Tactica: Simultaneous Loving Baby

I wanted a picture of two Adeptus Astartes kissing, but this game is too hetero for such a thing to be found on the internet.

There's a lot of bitching about rules, and units, and units with rules.  I do quite a bit of it myself.  But when it comes down to it, I think my biggest bitch has to do with alpha strikes.  I myself beta strike, so I'm not one of these filthy jerks, and I only do it because the cool kids are.  Seeing 20% or more of your army evaporate on the first turn is....really dumb.  It sucks the fun out of the game.  So many matches are won or lost on the dice roll to go first.  Since the casual season is coming up fast, it's led me to think our first week of games might be a little lab experiment....

Time for War: CW Eldar v. Daemons

Deep within the fortress-yomamasteries of the planet Saddius Prime, there was heard a wailing.  It was one of pain, of loss, of yearning.  The Vaginus Custodes regarded the crying ones with eyes of metal that could not shed tears.  "It's not fair!"  The broken ones cried.  "It's not fair!"  Was it a fresh cry, or an echo among the endless corridors?  Outside, a Whambulance tore through the atmosphere, weighted with those who could not wage war.  They would find a dusty end here.  Within this forgotten planet, all those who had too much bitch in them would forever decry the war.  Outside, the war would continue.

Philosofelt - ITC Polls and the Favorite Child

Erratic jerks of a servitor-harness scribed the last characters upon the last scroll of e-vellum.  The poll was completed, a labor that consumed the attention of a score of Monastery worlds.  Everywhere, the signs of a battle of words had left the victors scarred and haggard.  Ink stains spread like blood upon the exposed skin of the tech-thralls.  Here a scalding inkpot had tipped, a legion of paint mixers burned alive; the scribes ten feet away had not paused in their writing.  The call for another reckoning had come too soon after the last great push for them to reset the mile-long printing wheels, to harvest the skins of a continent's worth of space sheep.  But Reecius, commander of the ITC fleet, must take the counsel of each of his uncounted generals; the scribe-servitors must labor until they fall.  Those who had survived the conflict of quill and eye strain did not pause to bury their acres of dead; for they knew that Space Marshal Rawdogger was bloated with opinion.

Philosifelt - Codex Craftworlds Eldar

 

The rumor mill is shooting out hunks of bone and gristle, coating the onlookers faces with a torrent of gore.  So it goes, a terror unlike we have ever seen before.  Well, I'm lying, it's mostly the same terror, it's just a little more terrible.  I'm talking about the new Eldar Codex of course.  It's not out yet, but the rumors for the last N books have been correct, so we'll assume these are as well.  And it doesn't look good for the game at large.
We're going to solve a mystery - the prime suspects are US and GW.  We'll ask what's the point, where it started, who we're going to be annoyed at, and when this pain train will end.

Read a Book: Khorne Daemonkin

Judging by the number of bicep tattoos I've seen, Khorne is the most popular of the chaos gods. 
Judging by the number of models I've seen on the table, Khorne is the least popular of the chaos gods. 
And now here I am, judging Khorne.  I'll be up front - I've played a lot of CSM and a lot of Daemons, but I ain't never fielded no Khorne.  However, I understand how an assault army works, and guess what?  The most predictable god likes to smash lots of bodies into the opponent.
Today we'll be looking at what the codex adds (and doesn't add), what seem to be the standouts, and some sample lists.

Season of the Carnifex - Kraxxus Evacuation Protocol

Amidst the din of chaos consuming the moons of Phalanx, A distress call is heard from one of the larger moons. Kraxxus is under siege! Though the message is difficult to make out, it appears that the mining operation on Kraxxus has uncovered some strange xenos archeotech that has reactivated itself and is potentially sending its own distress beacon.
Not far away in Erinyes Nebula, alien eyes descend upon the source of the beacon, soon thereafter followed by the silent wake of their sleek starships.
Just as the attacking forces start to arrive at the battlefield, the defenders erect a forcefield cutting off a portion of the attacking forces. Likewise, the defender has dedicated a portion of their force to facilitate evacuation while the rest remain behind to buy them time and recover the archeotech data.

Season of the Carnifex - The Secrets of Tetragon 38

Between the warp and the divine is the Imperium of Man, that stretches across the breadth of the galaxy.  Between two sides of the war that tear at the Imperium is the Segmentum Obscura, which contains much that is uncharted.  Between two swathes of primal nebulae that gyre within that unknown, the Kailon Peninsula crouches silent.  Between the systems Ossirius and Clotho within that cluster of stars, the void flares.