A Couple of Battle Reports

Hey there my fellow mutants, heretics, and traitors. Old Man Chaos is back with another exciting blog post... wait... do I hear snoring? Ok- so maybe I think my posts are more exciting than they actually are. But hey, its my blog, so I can think what I want. Tough audience...

Anyways, I have been fortunate to have the time to play at my local store. I have been going more frequently than I used to- I am now playing once a week, give or take. That is more than I have played in a long time, and I have learned so much about 6th edition, and my own armies, in particular. I have also had a blast. Win lose or draw, the games have been fun, frantic, and fast paced. I also learned to hate Centurions (lethal to Marines and such... I'll have to swamp them with zombies when I have the chance).

For the past two weeks, I have played against Frank "the tank". Or rather, Frank "the drop pod". Frank plays Space Wolves, and he plays them like I have never seen. He has their special characters all in ONE SQUAD. They are the ultimate killers, ready to take on just about anybody (Logan, Njal, and Arjac, plus two terminators for good measure). Frank also uses the Thunderwolf cavalry to great effect. Oh, and he drops his guys down in drop pods.


So, as I said, I played 2 games with Frank. The first game I played against him with my Khorne Bezerkers, led by Kharn himself. The game was a ton of fun, and filled with a lot of back and forth throughout (a tense and close game is just the way I like it- very exciting).

I discovered that Space Wolves are more than equal to Khorne Bezerkers. I had a very very tough time with his Thunderwolves in particular. Since Bezerkers only get +1 S on the charge only (thanks Codex nerf), I simply didn't have the strength to tear through them (that's what they did to me). His Thunderwolves killed everything they ran into pretty much. His magic also did a number on my Heldrake. Ugh.

I gave as good as I got though. There was an epic duel in which Kharn went toe to toe with Logan- and they killed each other at the same time! Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows, as long as it flows, I suppose. I ultimately won due to linebreaker, but it was just too damn close.

Then, we decided to play again in 2 weeks... he would tweak his Space Wolf list, but he wanted to face off against my Plague Marines. I decided that I would take a very different list from what I'm used to though. I took Typhus and 75 zombies (3 squads) for a start. I figured I would just try to swamp his units and drown them in flesh eating undead. I also copied something a Space Marine player did against me- I took 3 Dreadnoughts (excuse me, Hellbrutes) with Lascannon and bolter/cc weapon. I had two squads of 5 Plague Marines each with 2 Rhinos. Finally, I had the requisite Heldrake, and I decided to take a Vindicator (shouldn't they call it a "Hell-dicator" just too keep up the Hell theme?). But that left me a lot of points shy of 2000. So, I chose to take Deamonic allies. 14 Plaguebearers and a juicy Great Unclean One, complete with a Greater and Exalted Gift (which I rolled Unholy- allowing me to re-roll failed inv svs- excellent).

The game was afoot, with the mission being the Emperor's Will. I placed my zombies all over my board edge- with Typhus and a squad of zombies on the objective, placed near the center of my deployment zone. With the tanks and hellbrutes filling in the rest of the spots, he was unable to drop the pods BEHIND me, as he did last game. However, dropping them in front of me proved to be almost as disasterous. His Longfangs and Rune Priest took pot shots at my Dreadnoughts, destroying one the first turn, the next turn (the 3rd was safely on the other side of the board, and was OK).

In my turn, I fired a lot at his HQ killer squad, to little effect. They even made their inv svs against the demolisher cannon (which I fired waaaay too clost to Typhus, luckily no drift). My 3rd dread destroyed his Rhino, stranding his 10 men on the far side of the board (too far from their objective, but nowhere near the action). I moved one Rhino the left flank, while my other Rhino unloaded its men and they shot at the HQ killer squad (again, no effect). My left flank zombies moved up (with the Rhino). Typhus and the zombies charged the triple threat HQ squad and challenged Arjac. Neither fell in the first round, and zombies died, but the 2 terminator guards were taken down.

Turn 2, his other drop pod comes down, behind the zombies I had advanced- which at this point was fine with me, as the zombies couldn't make it to his objective opposite the field, and Typhus would need all of the zombies at his disposal- better to concentrate all the heavy action on my end so I could respond faster and time him down. His Longfangs killed the 2nd dread, and destroyed the vindicator (damn split fire). Then, it was combat time. Typhus and Arjac continued to piss each other off but couldn't land the killing blow, while Logan seemed reluctant to kill any zombies. Meanwhile, the Thunderwolves charged my Plague Marines. They had been able to run through my Bezerkers in the last game, but with the Plague Marine toughness of 5 and blight grenades denying them their +1A on the charge, the wolves only managed to kill 2 Marines.

At the bottom of turn 2, all my reserves arrived. My Heldrake clawed at his drop pod squad at the back, then moved and torched his retreating Rhino squad, killing a handful. My Plaguebearers arrived, but scattered very far away- and into difficult terrain, and 3 died! Bad luck, but since I had the instrument and banner, I brought in the Unclean One 6" from them- still far, but he could reach the Thunderwolves in a turn or 2. I continued to move the Rhino up the left flank, being protected by the Heldrake now (and my dread was still available to cover them too). Speaking of, I pivoted my dread to fire at the rear drop pod squad, and then they were charged by my zombies. Meanwhile, my last zombie squad charged the Thunderwolves, now ensuring that they would be tied up for a while too. Now, all 3 zombie squads were in combat. Unfortunately, at this juncture, Typhus got killed. So Frank now had First Blood (the first dread) and now slay the warlord, and Linebreaker too. However, his Thunderwolves, drop pod squad, and HQ killers were all tied up in an endless tide of the undead.

Turn 3 was the "turning point", ultimately. Frank made a tactical mistake early on (I made plenty myself- leaving my dreads and vindicator far too exposed, just for example). He left NO troops with HIS objective. It was in a ruin, with his Longfangs/Rune Priest on the roof. At this point Frank began to realize what I was doing. With 3/4 of his army fighting zombies, I was racing the Rhino to his objective. And, covered by the Heldrake, this would be a real problem for him. He moved his ex-Rhino squad near the ruin. Meanwhile, he split his Longfang fire- he shot at my GUO- and he mocked them with his re-roll of inv svs. He also fired at the Heldrake. Even with the casting of prescience, he could not roll the 6s that he needed. That was where it ultimately hinged- he should have hit the Rhino instead- it would have meant that my Plague Marines would have been stranded a bit too far out to get to his objective. His combat was more of the same as before- he killed handfuls of zombies, but they took a few of his guys down too (even whittled down one of the Thunderwolves). In my 3rd, I pressed forward with my plan. The Heldrake burned his whole Longfang squad, with only the Rune priest surviving. But not for long- my 3rd dreadnought fired his twin las and vaporized him- great shot. Now all that remained was the ex Rhino squad near the objective. I also advanced my GUO and he charged the Thunderwolves- killing their leader (he was a character too I think... too many characters). They finished off the last Plague Marine, but the zombies held on. The zombie slaughter continued, but Arjac fell to them. Finally, the drop pod squad was slowly being wiped out (his squad leader just couldn't get enough attacks).

Turn 4, Frankie had his ex-rhino guys at the objective, ready to fight any interloper. The close combat went on in my zone, BUT- his HQ squad killed the last zombie in that assault- this was a problem for me, as they could go and tip the balance of either of the other 2 combats. The Thunderwolves continued to suffer against the GUO. But- in a bit of great luck, the drop pod squad bit the dust, and the zombies did feast- and they were free to move in my turn. In my half, my Heldrake did the only thing it could- it incinerated the last of the ex Rhino squad. Now my Rhino had a clear path and parked near the objective. My now unengaged zombie squad moved toward MY objective. The GUO and Thunderwolves continued to hurt one another, but this combat wasn't going anywhere.

Turn 5, Frank split his HQ squad up, sending Njal after my zombies, with his spell/effect electrocuting some of them, but not enough. Meanwhile, he had Logan charge the GUO- and it was another battle of attrition. In my half, I pulled my men out of the Rhino, and claimed his objective. I had my zombies move in toward my objective, but Njal was close enough to contest- my dread had fired at him, but couldn't pull off the same miracle twice, and Njal's inv sv shrugged the las shot off.

The fight was over. I won, 4 to 3. He had slay, linebreaker, and first blood. I had 3 for his objective and linebreaker. The game was intense, and just one different choice by Frank's longfangs could have changed the whole game. It was a blast to play, and both participants were good sports and honorable warriors.

Frank is a great player and a strong painter. His Thunderwolves look amazing, complete with the snow effect base. I can't wait to see him paint the rest of his army. And, Frank has challenged me to another fight- he wants his Grey Knights to go against my Daemons. I think he just wants revenge, but how can I refuse? Haha! That will be a heck of a battle!

Until next time...

Movie Revews 2 for 1: Gravity and Machete Kills

Hey there Chaos disciples! Old Man Chaos is back again with another posting. Don't worry, I've been doing my modeling like a good 40K fanatic, and I am looking forward to showing my new stuff as soon as its done. In any event, I managed to see 2 movies this past week. One was a sequel that I have been looking forward to, and the other is a sci-fi movie that's been getting a lot of buzz. Did they live up to expectations, or did they crash and burn? Let us take a look, as I briefly review them:

Machete Kills

When I saw the Grindhouse double feature several years back, I was excited to see what Tarantino and Rodriguez had to offer, as I am a fan of both their work. Ultimately, I was disappointed by Death Proof- its not a bad movie, and has a great car chase scene in the 2nd half of the movie, but I just didn't care for it overall- certainly the weakest from Tarantino's incredibly strong filmography. On the other hand, I really enjoyed Planet Terror- a zombie movie filled with good natured cliches, good scares, and some cool special effects. Plus, it had knockout performances from Josh Brolin, Rose McGowan, Michael Beihn and Jeff Fahey, and I love the "missing reel". Hahaha. But, the best part of the whole enterprise was the "mock teasers", including one for a character called Machete. Now, I was all over that- what a great concept, and a well set up trailer. When Rodriguez said he was going to make a real movie from it, I was thrilled. When my brother and I saw Machete, it certainly had flaws, but I loved it. The action was over the top but bloody, the acting was top notch (Cheech Marin versus Tom Savini- I'm there), and there were political overtones (obvious, but there in an interesting, in your face way) and some clever political commentary. Of course, there was Danny Trejo himself, giving it his all as this insane character. I loved this movie, flaws and all.

So, that brings us to Machete Kills. I was excited for this, and the casting seemed to confirm that this would be something special. And then... I saw the damn thing. This movie was a train wreck, pure and simple. I know that Rodriguez wanted to "defy expectations", but this... was just the wrong way to do it. The humor was absolutely STUPID (President Rathcock. Seriously- Rathcock- that was the cleverest name they could come up with). The action beats were weak and uninteresting. The characters are totally wasted, with threads being brought up and then forgotten about when convenient (and I am furious over what they did to Tom Savini. When I heard he was coming back, I wanted Machete to get revenge on Osiris, but that ain't what we got. At all). An overly complicated plot that was nowhere near as political OR clever as the original. Finally, the movie veered off into sci-fi (yes, you read that right)- but as it veered off there, it began to play as an AUSTIN POWERS SPOOF!! Yes- it felt like a riff on Austin Powers. WTF?!?! Basically, this sucked. Big time. Rarely have I been so disappointed in a movie.

The only redeeming value was the actors. It was clear to me that these guys and gals were giving it all they had. Mel Gibson makes for a good bad guy (forget whatever you think of him personally), he never goes too far over the top, and his eyes show that he absolutely believes in his mad scheme. Demian Bechir on the other hand is perfectly over the top for his warlord with a split personality. Michelle Rodriguez is back as She, and does a great job, as before. Sofia Vegara is also a good foil for the stoic Machete. Then there is Danny Trejo, who IS this character, and he wants this to be great- but I could see it in his eyes- he knew that this script sucked. He gave his all but he knew the truth- nothing he could do would save this movie.

Ultimately, this was bad. It felt like Scary Movie was trying to spoof Austin Powers. That is NOT what Machete is about. I'm giving this a half mark of chaos (and the half was only earned by the actors who tried their damnedest to make this work). Ugh. At least I'll always have the first Machete. Now, perhaps, someone will make a drinking game for this move to make it bearable (but I don't drink, so...). Its a damn shame.

Gravity

This will be a shorter review, because it doesn't have the baggage of Machete for me. Basically, this is a sci-fi movie (kind of) in the best possible way. On the surface, it is about a space mission that goes wrong, but it is much more than that. Its about surviving in a hostile world/universe, in which just about everything can kill you.
A space shuttle and crew is repairing the Hubble Telescope. They are headed up by Kowalsky (George Clooney) and Stone (Sandra Bullock). In the midst of the repair, debris suddenly hurtles its way toward them, doing catastrophic damage to the shuttle. Now, Kowalsky and Stone are on their own- floating in space, desperate to survive in the vacuum of space.

I don't want to say too much more, as I feel this movie should be experienced by yourself and without me blabbing. The special effects are quite frankly, stunning, as is the cinematography (if this doesn't win Oscars in the technical categories, it'll be a crime and a half). You FEEL like you are in space, every step of the way- it looks so vast, that man is just a spec in its darkness. It's amazing. But, the story is compelling too. While it is a primal survival tale, its also a meditation on how people cope, how they survive in a bleak world/universe. Space is beautiful, but oh so deadly- how can we survive in this place? But, more importantly, how can we conquer our fears? Kowalsky and Stone represent two views on this, and it is fascinating to watch this "debate" play out over the movie.

You need to see this movie in 3D Imax if at all possible. This is a movie that these formats are made for. It is well worth the extra ticket price- and this is from a guy that usually hates 3D. The movie is just a sight to behold, and you need to see it on the biggest screen possible.

I give it 4 out of 4 marks of chaos.  My wife and I both loved it, and the images will stick with you long after the movie ends.

Some New World Eater Stuff

Hey there everybody! Welcome back to the latest edition of Chaos Corner. I have been a bit busy at work, but I think I'll be back a bit more often now, as the hustle is starting to ease up a bit. Further, I have been doing some more gaming at my local store. I have played 3 times within the past 5 weeks- not too bad.

So, a couple of weeks ago I was playing against a Noise Marine force in what was one of the most brutal games I have ever played- neither of us had any men left, believe it or not! Holy cow- I know now never to underestimate Emperor's Children (at least, if you are playing Khorne- my Plague Marines would have an easier time with T5 and FNP, but the Bezerkers HAD to get in close).

So, after that match up, someone I had played previously threw down the gauntlet- I had defeated him last time, and he wanted a rematch, but this time at 2500 points. I actually wasn't sure if I actually have that much for Khorne Bezerkers (it turns out I do). But, I decided early on that I would try to use Khorne Daemon allies as well.

Of course, nothing motivates modeling quite as much as the prospect of a good upcoming game. I decided to do another Maulerfiend. I felt that it was certainly fluffy- close combat monsters rushing toward the enemy lines, with Khorne Bezerkers running right behind them? Oh yeah... that's what I'm talking about!

The only trick was this: I had to finish it within two weeks! I do not like to play with unpainted minis- I think the battle becomes that much more exciting and interesting when both forces are painted up- its dynamic and makes it all that much more fun. Further, this only motivates me to convert and paint my stuff, which makes the entire hobby that much stronger for me (I enjoy both the modeling and the playing, even if I don't play as often as I'd like).

With that less than 2 week deadline in mind, I had to work fast. I unboxed the Maulerfiend that very night and began putting it together. I worked on it late into the night- gluing some, then playing Grand Theft Auto V while it dried, then hit pause and continued to work on the model. I was laboring on it into the wee hours of the night, then again in the morning.

While assembling, I knew that I wanted it to look like the previous one, but also different at the same time. First, I used the other set of rear legs than I did with the previous one, thus giving him a different stance. It is unfortunate that you can't pose the Maulerfiend quite that much- he stands on 3 legs and the 4th claw is open- I love the model, but I wish there was more variety in posing.

So, I had to do some add on conversions. First off, I decided to show what this thing was capable of doing- killing and destroying everything in its path. So, I put 2 poor Imperial Guardsmen with my Maulerfiend. One is being literally crushed underfoot. Ewww-- gooey. The other poor soul is being eaten by the Maulerfiend- the Ectoplasam mouth was perfect to put the victim in. I used zombie and skellaton parts to add some gore.

Then, just to add some more gravy, I put a Khorne Bezerker on the neck, as if riding the massive daemon engine. I used chains from the Dark Eldar (the Chaos chains weren't long enough). I then added a head and arm from the Forsaken from Fantasy, just to set him apart from other Bezerkers (and add a bit more variation from what was going to be a really large red model). Finally, I decided not to do lasher tendrils, and opted for magma cutters instead.

Once assembled and spray painted (thanks to my long night session, I was able to spray it in less than 14 hours).  Now, to paint it. Once again, I wanted it to be similar yet different enough from the first. I made the red just a bit darker by not going as heavy on the P3 red ink. The rest was pretty much standard on how I did the last one (various brasses for the metals, blue for the warp energy, and lots of brighter red for the splashes of blood).

I managed to finish it just in time for the game. It was great to take to the field with a new beast, freshly painted. My plan was to run both Maulerfiends forward, and watch them wreck havoc. Only... that didn't happen. The one Maulerfiend was destroyed in the first turn of Black Templar shooting. I was so sad about it. Alas, such is the plans of mice and men and bezerkers...

The rest of the battle was insane. Khorne would be pleased, as the blood was flowing in all directions. I was very annoyed by the Stern Guard that dropped in by my lines with their "various" ammo types. My Bezerkers did cull them, but only after a fierce fight. My 2nd Maulerfiend got up to the enemy Land Raider, but only took a hull point out of it. The tank then left the assault, so that an Ironclad dread could take the Maulerfiend out. My Heldrakes came in blazing, and seriously wrecked the majority of my opponents troops, but his Stalker did take determined shots at the 'drakes. Yet, my Land Raider couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.

My Bloodletters were utterly shot up by the Stormtalon, as there were no real troops available for them to assault, and they were kind of left out there hanging. Meanwhile my Bloodcrushers did cut a bloody swath through a squad of Templars. Now, no objectives were claimed (not enough troops or contested). It came down to a final battle between Kharn and a Chapter Master that had an annoying shield relic thing (3+ In Sv I believe it was). Kharn did damage, but he failed a few Aura of Corruption saves and... he died. When the die roll ended the game, it was 3 to 1 (he had gotten all 3 minors, while I had gotten linebraker).

I know I didn't just give a great battle report, but I just wanted to give an overview. Overall, it was a vicious match, and a bit of great back and forth, just the way I like it. My opponent was quite sportsman-like, and we had a lot of laughs as the die gods mocked both of us throughout the game. We both had a blast, and that is what its all about.

This week coming up I'm going up against Tau at 2000 points (I have never played a full on game with their new book). I know my opponent is going to take a Riptide (I saw his army as he saw mine while we were fighting other opponents)... any advice for this humble Khorne Bezerker?

Until next time...

A brief diatribe on Codex: Space Marines and Codex: Chaos Space Marines

Hello once again, my friendly neighborhood chaos worshipers! Sorry that I have been away for so long- work has been really busy, and I have hardly had time to sit and paint, let alone write on the blog. It didn't help that Grand Theft Auto 5 came out and sucked up what little remained of my free time. Oh boy. At any rate, I felt moved to write on the blog today about two intertwining issues- the newly minted Codex: Space Marines and naturally, the ongoing "issues" with the Chaos Codex.

Could this be the real appearance of The Emperor of Mankind?

The new Space Marine Codex is an amazing book. It is not exaggeration to say that this is an incredible looking book. It is so well put together, great art, great fluff- fantastic, as a matter of fact. The best thing about this Codex is that they back away from it being "Ultramarines plus some other guys" and they really broaden it to "All Space Marines". They focus on the original loyalists, with each having their own section, as well as some great bits about the successor chapters. You really feel the weight of millennia of history, with great deeds and enormous sacrifice from all the chapters of the Adeptus Astartes. The entire presentation of the book is just beautiful and awe-inspiring- this is the new high water mark that all other future books will be held up to.

The Emperor used Brock's DNA as the basis of the Primarchs. That makes a lot of sense, actually.

But, what of the rules? A pretty book is nice and all, but its nothing if it doesn't have the rule set to make it worthwhile. Again, I have never been a WAAC player, but I have always wanted to be "competitive". Again, the Codex is really good here as well- a Space Marine army is quite formidable. Any Space Marine list could be worthy- they are not overpowered, but will certainly provide a challenge- basically, it is a very balanced book, with strengths and weaknesses. Best of all, the book has a ton of options. First, you must designate what chapter you are (or successor from), which automatically gives you special abilities. Now, all the major chapters are represented, and in a clever way. Plus, you can ally with another chapter of Space Marines! The new units are quite solid- the Centurions are tough (in either form), while the Hunter/Stalker will come in handy with all the flyers running around nowadays. Basically, this book is a really good book- you can make the Space Marine army of your dreams here.

"Now... how do we destroy the Space Marines..."?

There are some problems here though for those that will oppose the Space Marines. I have already seen articles online with people using loopholes with the allies rule ("So an Iron Hands librarian joins a Raven Guard unit and thereby they all gain everybody else's abilities..." ugh. Can a Khorne Lord join a Plague Marine unit and thus he gets a bump in toughness and they get Rage... come now. Let's be real). My other big concern is people who don't paint their models. It will be very difficult to tell which grey marine represents which chapter, and shenanigans will ensue. Even worse, I bet many players will not WANT to paint their Space Marines, so that would lock them in as "Ultramarines"... thus we may get armies that are painted generic black, and each game they will "represent" someone different- this game it's white scars, next game its black templars... Again, that's like saying my Plague Marines are going to be Thousand Sons... we Chaos players have NEVER really been keen to do that, for the most part. For Chaos traitors, we are awfully loyal to our legions.

Overall, I think the Space Marine Codex is phenomenal. While there is some opportunity for mischief (and modeling laziness), the book is a fantastic book. The highest praise I can give is that it makes me want to dust off my Ultramarines (which I haven't done in a long time). It won't be next week though, as I am scheduled to go up against a vast Black Templar force with my insane Khorne Bezerkers. After that, perhaps.

Now, what about the continued rumblings about the current Chaos Codex? If you have read this site before you know my views- this book is NOT broken. It has quite a few weaknesses, but it is viable, and I say this as both a Plague Marine player (easy and tough) and a Khorne player (much, much trickier, to the point where I have had people look at me incredulously- "A Bezerker army? Are you crazy?! That doesn't work anymore..."). The book does work. We Chaos lunatics always want more (and why shouldn't we, damn it!).

However, in light of the Codex Space Marine release, I can certainly see where people are coming from. I just read another post HERE that shows how the Chaos book could be tweaked using what was done in the SM book as a guide (no, he does not suggest taking "Raven Guard" and substituting Night Lords instead). He makes several valid arguments and suggestions, so check that out if you feel so inclined. Again, I think our book is viable, but I can't quite argue against these ideas either. Just something to ruminate on.

Well, that's my two cents. I'll try to put up a battle report from next week's game when it happens. I am also nearing completion on some Chaos Cultists and a few more surprises. I promise that it won't be a month till my next post.

Until next time...

Is Chaos In a State Of...Chaos? Looking At 6th Edition Chaos a Year In...

Hey there Chaos worshipers great and small, haughty and humble. Old Man Chaos here with a bit of an "op-ed" piece, as it were. I recently read an interesting article on Bell of Lost Souls and a bit more emotional, but no less interesting article on Spikey Bits regarding the state of Chaos Space Marines in the 6th edition. Both have come to the same conclusion- that 6th Chaos is a wreck- it doesn't have the versatility, lacks legion character/rules, and ultimately looks like its standing still compared to the newer 6th books (even though Chaos is ONLY one year old at this point). I can see where they are coming from, but I am not sure that their alarm is entirely justified... at the moment. I'd like to take a look at these issues for a moment.

1) Representing the Legions- We all love our legions. Its true- these are the ideas, the attitudes, the
visuals, etc. that made us fall for Chaos in the first place. I know so many of us dream of going back to the 3.5 book- which had so much character, imagination, flair, and so much content for those who wished to dedicate themselves entirely to a single legion. While times have changed, I believe that you could still pull it off for the most part. Have the Iron Warriors take allies from Imperial Guard- Leman Russ / Basilisks (traitor guardsmen or whatever for the troops). Word Bearers should team up heavily with Chaos Daemons (or the other way around?). The cult Marines are what they are (more on that later), but can be done. Alpha Legion SHOULD run cultist heavy (that is their nature, no?). The only ones I have a hard time seeing done "right" is Night Lords- not enough jump packs and bikes no matter what. It is my opinion that you could run your legion fairly close to the fluff- it's not perfect but way better than it was.

2) The book should be called Chaos Cultists instead- I for one see nothing wrong with the cultists. They are very cheap but not terrible at all- give them a mark to make them a bit tougher / fulfill the role you want them to. Sometimes power armor ISN'T enough or the correct application in a situation- a group of 25 cultists behind cover and going to ground can be just as survivable as power armor in some cases. It is a numbers game, and cultists are good at that. Further, the idea of cultists and traitors and mutants fit in perfectly with the fluff. Indeed, most of the books and such depict the actual Chaos Space Marine forces as being quite small- instead they have a ton of traitors and mutants and daemons. The recent Blood of Asaheim shows this incredibly well. Eisenhorn and Ravenor didn't fight a ton of Chaos Marines- they fought lower-level traitors and heretics, only rarely was a Chaos Marine involved. Since the old legions have broken into war bands and all that, I think any Chaos incursion would heavily feature cultists. Now, I don't want to play a cultist only army, but the option is there for you to have no cultists or a ton of cultists. That they are effective at holding backfield objectives and this is just fine for game purposes.

3) Just How Many Heldrakes? Now, most people would agree that the Heldrake is the book's one best/most powerful unit. Many opponents actually have a virulent dislike for it, and woe be the person that takes 3 of them (or 4 with the Black Legion supplement)! Now, I have only ever taken one in any game I have played (except against my brother- once). I have one for my Plague Marines and 2 for my Bezerkers, I was originally thinking that the second Khorne one would be for larger games or Apocalypse. But, some factors have recently changed my mind on this score. First, this summer I have met opponents who spammed a ton (I don't count troop choices as spamming, as they ARE the core of the army. If I take 6 troop choices of 5 Khorne Bezerkers each what do you want from me- I'm playing a World Eater army for goodness sakes!).

 I played one guy this summer (in a 1000 point game I believe) who fielded 8 Land Speeders for his Dark Angels (whatever the LS variants are for Dark Angels), with his librarian casting on them. The guy wrecked me, as I had little to counter such prodigious and mobile fire power. At the end of the game he admitted to me that this army list, while powerful, wasn't fun for HIM to play, since all he's doing is moving out of my range, shooting, moving out of my range, etc. He was a nice guy and sportsmanlike player, but he spammed, knew it, and basically said "my list sucks, though it got me the win". How many players have I seen taking 3 Land Raiders ("Marines take Land Raiders. Its fluffy. Deal with it"). Cron Air, anyone? A billion crisis suits and Riptides? Players take strong units- then why is there such anger for someone who takes 2 Heldrakes? With all of this, my thinking on Heldrakes is evolving further, since the Space Marines will have 2 brutal anti-air tanks (more on that later). Perhaps I'll want to take 2 Heldrakes for insurance purposes.-could you blame me, if I know I'll be seeing Stalkers/Hunters? Or perhaps... none?!

4) Is The Maulerfiend...Worth It?  Well, this has been an interesting one for me. I love the
Maulerfiend (it is perfectly suited for the World Eaters). However, it does get targeted... a friggin ton. Indeed, I have not actually seen it be effective, since it always gets shot to pieces. With Armor Value 12 and 3 hull points, it is just begging to be shot and glanced to death. I almost stopped taking it, since it rarely got to a target! However, last week I played against someone else (also using the Dark Angels book, but a much more varied list), and I had put the Mauler in the list after all. He moved his Land Raider forward to get a clear shot at the Maulerfiend- he smiled, figuring he'd just punch through with his Lascannons and then he... whiffed. He missed, even with twin linked. I was stupefied. What happened next? The Maulerfiend charged the Land Raider and blew to straight to hell- clawed his way clean through it. Next turn, he charged through a ruin to get to the guy's Dark Angel squad. He tore through them, and attacked yet another. By the end, he was attacking the squad that was ON the objective, thus contesting. The Maulerfiend single-handed turned a close 5-4 nail-biter of a game to a 5-1 blowout. Now, that got me thinking... 2 Maulerfiends? Hahahaha. I really don't know.

5) The Big Four- here's an issue that's been bugging us for a bit now, getting accurate renditions of the cult marines. Now, the Death Guard are indeed the most vicious out there- you pay for 'em, but their absolute buggers. Khorne Bezerkers are no slouches either (to hell with Overwatch! Charge!). However, Furious Charge no longer gives them +1 Strength (like it used to). Further, they can pay +3 a model for a chainaxe that is AP 4... WTF? That hurts some armies, but... really? Not even +1 Strength...? It ain't worth the 3 points. Thousand Sons have a bit to like (sorcerers in each squad? Cool. AP3 Bolters? Die Space Marines), but they are a bit too costly to field them in any worthwhile numbers. Finally, Noise Marines have some decent abilities, but their weapons are very costly points wise. Those of us who love our Cult Marines have despaired for quite some time that NONE of the other units can actually BE part of their legion. A Death Guard lord that doesn't get... Feel No Pain, Blight Grenades, or Plague Knife? World Eater terminators that don't get furious charge? We all know this old chestnut, and I can only hope that, one day, it might be fixed (but at a points cost so high it may not be worth it).

6) Codex Creep? When the book came out last year, many were very excited (first new book of 6th), and happy with the book. However, there were clearly issues and problems (over
costed Dreadnought HAD to be fixed, for example). The problem came with the next few books- Dark Angels, Tau, Eldar, and now, the hated Space Marines. Each book has been very strong- some argue that they are all better than the Chaos Marine book. Particularly, I look at this- the Heldrake was the premier model for the book, and powerful to boot. So what happened? They gave each book more skyfire options. Mein Gott-  it feels like the whole Tau army has skyfire (they don't, but it feels like it)!! And now the Marines have 2 dedicated anti-air options AND 2 flyers! And what can Chaos Space Marines do about these flyers themselves? Heldrakes can take out other flyers (if they survive the Stalker/Hunters long enough to do anything), and... a Havoc that has a missile launcher and spends MORE points to get flakk and... that's it. Done. That is just poor planning on GW's part. And it DOES put Chaos at a disadvantage. Looking at Tau and Eldar, the Chaos Marine book does look like at times like it is more of a remnant of 5th than a real 6th edition book.
So, it does hurt that the Chaos Marine Codex is a bit slower, "older", and blander than the more recent books.

However, I do not believe that it is the doomsday that others feel it is. I have a few ideas about what Chaos players could do to even the score...

a) Stop taking Heldrakes?! I know that a lot of Space Marine players will be looking for sweet, sweet vengeance against all the baleflamers that burned them this past year. Thus, we can expect to be seeing a lot of Hunters/Stalkers on the tabletop. So, what should we do? Don't take Heldrakes. Let those fancy Hunters sit there and rot- in the new WD Battle Report it killed the Heldrake and pretty much did NOTHING the rest of the game. So when Space Marine players bring out 2 of those things... the joke will be on them- no heldrakes!.

b) Don't forget the Daemon Codex! I still believe that Phil Kelly saw in his mind's eye that the two books should act as one. Allying with Daemons can remedy some of the problems of the Chaos Marine codex. Daemons will make a mockery of the Centurion grav guns. Plague daemons can use poison to get rid of the Centurions in close combat, and not worry about getting shot up on the way to them. Bloodletters with S4 AP 3 Helblades are nasty against most Space Marines. Tzeentch deamons, well... they're screwed (we know that). Fiends of Slaanesh are still vicious. The Soul Grinder does have skyfire, and the Daemon Princes here are nasty (even if a bit pricey). I think the Daemons are a "monkey wrench", to be turned by the Chaos Marines.

c) Get Away from Online Lists! I have never published a list on this blog. Never will. I think of building a list as an art form- suited to each player and their sensibilities. Trial and error, experimenting, taking the units that bring a smile to your face (Dark Angel Land Speeder person did not have "fun," even though he won, and he said it was HIS list that wasn't fun to play, not his opponent or the mission or his codex), that is what it is all about, in my opinion. Those that copy and paste their lists from the internet have a weakness- everyone KNOWS their list. It's common to face a certain amount of X because all the net lists take X. Stop there. Don't copy/paste. Try something different. Something players don't always see. People are shocked when I whip out my Khorne Bezerkers ("CC troops? They don't work in 6th). Truth is, I have a 75/25 record with them this summer, by my reckoning. Opponents are taken by surprise, and thus have to adapt, and can't because they were planning on seeing the usual net list of Heldrakes, Obliterators, and "vanilla" Chaos Marines with a mark. Go for a more personal touch. It makes the game more exciting for you and your opponent.

d) Be Patient. Now look, a lot of Chaos players are looking at new Space Marine book and thinking "I'm screwed". Perhaps so. But I also know that weaknesses WILL be there. It will just take a bit of time to discover them (we can already see that Centurions are vulnerable to Daemons). Further, when the Tyranid and Ork books come out- there's going to be a ton of fun! Marine players will be hard pressed against the Xenos books, if Tau and Eldar are any indication. If the rumors are true, there will also be more supplements for Chaos, which is no bad thing. We just have to hang in there on this front.

To sum up, things are rough for Chaos players, but I do not think that it is THAT bad at all. The sky is not falling. Chaos players just need to adapt. I do agree that the newer codexes are much "fancier" than our book, and that certain things are unfair (Chaos could use more skyfire options, for example). However, Chaos Space Marines still have a lot to offer. No one should be saying that we Chaos players should just pack it in. No way. We must continue our war against the false emperor! Er... you know what I mean.

Until next time.

Brief Review: The World's End

Hey there Chaos maniacs! Hope that these last days of summer are treating you well. So, Mrs. Chaos and I saw The World's End this weekend- the last of the hysterically funny and very clever "Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy". So, did The World's End live up to the reputation of the previous two entries, or is it a shadow of the others? Let's find out...

I saw Shaun of the Dead on its opening weekend. I had no idea who the cast was (Bill Nighy excepted). I went to see it because it had zombies and looked like fun. The movie was just incredible: it was a great comedy, a brilliant satire, a homage, and quality horror/zombie movie in its own right, all at the same time. It pays homage to all the Romero "Dead" troupes, while having great characters, thrilling/scary set pieces, and characters that you love and relate to.

Then came Hot Fuzz. I was certainly in the pocket of Pegg et al at this point. Again, the movie was fantastic. An interesting (and ridiculous) mystery, great cop humor, and a ton of action make Hot Fuzz a worthy successor to Shaun. Now, I liked Shaun more, but that's because I love the zombie stuff. However, Fuzz was amazingly good, the equal of Shaun in every respect.

So, of course, I had high expectations with The World's End. The movie is indeed very funny, and Pegg and company do a fantastic job. However, it is not as good as the previous two- it is the weakest of the three in a few ways. I do acknowledge that I'll need to see it again to make the final determination (Hot Fuzz has grown in my estimation on repeat viewings).


To sum up the basic plot: Gary King is a frustrated adult who desperately wants to re-create the glory days of his teenage years- he is a study in being a regressive individual. His plan is to get his old friends together and do their infamous "pub crawl"- hitting all the bars in their home town, including the final one, The World's End (which they never made it to as teens). King's friends, however, all feel and act as if they are 40 (which they are)- but they are convinced to go due to King's mischief. Now, back in their old town and ready to drink (despite their misgivings and a lot of personal baggage against King), they find their old town is not what it once was- both literally and figuratively. Up against a mysterious force, the old crew must band together if they are to figure out what is happening and survive to tell about it...

There's a lot of good stuff here. It is no spoiler to tell you that this is a sci-fi/comedy mash-up just as the other two were mash-ups. In this case, it is an alien invasion, and they make a lot of subtle (and not so subtle) references to sci-fi classics like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It is a very clever premise, and makes for great comedy (and action) fodder. Also great is how The World's End goes along with the previous 2 in terms of theme. Shaun was about growing up, Fuzz was about doing what's right no matter what, while this movie suggests that you need to do both- simply getting a "job, house, family" is not enough. Grow up, yes, but don't lose that youthful idealism, don't lose that moral compass. King's character is all about that youthful passion, but he's stuck in the past in all the wrong ways. His pals, meanwhile, have grown up, but they are bland, dry, and banal. In the course of their epic battle/ pub crawl, these characters are going to have to rediscover their youthful ideals, or else fall pray to... well, I think you get the idea. Further, the actors are really good, with Pegg doing a great job of being both sympathetic and an ass all at the same time. Also, I found Martin Freedman funny as well, with far more offering here than he did in the entirety of The Hobbit, sadly.

The movie is really funny, and the sci-fi plot is imaginative. The problem that I can't ignore though is the ending. See, Shaun and Fuzz had fantastic conclusions. Shuan as the terrifying (and zombie traditional) final, massive zombie assault, while Fuzz had a balls to the walls shoot-out (with bits of shooting, car chases, and pyrotechnics that put action directors to shame). The World's End denouement is... they TALK to the "intelligence" to stop its invasion. The scene isn't that funny at all, and the whole movie just grinds to a halt. It's too bad, as I think that, with a bit of revision, it could have worked. As it stands, it just doesn't have the humor or spark the rest of the movie had. The final 2 minutes of the movie is funny and appropriate (what REALLY happens when you stop an alien invasion? This movie has the right idea, I'm afraid). Sadly, the "final confrontation" falls flat and hurts the film.

So, where does it stand? It is a very funny movie with great ideas and imagination. You would expect nothing less from these guys. However, the final bit goes off the rails, and sucks the life out of the movie. As a result, I'm giving it 3 1/2 out of 4 Marks of Chaos. It is worthy of being alongside Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, but it is just under those two overall. If you loved Fuzz and Shaun, you do need to see this...

Until Next Time...