Another quick Kill Krusha update

I've finished the next stage of the Kill Krusha, finishing off the chipping and detail painting.

After everything cures it will be ready for gloss varnish and the oil wash.

pic?  done.  other stuff to do!

7th edition Ork FAQ. Relevant for all of what..3? weeks.

The 7th ed FAQs hit the interwebs today, and after going over the document I've got a couple things to say.

First, that there is nothing in the FAQ that stops all nobs in a unit of nobs (or Paladins for that matter) from being characters.  Yep, the faq that stopped it from happening was in the 6th ed rulebook FAQ, and not the Ork FAQ ..which I just confirmed with the copies of both I have on my computer.  Since the Nobs are specifically listed as Characters in the Ork FAQ.

However, that does not mean..well, anything. Characters (or IC's) no longer have precision shots, wounds from challenges bleed over so no reason to throw a Nob into one to help save the unit, and finally the changes to Look out Sir! means no wound shenanigans. 

So ya, Nob bikers are all characters..for nothing.

Next is the changes to wierdboys.  We can no longer take book powers at all (that goes for Blood Angels and Space Wolves as well).  The warp'ead option is gone replaced with a 25pt upgrade to a level 2. Not bad. They could have kept the warp'ead option as being able to re-roll the power like it was before. 

Still, a level 2 psycher for a mere 75pts is pretty awesome. 

The rest of the FAQ pretty much just reiterates everything in 7th edition language. 

At least we get to keep the Ramshackle table..for now!

7th edition op ed: scoring units.

So what's the big deal? Well, unlike every other edition of the game I've played, vehicles can be scoring in 7th.  There is no longer said restriction.  In fact, the only restrictions on scoring is a zooming flyer/FMC, a unit falling back, a rule that specifically says otherwise (aka Death Company) or an unoccupied building. That's it. Also notice the swarm rule isn't a restriction anymore either.

Such a complete swing from 5th/6th editions.  A complete 180 from what we've been doing for what..6 years now?

On the flip side I do really like the Objective Secured rule as a great, tactical complement to the opening up of scoring units. It still gives the troop slot a special place on the battlefield.

That being said, you will still see an almost instant reduction in the troop slot in 7th, leaving more points for more deadly units.  Unless, you're an Ork player where the troop slot is your best slot!

Armies like Seer Council were already very light on troops, but now they will be even more so, and without any real penalty for doing so. I mean it's not hard to contest an objective controlled by 3 jetbikes.

White Scars though is almost entirely troops as it is, so they will only gain in power from that. 

I'm really limiting myself to those two builds as pretty much all the other scary 6th ed builds are nerfed..anything TauDar, anything Space Marine/Tau which is what I played, etc.

Now for the fun part..Orks!

The first thing that came to mind was the Ork Dreadnaught.  Sure, vehicles are still fragile but just a little less so with the change to the damage table (plus we still have the KFF).  But what makes the Dreadnaught fun again is that they can be taken as troops!  So now not only can the Dread score objectives, but with a big mek will gain Objective Secured at the same time! That's just freaking awesome as far as I'm concerned.

I'd also like to see Kommandos again, especially Snikrot.  Sure they can't assault but they can still carry 2 burnas and now they can score objectives.  Say playing tactical objective missions, you place as many as you can close to the board edge.  Then Snikrot comes on, taking whatever objective you need for the card you have.  It can be spendy for just one point, but any pressure taken off boys or lootas is worth every lost kommando.

Same goes for Defkoptas. Not as flexible as Snikrot but can turbo-boost to almost any objective on the board.  And if they jink, so what? Just like all Orks making snapshots, you're really not losing much.

Orks don't really have a lot of options for deployment tricks and reserves.  In fact, those two above are it.  However both of them are great options and have their own positives and negatives. 

I might just have break out Snikrot again..before the new book hits.

7th edition op ed: why isn't anyone talking about jink?

As I was reading through the rulebook last night and tonight, the one thing that stuck out more then anything was the change to the jink rule.

In 6th, skimmers, bikes and jetbikes just got a cover save for moving.  Flyers could choose to evade for a cover save.

Now, in 7th all of them must choose to jink or not. This is done *before* to-hit rolls are even made.   If you choose to jink (for an improved 4+ cover save instead of 6th's 5+), then you can only snapshot the next turn.

This is a big difference and really challenges the effectiveness of Wave Serpents, Hammerheads, and bikes of all kinds.  I know I loved giving my Hammerhead and Skyray a 4+ cover save (disruption pods) just for moving a nudge.

No more.

I don't think this will curb the enthusiasm for White Scars bike armies much at all, but any decent amount of AP3+ shooting will mean making a hard choice.

It will also take a smidgen of survivability away from Seer Council.  Not much, but that means any decent amount of AP2 shooting is a lot more dangerous then it once was.

Waveserpents though will pay the heaviest price IMO.  They will really need to make hard choices between saves and shooting, especially at the 36" range of scatterlasers.  Hanging back may fix that but it means losing the twin-link on the serpent shield. 

For Orks, it means the Dakkajet may actually gain a bit of survivability, but Defkoptas loose some.  I'm still a fan of them, and despite the change to jink I think they have a nice role to play in 7th.

More on that to come.

Quick Kill Krusha update: base colors done.

So with my days off finally here, I was able to get the hairspray and colors on the Kill Krusha.

I'm especially happy with the hazard stripes. The yellow was done with Lamenter's Yellow glaze over the base light grey paint and came out great.

I masked the tracks, obviously. I don't plan on doing a massive amount of chipping on the model overall, i want to try and preserve most of the color.

I will also probably hit it with oil washes instead of acrylic washes.

Well I'm off to pick up my new 40k rulebook. later!

I finished an actual model kit: Revell EC145 Demonstrator

With 7th edition nigh and unable to work on the Kill Krusha I've worked on other stuff. First was to actually finish my helicopter model.  This was a lot of detail work.   The Badger Minitaire gloss varnish worked better this time but a few spots are still light and not shiny.  It did work very well over the windows though..that made me happy.

Very happy to have this finally complete after so long.

Last few days with not much else to do I've been working on Blood Angels. Yes, actual Blood Angels. With magnets.  I built a tactical squad and 10 more Death company.  I'll probably wait for their new book before painting though, just in case.

I've got another Imperial Fist Storm Talon on it's way soon, plus combing through 7th of course.

More to come!

7th edition psychic powers leaked...WIERDBOYS HO!!!

ORKS GET BOOK POWERS!!!!

Leaked pics here

I'm almost giddy over this. Orks have access to the 2 schools of Daemonolgy and Force power.

After going over the powers, the ones that stand out to me are:

1. Hammerhand. Whole unit gets +2 Str. ..the WHOLE unit..plus TWO strength..
2. Sanctuary.  Gain +1 invul save, which means gaining a 6+ if you have none. Great boost to cybork Nobs, and even a whole unit of boys with a 6+ is not shabby at all.

Also it seems double force org is out.  Which means I'm limited to 3 Wierdboys.

Of course, this is only for a few weeks before the new Codex hits.  We'll have to see what happens after that.