Quick Hits - June 2018 Necrons

Our next quick hit is the Necrons.

Special Rules

Reanimation Protocols
Models with this rule that are slain can potentially rejoin their unit in future turns. This can make large units of Necrons nightmare-ish to shift. Especially once you start looking at the buffs this roll can get from other things in the Codex. Remember that Necron Warriors can come in units of 20 and are good at holding objectives.

Living Metal
This allows a lot of the characters and vehicles to regain a wound a turn. Again pushes up the survivability of your units.

HQ

Imotekh the Stormlord
Can My Will Be Done two units a turn, and has an improved Living Metal. Decent weapons and stats and makes a really great Warlord. Lord of the Storm is fantastic too.

Nemesor Zahndrekh
He is expensive, but the ability to turn off character aura buffs is...interesting.

Vargard Obyron
An expensive bodyguard for Nemesor Zahndrekh with a super conditional re-deploy ability? Pass.

Illuminor Szeras
Adds 1 to Reanimation Protocol rolls and gives permanent, yet random, buffs to units. A pretty good named Cryptek.

Orikan the Diviner
Gives nearby infantry an invulnerable save, and can potentially change into a much stronger profile. Also no too expensive.

Anrakyr the Traveller
Gives an attack buff and has an ability that just got better; shooting with the weapons of opposing vehicles. That seems really good with some of the new Knight weapons, you've just got to get him close enough.

Trazyn the Infinite
Surrogate Hosts can make him hard to kill, but I'm not sure he is worth the effort over a regular Lord.

Catacomb Command Barge
Increased stats over a regular Overlord, and increased range on My Will Be Done. Quantum Shielding also makes this unit very resilient against normal anti-vehicles weapons and makes Living Metal more valueable. May take a Resurection Orb for extra Reanimation Protocol rolls.

Overlord
If you don't fancy paying extra for the named characters, this is your go to source of My Will Be Done, after taking a Catacomb Command Barge. May take a Resurection Orb.

Lord
An aura of re-roll 1s to wound and access to a Resurection Orb.

Cryptek
Adds 1 to Reanimation Protocol rolls, and can either give a small aura of invulnerable save or a cloak for Fly and enhancing units with Living Metal.

Destroyer Lord
I would leave the Staff of Light on this guy and hang around Destroyers to give the re-roll 1s to wound in shooting. Can also take a Resurrection Orb.

Troops

Necron Warriors
Your standard troops with no options. Decent enough stats and Reanimation make them great for sitting on and holding objectives. Movement might be a little slow though.

Immortals
For a few more points you get a better save and a choice of better weapons, but a smaller unit size. I'm a fan of the Tesla, as the more shots you get the more likely you are to roll 6s to generate extra hits. I can see an arguement for Gauss Blasters though.

Elites

Lychguard
A pure melee unit, I'd keep the Warscythes and go hunting enemy vehicles via one of the deep strike options in the Codex.

Deathmarks
I like this unit a lot, but it's hurt by the newer FAQ. They won't be able to follow enemy units in the first turn if they deploy in their own deployment zone but not within 12" of your deployment zone. If your opponent is waiting with their reserves though, these guys are still golden.

Flayed Ones
Good for slaying chaff units, as they increase the difficulty of their Morale test and re-roll wounds. They are melee only though and I think this limits their utility, as they struggle against non-chaff.

Triarch Praetorians
Assault troops with a decent move. I'd keep the Rods of Covenant as they have the better ranged profile.

Triarch Stalker
Quantum Shielding and Living Metal, plus it buffs the shooting of any units shooting it's target that phase. I'd keep the Heat Ray for the melta-esque profile and the really good Overwatch.

C'tan Shard of the Deceiver
Grand Illusion allows you to re-deploy and infiltrate the C'tan plus d3 other units. This alone is really powerful. It also has access to 2 powers of the C'tan and is a monster in melee.

C'tan Shard of the Nightbringer
Not as good as the Deceiver and not much cheaper. Means he's gonna get crowded out a lot.

Fast Attack

Canoptek Wraiths
Fast, tough and witha 3+ invulnerable save, these guys are good. Ignore the shooting options and get them in melee asap.

Canoptek Scarabs
Not as easy to shift as the look due to having 3 wounds each and easily finding terrain to hide behind. They never need worse than 5s to wound in melee and have 4 attacks each making them a threat to high toughness units too.

Tomb Blades
I'd upgrade to the two Tesla Carbines and the Shadowloom for a fast moving, hard to kill threat to infantry. Maybe adding Shieldvanes if I have points spare.

Destroyers
I'd stick with the Gauss Cannon and hunt down heavy infantry and light vehicles.

Heavy Support

Heavy Destroyers
Here are where you keep the Heavy Gauss Cannons for mobile, accurate anti vehicle fire.

Canoptek Spyders
A support model hiding amongst the Heavy Support, so it lacks the Character keyword. It can return dead Canoptek Scarabs to play and heal vehicles. I would always upgrade to the Gloom Prism to give some much needed defense against Psychic Powers.

Monolith
In most Codexes, this would be a Lord of War. It can deep strike, to protect it in your first turn, and also put some units in reserve with it. It has a lot of firepower and the Portal of Exile makes assaulting it very dangerous. It's expensive, but I really like it.

Annihilation Barge
A light tank, it can score a lot of hits when equipped with Tesla weapons, but Toughness 6 means that it can easily die to weapons that sneak under the Quantum Shielding.

Doomsday Ark
A light tank like the Barge, but with nearly double the wounds. The Doomsday Cannon is a powerful weapon, but Toughness 6 still feels like a liability. It's range does allow you to keep it away from the guns that ignore Quantum Shielding though.

Transcendant C'tan
Similar to the named C'tan but with a Fractured Personality. You can either choose 1 trait, or roll for 2. I'd choose Cosmic Tyrant, everytime.

Dedicated Transports

Ghost Ark
Quantum Shielding and a transport capacity, what makes it truly unique is allowing embarked models to continue to roll for Reanimation Protocols and allowing nearby Necron Warriors to roll again at the end of the movement phase.

Flyers

Doom Scythe
Nothing really makes this a stand out flier, the Death Ray is nice but gets -1 to hit because the Doom Scythe always has to move.

Night Scythe
This, in combination with your Monolith, allows you to deep strike in units really close to the enemy. It gets around the overall slow Move value of units like Lychguard.

Lord of War

Obelisk
Having 20 Tesla shots is really good, but this is a much worse Monolith for more points. Pass.

Tesseract Vault
For more points that the Obelisk, you get access to 4 Powers of the C'tan and the ability to use 3 a turn. It almost feels worth it. Almost.

Dynastic Codes

These are all interesting, but none of them really stand out. That allows you to pick the one that suits your playstyle.

Stratagems

Stand-out Stratagems

• Enhanced Reanimation Protocols
• Emergency Invasion Beam
• Enhanced Invasion Beam
• Damage Control Override
• Repair Subroutines
• Quantum Deflection
• Extermination Protocols
• Adaptive Subroutines
• Translocation Crypt
• Talent for Annihilation

Warlord Traits

A couple of stand out ones, but some real duds too.

Artefacts of the Aeons

Stand-out Relics

•  The Orb of Eternity
• Lightning Field
• The Veil of Darkness
• The Nanoscarab Casket

Powers of the C'tan

These can't be Denied, unlike Psychic Powers, but they all do Mortal Wounds. That's still really powerful, but not flexible.

FFG Europeans and UK Games Expo

You may have noticed a break in my weekly publishing schedule recently. That's because I was away for a couple of weeks. The second week was a Stag Do (what happens on tour stays on tour), but the for the first I was working at the FFG Europeans and attending the Asmodee Uk Retailer Summit.

All of this was held at the UK Games Expo, a yearly convention to celebrate all things gaming. I was fortunate and had a short period of downtime across the weekend to have a quick explore. There was a lot to see and do, far too much for the hour I had available and probably far too much for just a one day ticket. I did get a chance to check out a game a playtested a while ago that's coming soon and will talk about that more once my NDA allows.

If you are into gaming, especially tabletop,  it is the UK event to check out.

As an employee of G.I.Games, I was able to attend the Retailer Summit this year. It was an interesting event, almost a mini-convention in itself, with presentations from some companies and the ability to walk around and talk to representatives from others. It was a really good opportunity to network, as well as see some of the things that are coming soon from the big companies like FFG, Wizards and Wizkids. I can't go into too much detail on information we were given, as a lot of it was confidential, but we did get an early look at the X-Wing Second Edition Rebel Conversion Kit.

The bulk of my time was spent working at the FFG Europeans. This was the 2018  European Championships for Star Wars X-Wing, Android Netrunner, Game of Thrones, Star Wars LCG, Star Wars Armada, Star Wars Imperial Assault, Runebound and Star Wars Destiny, plus side events for all those games. That's a lot of players playing a lot of games across three days. Speaking as a Judge for X-Wing, we had nearly 500 players in the main event. I believe Netrunner had 300. It was huge and involved long days for players and Judges.

The X-Wing was split into two Day One events, with the top players in each day qualifying for the Day Two knockout rounds on Sunday. That allowed us to manage 500 players without needing 250 tables for one game system and without needing to do 7 rounds. It's only 1 less round at 250 players, but it makes a difference.

I enjoyed the weekend, despite the long hours. The highlight was seeing two of our local players; Matt Coles and Mark Smith, make it through to Day 2. With such a large field that's a real achievement, especially with the current World Champion, last years European Champion, the current UK National and other high caliber, known players in attendance. I'm really proud of them especially flying lists made up of ships they love, not just flying what the zeitgeist says is good.

Next year, the Europeans are going to be in Poland. Hopefully I'll be able to judge at them. Judging in another country will be an interesting experience. The current Judge Team are all fantastic and Alec Thorne has taken over the reigns from Alex Watkins. Also, UK Games Expo will be hosting next years FFG UK Nationals which will keep us doing big tournaments there.

Shout-outs to the following people who made the weekend the great experience that it was;

• Alex Watkins
• Alec Thorne
• Corina Cretu
• Dawn Stangroom
• Dan Eggle
• Matt Coles
• Mark Smith
• Pete Yarwood
• Chris 'Preeko' Preece
• Ian Atrill
• Matt Vicary
• Chris Thomas
• Les Harvey
• Vince Kingston
• Kris Mitchell
• Liam Hall
• Seb Brady
• Craig Barrett
• Carl Sheppard
• Nick Bond
• Paul Cadwell
• Brad Andres
• Pierre-Anthony Corrado
• Poul Holmelund
• Fernando de la Torre
• Wojciech Pe
• Kasia Wlazlo
• Tomas Zelazko
• Rasta Maice
• Simeon Dellapina
• and Ben 'Bengar' Cox

Plus the rest of the Judge team, most of whom I didn't get much time to speak to.

Lando's Friday Challenge

In an effort to play more Warhammer 40,000, and try out more armies, I have pencilled in Friday afternoons for taking on challenges. It's a convenient time slot for me, as I'm in Antics running FNM anyway and not actually play Magic while I'm there.

Hopefully, it will also give me time to play against more people and more armies, plus regular gaming should incentivise me to get models actually fully painted. I plan on doing reports on those games in this blog, with pictures, assuming I get each opponents consent. I'll let my opponent decide on the Mission, my only stipulation being that the game is Matched Play at 2000 points.

So, what army am I trying out for the first few games?

Harlequins

Veiled Path Battalion

• Troupe Master, Fusion Pistol, Harlequin's Caress (Warlord - Player of Twilight)
• Shadowseer (Relic - The Mirrorstave) (Psychic Powers - Fog of Dreams, Veil of Tears)
• A Troupe of 6 Players, Fusion Pistol, 6 Harlequin's Caress
• A Troupe of 6 Players, Fusion Pistol, 6 Harlequin's Embrace
• A Troupe of 6 Players, Fusion Pistol, 6 Harlequin's Kiss
• Death Jester
• Death Jester
• Death Jester
• Voidweaver, 2 Shuriken Cannons, Prismatic Cannon
• Voidweaver, 2 Shuriken Cannons, Prismatic Cannon

Veiled Path Battalion

• Shadowseer, Neuro Disruptor (Psychic Powers - Twilight Pathways, Mirror of Minds)
• Shadowseer (Psychic Powers - Shards of Light, Webway Dance)
• A Troupe of 6 Players, Fusion Pistol
• A Troupe of 6 Players, Fusion Pistol
• A Troupe of 6 Players, Fusion Pistol
• Solitaire, Harlequin's Caress, Harlequin's Kiss
• 6 Skyweavers, 6 Zephyglaives, 6 Haywire Cannons
• Starweaver, 2 Shuriken Cannons

Comes in at 1967 points, with 13 Command Points.

I plan on always using the Great Harlequin Stratagem on my Troupe Master, and having the whole mask re-enact the dance known as "The Folly of Khaine". Leaping straight into the opponent and trying to break their back, while throwing the Wailing Doom in spear form, represented by the Skyweavers.

If nothing else, it'll be a gloriously short game. Mobility should let me hit hard and fall back to claim any objectives. It will be interesting seeing how this fares, especially once the fragility of the Aeldari meets the weapons of the enemy. We shall also see how often the Riddlesmiths ability actually comes into play.

Quick Hits - June 2018 Blood Angels

Our next quick hit is Codex Adeptus Astartes Blood Angels. Rather than restating reviews for units from Codex Adeptus Astartes Space Marines (see here http://hiveoffunandsilliny.blogspot.com/2018/05/quick-hits-may-2018-space-marines.html?zx=a67457f84ddec227 ), I will focus only on the units and abilities that are unique to the Blood Angels.

Special Rules

Black Rage
An extra attack while charging and a feel no pain is good for the limited units that have this rule.

HQ

From Codex Space Marines
Techmarine, Primaris Lieutenants, Lieutenants, Captain in Gravis Armour, Primaris Captain, Captain in Terminator Armour, Captain in Cataphractii Armour, Captain, Chaplain, Primaris Chaplain, Chaplain in Terminator Armour, Librarian in Terminator Armour, Primaris Librarian, Librarian.

Commander Dante
Built for hunting and killing characters in epic duels, he is actually to be feared when used in this capacity. Keep him away from hordes though, the weight of numbers will bring him down.

Gabriel Seth
Surprisingly good at tearing vehicles and monsters apart. His abilities to fight again and score extra hits are a little too random though.

The Sanguinor
Gives your infantry +1 Attack, so makes a really good character to back up your main assault unit.

Brother Corbulo
Has a personal re-roll once per turn and his Grail can generate extra attacks. Otherwise not actually better than a regular Sanguinary Priest.

Sanguinary Priest
Like an Apothecary, but also buffs the Strength of nearby Blood Angels. This actually makes a massive difference for wound rolls in melee if the Red Thirst rule is in play.

Chief Librarian Mephiston
Can Cast and Deny two powers and has his own feel no pain. The Sanguine Sword is amazing, especially when combined with Psychic buffs.

Librarian Dreadnought
A dreadnought with the Character keyword and the protection that comes with it. Can Cast two and Deny one. Interesting choice if you want a tougher Psyker.

Astorath
Gives an aura of re-roll hits in melee and once per game can also give +1 to hit. Feels a little expensive for these buffs though.

Lemartes
Like a normal Chaplain, but also lets the units re-roll failed Charges. Well worth the points to upgrade from a normal Chaplain.

Tycho the Lost
Swaps Rites of Battle for Black Rage. Flavourful, but not useful.

Captain Tycho
 Like a regular Captain, but with a bonus against Orks. Again, flavourful but not useful.

Troops

From Codex Space Marines
Scout Squad, Intercessor Squad, Tactical Squad.

Elites

From Codex Space Marines
Redemptor Dreadnought, Contemptor Dreadnought, Dreadnought, Sternguard Veteran Squad, Vanguard Veteran Squad, Tartaros Terminator Squad, Cataphractii Terminator Squad, Terminator Assault Squad, Terminator Squad, Reiver Squad, Company Veterans, Company Champion, Primaris Ancient, Company Ancient, Servitors, Aggressor Squad, Primaris Apothecary.

Sanguinary Guard
Like an Assault Squad, but on steroids. I can see why this is a key unit for the Blood Angels. Great shooting to thin out screens and then decent melee weapon choices for taking on the real target.

Sanguinary Ancient
Essentially a Lieutenant with a Jump Pack and all the benefits for being Sanguinary Guard. Worth taking to buff your key assault unit.

Sanguinary Novitiate
An Apothecary with a different name.

Death Company Dreadnought
A melee Dreadnought with an extra Attack and a feel no pain. Upgrade the Furioso Fists to Blood Talons and start tearing things apart.

Death Company
An Assault Squad with extra Attacks and feel no pain. A large unit of these has to be dealt with and is a pain to shift.

Terminator Ancient
An Ancient in Terminator Armour, although their banner re-rolls melee attacks instead of the usual effect. Your Captains should be in place to do this though, so probably not worth taking.

Furioso Dreadnought
A close assault Dreadnought. I really like the Frag Cannon upgrade, to send it out to mess up infantry.

Fast Attack

From Codex Space Marines
Inceptor Squad, Scout Bike Squad, Land Speeders, Attack Bike Squad, Bike Squad, Assault Squad.

Heavy Support

From Codex Space Marines
Land Raider Redeemer, Land Raider Crusader, Land Raider, Vindicator, Whirlwind, Stalker, Hunter, Hellblaster Squad, Predator, Devastator Squad.

Baal Predator
Twin Assault Cannon plus Two Heavy Bolters makes this really food at killing infantry. I'd pass on the flame weapons as they are far too short ranged. The Overcharged Engines don't really do anything either.

Dedicated Transports

From Codex Space Marines
Repulsor, Land Speeder Storm, Drop Pod, Razorback, Rhino.

Fliers

From Codex Space Marines
Stormtalon Gunship, Stormraven Gunship, Stormhawk Interceptor.

The Red Thirst

This rule is the Real Deal! Adding 1 to your Wound rolls means that Tactical Marine fists are wounding Imperial Knights on 5s. So any Strength increase becomes unreal, and you end up being able to wound a lot of things on 2s and 3s in melee. It encourages you to build an assault army and focus your shooting on clearing screens. The high Toughness of Vehicles and Monsters is less relevant to your army. This is an amazing rule.

Stratagems

Stand-out Stratagems

• Forlorn Fury
• Strike of Archangels
• Upon Wings of Fire
• Killshot
• Auspex Scan
• Descent of Angels
• Red Rampage
• Vengeance for Sanguinius

Warlord Traits

The Speed of the Primarch is okay, but the best choice here is Artisan of War. A Captain with this and a Thunder Hammer hits on 3s, re-rolls 1s and is Strength 8 with plus 1 to wound and does 4 Damage a strike!

Relics of Baal

Stand-out Relics

• The Angel's Wing
• The Veritas Vitae
• Standard of Sacrifice

 Psychic Powers

The best powers in the Sanguinary Discipline are the character buffs. They can make units like Mephiston and the Librarian Dreadnought terrifying in melee, plus Wings of Sanguinius can get them there quicker.

Quick Hits - May 2018 Space Marines

Our next "quick" hit is Codex Adeptus Astartes Space Marines. This will also go on to form the basis of my other Space Marine quick hits.

Special Rules

The Lost Librarius
Black Templars aren't allowed, Librarians. Flavourful rule.

And They Shall Know No Fear
Re-roll failed Morale tests. A solid rule for an elite army.

HQ

Marneus Calgar
2 extra Command Points if he is your Warlord and he halves the damage he suffers. A solid character, but as in the story he is over-shadowed by Gulliman.

Chief Librarian Tigurius
Master of Prescience and Hood of Hellfire make Tiggy amazing support for an Ultramarine army.

Chaplain Cassius
I'm not a fan, he doesn't seem worth the points over a regular Chaplain.

Captain Sicarius
Good for spearheading an assault, but a little expensive over a regular Captain.

Sergeant Chronus
He gives a tank 2+ Ballistic Skill and the ability to regain a Wound a turn. Well worth the 35 points.

Sergeant Telion
I'd rather take a squad of Scouts with Sniper Rifles. Pass.

Captain Lysander
The Fist of Dorn is a solid weapon in close combat. You just have to get him there.

Pedro Kantor
Extra attacks for the Marines around him is solid.

High Marshal Hellbrecht
Gives nearby Marines +1 Strength, which can make a difference in the Fight Phase.

The Emperor's Champion
Fairly good at attempting to assassinate enemy characters, but you have to get him there.

Chaplain Grimaldus
Again, not convinced by a named Chaplain.

Cenobyte Servitors
Pass. These are also an Elites choice, but I've put them here with Grimaldus.

Kor'sarro Khan
He's lost his bike. That makes him unremarkable.

Vulkan He'stan
Really good when accompanied by Aggressors.

Kayvaan Shrike
Re-rolls charges, hits and wounds. He is quite a potent assault unit.

Captain in Terminator Armour
A good source of re-roll 1s that can come in from Reserve.

Captain in Cataphracti Armour
You don't need to pay the extra points for this guy over regular Terminator Armour.

Captain
Re-roll 1s when you don't need the deep strike. Unless you want to skimp on points and give him a Jump Pack.

Captain on Bike
Re-roll ones for mounted armies. Also has 6 Boltgun shots at 12".

Primaris Captain
An extra wound, an extra attack and a better gun. Worth the upgrade over the regular Captain if you can afford the points.

Captain in Gravis Armour
An extra Toughness over the Primaris Captain. He is very expensive though.

Librarian
Psychic support, these guys are the standard against which other Psykers are judged. Give them a Jump Pack to Deep Strike if you can.

Primaris Librarian
Unless you are looking giving your regular Librarian a Jump Pack, this guy is worth the upgrade for the extra Wound and Attack.

Librarian in Terminator Armour
There is a lot of repetition in these comments - Psychic support you can Deep Strike.

Chaplain in Terminator Armour
Use Deep Strike to get Litanies of Hate where you want.

Chaplain
A cheaper option for Litanies of Hate. Again, Jump Pack to get this where you want it to be when you need it there.

Primaris Chaplain
The Absolver Bolt Pistol is interesting. Otherwise, like all the Primaris characters, it's just a regular one with extra Wounds and Attacks.

Techmarine
Essential if you are taking important vehicles. Having an extra D3 Wounds a turn can make some stuff hard to kill.

Lieutenants
It's well worth taking 2 of these as a unit and giving them Jump Packs to get the re-roll 1s to Wound bubble where you need it.

Primaris Lieutenants
Again, see every Primaris character review.

Troops

Tactical Squad
Much maligned online, these guys are your bread and butter. Much like the Librarian, these guys are the standard you judge other army's Troops against. Not as bad as people say, they are exactly average.

Intercessor Squad
Superior Boltguns and an extra Wound. They cost more though which pulls you away from wanting to take them as your Troop choices. Their Boltgun choices are interesting though.

Scout Squad
Infiltrate to block areas off with these guys. My preference is for Sniper Rifles to threaten minor characters, but your mileage may vary.

Crusader Squad
If you are playing Black Templars and you take Tactical Squads instead of these, you are playing wrong. I would also swap their Boltguns for Chainswords for a large melee unit.

Elites

Primaris Ancient
The Banner is really good for shooting armies. I suspect that melee armies require this guy getting too close to be useful.

Chapter Ancient
Take everything I just said, but remove a Wound and an Attack.

Chapter Champion
The rest of your Characters are good enough in close combat, so I don't see what this guy is for.

Honour Guard
These can protect your other Characters, but I don't think you want to be spending these points for this job.

Company Ancient
For when you want your Ancient to have a pistol instead of a sword.

Apothecary
This guy can either heal a Character or return a dead guy to a squad. Worth it if you can squeeze one in.

Company Champion
See the Chapter Champion for my opinion.

Company Veterans
Pass. Everything this wants to do, something else does better.

Servitors
It's nice that these are still around. Still, pass.

Primaris Apothecary
You've read my opinion elsewhere.

Reiver Squad
Shock Grenades are interesting but really short-ranged. Give these guys Combat Knives and they make decent assault troops.

Aggressor Squad
They appear to be slow, but with Assault weapons allow them to Advance and still shoot while ignoring the usual penalty. Then once they are in place they shoot twice if they don't move. These guys are really good.

Terminator Squad
I really like Terminators. They allow me to Deep Strike some decent shooting to clear out Infantry.

Terminator Assault Squad
I also like these. If they fail the Charge, it takes your opponent effort to shift them yet they can't be ignored.

Cataphractii Terminator Squad
Like regular Terminators, but with a 4+ Invulnerable save and can be equipped either for shooting or close combat.

Tartaros Terminator Squad
Similar to Cataphractii, but sacrificing the enhanced Save for more Move.

Vanguard Veteran Squad
They have an extra attack, but I think I would rather save points and take regular Assault Squads.

Sternguard Veteran Squad
I like the Special Issue Boltguns, but feel these are now overshadowed by Intercessors.

Dreadnought
Dreadnoughts are in an odd place at the moment. They have fewer wounds than other vehicles of similar Toughness, so they tend to die to enemy anti-tank guns. On the other hand, they are capable of the assault. This is the standard chassis, and so is the one you judge the rest against.

Ironclad Dreadnought
Toughness 8 makes this more survivable, but it's weapon options aren't great. I'd leave it built for close combat and go vehicle hunting.

Venerable Dreadnought
Better Ballistic Skill and Weapon Skill, plus a feel-no-pain. Worth the extra points.

Contemptor Dreadnought
This has an Invulnerable save, but the enhanced stats are a trap, it has enough Wounds that it has a degradation chart so you will find those stats evaporating quickly.

Redemptor Dreadnought
13 Wounds and a lot of guns. This is expensive, but expect it to kill things if your opponent doesn't deal with it.

Centurion Assault Squad
Unless you are really worried about enemy Fortifications, avoid.

Fast Attack

Bike Squad
I'd replace their Pistols with Swords, they make mobile Bolter platforms and can use their speed to flank the opponent.

Assault Squad
Always give them Jump Packs, they are your fast moving close combat unit.

Land Speeders
Mobile, but too fragile. Pass.

Attack Bike Squad
Like the Land Speeders, but with fewer Wounds. Still no.

Scout Bike Squad
Small squads with Astartes Grenade Launchers make good, cheap, mobile firepower.

Inceptor Squad
These guys are really good shooting support. They can be tailored for infantry or heavier targets too.

Heavy Support

Devastator Squad
Choose a job, choose a weapon and give this squad four of it. A great choice for four Lascannons if you want cheap anti-tank.

Centurion Devastator Squad
Grav-cannon plus Centurion Missile Launcher makes a mess of heavy infantry and light vehicles.

Hellblaster Squad
A good source of decent ranged fire, with your choice of Plasma weapon.


Thunderfire Cannon
Not a bad price for a decent artillery weapon, I quite like it.

Hunter
It wants to shoot down Flyers, but I think 1 shot isn't enough.

Stalker
A better anti-Flyer tank. If you want that though, you need to take multiples.

Whirlwind
Its weapon options are higher Strength, but I think it's overshadowed by the Thunderfire Cannon.

Predator
For when you want four lascannons on a platform more survivable than five Marines. Remember your Techmarine.

Vindicator
Other stuff does this job better. If this sort of tank is what you want, you might be better off playing Astra Militarum.

Land Raider
If you want a transport, Rhinos are cheaper. If you want it for Terminators, they can deep strike. If you want the Lascannons, you can take Predators and Devastators. If you want a tank that can do it all, you've paid a lot of points for a single target.

Land Raider Crusader
Similarly too expensive.

Land Raider Redeemer
Too expensive and its main weapons are too short-ranged.

Dedicated Transport

Rhino
The standard for transport vehicles, I often see people forget it can self-repair.

Razorback
Swaps the self-repair and some of the transport capacity for guns.

Drop Pod
A lot of people don't like the cost, but it allows you to hide a unit you couldn't normally hide in Reserve.

Land Speeder Storm
It's okay but as I'd rather be infiltrating my Scouts, they don't need a transport.

Repulsor
Has the same problem as the Land Raider, but more guns.

Flyer

Stormhawk Interceptor
I'd take Icarus Stormcannon and Skyhammer Missiles and make a mess of stuff with the Fly keyword.

Stormraven Gunship
It's a little more survivable than a Land Raider and can carry Dreadnoughts. Great for delivering a core force of close combat guys and mech.

Stormtalon Gunship
This has great Ballistic Skill for a mobile weapons platform, especially if you hover.

Lord of War

Roboute Guilliman
Not only is he really good on his own, but his aura buffs make him such a force multiplier for the rest of your army. Also, as Warlord he gives you 3 extra Command Points. This is why the FAQ keeps raising his points.

Chapter Tactics

Unlike many armies that have come out since these abilities only affect the Infantry and Dreadnoughts. They are all really good though. Yes, even the Imperial Fists.

Stratagems

Stand-out Stratagems

• Killshot
• Born in the Saddle
• Abhor the Witch
• Hellfire Shells
• Machine Empathy
• Flamecraft
• Auspex Scan
• Flakk Missile

Warlord Traits

The obvious choice is Ultramarines only, which actually gives you a little more freedom in trait choice.

Chapter Relics

Stand-out Relics

• Standard of the Emperor Ascendant
• Teeth of Terra
• Tome of Malcador
• Raven's Fury
• The Sanctic Halo

Psychic Powers

The Librarius discipline features the often game-deciding Null Zone. The rest of the powers are marginal, although casting Might of Heroes on Guilliman is always fun.

Quick Hits - May 2018 Harlequins

Our next quick hit is Harlequins, just in time for release weekend.

Special Rules

Rising Crescendo
Harlequins can Advance and charge in the same turn. This makes them fast. They can also Fall Back and still shoot and charge, making them difficult to pin down.

Flip Belt
Harlequins can ignore models and terrain as they move. Combine this with Rising Crescendo and they are impossible to pin down.

HQ

Troupe Master
Gives you a bubble of re-roll wounds in combat. Harlequins want to be in combat, and you want this guy right there with them. Bonus if you have used the Great Harlequin Stratagem.

Shadowseer
Can now Cast 2 powers a turn and kept Shield from Harm. A little expensive, but worth the points.

Troops

Troupe
These guys haven't changed. Very good once they reach combat, but very fragile if your opponent is given the opportunity to strike them.

Elites

Death Jester
These guys have seen a drastic price drop and are surprisingly good at hunting utility characters. Remeber that Death Is Not Enough only requires you attack a unit, not even hit, so use this to remove unit leaders or specific weapons from squads.


Solitaire
Still a high speed, murder machine. I would take one in every Harlequin army.

Fast Attack

Skyweavers
Super fast, they should be hitting your opponents lines first. They Haywire Cannon is much improved, being Assault now. The Star Bolas is still awkward as it's still a Grenade. They can give you important anti-vehicle fire.

Heavy Support

Voidweaver
Also much improved by both the Haywire Cannon and the Prismatic Cannon becoming Assault. It is relatively short-ranged for a weapons platform, but it's also all the Harlequins have access to. Avoid if you are taking Asuryani or Drukhari allies.

Dedicated Transport

Starweaver
Remember this is only Toughness 5, but it's so fast and has decent guns. One of the better transports in the game.

Fortification

Webway Gate
Usable by all Aeldari. It's an interesting way of protecting a key unit at the start of the game or trying to get something closer. Don't put too many units in it though.

 Masque Forms

These are all interesting. They are very different from each other, with no clear best, which makes facing Harlequins a guessing game.

Stratagems

Stand-out Stratagems

• Great Harlequin
• Cegorach's Jest
• War Dancers
• Shrieking Doom
• The Labyrinth Laughs
• An Example Made
• The Silken Knife

Warlord Traits

Player of Twilight is not the auto-include such traits usually are, as the way it works is interesting but variable. There are some misses, but the hits are really good.

Enigmas of the Black Library

Stand-out Relics

• The Suit of Hidden Knives
• The Starmist Raiment
• Midnight's Chime
• The Mirrorstave
• The Ghoulmask
• Faolchu's Talon
• The Scintillant Veil

Psychic Powers

Twilight Pathways is the clear powerhouse of Phantasmacy. All the rest are solid powers except Mirror of Minds, as it's too high variance to be reliable.

Final Fantasy Regionals

This weekend saw the Final Fantasy TCG Regionals at Antics. I don't often get a chance to play the game, so I built a deck and had some quick refresher games in the week.

FFVII.Dec

Summons
3 x Bahamut Fury (1-190S)
1 x Phoenix (3-020H)
Backups
3 x Wedge (4-076R)
3 x Biggs (4-090R)
3 x Jessie (1-204S)
3 x Zack (4-031C)
3 x Zangan (1-188S)
Forwards
1 x Barret (1-205S)
3 x Barret (1-114R)
3 x Barret (4-089R)
3 x Vincent (PR-002)
1 x Vincent (2-077L)
3 x Vincent (4-075H)
1 x Tifa (1-016C)
3 x Tifa (1-189S)
3 x Tifa (2-011L)
2 x Cloud (1-009C)
1 x Cloud (1-187S)
3 x Cloud (4-145H)
2 x Cloud (1-182L)
1 x Cloud (PR-021/1-182L)
1 x Sephiroth (1-186L)

FF7 was the first Final Fantasy game I played, it introduced me to the series. It was also the first digital RPG I played. It helps that I love the story and the characters. With the FF TCG I only collect the cards from FF7, which limits my card pool. However, it lets me play the characters I like.

I built around the core of the Starter Deck. I removed the non-7 cards long ago. When building for this event, I decided to stick to the Fire/Earth archetype, splashing for Light Cloud. I finally put in a single Dark Sephiroth in case of a dangerous Backup. I don't really follow the meta, so I wasn't sure what I should be looking out for.

The event had 12 players, which meant 4 rounds and a top 4 cut. I'm terrible with names, so I don't remember the people I faced that I didn't know before the day. I will protect everyone's ID by not using any names.

Round 1
I faced a deck that wanted to fill the field with Monsters and attack in one turn. My deck came out quite aggressive and put my opponent on the back foot. He didn't really recover.
1-0

Round 2
I faced a control deck built around Porom and Palom, one that was used to re-teach me in the week. It was a close game, though I misplayed and forgot to use Biggs to increase Barret's power. This may or may not have changed the game. My opponent was on 6 damage at end of the game.
1-1

Round 3
I'm not sure how to describe what my opponent's deck was doing, due to my lack of experience with the game. There was a lot of back and forth with the game. The Legend Tifa was key in helping me get enough attacks through to win.
2-1

Round 4
Again, not sure about this deck but I believe it was built around Knights. My opponent was much better at the game than I was, but I made a fight of it. Got him to 6 damage by the end.
2-2

For my first ever constructed event, especially a Regional, 2-2 isn't bad. I came 8th and got some promos and boosters as prizes. It was a well-run event, as all of Lee Tucker's events are. I had a good day and it left me encouraged to try and get more games in. It's a shame my scheduling rarely allows me to.

I'm probably going to take the Sephiroth out of the deck, as I didn't see any worthwhile targets for his ability. Not sure what I'll replace him with. Maybe an extra Vincent or another Tifa. Or I'll forget by the time I next play. Plus another set comes out soon so we shall see what that brings.

Thanks to Lee Tucker for running the event, Richard Langsford for organizing it and sorting out the prize support and my opponents for all being a joy to play against. I hope to get more games in, this event was a great ambassador.