6th Ed - Physic Powers

Recently I listed a few things that the success of 6th ed rested on with me. One of them was Physic powers. We now know what they are (my post with the on BoLS lounge here)

I want to talk about the 2 I will have access to - Divination and Telepathy (none for DE or Tau, and likely allies at this point on top are Orks...also none)

At this point these seem the natural evolution of Eldar powers. Not so much direct at the enemy, but acting as a force multiplier to make your units better than their whole.

Divination;
1) Primary target unit rerolls failed hits - Guide as it is in the Eldar codex. Great power, might be the "signiture spell" of this discipline guarenteeing you can always have it.
2) Psyker and unit gain counter attack and get full BS for overwatch - Full overwatch BS is best here. Even just with pistols and the couter attack (assuming no major changes) can allow you to bounce back against an Assault 
3) Target unit gain 4++ - Great for tough units that attract lots of firepower (wraithguard anyone?)
4) Target unit must reroll passed armor saves - With the loss of AP2 CCW this could be great combined with weight of fire to kill a unit - Particular terminators
5) Psyker and unit ignore cover - I assume this means for the purposes of shooting. Could be good against fast units, anything buried in cover. So if your enemy brings an Aegis Line, consider it
6) Psyker rerolls failed failed hits, wounds and armor saves - Fortune+++. Rerolling saves and all hits and wounds? Seeing as most pyskers in the eldar dex wound on 2's that not so good. But we don't get many attacks, so can make sure more hit. Cast this on yourself then call a challenge...should be able to put up a fighting chance...assuming hes not in Termy armour 
7) Psyker roll 3 dicechoose the result you want when rolling for reserves, outflank and mysterious terrain - Almost always guarentee you get all your reserves when you want them, on the edge you want AND don't get stung too much by terrain. Does this mean when the pysker enters terrain or any of your units?

Telepathy
1) 3d6 - target leadership wounds to target unit - don't really understand this. assume it means a set number of shots, using the targets Ld to wound?
2) Target unit has to make leadership roll or do nothing - Just sounds like a pinning test
3) Target freindly stops falling back and gets fearless - Helps guardians without an Avatar
4 ) Hostile model makes an attack as if it owned by psyker - I assume this means shooting attacks. Use that melta gun to toast their vehicles....depending on range
5) Target hostile losses fearless and treats all units as fear causing -Take that demons. And forcing Ork hordes to run!
6) Invisibility gains shrouding and stealth, hostiles charged by this unit lose counter attack and fight at WS 1 - Get your assault units there safe (+2 cover save) and make them hit even harder 
7) Enemy unit roll on table 1-2 unit pinned, 3-4 cannot run, shoot or stirke blows 5-6 attack own unit - Getting GK to attack their own units? Can probably kill half a unit a time with this...

Want a unit really dead? Take 2 Farseers. One with Divination, one with codex powers. How long will a unit thats been doomed, forced to re-roll succesful save and being shot at by a unit thats guided going to last? Rerolling hits, wounds and succesful armour saves  *evil grin*

Full BS for overwatch and Counter attack on a unit of Wraithguard, with Invisibility cast on them. 2+ cover in area terrain or ruins, with full BS on their AP2 guns and counterattack.....

Thoughts on Eldar List coming into 6th...

This is the list i posted a little while ago. Its been good and fun. But with some of the 6th ed rumours....i'm thinking of some changes.

HQBel-Annoth - Named Farseer in IA11 (gives me 4 Heavy Slots!)
Wraithseer with Star Cannon

Troops
8 Dire Avengers in Wave Serpent, Twin Linked Lances
6 Dire Avengers in Wave Serpent, Twin Linked Lances
5 Dire Avengers (this might change...guardian squad, or rangers maybe)

Elites
3 Wraithguard

Fast Attack
1 Hornet, 2 Scatter lasers
1 Hornet, 2 Scatter lasers
1 Hornet, 2 Scatter lasers

Heavy Support
1 Warp Hunter, Holofields
1 Warp Hunter, Holofields
1 Wraithlord, Lance
1 Wraithlord, Lance and Wraithsword

Now anything i talk about below are hypotheticals and i'd need to check the points and stuff later (after the rules are known in full as well)

Drop 1 Warp Hunter and lose the Holofields on the other (unless the FAQ makes them useful)
Add Another Wraithlord :D
Lose the Small Avengers squad, and one of the Wave Serpents
Replace with Pathfinders
Sqn up 2 of the hornets, free up a fast slot
Add in a Night Spinner into that fast slot

Reasonings - Vehicles are dead. Not entirely, but Av12 is not going to be very good any more, and I think T8 MC's will be, now they also get impact hits (only one....but still free attack!). Chances are new Wraith will feature lance and scatter laser. Also....an army with 4 Wraithlords? Mean!

Pathfinders can still find 2+ cover in ruins, and the addition of 6's being nominatable wounds on top of Pathfinders ability to make them AP1....with the decrease in cover, this could be great for picking out missile launchers and melta guns.

The Nightspinner keeps the anti horde blasts I lose from dropping a Warp Hunter. It also slows down units with its difficult terrain and dangerous tests.

Massed scatter lasers might be able to handle most fliers, but massed guard fliers will hurt.

Wraithlords and 6th ed thoughts

Finished! One more Wraithlord in the bag....and plans underfoot for the next one...

So....6th ed. Its out the bag now. Rumours are heading in thick and fast and a lot are confirmed by WD. I'm lucky neough to have managed a preorder for a Gamers Edition, which have now sold out in the UK!

6th's success will come down to 2 things for me, neither of which we know yet;

- How exactly allies work? Can you for instance take 4 Hvy Slots in an army with allies
- What are the physic powers on the cards? And how does selecting them work?

A lot of other things have worried me;

- Grenades throwing (bad news for MC?)
- Being able to choose to run away from a MC combat you can't wound (better be a drawback/option to catch you)
- Hull Points make vehicles really weak (2-3 glancing hits to kill?)
- Challenges - How exactly?
- Most Power Weapons becoming AP3 makes Terminators VERY VERY hard
- 5+ FNP hurts Dark Eldar very hard

Hull Points is a big one. Makes 35 points for holofields stupid if you can only take 2-3 hits anyway. All Eldar vehicles are VERY overpriced now. Reconsidering my list

Things that encourage me;

-Fliers. Eldar with a permanant 4+ save are going to be win
-  Skimmers. 12", fire everything, and get a 5+ save
- Perils of the Warp - 1 auto wound, no saves. Makes Eldar runes WINNING

But will just have to wait and see on Saturday. Sunday for me due to family matters. Joy

See you on the other side

Obligatory 5th Ed Lookback

It’s kinda compulsory right now by the looks of it. 6^th edition is upon us, and 5^th edition is being looked back with that hindsight eye. With a lot of rumours around 6^th ed, it sounds more and more like I won’t want to play 40k in this edition. So let’s look back at the edition that to me, worked just fine

I started in the dying days of 4^th. Apoc had just come out, so I think that was about 9 months before 5^th. So 5^th is my first real edition.

 Under the reign of 5^th I’ve grown my armies from 1 to 3 (adding Tau and Dark Eldar to my listings) and have grown a lot as a player and a painter. I’ve started going to local competitions, not to have any hope of winning, but to play new people, with new scenery. I've come high in comps and come low. I've played against every army out there (except Templars). I'm sure my experiences aren't the same as everyone else ( for example in my encounters most Space Wolf players have no sense of humour, ALL necron players i've played cheat like hell) but i've had a good run

 5^th ed is (of my experience) the 2^nd best of all rule sets. The first was the “leak” 6^th ed rules, which I would have played a lot of, just cos they worked so well.

I’m not gonna say anything else. Everything else worth saying has already been said by people with more readers and more eloquent form than me.

 All that remains for me to say is Goodbye 5^th ed. You were brilliant. And who knows, in a few months’ time we might meet again if 6^th ends up the unplayable bullsh** it seems to be in the rumours

E3 - The Good, Bad and Ugly

My E3 roundup

This is taking the form of a good, bad and the ugly style, but it is limited to my opinion. I make no comments on PS3, PC or handheld games, nor their commercial success or targets. These are purely from my opinions on games I’d want. So some stuff will be missed out. Deal with it.

THE GOOD I’ll open this up with “Watch-Dogs”. Everything I’ve seen thus far, my game of the show. Original, unique and looks hella fun. I have no problem with sequels or rehashs, but this look genuinely unique and brand new. Want
Hitman Absolution – Always been a big hitman fan, the in game stuff from this year puts aside the worries from last year’s E3 vid that it was going the way Splinter Cell was going (more on that later) and going action not stealth.
Quantum Conudrum – Could be interesting, so will need to keep an eye out on it. But I’d need to see some more in game stuff to work out what the hell is going on
Sleeping Dogs – I liked the first True Crime even through all its major issues. So this is looking promising
Need for Speed – MOST WANTED. Yes. A true most wanted game, made by the guys who made Burnout. The best NFS made by the makers of the best racing game ever (Burnout Revenge FYI). As long as it doesn’t have the ridiculous rubber-banding and bias that Hot Pursuit has it will be something magical
Star Wars 1313 – What I’ve seen looks gorgeous, but not great from gameplay. I’ve been told its similar to Uncharted on the PS3, but I’ve not played that so wouldn’t know. I’m excited for it though. I just have 2 questions – Which period in Star Wars history is it set? And does “mature Star Wars game” mean boobs, blood and bleeps, or a deep story with real decisions?
Tomb Raider – Looks fantastic. Can’t say much else.
And then the assorted others – FarCry 3, Assassins Creed 3, Halo 4, Forza Horizon

THE BAD
Splinter Cell Black List – This game really belongs in good. It looks great. It looks like I want to play it. But its not splinter Cell anymore. Chaos Theory was the pinnacle of Splinter Cells. Double Agent mixed in more action, but left some stealthy hide in the shadows gameplay. Conviction, more action, less stealth and that mark your targets gimmick. Blacklist, we saw no stealth and just running and gunning. Factor in the fact that Ironside isn’t voicing Sam anymore and I’m annoyed
Gears of War Redemption – Again, this belongs in the good. But its here because of one thing. The story is set 15 years before Gears 1. As a massive fan of the Gears universe the changes in fluff are inexcusable. 15 years before GOW1 would make it before E-Day. It would make it before the invention of the chainsaw lancer. It would make Cole still a Thrashball player, not a Gear. It would make Baird a Corporal, not a Lt. Also the “crimes” the squad are accused of in the trailer are far worse than what sent Marcus to the Slab in the universe. They carry the death penalty for him, and these guys are even worse? As a side, I like the gameplay, I like Baird and Cole so happy to see more of them, but the massive changes to the story are incredibly annoying.

THE UGLY
Gaming companies still pushing fitness games and casual experiences over real games.