your definition of "fun"? My definition is likely different from yours. For me, I gain my enjoyment from playing hard-fought battles against opponents with highly-tuned tournament lists. Thus, I build my armies to be comparable strength. Other players simply enjoy the background itself, as its all re-enacting the great battles of the Warhammer 40k universe. These players enjoy the game for the fluff, rather than the "battle". Adversely, you could be playing simply for the social aspect of the game. The point is, there are infinitely numerous ways to gain enjoyment from the game. We cannot tell you what kind of list you will bore using. Nor can we predict the style that you'll have the most fun with. So when you ask for advice, specify exactly what you're looking for. Tell us your preferences. Do you want shooting or close combat-oriented units? Are you looking more for the look and feel of the army, where its effectiveness on the board is irrelevant? We, as players, cannot help you properly without this information. So before you ask, do some introspection and discover these vital pieces of information. We want to help you; so help us help you! Just remember: if you're asking for list advice, you are doing so because you want to build an effective army. Understand this beforehand and prepare yourself for the coming advice accordingly. If you didn't care about how good your list was, you could simply purchase what you wanted based on looks and feel, as their performance in the army doesn't matter. This is perfectly okay, but you don't need our advice to do this. Just go out and buy whatever you like. You know what that means. Time to catch up on all the stuff I've been neglecting since this long work week started. :)
Anyway, emails and a blog post tomorrow me-thinks. The only thing I really have to do is a quick administration meeting in the morning and watching the KC Chiefs game in the afternoon. That should free up most of my day for those waiting on email responses. Now I know why the "big" bloggers don't answer that many emails anymore. lol! Hoping to do some painting too, as I still need to do some repair painting on my army. I also want to start on a bunch of my CC initiates so I'll be prepared should I take my list (plus any changes needed) to Nova Open next summer. Maybe a little painting of my Malifaux stuff as well. Which, by the way, is an amazing game if you didn't know already. ;) To the person who attacked my email address less than 24 hours ago, this is your warning to cease tampering with my account immediately. It was not wise attacking the account of a cop who has the resources available to find out exactly who did it. I know who you are. Do it again and you'll be hearing from my lawyer.
That is all. Hello again! Next up, we have Game Four of the Nova Open 2011. By now, I'm getting extremely frustrated at my lack of wins. As close as my first two games were, they were still losses. And I had just gotten creamed in my last game. For the first time in over a year of playing the list, I was beginning to question its ability on the board. I had really wanted to come out strong and put up a good record. Not only for me, but for my fellow Black Templars players. Our army is always discounted as weak or underpowered, and never considered a contender. My wish was to change that view, but it simply wasn't going to happen now that I had 3 losses already.
However, I wasn't about to give up. I knew I still have 5 games to go and I wasn't about to go 0-8 for the tournament. That would give me a very bad reputation, one that I didn't want. It would be especially detrimental to those who come looking for advice on Implausible Nature, as no one wants to listen to someone who can't win a game. I had the opportunity to sit down and think about how I wanted to run my army and what would have helped me win in previous games. After doing so, I decided to hell with it and do what I needed to be done to give me the best chance at victory, even if it meant breaking out of my list's game plan. My next match up came against a gentleman named Kevin Genson, who was playing Chaos Space Marines. He was wearing one of the black shirts marking out Nova Open staff and I was told he was one of the 40k Invitational judges, as well as one of the judges for the painting competition. He noted that while he wasn't out late the previous night, he had already been through several days of gaming and was running low on energy reserves. Sandwyrm and Kevin were playing to the board to my left in Game Three, so I had an opportunity to at least see a little bit of his army beforehand. I found out later that he was essentially a ringer army, as MVB needed even numbers to start the tournament off right. Kevin mentioned that he had a couple of armies, but the only one that could field anywhere close to a decent list was his Chaos army. Even then, he admitted that they weren't all that great. Because of this, he opted for more of a fluffy list. Still, even fluffy lists have the potential to win games, so I wasn't going to drop my guard. I needed a win and this could be what the doctor ordered. Game Four -- Kevin Genson HQ: * Fabius Bile. [160] ELITES: * Chosen: 5 Chosen w/ 4 Plasmaguns and 5 Bolt Pistols & Close Combat Weapons. Mounted in a Rhino w/ Smoke Launchers, Extra Armor, and Searchlights. [265] TROOPS: * Chaos Space Marines: 9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 2 Meltaguns, 7 Bolters, Icon of Nurgle, and Mark of Nurgle; 1 Aspiring Champion w/ Powerfist and Bolt Pistol. [290] * Chaos Space Marines: 9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 2 Plasmaguns, 7 Bolters, Icon of Nurgle, and Mark of Nurgle; 1 Aspiring Champion w/ Powerfist and Bolt Pistol. Mounted in a Rhino w/ Smoke Launchers, Extra Armor, and Searchlights. [350] * Chaos Space Marines: 9 Chaos Space Marines w/ 2 Flamers, 7 Bolters, Icon of Nurgle, and Mark of Nurgle; 1 Aspiring Champion w/ Powerfist and Bolt Pistol. Mounted in a Rhino w/ Smoke Launchers, Extra Armor, and Searchlights. [330] HEAVY SUPPORT: * Vindicator w/ Dozer Blade, Smoke Launchers, and Searchlights. [155] * Obliterators (3). [225] * Obliterators (3). [225] Total: [2000] Mission Goals: P) Objectives S) Table Quarters T) Kill Points Deployment was Spearhead. Hello everyone! This is just a quick update to show you some of the little tweaks I've been making to my Defensive Drop Pod list. More so prompted by my experiences at Nova Open 2011 (Game Four battle report will be up within a day), I've had to take a serious look at all my lists and decide whether they will be successful on Nova Open boards. Because there is a pretty good push for Drop Pod lists again, as well as numerous articles being written (such as Algesan's), I started exploring mine.
Its been some time since I did an analysis like this one regarding BT archetypes, but I think its time. I had hoped to do this Post-Battle Reports, but I've got the itch and it needs to be scratched. The Black Templar armies are always changing to keep up with the needs of its players and their "meta". But even more important, the Grand Tournament scene is also changing, so our lists need to adapt to keep pace. If we don't, we'll always be a mediocre army. That isn't acceptable to me.
Please note, this article is not meant to cover everything 100%. There might be things that I forget to mention and will either edit them in or post a Part Two. So, with that, let's begin! Well, I've been dealing with wedding preparations for two different people the past week or so (no, not mine unfortunately) which has eaten all of my free time the past couple of days. All I've been able to do is put out a couple comments here and there on other blogs. That also means I have a semi-larger queue of emails to respond to, which I'll get to tonight, as well as producing an article on list design philosophies for the Black Templars. It's a little earlier than I had wanted to do (after Nova Open battle reps), but those take a really long time to write up because I have to consult notes, pictures, army lists, etc.
Moral of the story, lists have to change a bit and I like to start the discussion now about it while I'm continuing to put out the battle reports. Then the discussion can evolve if needed. Expect these sometime late this evening. :D Some time has gone by and I've had more time to think about where I want my Dark Eldar 2k list to go. I started the process in this article, but its time to refine the list. For all intents and purposes, we're going to assume I'm bringing the Dark Eldar to Nova Open 2012. In all likelihood, however, it'll be the Black Templars. Still, I want to get an army up and running, and the Nova Open is the best tournament around which to prepare a decent list (e.g. terrain, spread of different armies, Nova FAQ, etc). I'd much rather have a list nailed down before I start buying everything under the sun and waste money.
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Laeroth's Blog
This blog is devoted to the Black Templars chapter and the tactics, list building, and general musing associated with them. Readers will see occasional posts from Marshal Laeroth -- "Bob". Archives
July 2023
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