Ish

Wait until your next match against an Imperial Guard player, as (s)he starts to figure out who is in Rapid Fire "double-tap" range and who isn't when you declare a charge into the forty-man Conscript block. You should have time to grab a beer... and a burger... while they count out all 136 dice they'll need to roll.

I think you're looking at it backwards. It's more that Matched Play only works with the few specific missions designed for it. Power Level and Narrative Themed armies are more open to missions that might not be balanced well (or indeed might be deliberately unbalanced), Matched Play armies intended to be used more for the narrowly designed, better balanced missions.

Now, for my next trick, I shall deliver a four hour rant on how plurals work in English. The first two hours is devoted to explaining how the correct plural of Codex is Codices, for Index it is Indices, and for Carnifex it is Carnifices. Then we will have a lighter tone half hour interlude on Die versus Dice. Finally, we will end on why it is Lords Commissar not Lord Commissars, why it is Fabricators General not Fabricator Generals, and Sisters Superior... If time permits, we can explain why Termagants, Dominatrices, Crones, Harridans, Harpies, and so many other Tyranid critters imply some serious "Mommy Issues" in Inquisitior Kryptman's psyche.

It is what it is. As long as we all keep in mind that it's meant to be a "fast and loose" approach to balancing forces and we don't get too hung up on it. Use the Matched Play system for "serious" games. Tournaments, ladder league campaigns, and that sort of thing. Bust out the PL system for "casual" games or when you need to re-write a list on the fly.

Power Levels are based on the unit's average point cost: take the cheapest un-upgraded configuration of the unit, add that to the most expensive fully blinged out configuration, and divide by two. Round up or down a point or two. Done. It isn't intended to (nor capable of) giving the same level of precision as a Point System.

Points for tournaments and building your "standard" list. But Power Level for pick up games or quickly adjusting things on the fly. Let's assume that the local community settles on a "default" of 2,000 Points. Most people will build and collect with that point value in mind... But then someone new to the area drops by, but they always played 1,850 at her old store; Someone new to the hobby wants a real game but only owns about 1,200 total; or someone has to go get their kid from ballet later and only has time for a quick, small game. Power Levels let you and an opponent come up with a "good enough" list almost on the fly. It only takes 3-5 minutes to jot one down... and just wait a few months until our collective gamer OCD hive-mind kicks in and we've got the PLs for common units all memorized.

Hey, man, it's Orks. They probably are throwing them, they're just throwing them the wrong direction.

The Matched Play point system in AoS works like the Power Level system in WH40k Eighth Edition moreso than the points system. All units have a listed minimum number of models and an associated point value, you must purchase your units in these "blocks," up to the listed maximum size. For example, Ironjawz Brutes (big tough orc heavy infantry) come in five-man blocks at 180 Points. Brutes have a maximum size of 20. So a unit will cost 180/360/440/720 points and have 5-20 orcs in it. Unit upgrades, like banners, musicians, and the occasional specialist weapon don't have any extra cost.

I disagree with you here. I think it's a fantastic bit of "future proofing," and that potential future revisions is exactly why they've separated the two. They will be able to fine tune the point values of units and weapons separately, so a change to one unit that can carry a dark lance won't require a cascading series of changes to everything else that can potentially carry it. On the plus side, you no longer need to pay for the standard issue gear on models that "swap" for something else. For example, the ubiquitous "heavy weapon guy" in a squad only pays for his heavy weapon, not his standard gun and then his heavy weapon.

Awesome. Needs more Dark Angels.

I was thinking making a suitable impressive conversion of a Custodes Shield-Captain and just having him "count as" a Space Marine Captain in Terminator Armor, with a Relic Blade and Storm Shield. Asteron Moloc, Chapter Master of the Minotaurs, might be fun too.

So they are... I stand corrected. Still not sure how Custodes are supposed to be fielded.

Well, actually-actually, "Primaris" is complete doggerel as is most of Games Workshop's "High Gothic" pseudo-Latin. Prīmāriīs is the dative masculine plural of the word that I think GW was going for: Prīmārius (which is the masculine nominative first/second declension). It means roughly "one of the first," and was once used as was used as the title of a position in European universities.

• Adeptus Custodes and Harlequins cannot be fielded as standalone Battle Forged armies, as they have no HQ unit(s).

• Successor Chapters are no longer allowed to use named special characters from their Progenitor Chapter (e.g., White Consuls cannot field Cato Sicarius, Guardians of the Covenant cannot field Belial). • There is no longer a "generic" Chapter Master unit. • Dark Angels and their Successors have no means of putting a Captain (Company Master) on a Bike.

The Long Fang stood up and walked into the light, out of the gloom that filled the border of the iron-wrought chamber. Giant figures stood or knelt all around the periphery, the colors of their armor proclaiming them as members of different Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes: White Consuls, Steel Confessors, Flesh Tearers, and more. All had been temporarily seconded to this crusader fleet and now filled the time between firing rites and tactical dogmas with the telling of tales. Brother-Sergeant Aethon of the Scythes of the Emperor had just finished telling of the Siege at the Giants Coffin. Now it fell to the Space Wolfs to speak and bind this brotherhood closer, that they might understand one another better to fight well when the battle came. The Long Fang spoke softly but clearly, "I am Hardrada Stern-Eye of Schumacher's Pack. My arm is strong, my aim is true, my fangs and whiskers long. I am wise with the weight of years. I will tell you the saga of one of the Vlka Fenryka, the folk of Fenris, one of our greatest heroes..." "His name was Snorri South-Paw."

Very nice. But, if I had one minor quibble, the sword of the first marine is backwards. If he reaches up with his right hand the grab it, he's going to be grabbing the guard instead of the grip...

Is anyone interested in acquiring a large number of Space Marine / Dark Angels Terminators? Painted to a moderate tabletop standard, albeit not in standard DA colors (they're silver and grey, with red weapon casings). 6x Thunderhammer / Storm Shield 6x Lightning Claws 1x Plasma Cannon / Fist 4x Assault Cannon / Fist 4x Chainfist / Storm Bolter 10x Storm Bolter / Fist 1x Librarian converted from a pewter Lysander 4x Powersword / Storm Bolter Probably pretty close to 2,000 Points under the new rules. This army has served me well, but I feel the urge to move on... Would love to trade them for the Primaris Marines from the new Starter Set.

Oh, I'm quite familiar with pinning. That weekend I spent constructing that gorram Wood Elf Forest Dragon still haunts my nightmares... I miss a lot of the designs and sculpts from the Eighties and Nineties, but I do not miss pewter itself.

Is pewter ferrous? It's been forever since I've done much with a metal mini...

Man, I really need that griffon one for my D&D character... I don't know of any local retailers stocking these particular products, but I've seen other Litko stuff at Guardian Games and The Portland Game Store. They could probably special order them if they don't stock them. Having said that (and despite being a big believer in supporting our FLGSes) I have purchased Litko products directly from them in the past. I was always happy with the quality, shipping speed, and friendly customer support.

Magnets! Have the Wight King able to mount either his trusty zombie-dragon or a faithful skeletal steed! (And heck, it shouldn't be too hard to "homebrew" a Warscroll for an actual Wight King on Zombie-Dragon... We've got Warscrolls for both, we've got Warscrolls for the other zombie-dragon riders both mounted and on foot. It would not be tournament legal, but it seems like it wouldn't be game breaking for beer 'n' pretzels gaming.)

Maybe a Wight King with Baleful Tomb Blade on Skeletal Steed? That keeps the Deathrattle Allegiance... It downplays the zombie dragon, but those old pewter beasties are a bit small compared to modern plastic behemoths.

Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to have to decline. Scheduling, transportation, family stuff, work stuff, yadda yadda yadda...

Pokéwaaaagh! Gotta krump'em all!