A Little Time Off

Dear Readers,

It's time for a little holiday to enjoy the Summer(*) until the New Year.
Hope you have a good holiday season and look forward to more interactions with you all in 2012.

Cheers,
Jabberjabber

(*) Yes, it is Summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

Grey Knight Terminator

They're sorcerers.  That's my excuse.  No really.  Okay, I really am toying with the idea of a Ghost Knight army... more on that on a different day.

This "sorcerer" is a standard Grey Knight terminator with little significant conversion work applied.  The curved/tilted shield on the left shoulder pad was a bit fiddlesome to get in to place, but I think I got it in place right in the end.  Just got to drill out the holes for the ammo to come out of now and decide how I'm going to base this guy (maybe on some of these Scribor bases).

Merry Christmas

A slightly belated Merry Christmas to you all! (unless you're near the American side of the Date Line...! -- here Down Under, we're running out of daylight on Boxing Day already).

Necron Kill Team

Thinking about necron killteams / killzone squads is no longer a straight forward task thanks to the shiny new codex that is packed full of cool ideas and upgrades.  I've been toying with a couple of ideas and themes, but here's one that I like, based on models that I have (or might be likely to purchase) rather than uber-competitiveness.

7 necron warriors (91 points)

2 canoptek scarab bases (30 points)

2 deathmarks (38 points)

1 lychguard (40 points)

total = 199.

The main weakness is a reliance on gauss weaponry to inflict damage on armoured targets or troop transports.  I just hope that they're going to be uncommon!  The scarabs are there for the beast rule and entropic strike, whilst the death marks deal with any target that looks likely to do significant damage (terminators and the like).  The lychguard is the all-rounder in this team and also the fire magnet, running during the shooting phase and wanting to get in to combat quickly.  

I'd quite like to see how this list would fare against some daemons killteams (especially a Tzeentch killteam, but also a Slaanesh themed killteam might be a good testing ground).  But that's a tale for a different time.

Of An Old Plastic Space Marine

To remind myself about how far both miniatures and my painting style has come, today's post is about a (VERY) old plastic space marine miniature.

This chap is from the old Rogue Trader classic plastic sprue (RTB01).  The sculpting on the miniature is nowhere near modern standards, but analogues to these parts are now sold by Forge World.  This particular miniature is assembled with a flamer and a sergeant's head -- six parts in total would you believe!  (Although there were options to add on ammo clips, etc., this marine doesn't possess such ornamentation...). The old RTB01 boxed set is something of a collectors item these days, but I have long since assembled, painted, and sold away the majority of such miniatures I once had.  

For the paint scheme, as you can probably see, this guy is an Ultramarine.  I don't quite know what possessed me to paint up a bunch of Ultramarines back in the day -- Grey Knights would have made more sense (they use sorcery after-all, right?), but they fought regularly with my friend's orks over rugs and book-pile hills.  There's not much to be said about the painting: it is a blue undercoat, followed by old-school blue ink (check out the "shine" from the inked parts -- the old ink really did glisten in the right light, I still have a few pots, but only tend to use the green ink on plaguebearers for deliberate effect) and some blue drybrushing for the main part.  

Whilst I'm a little nostalgic about the old marine, the present day space marines are superior in sculpt, and much nicer to paint!

Dark Eldar: A Cause for Re-Thinking Marks of Chaos on Raptors?

For a squad of chaos raptors, an icon of Khorne seems optimal from a previous analysis (see: parts I and II).

However, in recent times, the advent of dark eldar has got me re-thinking this conclusion.  Lots more players are taking dark eldar (and there's still the die-hard eldar fans ... much like I'm a die-hard chaos marine and daemons player - kindred spirits). So, should I reconsider the Icon of Khorne?

I'll resurrect the three options that I was toying with originally: the raptor champion armed with a power fist, twin lightning claws, or simple baseline raptors.  I'll put them up against ten dark eldar cabalite warriors instead of the usual space marines).

Let's look at each Icons in turn, and assuming that the raptors get the charge in.

Khorne.

With a Khorne Icon, the raptors gain an extra attack each, but they strike second.

Khorne Case 1: Baseline Raptors.

The kabalite warriors need 4+ to hit and 5+ to wound from 9 attacks.  This results in 1.5 wounds, of which, 0.5 stick.  The sybarite has a power weapon with 2 attacks.  S/He also hits on 4+ and wounds (without a save) on 5+.  That results in 0.33 more wounds, making 0.83 total.

The raptors hit on 4+ and wound on 3+ from 41 "normal" attacks (total) if everyone was still alive.  Let's assume one is dead from the dark eldar.  That means there are (only!) 37 attacks.  That gives 8.22 wounds.  (i.e. dW = 7.39).

Khorne Case 2: Power Fist.

Again, 0.83 wounds incoming from the first-striking dark eldar kabalite warriors.  Assuming that one of the regular raptors perished, they get 8x4 attacks on the charge that results in a total of 7.11 wounds. The aspiring raptor champion gets 4 attacks (2 base, 1 charging, 1 from the icon), of which 2 hit and 1.67 kill.  This gives 8.78 wounds (and dW = 7.95).

Khorne Case 3: Lightning Claws.

As above, but the champion has 5 attacks and 2.5 hit. They wound on 3+ with a re-roll for failed wounding rolls. This gives 2.22 more wounds for a total of 9.33 (and dW = 8.5).

Slaanesh.

For a Slaaneshi Icon, the chaos raptors strike simultaneously with the dark eldar.

Slaanesh Case 1: Baseline Raptors.

The raptors are still taking 0.83 wounds, but now strike back without losing anyone.  On the charge, they get (9x3)+4 = 31 attacks.  That gives 6.89 wounds (and dW = 6.06).

Slaanesh Case 2: Power Fist.

Assuming the aspiring champion survives, the raptors get 9x3 regular attacks, plus 3 power fist attacks.  The regular attacks cause 6 wounds; the power fist yields 1.25 wounds.  That's 7.25 wounds in total (dW = 6.42).

Slaanesh Case 3: Lightning Claws.

Again, we'll assume the champion survives.  The regular attacks again cause 6 wounds. The lightning claws have 4 attacks, of which 2 hit and 1.78 kill.  That gives 7.78 wounds (and dW = 6.95).

Conclusion.

The Icon of Khone is still superior.  The extra attack still outweighs the increased initiative.  Good job since I've already modelled the Icon of Khorne and don't particularly want to change!

Scribor: Review of Ruins Bases

Scribor monstrous miniatures sells a range of resin cast miniatures for both fantasy and sci-fi (most being of 28mm scale, but some larger ones too).  Many of the pieces have obvious resonances with warhammer and warhammer 40,000 and can complement bits from either range.  I intend to make a few conversions from their pieces in the coming weeks, but that's a tale for later.

Recently, I purchased a number of bits from them, including a few scenic bases in the style of "ruins".  These are a pair of 40mm circular bases suitable for use with 40k.  The level of detail in the pieces is clear from the image below.

In terms of quality, the resin casts are superior to games workshop's finecast; no two ways about that.  However, they're not quite at the same level as Quantum Gothic ... but they are very very close!  Let me emphasize that the quality of Scibor is great -- its just that I feel Quantum Gothic is fantastic.  

The two bases above have some very fine detail, ranging from the small writing on the (broken) paving slabs, to the creeping vines that come out of the ground.  Such detail is certainly worth paying the price for, and I think, is superior to Back-2-Basix (another company that I thoroughly recommend).

So overall, I'm very impressed with the quality and level of detail.  I would certainly go back to them. And for those of you who are thinking that purchasing from Poland might be an issue -- I got my bits to Australia in a very short amount of time and the customer service from Scribor was excellent.

Winner: December Army List Challenge

The unopposed winner of the December 2011 Army List Challenge is Fester!
Congratulations!  The Army List Challenge will return in the New Year.

In the mean time, if you have suggesting for future challenges, then let me know at warpstoneflux at gmail dot com.

Rules Homebrew: Psychokinetic Sphere

Psychic Power: Psychokinetic Sphere

The psyker calls forth an expanding sphere of supersonic wind that knocks back all nearby models (friend or foe).

Use at any stage of a close combat that the psyker is involved in.

On a successful psychic test, all models within 2" of the psyker's base (including those in base-to-base contact with the psyker, friend or foe) are flung back 2" in a radial direction from the psyker.  If a model cannot be moved away in such a fashion, they are otherwise moved 2" away from the psyker (e.g. along a wall).  If a model is in a dead-end and cannot be move (e.g. a cul-de-sac style situation), then the model is simply not moved.

As a result of successfully using this power, the psyker is no longer engaged in the combat.  If the user is an independant character and was part of a unit on activation, the psyker will no longer be considered part of that unit after using this ability.

Shadow Sword: Part XII. Rear Face

The traitor Shadow Sword approaches completion now.  This is a shot of the rear of the beast to detail what I've done with the pipework, the barrells, the highlighting, and the sense of semi-rustiness on the treads that I've achieved.

There's a some more fine detail to go, but otherwise, this epic paint job is nearly there now.

Reminder: December Army List Challenge

What army list do you most fear?  Why?

Entries are still open for the December Army List Challenge - the last one of the year! 
(since there are no entries at the moment, there are good chances you could even win by default!)

Fish Tank Scenery: Gel Plant

In a game of alien landscapes and blasted cityscapes, there's something about good looking scenery that makes a critical difference to the vibe of a gameboard.  This particular piece is a "gel" style plant (basically made of soft silicone, it seems) purchased in the fishtank section of a pet store.  The arms of the plant wobble like a jelly, which makes for added realism when the board gets a small knock, or you charge your pack of bloodcrushers through it!  (For reference, the cost was approx. 15 AUD).

Finecast Changeling - Painted

Despite all the dramas, the finecast changeling has painted up nicely in the end.

The undercoat for the miniature was done with dheneb stone.  This was followed by multiple washes of various mud browns to darken the tone in the recesses and raised with bleached bone highlights around the edges of the billowing robe.  I attended to the arms next with a basecoat of ultramarine blue.  They were inked (old-school ink) in blue, then highlighted with a combination of ultramarine blue and electric blue. 

With those two main areas painted, I moved on to the finer details, including the flames (basecoated white, twice; followed by successive layers of yellow, orange, red and dark red in sequence), the staff (basecoated in bleached bone, several washes of devlan mud, highlighted in a mix of skull white plus bleached bone, followed by some triple-zero paint brush work to squiggle some letters on to the paper), and other ornaments (golden Tzeentch symbol, armbands, the rod of the staff).

Overall, I'm happy how this has turned out.  But I will avoid purchasing finecast if I can help it, despite GW staff being very helpful in their exhange policy.

December 2011 Army List Challenge

This is the final Army List Challenge of the year!  And this time, its personal!

The basic question and theme is this: what army list do you most fear facing?  Why? 

Perhaps it is a list designed to take down your own, most regularly used list?  Perhaps they're simply too quick?  Perhaps there's just too many grots for you to shoot at?  Perhaps your favourite army has a general, irrational fear of soulless silver robots? 

Here's the rules.
(1) Design an army list that you most fear to take on.  There is no points value, but we'll assume its the equivalent to whatever your regular army list totals.  Explain why you fear that list (perhaps by posting your own favourite army list that is going up against it) and detailing what's up.
(2) Post your army list(s) as a comment to this posting.
(3) Entries close at 01:00 GMT on December 14th.
(4) On that same day, I'll open a poll for Warpstone Flux readers to judge which army list they consider to be the "most effective army list that also best articulates the theme" (whatever readers interpret that to mean) out of all entrants.
(5) The winner will be tallied and announced on December 21st (and entered in to the hall of fame!).
(6) One entry per person please.

Good luck!

Origin of Grey Knights according to Slaves to Darkness

Based on a conversation I was having with a friend, here is a quick snippet from Slaves to Darkness regarding the origins of the Grey Knights.

"The Grey Knights were a single chapter created during an unregistered Founding shortly after the (official) Third Founding.  Although technically Marines of the Adeptus Astartes, the Grey Knights are, to all intents and purposes, part of the Inquisition.  They are listed as a Third Founding unit and, by the Emperor's instruction, were designated Chapter number 666."

Ah, how some things change and others stay the same!

Wargames Gallery: Daemons Pincer Dark Angels Scout

After a lethal volley from horrors of Tzeentch, the lone remaining Dark Angels scout looks the objective-holding plaguebearers in the eye(s) with grim determination.  Too late he hears the playful laughter of the hand-maidens of Slaanesh race up behind him in a pincer movement.

Battle Summary: Death Guard vs. Grey Knights (1500 points)

Mission: Annihilation pitched battle.

Table: 6' x 4'.  Sparse terrain on a red desert planet with some craters and line-of-sight blocking pinnacles.  No ruins to speak of though.

Opponent -- Grey Knights:
Mordrak, 5 Ghost Knights, 5 halberds
Librarian: warp rift, teleport homer (and some other powers that I don't quite recall)
2 x 5 Terminators: Master crafted hammer, 3 halberds, 1 sword, 1 psycannon
2 x 10 interceptors: 2 psycannons, 1 hammer, psybolts

Me -- Death Guard:
Daemon prince, mark of Nurgle, wings, warptime
Dreadnought with plasma cannon
2 x 7 Plague marines; 1 champion with power fist, 1 flamer, 1 melta, rhino with havoc launcher
7 Plague Marines; 1 champion with power fist, 2 plasma guns, rhino with havoc launcher
2 vindicators with daemonic possession
1 predator with autocannon, heavy bolter sponsons, havoc launcher and dozer blade

Initial Thoughts:

I've never played against a Mordrak army list before.  This should be entertaining.  But how am I going to approach it?  Clearly my vindicators could be the key here.  If I can position them so that they can get a few nice shots off, I might be able to make some serious in-roads in to the opponent.  Coupled with the dreadnought and the plasma gun squad, I might be able to pull it off.  But its going to be tough!

Early Turns:

I decide to deploy and castle up, fully expecting a turn one deep-strike without scatter from my opponent who has reserved everything and forces me to go first.  Although this denies me any useful first turn firing, I can live with it.  My vindicators point outward ready to take some shots, with the predator ready to do some serious dakka damage on anything that come near.  I have my plague marines holed up inside their rhinos for the moment.  And just because I don't want my dreadnought anywhere near, it takes the opposite board corner ... somewhat stranded from the rest of my army, but ready to take a pot shot when needed. 

My opponent deep strikes in and starts to cause havoc immediately.  One vindicator gets completely wrecked by a warp-rifting librarian (how much do I envy that psychic power?!) whilst the other is immobilized.  The predator takes a few hits, but nothing untoward happens.  It dawns on me at this stage that I have more kill points and maybe ... just maybe ... little more firepower and lasting power.  In my turn, the immobile vindicator targets Mordrak and slays half the squad with a well placed pie blast -- S10 will instant kill almost any regular marine these days!  Horrah!  The dreadnought decides to have a fire frenzy, making me feel luck!) and splats a wound on Mordrak and scatters another one on to my daemon prince (ouch!).  

The rest of the Grey Knights come on in turn two and let rip even more.  One of the rhinos explodes, but luckily, none of the plague marines are affected. But, the rest of the shooting accounts for them with contemptible ease (sigh).  Meanwhile, the librarian throws down a second warp rift on my daemon prince.  And rolls a six.  Bye bye daemon prince.  Ouch!  The immobilized vindicator also explodes after being charged by terminators.  There goes my plan to win.

In exchange, I get my plague marines out of one of the rhinos and rapid fire the terminators.  Due to some unfortunate die rolling by my opponent, all but one of them perish!  But I'm still to cause a single kill point yet!

Middle Turns.

The other squad of terminators makes short work of the predator, whilst Mordrak wrecks another rhino.  This isn't going well for me at this stage.

But in a twist of fate, my dreadnought has yet another fire frenzy.  Mordrak is dead!  Inspired, I disembark my plasma gun plague marine squad in front of the librarian and take him down as well.  But this isn't to last.

The lone terminator charges the plasma squad and makes some rancid mince meat of the plague marines and saves the power fist wound in exchange.

I've now only got my dreadnought, 1 rhino and 1 squad of plague marines "free", whilst the remains of my other plague marines struggle to contend with terminator close combat.

Late Turns.

There is only one more highlight for me.  My dreadnought has a third (yes, you read it correctly: a third) fire frenzy.  This totally slays one of the interceptor squads. 

But, the lone terminator finishes off his rancid mince meat making job whilst the other interceptors wreck the remaining rhino.  My plague marines disembark (uninjured) and rapid fire the other terminators.

In the next turn, the terminators shoot and then assault the plague marines, finishing them off (plague marines are I=3 and hence always strike after regular marine forces - doh).  

I'm left with my dreadnought in the opposite corner.  He decides to be sane and shoots a plasma pie over at the other interceptors, but without effect (the pie plate scatters and only hits one interceptor, whom doesn't take a wound!).  

At this point, I call it game over.  My opponent would have tabled me in the next turn (I'm pretty certain) with only my dreadnought left.  I lost pitifully!

Concluding thoughts.

I think I had the right game plan by focusing on my vindicators -- and they did indeed pay off ... for one turn at least!  But my opponent saw this plan as well and reacted well.

The stars for me were the Dreadnought on my team and the Librarian on my opponent's.  That warp rift power is great, no doubt about it.  I'm left wondering what I could have done differently as I lost even with some very fortunate die rolling on my part and some dreadful die rolling on my opponents behalf.

Of Angron's Activities and the Other Daemon Primarchs

Continuing my rambling thoughts on what the primarch's are up to in the 41st millennium, today I want to briefly touch on Angron. To my mind, Angron remains somewhat active and is, overall, a very visible primarch at the terminal end of the 41st millennium.  As a daemon prince (daemon primarch) of Khorne, Angron not only has apocalypse rules for his deployment on the tabletop (unlike other primarchs), but actively revels in the destruction he can bring about.  This is in contrast to the other chaos daemon primarchs who have a less than stellar participation rate in the 41st millenium.

Take Lorgar for instance -- the canon background is that he has locked himself away on the daemon world of Sicarus to contemplate, meditate and worship the nature of chaos for a long time, whilst letting his Word Bearers, commanded by the Dark Council in his stead, launch a twisted war from both Sicarus and Ghalmek.

Mortarion meanwhile rots away on the plague planet.  Occasionally sending a plague fleet in to the Immaterium to plague (literally) the Imperium of man.  Hence Mortarion has retreated from the real world, but still acts as a conduit of Nurgle's will.

On the planet of the Sorcerers, Magnus the Red confines himself and doesn't leave; content to send out agents (in much the same way as Mortarion, curiously) and learn more about magic from afar. The only notable exception being the Battle of the Fang.

Perhaps Fulgrim was a bit more active than the Tzeentch and Nurgle primarchs (and certainly moreso than Lorgar!), but his last known action was to lay low Roboute Guilliman.  Since then, he's perfectly happy (pun?!) spending his time on a Slaaneshi daemon world and has effectively removed himself from "activity".

Meanwhile, Perturabo secured the daemon world of Medrengard (where whisps of black smoke from a dark star caresses the surface) the and built the Fortress of Hate. He hasn't partaken of any further campaigns directly as far as I can tell.

And as for the Alpha Legion, it is likely their primarch(s) are not daemons...  So who knows what Alpharius and/or Omegon are up to...

Dornian Heresy: Night Lords

"Midnight clad, and wielding fear as a weapon, the Night Lords haunt the dark places of the Imperium. They do this not to hide from the light of justice, but because that is where those who would seek to harm the Emperor’s subjects are to be found. Since the time of their Primarch, Konrad Curze, the Night Lords have been guided by visions of the darkest of futures which they are driven to avert, even at the cost of their own lives. By their blood and sacrifice the Imperium of Mankind has been kept safe from rebellions, xenos invasions and betrayals without number."

The Dornian Heresy is the alternative history background being created at Bolter and Chainsword.  In a nut-shell, all the roles are reversed (and/or generally perturbed) compared to the Horus Heresy.  A couple of weeks ago, the authors published the draft background for the Night Lords, as the good guys.

I must say, I like this take on the Night Lords.  They're very focused on keeping the law (through fear) and punish severely those who waver in the eyes of the emperor -- especially those that seek to hide in the dark places.  A few of their number also share Night Haunter's precognitive ability -- also a very nice touch.  In the revised background, Curze still dies, but this time at the hands of Dorn.  He does this to save the Emperor as he sees in his visions the calamity that will befall the Imperium without his sacrifice.  His terminal words are recorded as: "Why did I come before you only to be killed? Because your Heresy, and the act you are about to commit, proves the truth of my actions at Cheraut. I merely tried to punish one who would go on to cause so much harm – my only regret is that I did not succeed in killing you before you made war on our father, our Emperor. Death is nothing compared to vindication." which bears a striking similarity (albeit reflected / inverted) to the official cannon.  

Gotta like the Loyal Night Lords.  They still rock.

Winner of the November 2011 Army List Challenge

The results of the November 2011 Army List Challenge are in:

Spaguatyrine (Space Wolves) 14%

Torgrimm (Dark Eldar) 17%

Brninghalo (Chaos Space Marines / Worldeaters) 7%

Porky (AdMech Fandex) 28%

Quite_Thor (Grey Knights) 32%

So the winner is Quite_Thor with a slim margin over Porky.  Congratulations to Quite_Thor!  Your name is already entered in to the Hall of Fame.  And well played to all of the other entrants -- they really made me think about the challenge in new ways. 

Finally, thanks to CodyJ for supplying the idea for this challenge.  If anyone else out there wants to make a suggestion for a future challenge, please send an email or leave a comment.  The next Challenge will be up on Dec 1st!

How Many Tesla Carbine Shots Are Required to kill Plague Marines?

Nurgle's plague marines are tough; no doubt about it.  But how worried are plague marines when taking incoming fire from Tesla Carbines (as used by Necron Immortals)?  Let's look at some statistics.

An immortal will hit a plague marine on a 3+ (probability = 0.67).  

The tesla carbine will wound on a 4+ (new combined probability = 0.33).

The plague marine saves the wound on a 3+, followed by a feel no pain roll of 4+ if required.  Hence the probability of the wound being saved is 2+.  Therefore an unsaved wound has a probability of 0.056.

But the Tesla special rule will activate on a hit roll of 6.

So we'll modify the above calculation to count for only a roll to hit of 3, 4, or 5.  That yields a probability of an unsaved wound of 0.042.  

Now let's add in the roll to hit of 6 (probability of 1/6 = 0.167).  This causes an automatic 2 extra hits.

So we're taking 3 hits with a wound caused on 4+.  That's 1.5 wounds * 0.167 = 0.25 wounds.

Each wound is saved (as above) on 2+.  This gets reduced to 0.042 unsaved wounds if the necron rolls a 6.

Combining the two results (0.042 unsaved wounds on a hit roll of 3,4,5 with 0.042 unsaved wounds on a hit roll of a 6) yields 0.083 unsaved wounds per incoming tesla carbine shot.  That means 12 tesla carbine shots are required to down a plague marine, on average.  That compares to 27 bolter shots (or indeed, gauss flayer shots) to down a plague marine.  So an immortal armed with a tesla carbine is more than twice as deadly as a regular necron or space marine to my plague marines.

How Many Khorne Berzerkers does it take to Down a Necron?

Berzerkers of Khorne are (were?) noted for their close combat prowess.  So, today I wanted to look at how many berzerkers it will take to kill a necron warrior in close combat.  I am assuming that the berzerkers managed to charge and also got off a bolt pistol shot prior to charging.

The simplifying assumption here is how to deal with the necron's natural save of 4+ followed by the 5+ reanimation save.  Combining them together grants the necron an effective save of 3+ (i.e. it saves half of all regular wounds, followed by ignoring one third of those that get through).

Let's resolve the bolt pistol shot first.  It hits on 3+ and wounds on 4+.  In other words a 0.33 chance of wounding.  Using the effective save of 3+ (as above), the necron will suffer 0.11 wounds per shooting, charging Khorne berzerker.

When the berzerker makes close combat, he will have furious charge (assuming that this hasn't been denied to him thanks to the adaptive tactical genius that is Nemesor Zahndrekh).  The berzerker attacks first and is hitting on 3+ and wounding on 3+.  That means 0.44 wounds per attack.  The berzerker has 4 attacks on the charge, which will lead to 1.76 wounds landing.  Of these, the necron will fail to save 0.59.

Combining this melee result with the above shooting means that a singular, regular Khorne berzerker will cause 0.7 unsaved (and non-reanimated) wound when charging.  Phew!  I was worried that that would work out a lot worse!

Perth Visit Coda

On the way home from Perth (I, II), I checked out the airport newsagents.  Unlike some other cities in Australia, they didn't sell copies of White Dwarf.

Perth Visit. 2 - "Tactics" store

This quaint looking alley is called London Court and it is located in Perth's central business district and shopping centre.  It is themed on an olde worlde style and feels a little bit like parts of York (UK) streets.

Tucked away in the basement of London Court is a friendly store known as Tactics.  They sell a wide array of roleplaying and hobby merchandise ranging from Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, board games, miniatures, and (of course!) Games Workshop merchandise.  There were M:TG tables set up near the entry as I went in and had quite a number of player engrossed in the games that were taking place at the time.  But they also host events such as Settlers of Catan nights which look like they have a wide appeal.  

The store is physically quite large and I spent a happy half-hour wandering around aimlessly checking out all their stock.  Not only did they have the most recently released items for sale (e.g. Codex: Necrons), but they had a wide array of older sale items and things that have long been out of print (for example, I saw a copy of D&D/DarkSun: Marauders of Nibenay in its original shrink wrapping for sale in there!).  

Contained inside some glass cases near the check-out there were also pre-assembled and painted (poorly for the most-part) second hand GW miniatures.  For example, there were a number of Chaos Marine Possessed miniatures retailing for six dollars each.  If I had more luggage space, I might have bought a unit of assembled Thousand Sons rubric marines as a mini-project to clean up and re-paint.

The staff were young: mostly university students working part-time jobs from what I could tell.  But that was not a bad thing: on the contrary, they were very in to their jobs and very much knew the mindsets of their customers.  

On the downside, the retail prices were the same as I would pay at GW (to explain: there are some stores such as Ace Comics in Brisbane that retail GW products at sub-recommended-retail prices).  But I would certainly visit Tactics again -- the vibe of the place was terrific and I didn't feel as hassled as I sometimes feel when I walk in to a GW store.  

Perth Visit. 1 - City GW

Perth, Western Australia.  The Swan River.  Subiaco and the WACA.  Nope - I checked out GW in Perth's city centre!

The store is physically located inside one of the shopping malls in the city centre of Perth (the Carillon City mall on Murray Street).  It is a bright, modern mall that is very accessible in comparison to other stores I've been to.

Physically, the store is small however.  It is certainly smaller than Brisbane city centre, Melbourne city centre and (of course) Sydney city centre (which is a battle bunker store for reference).  It might be only a little larger than Chadstone for instance.  This limits the number of tables and how many people can squeeze in, but in that regard, it seemed spacious to me due to a good layout.  The staff were impeccable (two thumbs up for good customer interaction) and my (short) visit was very pleasant.  

Another report from Perth tomorrow...!

Poll Open for the November 2011 Army List Challenge

There are 5 entries for this month's Army List Challenge.  Please review the lists and then vote for the one that you consider to be the most effective army that also best articulates the theme.  Good luck to the entrants!

(1) Spaguatyrine (Space Wolves)

Space Wolves have the obvious advantage with the best troops in the game for the point cost.

Rune Priest with Murderous Hurricane and Living Lightning-100 points

10 Grey Hunters with 2x melta guns, 1 power weapon, and wolf banner-180 points

6 grey Hunters with 1x melta guns, 1 power weapon, and wolf banner-120 points.

5 Grey Hunters with flamer,and 75 pts

Wolfguard unit with: 124 points
1 WG Powerfist Combi Melta(1st pack)
1 WG Powerfist Combi Melta(2nd pack)
1 WG Bolt Pistol and frost blade(3rd pack)


25 Marines
5 Melta (2 combi)
1 flamer
3 power weapons
2 powerfists
1 str 5 power weapon
Murderous hurricane to slow down units

Living lightning to pound high strength targets

Psychic defense

2 Wolf Banners to re-roll 1's in combat. (Powerfists)

Counter assault.

599 Points! Bring it!

(2) Torgrimm (Dark Eldar)

Nobody can do it better than Dark Eldar!
Assuming we don't know what are these "pets" exactly, we need to be prepared for anything. Walkers, hordes, elite assault units, shooty units. We can only assume that arena will be largely open and small.

List, 621 points:
*Succubus with Agoniser, Blast Pistol
*9x Hekatrix Bloodbrides with Haywire Grenades, 3x Shardnet and Impaler, Syren with Agoniser and PGL.
*8x Scourges with 2x Splinter Cannons, Solarite.
*Cronos Parasite with Spirit probe and Spirit Vortex.


Succubus with BS6 you will rarely miss, 6 attacks on the charge with WS8 and Agoniser will surely hurt. All that for 100 points, a bargain.
Bloodbrides are self-explanatory highly defensive force with 3x shardnets to minimize damage done to the squad/protect Succubus, with decent offensive potential in form for high initiative and another Agoniser.
Scourges puts out 26-30 poisoned shots, and here to destroy MCs and hordes that can tie up Bloodbrides. Solarite for LD boost.
Cronos - T7 MC to forever tie up these S3 "pets", if there's any, he can shoot with both weapons and produce up to 2 pain tokens per shooting phase, and one more in assaul phase. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Obviously, you can tweak this list a little, like dropping Spirit Vortex (after all, BS3 Large Blast in arena is kind of dangerous to your own T3 models) and getting more scourges, up to 4 Shredders instead of Splinter Cannons and so on and so forth. The idea however remains the same.

(3) Brninghalo (Chaos Space Marines / Worldeaters)

HQ-Chaos Lord, Mk of Khorne, Single L/C

Elites- 3x Chaos Terminators, Icon of Khorne
1x Pwr Wpn & heavy flamer
2x Pwr Wpn & twin linked bolters

Troops- 7 Berzerkers, 1x plasma pistol, Asp Champ w/Pwr Wpn


Fast Attack- 5 Chaos Raptors, Icon of Khorne, 2x flamers, Asp Champ w/pair of L/C

This force is dedicated to Khorne. There are sixteen models total in the force which will please Khorne greatly.

This force will be able to stand up to any infantry force or beast.

Thanks,
Thomas

(4) Porky (AdMech Fandex)

The disciples of the Machine God - the mighty Adeptus Mechanicus - will relish this opportunity to strip the foe's lair from within.

The list is from Lantz's AdMech FanDex, which has some amazing vehicles of course, like the Knight, Warhound and DIY Mechanicus Construct, but more as well - here's some proof, themed around the Necrenius faction, for the Necron launch weekend. If you want all the extra detail on the upgrade, it's free to download here.


Necrenius Faction Tech Quest - Emergency Defence

HQ

1 Tech-Priest Magos
(Infantry / 3(+1) 3 3(+1) 4 3 3(+1) 2 10 4+/5(i) / Techmail Skin-Plating, Cult Bionics, Independent Character, Tech-Priest (Necrenius), Combi-Weapon (Lasgun-Plasmagun), Combat Enhancements, Refractor Field)
125 points

TROOPS

1 Machine Cult Preacher
(Infantry / 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 9 5+ / Techmail Armour, Cult Standard, Cult Bionics, Lasgun, Electoos)
20 Machine Cultists w/ Lasguns
(Infantry / 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 6 6+ / Techmail Robe, Lasgun)
99 points

1 Machine Cult Preacher
(Infantry / 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 9 5+ / Techmail Armour, Cult Standard, Cult Bionics, Lasgun, Signum)
10 Machine Cultists w/ Lasguns and Missile Launcher weapon team
(Infantry / 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 6 6+ / Techmail Robe, Lasgun)
94 points

ELITES

1 Cult Abomination
(Monstrous Creature / 6 3 8 5 3 5 3 9 3+/5(i) / Cult Bionics, Twin-Linked Lascannon, Cable Whips, Eternal Warrior, Extension Cables, Feral Machine Spirit)
150 points

FAST ATTACK

6 Electro-Priests
(Infantry / 3 2 4 4 1 5 3 9 5(i) / Electoos, Cult Bionics, Tech Priests (Necrenius), Fanatical Attack, Fleet of Foot, Static Lash, Strained Minds)
156 Points

624 points


It's ready for quite a lot, whether large numbers or a small elite. It deploys with a small flexible firebase, a large tactical support unit and a heavy strike force, as well as a couple of elements that can boost the backfield or the forward units depending on what comes through.

32 Lasguns, or 31 with the Missile Launcher at BS 5
6 Static Lash shocks (auto-hitting any unit within 12”, S4 AP- Assault 1)
1 Combi-Weapon (Lasgun-Plasmagun)
1 Missile Launcher
1 Twin-Linked Lascannon / Extension Cables

... and I did toy with the idea of a Vortex Grenade just in case the pets are really big.

The Electoos on the Electro-Priests ignore armour in the first round with plenty of attacks, and the Static Lash means even lighter infantry who get within 12” are in danger. The big unit of 21 Machine Cultists operates as a screen, doing some shuffling to open up the Static Lash at the right moment. The Electoos on the Cult Preacher give the Cultists a boost in combat and keep him safe from the Static Lash if there is a need for a sacrifice.

The Cult Abomination can use its Extension Cables to move precious units out of position and help the Electro-Priests get the charge, and the Cable Whips double its attacks in case the enemy is larger or lighter. There are seven Tech-Priests in the force so keeping it under control should be easy.

The smaller unit of 11 Machine Cultists sits back with the Missile Launcher, which can use the Signum to fire at BS 5, and the Twin-Linked Lascannon on the Cult Abomination is another useful high ender for a tough model.

The Tech-Priest Magos is also flexible and can either give the smaller unit more staying power and help out with the Plasmagun, or move forward and boost the assault force with the Combat Enhancements.

The models with Cult Bionics are fairly tough, most of all against light arms, which should help get the Electro-Priests get where they're going, and better yet the seven Tech-Priests get a bonus to the roll for being part of the Necrenius faction. The two Cult Standards give some psychic defence across the force to anyone with a line of sight.

It looks a lot of fun to play, with plenty for the player to do even at 624 points. More power to Lantz, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I recommend a good look through the pdf.

(5) Quite_Thor (Grey Knights)

Inquisitor D'Eath looked at her chipped nail polish and smiled. She had come to look for a Xeno incursion, discreetly arrayed with the trinkets of a long life in service to the Emperor. Sadly, they had caught her in the tunnels, screened from contact with the Battle Barge overhead. Now the gloating fool had placed her in the open to wait for his "pets". No-one, Xeno or human, used that term in quite that tone unless the beasts were gigantic.

Her smile broadened. Justicar Hunter and his team were looking like a better choice for back-up than she could have hoped. Best to not admit anything but frightening prescience.

"Justicar, if you and your team would care to join me? Loaded for bear if you please and I will have my sword and pistol."

In fact, she strongly suspected the taint of Chaos. Could they be so foolish as to keep daemons? She rather thought they might at that!

The inquisitor started to laugh in delight as Justicar Hunter and his Terminators began to materialise behind her...

So, I bring you the Grey Knights codex. Who else but an Ordo Xenos inquisitor would be in this situation? Who else would pull her out but the Knights?

HQ - Ordo Xenos Inquisitor (118pts).
Lvl 1 Psychic power (Hammerhand)
Power armour, Rad grenades, Psychotroke grenades, Force weapon, needle pistol, Ulumeathi Plasma Syphon (What, I had points to spare!)

Troops
10 Grey Knight Terminators (495 points)
2 x pyscannons, psybolt ammo, 4 x halberds, 4 x swords, 2 x hammers, Brotherhood Banner


Why? Well, the list does not have to beat the other lists here, it needs to eat monstrous creatures and potentially assault infantry (small beasts) for breakfast. I bring you 8 rending S7 and 14 AP5 S5 at 24". I bring you 3 attacks each with a bunch of Halberds and two shots for Hammerhand. I bring you terminator armour and 4 guys with 4++ in close combat from the Nemesis Force Swords and, most of all, I bring you all the grenade shenanigans that can be brought as well as a needle pistol for some extra wounds in close.

Teri-bad against mechanised infantry, the absolute bomb against high toughness assault beasts.

Also, if those are daemons on the other side of that door, the Grey Knight fluff is going to start looking plausible!

codex: chaos legions / rumour comment

Bell of Lost Souls posted a small set of codex: chaos legions rumours from ghost21.  Whilst its very early days in the rumour cycle to say what is true or false, this one caught my eye:

"khornate chrono gladiators"

...What The?  Where does "chrono" come in to things?  Khornate gladiators, sure.  But why are they associated with "time" specifically?

Other highlights for me included "minor chaos powers" being in there and dark mechanicus.  But to be honest, all of the rumours presented sound juicy to me!  Exciting times.

Necrons of Verdus Prime revisited

A long time ago, I purchased a box of necrons with the explicit purpose of using the parts for conversion work. Although my conversions with them have been limited (see: 1, 2), I did end up assembling a whole squad (or perhaps killteam) of them and painted them up in Verdus Prime colours.

The idea for Verdus Prime originally came from the Dawn of War computer game wherein that faction of necrons appealed to me due to their colours and ease of identification on the battlefield. I still like the colour scheme, but painting white still holds problems for many people; including myself. I recently had a go at doing white properly for a long-barrelled marine miniature and was happy with the outcome.  But for the necron, the white is pretty solid and makes for a stark contrast with the darker, silvered parts.  Moreover, the oily streaks that I've added to all of these Verdus Prime necrons accentuates and, indeed, feeds off the sharp white colour of the necron's colours.  For the eyes, I tried to use blood red to give them a grim-determination terminator style look.  In a number of my images, this feature is lost as the colour gets washed out by the brilliance of the white in the colour balance.  The necron symbol / rune in the centre of the chest is picked out with a goblin green colour.

For the Gauss barrel, I wanted for something a little more original than gluing the green plastic in to place.  So, I painted dark green in erratic strokes along its length to give the impression of energy coursing through it and ready to erupt at the terminal end.  Since the barrel is transparent, it is easy to see the strokes on the opposite side and therefore the adage of "less is more" applied to this process. Moreover, the barrel has the benefit of looking different depending on the angle that the observer views it from -- this aspect appealed to me greatly in the final result. 

But should I turn my small killteam of necrons in to a full-blown army now that the new codex: necrons have come out?  Hmmmmmmm.

Do Blight Drones Work with Epidemius?

Blight drones are produced by Forge World with rules published separately.  They are supposed to be created in the image of, and possessed by Nurgle.  Significantly, they're about the only viable fast attack choice for an Epidemius Army and add some much needed firepower to it.

But here is the twist.  Codex: chaos daemons states that the Tally of Pestilence that fuels an Epidemius Army only works for models "killed by followers of Nurgle (i.e. any daemon of Nurgle, or model with the Mark of Nurgle)".  Nowhere in the rules for the Blight Drone does it state that is has the Mark of Nurgle, or is explicitly a Nurgle Daemon.  So: do blight drone kills count toward Epidemius' tally?

On the other hand, nowhere in codex: chaos daemons do they explicitly define what models belong to "daemons of Nurgle".  The blight drone could well fall under that category given it is (clearly) possessed by a Nurgle entity.  Comments welcome!

Reminder: November 2011 Army List Challenge

The November Army List Challenge is still open for entries.  In particular, there are no new codex: necrons entries yet ;)

Can you come up with a themed list to take on the challenge and win the kudos, honour and votes of your peers?  Good luck!

Mindshackle Scarabs and Kharn the Betrayer

Here's a question for you.  I'm running Kharn the Betrayer as one of my HQ choices.  He's a nasty Khorne guy who really doesn't mind from where the blood flows -- just so long as it flows.  In close combat there's a chance he'll hit his own allies.

Mindshackle scarabs in the new necron rules are an interesting entry.  Fail a Ld test on 3d6 and the enemy strikes their own allies.  How does this interact with "the Betrayer" rule?  It is stated that the scarabs can use all the "bonuses" the model already has -- is "the Betrayer" rule a bonus?  

The rules as written and common sense say that all of Kharn's attacks go against his allies if he's affected by the scarabs.  But ... could "the Betrayer" rule simply get inverted?

Note to Self: True Cost of Summoned Greater Daemons

This topic has already been talked about extensively elsewhere, but I wanted to briefly add my own notes-to-self on this blog for my own purposes in listbuilding (at least prior to Codex: Chaos Legions). 

Since Greater Daemons require a champion of chaos in order to be able to come on to the board (summoned), the true cost of a greater daemon is not simply the (frankly attractive looking) 100 points, but 100 plus at least 30 (1xCSM, upgraded to champion).  In all likelihood, the champion(s) will be equipped with something a bit more effective than harsh language, such as a power fist.  Hence the greater daemon might "cost" something more like 155+ points.

In my Death Guard armies, I employ plague champions with power fists regularly (63 points).  This really bumps up the points cost of the greater daemon to something more comparable to those found in codex: daemons (but without the cool rules associated with them).  But by employing multiple champions, the chance of getting a greater daemon to where its most needed is increased.

When I use summoned greater daemons, I now think of them as being chaos champions that change form at some point during the game.  This helps me visualize them a bit better and their capabilities.  Doing this for a starting player is hard though -- I used to find myself getting locked-in on thinking of them as champions only and seeing the greater daemon as something separate entirely.

Long Barrel Marine

Following on from the earlier long-barrelled bolter conversion, this is a standard space marine painted up in white (bone?) armour with purple trim carrying the aforementioned long-barrelled bolter.  The painting scheme doesn't follow any particular marine chapter that I'm aware of -- I simply wanted to test out how well (or not) purple went with white.

To paint the white, I followed a prescription inspired by Ron at From the Warp (cf. Death Wing).  Much of my painting style is sloppy -- largely a result of too many Nurglesque miniatures.  Whilst I feel competent with greens, blues and reds (and various shades therein), white (and indeed, yellow) has always been a problem for me.  So, why not try a bit of white painting for a change and see if I can't develop it along a little bit?  This miniature features a dheneb stone basecoat followed by a series of washes on top of steadily more diluted layers.  In adding the layers on top of each other, I've left a black gap around the white to accentuate the feeling of the white.  The purple is not an easy colour for me either -- the highlighting inparticular is not terrific here, but I gave it a go.  Although I've not added any weathering to the miniature, I did have a small dab at adding some battle-damage to the mix in a few places -- particularly around joints.  The bolter is the simplistic part of this painting, being a pair of silver colours.  The overall effect is pleasing and serves as a nice proof-of-concept for such long-barrelled marines.

November 2011 Army List Challenge

This month's Army List Challenge is a guest-issued challenge from an idea provided by CodyJ.

You represent the HQ choice of your army, but you've been captured by a Xenos race and thrown in to an arena.  The Xenos scum are going to watch you be butchered by many of their "pets".  Luckily for you, you have a teleport homing device / amulet of chaos / pocket webway portal (delete as appropriate) which will allow a small number of your comrades to come to your aid.  You do not know what "pets" will be coming through the Xenos' gates though.  Should you bring 60 of the Boyz, or just a few elite terminators?

Rules.

(1) Design a 625 point army list to take on this challenge.  You may only spend 125 points on your (singular) HQ choice (representing YOU in the arena...!) and 500 points on everything else (NB you do not need to purchase a teleport homer or equivalent -- you are assumed to have that).  You may not take vehicles (anything with an armour value) or special characters (including unit upgrades such as the Changeling).  You are further limited to a maximum of one slot in the Force Organization Chart for every type of unit apart from Troops selections.

(2) Post your army lists as a comment to this posting and explain why the army list is effective and is themed to the scenario.

(3) Entries close at 01:00 GMT on November 14th.
(4) On that same day, I'll open a poll for Warpstone Flux readers to judge which army list they consider to be the "most effective army list that also best articulates the theme" (whatever readers interpret that to mean) out of all entrants.
(5) The winner will be tallied and announced on November 21st (and entered in to the hall of fame!).
(6) One entry per person please.

Good luck!

The Rise of Chaos in 6th Ed.

Like many chaos and daemons players, I'm very much looking forward to 6th Edition W40k.  If the rumours are to be believed, then Chaos in general will have a much larger role to play in the next edition of the game.  

This rise might represent a general re-focusing of the game by the designers.  That is, of course, welcome.  But here's another thought (or rather: guess) that I'd like to put out there.  The Emperor is dead.  Considering that the plotline of the Grim Dark Future was enhanced in the previous core rules by stating the Golden Throne is / has gone wrong and is un-repairable, this may not be a totally outrageous proposition.  Is it going to be true? ... probably not!  So here's an alternative: Abaddon's success rate improves after 12 attempts...  Anyone else with alternative background reasons for the rise of the importance of chaos in 6th, please leave a comment!

One way or another, the prospect is enticing for the rise in the importance of chaos in 6th Edition ;)

C'Tan Shards and Thoughts on the Necron Release

The necrons are available for pre-order at GW now.  Overall, its looking like the necrons are receiving a well-deserved upgrade coupled with a slight re-boot (nay: retcon?).  The firepower that the necrons promise to be able to pump out sounds great.  Although I've not seen the codex or the unit costings, the new necrons certainly look like a formidable foe. Perhaps it is time for me to dust off my old Verdus Prime necrons once again?

Whilst some things appear (on the surface) to be missing (Wraiths, Tomb Spiders), the new models looks great and the prices are largely in-line with recent releases.  The necrons gain new transports which appear to be highly versatile and fire-power deadly (and indeed, the background emphasizes that the necrons were once masters of arcane technologies).  But the one thing that struck me most was the re-written background for them, as exemplified by the "C'Tan shards".

It appears that the necrons will no longer be the effective slaves of the C'Tan, but more in control of their own (soulless; robotic) destiny.  The C'Tan are described as "Shards" -- broken bits of their former selves.  In game terms, they feel like a greater daemon, with two must-buy special powers to make them a bit more unique.  I'm looking forward to reading the new codex rules here.  But in terms of background, the necrons (have now) rebelled against the C'Tan after the War in Heaven (agains the Old Ones) instead of still being pawns of the C'Tan.  After that, they went to sleep (for reasons not adequately presented in the updated GW background on their website ... I hope the codex presents a coherent argument for that!).  And 60+ million years later, they're now awaking to re-take the galaxy and  bring it back under their heel.  

I am a bit more taken with this re-write than the previous necron codex.  Somehow, it sits a lot better with me than the old kill everything to make the warp quiet plotline they used to have.  But I suspect I could be in a minority.

40k Movement / Coherency Trays

A new product from Back2Basix: 40k coherency trays.  The idea behind them is simple enough: not only do these trays help with moving large numbers of ground troops in a quick and simple manner (especially if you're a tyranid horde player for instance), but they also spread out your troops to a maximum coherency.  The obvious reason to do this is to minimize damage from incoming template and blast weaponry.  But if the infantry need to leave the tray to get inside a building, they can also do that readily as well.  Different trays are available (5, 10 or individual models) which makes for maximum flexibility. Hence if a fixed formation doesn't appeal, an equal number of individual trays would be perfect.

Is this a legal play aid?  Well, I can't see any direct rules against them (unless I'm missing something), and they'll help speed up the movement phase for horde players.  I don't think I'd be bothered to play against such innovations, as it is what good players aim (and mostly succeed) to do anyway.  And moreover, the trays can readily be painted up to the same quality as fantasy movement tray analogues which would probably look great.  I'm tempted to get a few and see what they're like to play with.

Large Planetary and Mighty Empires Map

As my readers will know, I've been painting various Planetary Empires and Mighty Empires tiles on-and-off for a long time now, with a variety of painting techniques and terrain styles implemented.  

This is one of my larger maps that I stuck together recently.  

I think the overall aerial view is neat, and I'm especially pleased with the green tiles nearer the bottom half of the image. Considering that they were painted over the course of months (nay: years!), the manner in which they run on from one another is great.  

I'm tempted to get back to these tiles and paint a few more up now that I've convinced myself that the end result can look this good in the end.

Chaos Marine with Melee Weapon Conversion: Concept and Painting

This chaos space marine is an exploration of a melee weapon conversion.  The melee weapon comes from a fantasy sprue for the upper portion and pummel, and a wire wrapped around a long section of paper clip for the upper grip.  This gives the impression of a hand-and-a-half sword for the space marine.  Perhaps he will drop the plasma gun and grip the weapon in a two handed fashion before charging in to close combat?

The painting of the miniature doesn't follow a particular legion or chapter scheme.  Instead, it follows a kind of chaos ultramarine pattern: blue for the large part of the armour, coupled with white for accents and shoulder trim.  The hand-and-a-half sword was painted with a bronze grip to offset the blue colours of the miniature and help it stand out.  The eyes and plasma of the plasma gun are picked out in red with subtle orange highlights applied.  Meanwhile, the base is a combination of medium sized rock grit scattered amongst green flock and painted cork.  Overall, I'm pleased with the outcome of this test miniature and I'm thinking of replicating it for special units or characters (squad leaders at any rate) for other chaos space marines.

Infernal Device

Forgeworld recently published rules for the Land Raider Proteus.  Part of those rules that caught my eye was the infernal device entry for chaos versions of the land raider.  In short, it is the analogue of the Imperial power of the machine spirit.  It allows one more weapon to be fired than would be permitted (given the speed of the vehicle), potentially at a different target, and allows a single weapons to be fired even if the vehicle has been whacked with a crew shaken/stunned result.  

I suspect (hope!) that this is a foreshadow of things to come for chaos space marines.

Winner of the October 2011 Army List Challenge

The percentages for the October 2011 Army List Challenge were as follows:

Ming from B&C (Space Marines/Pedro)	13 (40%)
Torgrimm (Chaos Space Marines)	8 (25%)
Hendrick (Imperial Guard)	3 (9%)
Cody J (Dark Eldar)	8 (25%)

Which means that Ming from B&C is the winner!  Congratulations mate!

There will be another contest next month... stay tuned.