Does Fielding Tall Miniatures Make a Difference?

For those of you who like converting or using proxies, you probably have a number of models in your collection whose height might be considered to be "above normal".  For me, I regularly use a Dragon Ogre Shaggoth from Warhammer Fantasy as a daemon prince.  This has a variety of advantages and disadvantages inside the game that are tied to its height.

The obvious advantage associated with height is the line of sight it purchases.  If I equip the daemon prince with doom bolt (or a similar psychic power), then this is a guy who can potentially see over the tops of buildings / scenery that shorter than average daemon princes cannot.  

The other side of the coin (of course) is that others can also see him better.  This means that he naturally takes more incoming fire from opponents.

But, that ties in with the other perceived, but subtle, advantage: given the height, he makes himself more of a fire magnet than other threats that I deploy on the board.  I wrote a while back about daemon prince distraction techniques.  By having a larger miniature for this role, I've found (anecdotally) he becomes just a fraction more of a distraction.  The big imposing bulk of the daemon demands to be dealt with!  That gives me time to manoeuvre in with other pieces of the puzzle to control the game.

Has anyone had any different experience with fielding tall miniatures?

Poll Open for the August Army List Challenge

There are three entries for this month's army list challenge.  The theme was to take on a high gravity world.  Check out the lists and then vote (poll to the right) on which army you feel is the most effective that also best articulates the theme (whatever you interpret that to mean!).

Blood Angels (The GraveMind)
"Rapid Descent"

Commander Dante
Honour guard With Jumppacks, 4 plasmaguns and 3 Flamers

Priest with Jump pack Plasma pistol and Power weapon
Priest with Jump pack Power weapon and Hand flamer

10 ASM 2 flamers, Sarge with power weapon

10 ASM 2 flamers, Sarge with power weapon

10 ASM 2 Plasma guns, Sarge with power Fist and Plasma pistol

Devastator squad with 4 plasma cannons.

The extreme Gravity will cause the descent of these angels of vengeance to become far more hazardous than normal, but this is nothing new for Commander Dante. These mighty Astartes are built for war, and Gravity is not going to slow them down. While the puny heretics have trouble moving, The assault marines will be using their Jump packs to gain ground on them. The plasma guns stay back put high yield rounds into the toughest of opponents, all the while the flamer squad come in close and roast the vulnerable infantry. Keeping distance until the time is right to assault in. Little fear of counter-attacks or the enemy getting the charge as their movement will be dictated by the pathetic strength of their legs.


Eldar (Quite_Thor)

For Their Feet Ne'er Touch the Ground
(with apologies to Fritz)

Eldrad 210
3 x 5 Pathfinders 360
3 x Wraithlords - eldar missile launcher, shuriken cannon, flamers - 375
2 x 10 Harlequins - Death jester, Shadowseer, 9 x harlequin's kiss, 2 x fusion pistols

Yes, it is a 1500 point version of Fritz's harlie list but that is peculiarly appropriate. The rangers and harlequins ignore cover, the wraithlords nearly so. Ranged firepower is deeply ineffective on all the elements, especially with the Bearded Cheese-Wizard firing off fortune in all directions! Ranged shooting is questionable but mobility is good and harlequins are, well, cool...especially when everyone else is hacking through cover which they ignore.

Also. Craftworld Eldar. No anti-grav. See, I read the rules!

Dark Eldar (Cody J)
HQ

Haemonculus w/ Venom Blade, Hexrifle- 70
Haemonculus w/ Venom Blade, Hexrifle- 70
Haemonculus w/ Venom Blade, Hexrifle- 70
Haemonculus w/ Venom Blade, Hexrifle- 70
Haemonculus w/ Venom Blade, Hexrifle- 70
Haemonculus w/ Venom Blade, Hexrifle- 70

TR

x10 Wracks, x2 Liquifyer Guns, Acothyst, Hexrifle- 145
x10 Wracks, x2 Liquifyer Guns, Acothyst, Hexrifle- 145
x10 Wracks, x2 Liquifyer Guns, Acothyst, Hexrifle- 145
x10 Wracks, x2 Liquifyer Guns, Acothyst, Hexrifle- 145
x10 Wracks, x2 Liquifyer Guns, Acothyst, Hexrifle- 145
x10 Wracks, x2 Liquifyer Guns, Acothyst, Hexrifle- 145

HVY

Talos w/ Stinger Pod- 105
Talos w/ Stinger Pod- 105

1500pts

So an invasion force of Wracks and Talos constructs. 12 Hexrifle shots can bring down MC's, and pin targets when needed. 66 bodies on the field all with FnP and FC with rerolls to wound will be a tough nut to crack. Talos provide minimal shooting from range but also can move well. They arent too shabby in CC either.

I think this would struggle against horde Orks or Nids. They bring so many more bodies, so FnP would be key as would getting the charge. Liquifyers help but I know Orks can bring 120 Boyz easy. 

Daemons on Pre-Order from GW

Games Workshop have thrown up the pre-orders for their new range of daemons.  They include what we expected (fine casts of greater daemons such as the Lord of Change) and (excitingly for me) a Herald of Tzeentch on a disc.  

Also included is a batallion that features 20 bloodletters, 10 daemonettes, 10 horrors, and 5 seekers of Slaanesh.  At UKP65, that represents a saving of UKP22.50 which is good to see.

As a bonus, there are also three sets of standards included.  Two lots of "banners of rage" for all you Khorne fans out there and a set of Tzeentch "blasted standards".  The Khorne banners looks like good conversions, but the Tzeentch ones are probably the more appealing ones for me personally.

Review: Liber Chaotica IV (Tzeentch)

Tzeentch gets his/her/its chance to shine in the fourth volume of Liber Chaotica.  As with the previous two volumes (Slaanesh and Nurgle), the book commences with a discourse on the nature of Tzeentch.  Much like the Nurgle volume, it becomes clear from the outset that Tzeentch simply isn't all about "scheming" and "magic".  More than anything, Tzeentch embodies the true nature of Chaos: the very fabric of the shifting tides and conspiracies that have happened or are yet to come.

I felt that the introductions to Slaanesh and Nurgle were stronger than Tzeentch: they explored in detail the why's and how's that mortals may come to them through direct or insidious means.  It think the writers missed this opportunity with Khorne, but with Tzeentch, his various aspects weren't too obvious, but at least they had a go.  Somewhere in between the aspiration to power and the manipulated, all come to serve the great conspirator.

Given the strong connection to sorcery, there is an extensive section included on the nature of magic in the Warhammer world.  Although enjoyable, it probably isn't the highlight of the volume.  The discourse on the nature of chaos and how souls fuel the growth of such gods is a paraphrase from the Lost and the Damned / Slaves to Darkness, but very welcome.  The strength of the volume for me was the initial exposition of the nature of Tzeentch, the exploration of the daemons of Tzeentch and the fleeting references to the Thousand Sons legion.  

For me, this volume sits below Slaanesh and just below Nurgle in interest and span.  But it is a long way ahead of Khorne still.  

Review: Liber Chaotica III (Nurgle)

The third volume of Liber Chaotica sees a graphics treatment of Grandfather Nurgle in all his glory.  As with the Slaanesh volume, the Nurgle volume starts out by dissecting the nature of Nurgle and making it clear that it isn't just as simple as "decay" and "disease".  Rather, he is more about the defeat of Death, the will to avoid a weak end, the despair of mortality that fuels creative and physical genius.  

Beginning with a treatment of how "victims" can be turned to Nurgle (denial, fear, desperation, resentment, bitterness), the book demonstrates that these aspects of emotion can readily lead to vitality, life and energy. It is this juxtaposition that is often over-looked by those who do not discern the full nature of Nurgle.  This early part of the book is very well done -- highly analogous to the excellent way in which the Slaanesh volume treated its god.  The worship of Nurgle is illustrated by example through consideration of how the Old World comes to worship this otherwise repulsive god.

In the same manner as the other books, some of the tangents in to the various characters and tribes of the old world can be tedious, but there are gems contained within that make it worthwhile to go through.  The section on Nurgle's Rot is (of course) obligatory, but well-received.  The low point of the volume for me though was the inclusion of the Beastmen.  They're not especially Nurglesque (well, some of them are, true), but it is space that could have been spent illustrating different aspects of Nurgle.

The book is rounded off by looking at the daemons of Nurgle and (if I'm honest) all too little 40k references.  So whilst the volume is stronger than the Khorne one, it is not quite at the same level as Slaanesh. 

Review: Liber Chaotica II (Slaanesh)

In the second book of Liber Chaotica, Slaanesh gets his/her chance to shine.  This is truly one of the stronger books of the series.  Rather than entirely focus on the Eldar and how they gave birth to the god, the book begins with an exploration of what Slaanesh stands for.  This is in contrast to how the volume of Khorne commences with the focus on the barbarous tribes, and frankly is a much more focussed and exciting way to hook in the reader.

The book acknowledges from the outset that Slaanesh isn't simply about "pleasure".  The core emotion can be perverted in to many forms ranging from "purpose" to "willpower" and "experience".  These include not only the negative forms such as "lust"and "greed", but can extend to what may seem benign emotions such as "love", "joy", and "aesthetics".  Therefore the picture of Slaanesh that is painted is one of the most insidious gods of the chaos pantheon: one who has many ways to infect the hearts of mortals.

The excellent in-depth treatment of the nature of Slaanesh is elucidated through the considerations of his cults.  This is the manner in which the Khorne volume should have been presented I think.  The book then descends in to a few other matters (a re-writing of the Slaves to Darkness: Brothers von Gottlieb; daemonic possession; the eldar; elves and Slaanesh; and short background writings on various tribes and Warhammer individuals).  The strongest section of this has to be the "conversing with the damned" section, wherein Kless interviews a Slaaneshi adherent charged with a variety of (not very well defined, yet obviously implied) crimes.

Together with a presentation and analysis of the daemons of Slaanesh and the Emperor's Children, this book is not only strong, but very well rounded.  Superior to the exploration of the nature of Khorne, the book demonstrates in no uncertain terms the full extent of the threat that Slaanesh represents.