Infantry squad complete!

Here we have for your viewing pleasure the first squad of my blob platoon and the platoon commissar. painted and based at long last.

next up we should have 3 more squads, a platoon command section and finally an aegis line behind which they can all sit happily plunking away at orks!

The Man, The Myth, The Marbo...

Guardsman Marbo has been a fast favorite of guard players the world over since his updated rules came out in 5th edition. He has been portrayed in pith helmets and kilts, Russian fur hats and Cadian standard gear. Marbo has even been seen on occasion masquerading as an Indian chief.

A quick google search will show you the many and varied ways that players have customized this character to their collections.

today I would like to discuss Marbo and 6th edition. As with any change in the rules we find ourselves scrambling to see how we must adapt our strategies and hoping that our favorite units have not been completely ruined and in this case I am happy to report that, in my humble opinion, Marbo has gotten even better!

His high WS, initiative and number of attacks mix nicely with the new challenge rules meaning that the loner guardsman might win some combats in 6th. only having to fight one on one is a huge boost for this guy.

His shooting attacks have gotten better as well with the wound allocation rules and his ability to show up behind the enemy to blast their models hidden in back ranks.

However, the real advantage that I have found is in the secondary objectives arena.
Line breaker is a secondary objective in most scenarios that I have read. Marbo makes an ideal line breaker as he can arrive anywhere he pleases and remain fairly safe with stealth and move thru cover. Often times your opponent will forget about the lone guardsman hiding behind that hill at the back of his deployment since he is just sitting and not posing a threat.
Even if they decide to gun for him, careful placement of Marbo can ensure that your opponent wastes resources and turns dealing with him instead of the fighting at hand.

and all this for 10pts more than a chimera... sounds like a deal to me.

In Defense of the Blob

This week I have managed to get in no less than three games of 6th edition. my initial thoughts are that deployment has become slightly more strategic with the additions of fortifications and my only chief complaint for the edition thus far has to be the randomess of terrain features and objectives. (I have a notoriusly bad memory)

While working on my lists I have checked on what others have had to say about the edition, what works, what doesn't and what is downright terrible. In my searching I have found several instances of people saying that the Guard blob squad has had its last huzzah.

I would like to politely disagree. While it is no longer the close combat grind machine that it was in 5th ed. the blob is a very effective firebase. I have been running mine with 40 men 4 autocannons 5 powerweapons and a single Commissar. This all sits neatly behind my aegis defense line.

here is what we have here. one set of aegis lines comfortably holds 40guardsmen and then some. that gives us a nice 4+cover/2+if we go to ground. with cover like that they become very difficult to move and they produce enough firepower to make my regular opponents fearful of ignoring them.

overwatch provides these boys with another layer of protection since they can put out an awesome amount of firepower!

I for one will continue to use my blob as a defensive line until they start becomeing a liability.

Hold the line boys! For the Emperor and Praetoria!

5th Editions Last Stand!

And so it is that I find myself on the eve of a new edition of this game I have grown to love, It seems only appropriate that I send out the last one in style.

Tonight I engage in one final game before the new book hits the general population. My foe will be an ork horde! Very fitting for Praetorians I'd say.

Win or lose, it's been a fun ride 5th. here's hoping that 6th ed brings just as much enjoyment to myself and tabletops the world over.

Stormtrooper assault

I want to take a moment to examine Imperial Storm Troopers. most tournament players will tell you that they are overcosted for what they do, that veteran squads are better and that they don't measure up to the other selections in the elite section of the IG book.
However there seems to be a trend, especially amongst Praetorian players, to convert and/or run stormtroopers in their armies.
Today I wanted to share my experiance running these elite troops and also ask everyone else to share their thoughts, both pro and con, on the "glory boys"

Storm troopers are some of the most versitile troopers on the board. they can scout, infiltrate or deepstrike for deployment options and dependant on who you are playing against you can change these options around (so long as you make your choice pre deployment.) If your opponent is aware of this ability it lends a bit of uncertainty to their pre-battle plans. Each game played can change the way you use these guys, similar to penal legion troopers but with the choice of ability.

I've been running a ten man stormtrooper squad in my lists armed with two plasmaguns. I find that this formation allows me to put out a good amount of firepower on enemy squads which couples well with the psychic battle squad I like to run. Imagine this scenario, a 10 man squad deepstrikes/outflanks onto the board. they deliver 15 ap3 lasgun shots and 4 plasma shots into an enemy squad. luck holding you will manage to cause a 25% morale check. The psychics of course are there to drop the enemies leadership score so they need snake eyes to stay on the board. This combo has worked for me very well and I've seen squads, often with independant or special characters attached, run off the board without doing any damage to me in return. The stormtroopers usually die in the next turn or two but they have succesfully seen 100% - 200% of their points value eliminated and soaked up firepower that otherwise would be dumped into my scoring units.