Imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned- Review Part v

We are soldiering on with the same chapter, however these two entries deserve their own special review which is why I had to separate them.

What was a huge weakness of the CSM codex? Dedicated tranports! And what were we missing that the loyalists had...that CSM should have had all along? Drop pods.

Chaos Dreadclaw Drop Pod- We finally got it! For a mere hundred points you can have what the loyalist scum had the entire friggin time. So what makes this so special? It's the usual armor 12 all around, it IS NOT open topped, and counts as a flyer, so it can hover.

Special rules include: assault vehicle, deep strike, drop pod assault, heat blast, and daemonic possession.

This bad boy can hold 10 models, or a single Ferrum Infernus (you know...that bad@ss dreadnought I reviewed earlier?), an Emperor's Children dreadnought, Chaos Contemptor, or Hellbrute. It comes with a frag assault launcher too.

Heat blast allows for the drop pod to make an attack when it comes in or later on when it's a flyer, measuring a 3" radius around the model + D3 all models suffer a str 6 ap 5 hit with no cover save, while vehicles ****are hit on their weakest armour value*** WHAT?! That's pretty cool, giving you a good chance of glancing or penetrating that rear armor 10! The other type of heat blast, is when the pod passes directly over any unit, suffers D6 str 5 ap5 hits, no cover and again if the model is a vehicle, it hits the weakest armor.
Note: there is a downside, on a result of a 1, the drop pod suffers a penetrating hit.

This is a solid fast attack choice, and I could see one being used to get some metla close to a knight or other susceptibly big target. Otherwise, I don't think it's worth sacrificing those Hell Blades. Very tough choices to make for fast attack in the FOC.

Now for the dreadclaw's bigger brother.

Chaos Kharybdis Assault Claw- Coming in at the price of a landraider with 5 hullpoints, this flyer/ transport is armor 12 all around and comes with:
5x kharybdis storm launchers
1x Melta Ram
1x Frag assault launchers.
This model can transport 20 models, with the same options of taking all those dreadnoughts previously mentioned OR a single chaos rapier battery. This transport is a heavy support choice, and an excellent one to boot! The Kharybdis can target differene enemy units with EACH of it's weapons, same rules for heat blast apply. A main difference is this guy can ram other vehicles (not other flyers).    I don't like giving stats on guns, but you can lay down 10x str 6 shots twin-linked. That's a ton of firepower, and the nice thing is when you land turn 1, those initial snapshots will be twin-linked.

Amazing choice for a heavy support, and could easily drop a squad of marines with a HQ to wreak havoc in the opponent's back lines.

That's it for tonight, but stay tuned. We will eventually make it through this, and I'll get to tactica by this weekend!

Imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned - Review Part iv

In the previous reviews we looked at the heavy hitters, the Chaos super heavies and tanks. Now it's time to get to the meat and potatoes, that will catapult the CSM into the upper tiers of tournament play.

First up is the Chaos Storm Eagle- Taking up a fast attack choice, this model is armor 12 all around, with 4 hull points. In addition it has a 20 model troop capacity. That's nothing to sneeze at! It comes equipped with a twin-linked heavy bolter, vengeance launcher, and the armoured ceramite to nullify any melta shots coming your way. 15 points will get you a twin-linked multi-melta. The upgrades are incredibly expensive and I can't see anyone wasting the points for additional weapons, when they can be better spent elsewhere. In lieu of the multi-melta you can take a reaper autocannon for free...combine that with the malefic ammunition, and you got some sweet rending shots. It should be noted, that you have to pay additional points to give the heavy bolters malefic, which I find odd, since I can't find other entries like that.

With the proliferance of interceptor,especially among top tau-lists, I'd be concerned that the eagle would get blown away before it even has an impact on the game. It straddles the line between transport and flyer, a master of neither. What I mean by that is, while it is a sturdy fighter it lacks the offensive punch to confidently take out heavy targets or other flyers; and it's armor 12 makes it susceptible to dedicated AA and wave serpents, potentially costing NOT only the flyer, but the units inside.

Chaos Fire Raptor Gunship- Essentially the same profile as the eagle, the raptor comes for 5 points less and has no troop capacity capabilities. It comes with:

1x Hull-mounted twin linked avenger bolt cannon

2x turret-mounted quad heavy bolters

4x hellstrike missiles

It is an infernal relic and has strafing run, of course you can exchange the heavy bolters for reaper autocannon batteries, which provide it with incredible offensive potential. Add malefic ammunition, and you have 8 rending autocannon shots, twin linked...Holy Sh*t! This flyer has the potential to knock out THREE medium to soft targets per turn (armour 12 or less) and with the rends can take on knights firing at side armor.

This clearly has a dedicated role, and although this takes a heavy support slot, the amount of firepower and punishment it can lay down is formidable. 

Chaos Thunderhawk- Yes we get them. Yes it has the same profile as the loyalist version. Sadly, as a lord of war it is underwhelming with only armor 12. I'm skipping a review of this, as I can't see it worth taking, except for fluff purposes.

However, the next entry seriously takes the cake!

Chaos Hell Blade- the most cost effective model in my opinion. This model is paper thin at armour 10, but packs two reaper autocannons, that's 8 str 7 shots...but for a cheap point upgrade you get helstorm autocannons that reduce the number of shots by 2 and provide rending. Hell yes. Able to shunt d6+2 prior to the movement phase, it's like a poor man's vector dancer. The icing on the cake is that 5+ inv save it comes with. 

This is a must have for the fast attack choice, nothing else comes close.

Chaos Hell Talon- Nearly twice the cost of the Hell Blade, the talon has the same armour profile. It comes with a twin-linked lascannon, reaper autocannon, and eight pyrax incendiary bombs. For the point cost and what it does, this is underwhelming especially since it competes with the Hell Blade for a fast attack slot. I may come back and add to this, if I glean any situations where having one of these is a good idea, but it can't beat the Hell Blade!

That's it for this review, I will do a special review on the dreadclaw and kharybdis Assault Claw in the next day or so! Game on!

Imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned - Review Part iii

Having covered the first two sections of the tome, section iii leads us to the ominous Chaos Astartes Heavy Tanks; two of which are super heavy vehicles, counting as lord of war choices, while the third can still be fit in a force organization slot as heavy support.

Chaos Fellblade Super-heavy Tank- Having the same armor as a leman russ, this is a large tank near the size of a baneblade. With 12 hullpoints this thing is an absolute beast and reasonably costed, considering it comes with:

Turretmounted twin-linked fellblade accelerator cannon
2x sponson-mounted quad lascannon
hull-mounted twin-linked heavy bolter
hell-mounted demolisher cannon

Laser destroyer sponsons can be added for free! The typical chaos vehicle upgrades can be taken, and best of all malefic ammunition can be taken, turning your bolter shots into rending weapons!

I can't give the exact stats on the accelerator cannon, but it is DEFINITIVELY, one of the best tank killers out there because not only does it have high str along with a low ap value, it has ARMOURBANE! And is a blast, so you know it will at least go down range and ruin someone's day!

I think if you had a choice in your CSM force for tournaments, and could take a lord of war, you should definitely consider this!

Up next...

Chaos Typhon Heavy Seige Tank- Coming in on a landraider chasis with 6 hullpoints, this thing is a demolisher on steroids; however in order to make use of its added range you must remain stationary. So do you want it to shoot the normal range of a demolisher or have the reach of a autocannon?
The other thing I can say about the gun is it has a "massive" blast radius and ignores cover. I'm looking at you Eldar and Tau!!!

Definitely a contender for a lower cost option as a lord of war, I'd also think it would be easy to conver this up using a demolisher cannon and a landraider that was laying around. Add some plasticard panels to the front of the tank, and TA DA!

Last but not least!

Chaos Spartan Assault Tank- This is the only option in this seciton that is still a heavy support choice,  but it has 5 hullpoints on a landraider chasis! There isn't much to say about this choice, that Imperial players or others haven't already seen or heard, it's just the chaos equivalent.

A great delivery system for chaos, with it's 25 model troop capacity!

Hope you found this review enlightening, the next review will focus on Chaos Astartes Attack Craft...which has some real winners! Stay tuned.

imperial Armour 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned- Review part ii

Part ii will cover the Chaost Astartes Assault Vehicles

Chaos Land Raider Proteus- This land raider variant allows for a carrying capacity of 10 troops and causes fear. This land raider boasts the same upgrades as any normal chaos land raider, and carries the same armaments (twin-linked lascannon sponsoons). 

For a heavy support choice there are far more options!

Next is the formidable...

Chaos Infernal Relic Achilles- possessing a quard mortor, sponson-mounted twin-linked multi-meltas, this land raider is a beast. Sacrificing transport capacity for firepower, What really makes this landraider shine is the Fuelled by Hate rule, for every hullpoint the vehicle loses, it increase the strength of the mortar is increased +1 and the ap value is decreased by one. 

I can't put exact points, but it could turn into a duanting power armor/anti-infantry killer. At that AP value, even Tyranid monstrous creatures wouldn't stand a chance! It's slightly cheaper than a Imperial Knight, and well worth the cost in my opinion. Fills a heavy support choice!

I know it is short and sweet tonight, and I apologize for that, but there's a lot of content to dig into and I hope you continue to join me in this review! Death to the False emprah!

Imperial Armor 13: War Machines of the Lost and the Damned-Review Part i

As with previous Imperial Armors by Forgeworld, this book takes the cake. This book is broken up into 8 separate sections each covering the various war machines of the Chaos Space Marines, and one of which covers their human armies of renegades and heretics.

The artwork and fluff is top-notch as are the descriptions of each of the units. Coming in at 196 pages, this is fairly decent sized book, jam-packed with tons of units that will really boost up the competitive level of any Chaos Space Marine army.

This is part 1 of my review which will cover the first section Chaos Battle Tanks!

Chaos Infernal Relic Predator- The standard armor value as a regular space marine predator, the versaility of this unit is the ability to attach special weaponry, such as the magna-melta cannon, autocannon with inferno bolts (space marine killer ap ;)), a heavy conversion beamer, twin linked las, or plasma destroyer.

Because it is a relic, you can only take one unless you take a warpsmith, abaddon, or sorceror with daemonology; however the synergy of this model is the fact that you can attach dirge casters to assist other units in getting into the assault. Not the best unit for the points, and the fact that there are significantly better choices, but nonetheless appreciated for those fluff armies!

Next is...

Chaos Relic Sicaran Battle Tank- A reasonable point cost, good armor, and sporting an amazing weapon. This tank boasts the accelerator autocannon, which is twin-linked, ignores jink, and has rending. A truly terrifying prospect for enemy flyers and skimmers (ahem, wave serpents)!
**This is in the heavy support slot and is an abolute must-have in any competitive CSM army.

Part ii will be out Nov. 3, so stay tuned!

Quick Introduction to the Astra Militarum Heretics!

This event was an 1850 tournament. I fielded my heretics as Astra Militarum troops, with a Knight Errant ally. These pictures were taken game one.

The "cultist" models count as conscripts, here I was running a horde of 40 with priests to give them zealot. They work great as a bunker and "bubble-wrap" for my army.

Here's an overhead view of the hammer and anvil demployment.

I'm going to revitalize this blog. It will be a series of painting projects. The first is in honor of Imperial Armor 13: Renegades and Heretics.

I will be writing a review as I display my current heretic astra militarum army.

-Argentius