Frowbakk

I've had my eyes on those too, but knowing I could go to JoAnn Fabrics, get three wooden cones and Greenstuff a spiral on 'em and stick 'em on a tube and be 90% of the way there for 10% of the price has held me back.... That and my life being so proscribed and interrupted that I can't find the time to build them, much less paint them.

I voted for 'No Doubles" because I want to play my army when I play, not a combo of me & random-fill-in-the-blank since my old gaming group scattered to the winds and I'd end up in a day-of pairing with another loner, most likely. (I've got assaulty Orks and need to get stuck in right away... oh, you've got reserve shenanigans that mean I'll be the only targets for enemy shooting the first two turns? What a fun time I'll have putting my models back in the box, I guess...) I used to get to at least one tournament a month and was a solid upper to middle-of-the pack player (It may be hard at the top, and it's even harder at the bottom, but in the middle it's so hard you could use it for nails). So where I would have qualified for the extra .5 rating before, I am now sufficiently out of practice and have enough previous edition hangovers to drop me solidly into the casual camp. Now I am scheduling weekend childcare months ahead of time to get to any of these events, at most once every three months, (but my last event was the January TSHFT) and finally playing games where I only get to interact a quarter of the time? No thanks. I missed last OFCC due to covering for my wife's medical issues and it's looking like TSHFT in January may be the next time I can schedule a gaming weekend. The current Captain matching system is good when all involved realize the point is to arrange good games. A couple years ago at OFCC I swapped players with a a guy whose army I knew I'd take apart by simple target priority (and therefore not a fun game for him) for a guy (definitely a plus .5 rating) who set up two thirds of the terrain in my deployment zone for his shooty & reserve shenanigans army. The fact that he slow-played (forty minutes left and we just finished one and a half turns) added to the 'delight' of a game I felt like table-flipping before any models had been deployed. In retrospect I should have said 'OK, now set up the terrain like a human being while I go for a walk to blow off steam for five minutes' rather than let a "Dude, whatever" attitude lead me down the slippery slope into the worst game I've ever played.

If it's a regularly scheduled thing I may be able to make it down as well. I've just figured out most of the conversions to bring my Ad Mech in line with the new rules. Plus, if you host a terrain building day I can bring down some half-finished themed terrain pieces to donate after they're finished by volunteer labor.

Ok, where's you get the cone-y bits? I gotta loot that for some cusom tunneling Not-Drop-Pods, or something....

Drop the Bosspoles on the Bully Boyz: They're Fearless. Also drop the Boarding Planks because either your vehicle and re-rolling one dice on the charge will get you into close combat, or your ride is shot out from under you and you're footslogging and most likely running to catch up anyway. Plus 15 points is far too expensive for their supposed benefit. That'll free up another 60 points for you I played a (mostly) all-Meganob themed list at OFCC last year and TSHFT in January. Ghaz was OK for the OFCC, but freeing up the points for Looted Wagons (and their 3 Rokkits each) was more important (even if they were carrying Grots.) Ghaz's invuln save and allowing his unit (and only his unit) of Meganobz to run and charge never saw enough use to justify the extra points, same thing with a Big Mek in Mega Armor with a Kustom Force Field... I was always in combat so quick it hardly ever bounced a bullet. In my list two BattleWagons carried one of the units of 5 Bully Boyz, while a Mega Warboss backed up with the Mad Dok and three other Meganobz filled the other. The other two units of 5 Bully Boyz and two units of 3 Meganobz (the only units with Bosspoles, which never got used) all rode Trukks and did "Krooz Missle" duty.

Ah, the coveted title of "Cellar Dweller"... For certain values of the term 'coveted', that is.

Sorry I can't be your 'White Knight' and ride to the rescue again, I've got other obligations to fulfill keeping me from the all-important dice rolling and pew-pew noises this year :p

I'm more interested in the scenic bases for the Kataphron Destoryers I can picture a chopped-up Falcor represented across several bases and a dead Atreyu ground beneath the lead Kataphron's treads Ah, fun with typos...

Must have a pneumatic tube system to get you there that fast...

But it does stack with Omnispex (-1 to Cover), Auspex, Tau marker lights, etc.

I've found that with Orks having specific dice pools set up for each unit helps a lot to speed up the game. If shooting grab this pile, if fighting grab that pile, add this other pile if charging. However, I also tried to get as many Fearless units in so the seemingly endless Roll Ld, Roll Mob Rule, Roll Mob Rule Damage, Roll Mob Rule Armor Saves (and after all that time remove one or two models) iterations would be at a minimum.

Consider Torsion Cannon for the Breachers, perhaps? The Canticles re-rolls and Skitarii WS/BS shifting taken together led me to a funny idea: First turn Boost WS+3 and drop BS -2, then go for the shooting re-roll Canticle. Only hitting on 5's and 6's but the shots from Rangers basic rifles, Transuranic Arquebusesezesezz (how does one stop spelling that word?) and Ironstrider Ballistarii all have Precision Shot on sixes, then re-roll and go for Precision Shots again. Snipe out all the stuff which hurts your army the most (Power Fists, Special Weapons, Psykers, whatever) and go for a 2nd turn Beta strike. Add in the warlord servoskull item that allows armor penetration re-rolls vs a visible vehicle and the Skitarii long guns just got a bit better at cracking open tanks. Kind of the same lateral thinking that led Sisters of Battle players long, long ago in an edition far, far away to eschew Heavy Flamers and take units with two or four regular Flamers and go for the psuedo-Rending Act of Faith so that half of the wounds bypassed armor saves. (There. Got the Star Wars AND Discworld references in the same post....)

I see your so-called "Death Star" and raise you a fully armed and operational battlestation...

No, THAT comes when I build my version of this list, complete with a Plasma Obliterator which no longer Gets Hot. Grand Moff Tarkin's first, and last, visit to Alderaan, baby...

Go for the Cohort Cybernetica formation and Death Star to your heart's content while also shooting whatever you want.

With the latest round of rumors, the Cult Mechanicus Battle Congregation is just 1 HQ and 2 Troops, and up to 6 more Troops, 4 Elite, 2 Heavy and... 1 Fortification. So the White Dwarf War Convocation Formation letting all units remove Gets Hot from their rules means the Plasma Obliterator just found a new home. I figure I can fit in everything and just squeeze in 60 points under 1850. (Psychic Inquisitor with Servo Skull, I'm looking in your direction....) If only I had the time, money, etc to travel for 40K this summer. However it looks like I'll have to stay uber local and miss OFCC this year, and possibly even the August TSHFT.

Unfortunately the Skitarii Battle Maniple is the 'buy one of each of our units" one, so I'm guessing the Battle congregation is the same. Otherwise minimum 2 Troops Skitarii and 1 HQ 2 Troops Cult Mechanicus plus one or more Knights for all those bonuses? Too good to be true.

All I have to say is...

More are up in arms about Scouting / Scoring Fortifications, though. Shooty Drop Pods are more par for the course. I didn't know about the Flesh Tearers formation until I read his list, though. I wonder what the Sternguard will get swapped out for since the combi-gravs were apparently lackluster.

Ok, who's got pictures of the Cult Mechanicus codex? Don't hold back on me now...

No, you're not Jump Infantry... you become a Jump Monstrous Creature.

Remember, it's only +d3 attacks (if and only if outnumbered) in close combat. Great for a small elite unit (MANz), not so much for the single model. The paragon Gauntlet should be fun, though.

I'll be doing a "Half-Shattered" visor with a Servo skull behind it. Fortunately, I've got conversions to cover the Electropriests and tracked guys (just add torsos to my already magnetized Rapier conversions), and plenty of Techpriests for the rest Two Kastelan with the full shooty upgrade can reliably mow down a 5 Marine unit on the move or a full 10 marine unit using their 'Double Tap if Stationary' Protocol, so expect to see them as common allies. I can't wait to get the kit, chop it up for ease of re-posing, and start the conversion frenzy. With the new Knight Fist, throwing a dead Kastelan at an enemy unit would do as much damage as throwing a Land Raider, so go figure...

I guess now I don't have to hold on to that unused resin Knight scale Fist now that the plastic version will be everywhere... Or do a 'Two-Fisted' Knight.

Take magnetized Psyfleman (from the Aegis Quadgun) arm, put on top of Knight... Done!