WIP - The return of the Appleseed Landmate

After a month of stalls I have finally picked up my Appleseed Landmate design and am pushing it forward. The last one you saw was the blue prototype. This one is on a completely new design. I wasn't completely happy with the torso and jetpack on that one. They still were too boxy and the triple jet was neat but didn't fit the theme. The second issue was the arms. The were a little too short. Finally the head, it is still headless but I have a plan now and onece my greenstuff shows up I can get to scuplting. Here is a preview.

partially completed suit

Redesigned suit legs. Still working on the leg vents/jets.

pelvis and waist 

Base arms, still working on the hands.

Torso made from a modified FW XV-88.

40K Radio Toys for Tots Display Board

Every year 40K Radio does a charity eBay auction of an army. Last year it was a Waaagh for Tots event with 4 Ork armies crossing the auction block. This time around the focus is the Emperors chosen sons, the Ultra Marines. Those wonderful Smurfs, boys in blue. Well I have issues with the boys in blue so painting some of them as a donation wasn't going to happen. Instead I am donating a display board. The board is 18x24" so not overly large and to keep things interesting it is magnetic.

Since building the board is the easy part. It is just a smaller table after all and there are tons of tutorials on creating one. I am going to focus on the odd part, making it magnetic. There are a few ways to do this. First is use metal for for the base. Simple the only hard part is cutting it to size. Next is magnetic paper. This stuff is pretty neat. It is a paper impregnated with magnetic material. It cuts like paper so it is easy to work with. The last option is magnetic paint. This is the path I went with for this project. The paint is by Rustoleum and it contains small metal particles that allow you to magnetize any surface by covering it with a minimum of 3 coats.

The paint works but there are a few things to keep in mind. First off it is thick, real thick. So roll it on with a short nap roller. It build with each coat and can obscure fine details. Second, it drys to a light texture, if you are doing a cityfight/pavement board you can skip any other texture paint and just use the grain generated by the roller. Finally it is heavy. The paint added a fair amount to the board, especially considering I went overboard and used a thick roller and about 10 coats of the stuff. Do as I say and not as I do if you want make your own. Either way the stuff really works. I can now stick minis anywhere on the board, even in rough areas without worry. Check out the picts and you will completely understand.

completed board

close up

Kroot warrior with magnet in base on rough terrain.

No, the picture is not rotated.

The fig and magnet combo weigh about 6 grams.

Limit yourself - the Forgotten Unit Challenge

Every army has at least 1, some have several. What I am talking about is the unit no one plays for any number of reasons, bad model design, role duplicated in another unit, too expensive to purchase or only available for special order or just generally sucking at their intended purpose. The thing is, playing with the less than desirable units can open up some new tactics, possibly catch your opponent off guard and occasionally give you the tool needed to exploit a weakness in your opponents army. If anything it get those models that were collecting dust onto the game table where they belong.

So here is the challenge, after all what would be the fun in this exercise if we didn't set up a challenge. Build your best 1500 point list using forgotten unit for your army. Tell us the list and the tactical theme for the army. Finally play that list in a few games and let us know what worked, what was different and if you will be using that unit in a few other list based on your results.

Here is my list -
1500 Pts - Tau Empire Roster - ESWAT - Piranha Challenge

HQ: Commander Shas'o (3#, 248 pts)
   1 Commander Shas'o (Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Crisis Bodyguard; Crisis Bodyguard; Missile Pod; Twin Linked Plasma Rifle)
      1 Crisis Bodyguard (Twin Linked Missile Pod; Targeting Array)
      1 Crisis Bodyguard (Twin Linked Missile Pod; Targeting Array)
Troops: Fire Warrior (7#, 190 pts)
   6 Fire Warrior
    1 Devilfish (Smart Missile System; Decoy Launchers; Disruption Pod; Flechette Discharger; Multi-Tracker)
Troops: Fire Warrior (7#, 190 pts)
   6 Fire Warrior
      1 Devilfish (Smart Missile System; Decoy Launchers; Disruption Pod; Flechette Discharger; Multi-Tracker)
Troops: Fire Warrior (10#, 145 pts)
   9 Fire Warrior (EMP Grenade)
      1 Shas'ui (Bonding Knife; EMP Grenade)
Fast Attack: Piranha Light Skimmer (2#, 145 pts)
   2 Piranha Light Skimmer (Fusion Blaster x2; Decoy Launchers x1; Disruption Pod x1; Targeting Array x1)
Fast Attack: Piranha Light Skimmer (2#, 145 pts)
   2 Piranha Light Skimmer (Fusion Blaster x2; Decoy Launchers x1; Disruption Pod x1; Targeting Array x1)
Fast Attack: Piranha Light Skimmer (2#, 135 pts)
   2 Piranha Light Skimmer (Decoy Launchers x1; Disruption Pod x1; Targeting Array x1)
Heavy Support: Broadside Battlesuit (5#, 260 pts)
   1 Broadside Battlesuit (Broadside Battlesuit; Broadside Battlesuit; Targeting Array)
      1 Broadside Battlesuit (Targeting Array)
      1 Broadside Battlesuit (Shield Drone; Shield Drone; Drone Controller)
         1 Shield Drone (Shield Generator)
         1 Shield Drone (Shield Generator)
Elite: Crisis Battlesuit (1#, 41 pts)
   1 Crisis Battlesuit (Flamer; Twin Linked Burst Cannon)
Total Roster Cost: 1499
Created with Army Builder® - Try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com

The overlooked unit for me is the piranha. It is one of the cooler looking Tau vehicles. I love the TX-42 variant but being Forgeworld I am not including them in this build. No point in me kicking off another Forgeworld rant. The idea behind this build is to strike fast, almost like Eldar. Use the speed of the skimmers to quickly get to objectives and drop off troops so they can dig in. Then use the transports and skimmers to push back or stall the enemy to give the troops some protection. The real power of this is the piranhas speed. 6 of them in pairs can cover allot of ground without getting tied up because of squad size. Covering the rear are a pair of broadsides that are essential to making this work. They are the long range killers for stopping any mech from coming forward. The only issue is they are paired instead of being 2 independent units. It is a small price to pay though to get around the majority toughness issue. Lastly is the wild card, a lone battle suit built solely to attack objective sitters. 

So that is it. Now it is your turn. Lets see what you got.

Kroot are not Orks!!!

Kroot Renegade by Marco Schulze

Kroot are not Orks. Grab an Ork and grab a Kroot. Now look real close, go ahead I will wait.... You ready or do you need more time? Ok, now lest go over the differences.

Orks -

• ugly, plant fungus people
• if it is big it must be good mentality
• tend to drool allot
• scavenge what they can even to the point of destroying thing that were working to get that they want
• get 10 of them together and their IQ still wouldn't add up to a small earthquake
• can build anything but have no clue how it works
• love to fight but don't understand why

   
Kroot -

• birdlike, reptilian creatures
• masters at adaptation with a deep understandings of genetics and DNA manipulation
• understand that war isn't the end of it all, money and power are
• understand power through simplicity
• resourceful and willing to use other groups technology to their advantage
• hides real power behind a primitive appearance

   
There is even more but this is a good start. So why all of this, simple I have had it with the Kroot are Ork substitute mods and scratch builds I have been seeing. Kroot are not going to just grab some random bits and slap them on a vehicle and call it done. They are a little more restrained than that. Sure they will adorn their weapons and blades with trophies but even then only a few and really most of those are just...lunch. In may respects the Kroot are the classic movie western Indians. Holding onto their old ways but embracing some technology as needed. Trading weaker weaponry and pieces of armor when needed to accomplish a goal.

The best example of what the Kroot are about is by Marco Schulze and his Kroot Renegades (http://www.hivefleetmoloch.com/ or http://www.legionsgames.com/mastergallery/kroot_renegades.htm) . These are real Kroot. Take a close look at what he has done. There are no extra plates or thing just bolted on. All that was moved were the weapon systems and support systems needed to make them work. They stick to the script and make it work. So now that you have some inspiration and guidelines, get to building some Kroot.
   
   
   

Have Forgeworld must Play

I have had it with GW and Forgeworld. My beef this time around is not with the models or even the rules produced by either. The problem is nothing meshes together. FW makes models and rules, GW makes models and rules, they are both under the same umbrella as a company but you can't really use the FW stuff in a GW game. The reason normally given for this is, 'The Forgeworld books are not widely available, so we can't include them in the regular game.' and 'The Forgeworld rules are not as well tested as the regular GW rules so they will upset the balance of the game.' What a pair of BS answers. The one that makes my head want to explode is this one, 'Work it out with your opponent before the game.' So lets get this right, I give my opponent the ability to veto my list because he doesn't like FW stuff. Can I do this in the next game where I am facing 3 Landraider or the latest leaf blower IG list? Of course not, it would be silly to even ask. Something has to change. Forgeworld should be allowed in any game.

So why the push to get it in? For starters the models are cool. Most gamers are impulsive and buy models based on their look more than their tactical ability. Being a Tau player I have a set of heavy marker/gun drones. Are they any good, not really, they are somewhat of a waste of a heavy slot but they look cool and dwarf the regular drones. By the same token the new XV9 suites and commander are down right deadly and a much needed boost to and out of date codex. Looks at the Chaos Drop Pod. What Chaos player would not want to place one of those on the table. Sorry, its rules are slightly different than the normal ones so you can't use it.

Next up the rules availability. I can here the whining now, the books are too expensive. Right, and how much did you spend amassing the 5000 point army you are running now or the third army you have started this year, not played but started. You bought that crappy Planetstrike book, you subscribe to the 50+ page add book know as White Dwarf and some of you actually bought the collectors edition 40K rule book. The Apoc 1 & 2 books, stick them in your bag, take it with you to the game store and start playing. Even better most of the new stuff gets released as experimental PDF rules before the book comes out. Use it until the book is finally released.

I have the rules and they are bad, the point balances are off and the force organizing is useless. Bad rules are what makes 40K, well 40K. The rules have always been bad, full of wholes and designed to sell models instead of play the game. This is the GW way. With the spotty, staggered release dates, army of the week mentality and needing to sell stuff this is never going to change but we still play the game. At least this way you can keep the number of units growing somewhat to open up new tactics and ways of play. Sure there are a few out there that are royally scary like the dreadnought assault drop pod but still that is no reason to make a blanket statement that all FW stuff is bad.

Bottom line is this, it is a game. Why limit the fun by kicking out a whole segment of figs because of a few bad units. Let them in and expand on the gaming universe. Raise the game play bar a little and see what happens.

Andriod software review - WarHelper Pro

The application is a pretty straight forward dice roller app with a few extras. It is offered in 2 versions, free and pro. The differences between the two were minor and for the $1 you might as well go pro. The main feature is the die roller. It supports adding dice in singles or blocks of 5 so you can run any combination of dice you want. I tried to test the maximum number it will roll but I stopped at 500. I figure if you need more then 500 dice at once you need to seek medical attention. The roller handled this number without any problems and gave consistently random results. As an example I did 50 rolls of 500 dice and ended up with a fairly average chart with only a few awesomely good and horribly bad rolls. In a my spot check of rolls of 4 or better the numbers were consistently in the 230-270 range out of the 500. This leaves me to believe the random number generator used is pretty solid.

Features during the basic rolling are a little limited, you have add and subtract dice, roll positive / negative, the ability to tag dice for rerolls and batch dice so you can only show the dice that hit and remove those that don't automatically. The pro version adds shake to roll which is nice but just as easy as pressing the roll button so take it for what it is worth. The batch function is the nicest feature. This will automatically highlight any die rolls that meet the criteria you set. The criteria can be a basic high low or a specific number set. So on a 4+ it highlights them and makes them standout or if you only want to keep rolls from 2-4 it does that to. No more accidentally calling hits misses and vice versa. A feature that would be nice to see is selectable dice size. The dice size is geared to getting the most dice on the screen at once and is a little small if you have large hands like I do. It is easy to tag the wrong dice by miss clicking. Having the option to change the size of the dice would be nice.

Next we have Auxiliary options. This part of the program has a turn counter, scatter die roller and artillery and the ability to select up to 3 die for each. The turn counter keeps track of both players turns and the game round you are on. It has no upper limit so if you are playing a last mini standing battle you need not worry. It would be nice to have it handle the turn 5 roll off for turn 6 or even give you a message that you are on turn 5. The scatter die and artillery rollers are pretty neat. To use them you place the device next to the unit and press roll. It displays hits with a big bullet hole marker and the rest of the time it displays an easy to read arrow that is large enough to keep people from guessing about the direction. At the bottom of the screen are displayed the die values for the roll. The dice here are also big for easy reading. 

 There are 2 statistics sections that round out the software. The first is statistics, this gives you a sliding menu for all the mathhammer players instant access to the percentages for each type of roll. For example a 4 to hit with reroll, a 3 to wound and a 4+ cover save should hit 25% of the time. If the wound gets a reroll the chance goes up to 33%. If you change the 3 to wound to a 2 and no reroll it drops to 31%. Depending on how you play this can help or hurt your strategy during a game. Some times knowing that you only have a 5% chance to wound is not worth knowing. The other stat it tracks is how often a each die result has come up. This is how I ran my checks earlier. It tells you the raw numbers and percentages which is nice. Ever wonder how many 1's you really rolled in that game, well now you know.

As an application is it worth it. Yes. This is great if you are looking for a roller that is geared toward the game. There are a bunch of plain rollers out there but the extras put it over the top. Having all the standard rolls there in one place it nice and have the stat tracker pushes it over the top.

http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-jbecker-quickrollpremium-xtmE.aspx
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Threat Range

We hear about it all the time in 40K, threat range. This is the thing that makes so many assault units insanely powerful. Things like Knob Bikerz, Thunderwolf Calvery and Bloodclaws being able to assault from over 12" away and in some cases ignore soft terrain ranged shooting has essentially been nerfed out of existence. IG is really the only shooty army that stands a chance of surviving thanks to insane unit sizes. After all throw enough dice at anything and it will die. Orks have the same setup as well and can even back it up in close combat after all a mob of 30 Shoota Boyz is still allot of dice rolling. But want about the other groups like Necrons or Tau, they are stuck. Small unit size and only 1 horrible option for a rapid fire weapon is a disaster waiting to happen. I know what people will say, 'Well just stick the troops inside a transport, that will protect them.' The problem is then they can't do what they are designed to do, shoot things. In a game that is about cinematic events and heroic deeds you never are going to hear something like, The brave men of company B held up inside of there transport hoping to not be assaulted but the enemy. Also trading 12+ dice for 4 to 6 and the ability to only target 1 unit doesn't get you very far or help you with the threat range problem. With the amount of power weapons floating around in every other army hiding in a transport does no good.

So how to correct this.

Free defensive weaponry. Grenades are nice but for some reason Tau has to pay for them separately while everyone else gets them free. Even when taking carbines that have grenade launchers on them they still have to pay for regular ones. Talk about an early date with the foam box. They should be passing these things out like beads at Marti Gras.

New units that add protection. For a group that is supposed to rely on technology so much the Tau need to actually start doing it. They have stealth fields and disruption pods why not put them into a drone. A disruption drone that shields troops like a disruption pod does for ships. This was the intent of the shield drone but really it isn't doing its job. That 12" buffer no target zone would actually mean that they could get a shot off now and then.

Extended rapid fire range. This is a big one. Pulse Carbines need to be able to rapid fire at longer ranges. These guys are the best of the best shooters. They should be able to write 'For the Greater Good' across a space marines chest at any range like some '20s gangster with a Tommy gun. Ideally give them it at 18" instead of 12". The fluff behind it is pretty simple too, if the 'we can't change a light bulb without saying a 30 minute prayer' marines can have weapons that are smart enough to tell friend from foe why not let the Tau have tech that improves their shooting other than marker lights.

Mine layers or drop barriers. This is one that I just don't get. Tau are masters of the air on par with the Eldar. They have airdropped gun emplacements that while limited, make since. Why not expand on this and give them a drop minefield or barricade like a bastion defense walls. Both are perfect ways of not totally stopping a charge but taking some of the bite out of it.

Drone sacrifice. Give Them the option of sacrificing their drones and allow them to move d6 inches away. This is the classic war movie tactic and would fit the Tau better than standing there and getting punched in the face. They see that charge coming and setup a couple of drones as the first line so they can still return fire. The d6 distance doesn't put you way out of range but at least stops the assault and since it is a one time thing it allows you to hopefully avoid the inevitable.

So there you have it, any one of those gives a needed boost and make threat range less of a problem without breaking the Tau feel like most fixes that basically beef them up to Marine numbers.