Eldar Acceptance Society

Yet another week has gone past, so it’s now time for yet another This Week In Non-Competitive Gaming!
Though it is more This Week In Competitive Capitalism, Or Lack There Of.
Recently, after my daily trolling over on BOLS, I have found myself infuriated by the comments on Mantic’s new game Warpath.

The main criticisms of the game are that Mantic are just ripping off GW’s ideas. The ignorance of this statement, while versed in some from of truth, is quite annoying to me. Firstly, GW are not the sole owners of the Fantasy in Space setting, which was built upon the Fantasy setting, which was built upon the Middle-Earth setting and so on so forth.
There are no entirely original ideas these days, ok? I wish people would accept that. Scriptwriters and authors claim that there is only 5 storyline themes, with each, so called, new idea being just a variation upon these initial ideals.

Lets have a look at some comparisons between Mantic’s Warpath concept art and GW’s actual models

Orx Marauder, from Mantic

GW’s Typical Ork

The similarities here, while somewhat obvious, only play a minimal role between the art, with radical differences being observable.
Firstly, the gun is more vicious and deadly than GW’s sluggas.
Secondly, the armour is far more minimalist in GW’s Orks than those from Mantic.
The proportions of head, body, arms, teeth and hands appear more balanced.
I could go on further, but honestly cannot be bothered to rant anymore…. Apparently some people don’t like reading my rages for 58 pages, who knew?

So for those who TL;DR
Yes, Mantic has done Fantasy in space
No, they have not done a blatant copy of GW’s range
Yes, there are similarities, being Mantic’s niche in the market. Most people I know bought the models as a far cheaper alternative to GW, with no real interest in the game. After a few months we played some KoW and loved it. Too put a long story short, people buy their products primarily as an alternative, so it makes sense to include this similarities.

So, as a final point, everyone hates GW’s business model. Just take a glance at any large, online 40k community and try not to find over 9000 examples of such rages. Mantic has a much better one in my opinion, with their game being open to changes based on criticism and being very in touch with their fan base.
If you want to have a discussion with the higher ups, help them out or rage at them, it is all easy to do, and they are open to external help. As proof of this currently I am drowning in code, creating a list builder for their armies in KoW, something I am happy to do for such a company and they seem happy to receive.
Everyone has rages at GW’s price hikes, and then rages at Mantic, who are providing a far cheaper alternative for said models, yet they rage none the less!
Hypocrisy of the internet never ceases to amaze me, and trust me, I have seen terrible, terrible things…. 4chan for example

And so ended yet another This Week In Non Competitive Gaming Article…
Thoughts, criticisms, unfathomable rage?

Exodites: It has just begun...

Saturday, June 25, 2011

idget

Well, this is the humble beginnings of my new Exodite army... I'm still restricted to my iPhone, so once again I apologise for the quality of the pictures; they look much better in real life, I assure you!
Well, without further ado I shall begin!

War Walker

Back of War Walker

Blurry Exodite

Rangers/Exodites

I do intend to have a conversion guide or painting guide up this friday, one of the two.
They are mainly a kitbash, but with some fiddly bits and the painting is also somewhat straight forward, albeit time consuming.
And there we have it!
Thought, criticisms, unfathomable rage?
How do you guys go about it?

Storm of Magic. Son, I am Disappoint

Friday, June 24, 2011

idget

Well, initially, I was very excited about the release of Storm of Magic, being a Fantasy player myself. However it has turned into a bit of a failfest.
8th Edition already has some serious flaws, like OP magic and hordes and now these are becoming even more pronounced in the new expansion, and I quote

...With monumental spells, wizards raining meteors out of the sky and monsters the size of houses tearing up enemy units with impunity.

Added to that, they have got none other than Mat Ward to write the damn thing, with his previous foray into Fantasy resulting in the monstrosity that was the Chaos Daemons Army Book, one which even a inexperienced player could throw down almost any list and have a excellent chance of winning.
Needless to say, Mat Ward should never ever be given permission to write an Army Book again, yet alone an entire expansion.

Some of the models are nice though, like the Dark Elf Dragon, however some are be quite lacklustre.

Then, in their brilliance, they gave us this... thing

Yes that's right, a giant, finecast chicken.

What is it even meant to resemble? Some snake, lizard, griffon, chicken? From here on in, I shall call it the Snazariffonken. Much more of an accurate name in my opinion.

GW then call it a sniper, which is utterly insane. If I was on a battlefield, I don't think a gigantic chicken would be very concealed, more sticking out like a tumour, which is incredibly accurate in describing what it is.

I don't think my Wood Elves will be coming out much in the near future, rather, I'll stick to Eldar, where GW can't feth us up any more than they already have...

And now I've jinxed myself...

Friday, June 24, 2011

idget

Team Fortress two is now free on Steam!
Get it here!
If anyone wants to play some games with me, drop a comment below.
For those of you who have never heard of it, it is a crazy FPS by Valve, who made for Left for Dead, Portal, Half Life and Counterstrike, all amazing games in their own right.
It's a light hearted, fun and incredibly addictive game, so downloaded it, I mean, it's free you know...

Calling all Eldar Accepters

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

idget

6 comments

Calling all Eldar bloggers!
Do you want to support our cause in creating a far more accepting and non-segregated blogging world
Do you have a genuine love for Eldar?
Do you wish to save their species from extinction?
Do you want to change the galaxy, saving one Eldar at a time?
If so, join our blogroll!
Drop a comment with a link to your Eldar related blog and I'll add you quite happily. Hopefully, this site will eventually become a meeting point as such for all Eldar players, but we need your help to achieve this dream!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

idget

Next up is the Farseer, the pimp daddy of all HQ choices in the Eldar codex. If you’re not using one, then your either using Eldrad, a dual Autarch build or have no intention of winning games. Essentially, if you don’t have him/her in your list, you might want to make an appointment with a Phsyciartrist. And that is said in all seriousness. Of course there are some exceptions to this rule, however they are few and far between.

TACTIAL VALUE

I can sum this up in very few words: Space Elf Chuck Norris. S/he tends to be orientated towards beefing up other Eldar units. While they can hold their own in close combat, they generally wish to avoid it, in addition to other offensive tasks, unless you wish to run a full seer council (covered next week).
The Farseer essentially revolves around the use of the warp, having 5 main spells, almost all of which are extremely useful.

++Doom++

One of my favourite powers, don’t leave home without it. If you want an enemy killed quickly, use doom, shoot it, then assault, considerably buffing Banshees, helping them overcome their limitations of having S3 and Dire Avengers, particularly with Bladestorm used in conjunction with them. I know I wouldn’t like to receive an obscene number of shuirkens with re rolls to wound coming at my squad, particularly if I were playing Grey Knights, with large amounts of points relying on that passing that 3+ armour save numerous times over.

Also, be sure to shout out DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! every time you use it, particularly if your opponent shouts out “FOR THE EMPRAH!’, “METAL BAWXES?”, “SPHESS MAHRIEENS” and “WAAAAGH!”.

Think of it as a hypocritical indulgence

++Fortune++

Another excellent power, though it only benefits a single unit, however will benefit them greatly, particularly when hiding in cover. If you are running a foot list, this is a must take power, even more so with the Avatar, being a essential component of such an army.

TL;DR, if you have the points, grab it.

++Guide++

If you have Warwalkers of lots of Guardians, then not even Big Brother and the entire damn ministry of peace should be able to convince you not to take them.

Its always seeing the look on your opponents face as he realises what casting it on a bunch of Warwalkers with Scatter Lasers will do to those little Marines of his. (Assuming that like everyone, he is playing Marines…. Sigh; don’t get me started on that) Suffice to say, they now know fear… That was a pun! Geddit? Geddit? Sigh, my comedic genius is being wasted on you guys.

Also, when used with Doom, particularly on your heavy hitting units like Fire Dragons and Dark Reapers, carnage should ensure.

++Mind War++

I want to love it, I really do. On paper, it looks pretty awesome, capable of sniping those pesky characters and squad leaders with power fists etc. with relative ease. However, it doesn’t successfully translate during gameplay for several reasons. Its targets tend to have high enough Ld to make the power a bit of a gamble, also the Farseer needs to get too close to the enemy for my liking to use it effectively. I don’t really recommend taking this, unless you are confident in using it, perhaps having a different play style to me. If so, please drop a comment below to enlighten the masses.

++Eldritch Storm++

No. Just no. I have enough S3 already thanks, and I’d rather buy a better power that actually is useful.

Our heroic little seer also has several wargear options worth considering. The Singing Spear is a love/hate weapon for Eldar players. For 3 points, I take it every time, also buffing your anti-tank potential. If you’re complaining about losing the extra attack, then I ask, why are you planning on using that? Don’t get your seer into close combat, unless absolutely necessary, so you really shouldn’t worry too much about losing the attack.

Runes of warding, put simply should always be taken., period. It increases their average chance of perils by almost 7 times and successes drop to 50% on a Ld 10 model, which should be expected with the marine spam we see these days.

Grey Knights’ new spell spam takes a massive blow as well from RoW

Let’s back it up with some maths then… (Rounded to the nearest percent)

Unmodified w/ Ld 10: Perils and failure, 3%

Perils and success 3%

Failure 5%

Success 89%

Ld 10 against Runes: Perils and failure, 38%

Failure 12%

Success 50%

Point proven? Take the damn things….

Our other Runes however, namely Runes of Witnessing, are more controversial. I love them, others don’t. They increase your chance of rolling a double 1 sadly, but do help avoid results far too high. The choice is yours.

Spirit Stones should always be taken.

Honestly, I can’t drum that into your head enough, though I am sure you’ll disagree…

The jet bike really should only be taken if your list has numerous jet bikes, or else it becomes redundant. The 3+ save is very useful, however without sufficient support from the other bikes, it quickly will be shot down. The Farseer can hide in a unit safely on foot, with the squad taking the wounds for her/him, reducing the likelihood of wounds than going solo.

Tl;DR, if you use lots of jet bikes, get one. If you don’t, well don’t.

THEME

Well, I’m getting tired here so I may just paraphrase… This is taking some time. Anyway, Ulthwe armies will almost always require a Farseer for fluff purposes, as with many other craftworlds as well, though not to the same degree, as each relies upon those who tread the Path of the Seer.

Harlequin counts as armies can use one as a Shadow Seer and Exodites will also be justified in choosing one.

Living like Bear Grylls doesn’t mean that the race forgot how to use the warp overnight, they just would be somewhat wary about its use, lacking the security given by the path.

PAINTING AND MODELLING

To stop you guys from going TL;DR on me, I’ll keep this short and sweet.

There are lots of models, all of decent quality and available in both resin and metal, hopefully appeasing both opposing parties.

Painting is fairly simple, if you keep an eye out for all the bells and whistles. Just paint it in your Craftworld colours and the rest as so you choose; though GW’s general scheme for these parts will work for most colours of the Farseer.

If you read all of this, give yourself an Internet cookie! All comments, criticisms and unfathomable rages are welcomed, except maybe the latter… My view differs to many others, so please post your own thoughts below!
Conflict is my friend, so I suppose that makes me a Fascist now. Crap. Anyway, enough waffle!/thread

EAS Proposed Posting Schedule

Monday, June 20, 2011

idget

1 comment

So, being the 1337 organiser that I am /sarcasm I felt that it would be beneficial to compose some form of schedule for my posts here, mainly to enforce myself to update the blog and also to ensure that you guys know when and what I will be posting.
If I don't, feel free to... encourage me. Drive-bys, muggings or even a well written and mildly polite *gasp! U Mad Bro?* email or whatever. Just don't visit me in person... that would be somewhat concerning and I will claim no responsability for damage caused on the grounds of self defence.
Anyway, as Shakespeare said "Too much ado about nothing" the waffle shall end! Don't look too excited... please, it makes me feel sad.

Monday: This week in Non-Competitve Gaming or Rant Day!
Wednesday: Eldar Codex Review
Friday: Some form of hobby article and such
Sunday: Something delightfully self centred about my hobby progress and the like, commonly known as the day to be avoided.

Monday, June 20, 2011

idget

For this instalment of This Week In Non-Competitive Gaming, I thought I would tackle the most controversial issue at this time, namely Citadel Finecast.
One simply has to cast their eyes upon any blog or forum to be bombarded by a deluge of nerd raging, coma inducing posts about Finecast, orientated towards the price and quality.
Well, I actually ~~like~~ love Finecast! At first I thought it may have been a single, decent sculpt that I had purchased, I mean, the internets cannot be wrong can they?
Well, in that mindset I purchased no less than six models, all of which were excellent.
Obviously you wont take my word for it so here are some pictures to prove it, taken prior to any cleaning or repair work (None of which was necessary, save chopping off flash)

Warlock

Farseer

Shadowseer

Death Jester

Warlocks x2

My iPhone takes bad pictures I know... My camera is being repaired though!

Honestly, the detail is amazing on these guys, the Death Jester's base is a prime example of this. A every single rivet is clearly visible, which when I look at the metal verison, I cannot even see!

I thought the damn thing was some ruin or something... Time to repaint it methinks.

To test the strength of the material by ~~hurling~~ dropping a fortunate (Pun!) Farseer, which just bounced around, without a single chip or breakage.

The models went together nicely, are light and not overtly toxic. I did a very dodgy cutting job in my room, went to sleep, woke up perfectly healthily, unlike far less exposure from FW resin leading to sickness. Also, the releasing agent is already cleaned off, so no baths needed!

Well, there we have it!

Thoughts, criticisms, unfathomable rage?

Codex Review: Avatar

Saturday, June 18, 2011

idget

1 comment

Image from Forge World

Next up on the agenda is the Avatar of The Bloody Handed God, a strong unit, however is limited severely in army selection choices, requiring a very particular army to be used effectively.

TACTICAL VALUE

The Avatar has one particular niche which it fills, namely the primary HQ choice for a Footdar army, particularly Guardian Spam, compensating for low leadership by making them fearless or acting as supporting units in assault, ensuring that he does not get bogged down in horde type armies. Generally, you should try to cram as many units in as possible within his 12” Fearless bubble, however does increase the damage of template weapons, which can damage not only the Avatar himself, but several other squads at the same time, who will have fairly low saves and toughness levels.

The Avatar himself is highly resilient however, particularly for his points value, though being considered a Daemon, the new Grey Knights codex has numerous units capable of circumventing many of his defensive benefits. Thankfully, as MEQ has dominated the meta game, very little armies seen in competitive play will have Daemons, thus reducing the likelihood of seeing very situational units facing you.
His resilience allows him to act as a fire magnet, distracting them from a possible offensive by numerous Guardian squads or other foot based units.

So, for all FootDar armies, the Avatar is a very effective HQ choice, in fact can almost be considered essential for such armies. Personally, I do not like to use the Avatar in my own lists, such as my Exodites, mainly because I feel that if an arm is built around one essential unit, then if it is taken out early in the game the list crumbles quickly, examples being Ninja Tau, Fateweaver and, to a lesser degree, Chenkov lists; however this choice is entirely due to personal preference, with many others criticizing my own lists for omitting him.

In a Mech or Hybrid army, I do not recommend choosing the Avatar under any stretch of the imagination, often leaving him unsupported and a fire magnet, whereas no units benefit for his 12” Fearless bubble and also often will be left behind by the fast Eldar vehicles in a Mech list.

THEME

For a Craftworld army, the Avatar is a very fluffy choice, being awakened during wars of significant importance, with one residing within each Craftworld.

Interestingly, the Avatar also can be used in an Exodite list, but representing Kunerous rather than Khaine, just substituting the Avatar’s model with Orion from the Wood Elf range.

PAINTING AND MODELLING

The Avatar’s modeling options are entirely limited to resin in this day and age, being either a boon or a burden, depending on your opinion of the new Finecast range. The GW model, while being somewhat expensive and small, is still very attractive, though is showing its age when compared to the other Eldar sculpts, not quite fitting in with the visual aesthetic of the Eldar models.

The Forgeworld model however is truly beautiful, shown at the top of this post, being a truly breathtaking piece despite its hefty cost.

Painting the Avatar leads to some interesting choices, with some opting to use reverse highlighting in the model, with bright yellow within the cracks developing to a dark, burnt colour, to simulate lava; whilst others prefer to take other methods, from a red colour to the Craftworld’s colour scheme. This choice is entirely up too personal preference.

Image from Bell of Lost Souls

Thoughts, criticism or unfathomable rage?
Comments be they accepting or contradicting (boo!) are welcome!

Fuel for the Fire

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

idget

Came across this little beauty on GW's site, it was far too good to pass up showing it.
Counts as Space Wolves anyone?

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

idget

1 comment

Walk into your FLGS, look around at the people gathered there, take a deep breath, inhale the fumes and perspiration and try not to collapse.

Welcome to another instalment of This Week in Non-Competitive Gaming! This week we're going to take a look at what separates us from the bane of gaming, the neckbeard and steps you can take to ensure you do not join their shambling legion of pestilence.

Firstly, lets look at how to identify whether or not you are truly a neckbeard

IDENTIFYING

Look in the mirror.

If it breaks, then skip to the "Overcoming Symptoms" section.

Take a good, long look at yourself. If you see the fat rolls, the facial hair and excessive perspiration, then tick the "I am a Neckbeard" column.

Stop and think about how others look at you. Sure, you may be comfortable, but what is the general consensus of society? If you saw yourself walking down the road, what would your reaction be? Try to be as judgemental as possible here; the first step is admitting you have a problem

2. Look at your house

This is providing you have a house that is.

If you are living in your parents basement, trolling 4chan and whatnot, then you are most certainly a neckbeard. Anything else is justified

3. Check your mailbox

If you receive the following letter, you know you are a neckbeard

Hello, This is Death! Famine and I were wondering if you were maybe interested in taking your horse out for a ride with us and War, you know, the four horsemen and all that harbinger of the apocalypse whatnot... Whaddya think?

Believe me, if you are the Pestilence Horseman, then you most certainly are an unhygenic neckbeard.

OVERCOMING SYMPTOMS

Soap is your friend... Use it

Forget about your experience in prison, use the damn soap.... Hygiene is one of the greatest plagues on wargamers, a common symptom of a neckbeard. Other options involve actually washing your clothes *gasp! * and not spilling yesterday's breakfast over it.

2. Please, use the stuff... 'Nuff said

3. Get a job
Don't be the unemployed 40 something who reads his rulebook each night, while his Mummy reminds him to visit the unemployment centre... please.

In conclusion, I think this comic is very appropriate in it's overall message.

What are your experiences with neckbeards?

Thoughts, criticisms, unfathomable rage?

Codex Review: Autarch

Monday, June 13, 2011

idget

To kick this bad boy off, we begin with the unloved Eldar Autarch. It's not that his stats are bad or anything, quite the opposite in fact, rather that the Farseer tends to chew up our points and HQ slots, being far more crucial to Eldar armies.

TACTICAL VALUE

His most useful asset by far is the Master Strategist rule, increasing the chance of your reserves turning up quickly, something which has been increasingly important in 5th Edition. He is also highly adaptable, with equipment choices to fill the majority of roles presented to him, though these can quickly raise his price to higher levels than desired.

Unlike the Farseer, however, he does not give any buffs as such to other units, being less subtle.

The Farseer is almost always the primary choice for HQ's, so I only recommend choosing him for games >2000 points, otherwise your points are going to be consumed far faster than usual.

Here is a list of some of my main configurations for him

Firstly a Warp Spider stylised one.

Warp Jump Generator
Fusion Gun/Deathspinner
Power Weapon
Mandiblaster

This guy is designed to join a Spider squad, with high mobility and good short range fire power, much needed in an Eldar force. The power weapon can be swapped out for a Scorpion's Chainsword, a build I do not personally like, mainly because 4 attacks with the PW at WS6 is deadly against MEQ.

Next comes the standard jetbike build, a fairly common one, particularly in Saim-Hann armies.

Jetbike
Laser Lance
Fusion Gun
Mandiblasters

Essentially, throw him in with some jetbikes or spears, if you're crazy enough to take one that is, point, click and attack.

Finally, the foot Exarch, similar to Dire Avengers in many regards

Power Weapon
Avenger Shuriken Catapult
Mandiblasters

A cheap and somewhat effective Autarch designed to be thrown in with some Avengers and shoot the enemy to death, particularly with Bladestorm and Guide being thrown on them.

The shuriken catapult is a cheap'n'cheerful upgrade, being very little points, a rare commodity in Eldar armies, and being quite useful as well.

Theme

These guys are some of the best HQ choices available to reinforce a particular theme within your army, be it dedicated to a single Aspect or splinter factions, mainly due to his high degree of customisability, able to be designed to reflect numerous leaders of almost any Eldar army, such as a Harlequin Troupe Master or a Croneworld Leader.

You may also wish to use one to reinforce the Biel Tan style Eldar, who have a vast number of Autarchs; regardless of what you're after, he can be built to fit it, provided they don't rely on the Warp too much, but that's what Farseers are for!

Painting and Modelling

Painting one is relatively easy, just wearing Craftworld colours and some extra bling, however modelling can be difficult. I recommend saving the construction of one till after a decent core of your army has been built, as the kits available are somewhat limiting in choices, requiring you to mix and match components, quickly building up expense.

By saving the purchase of this kit until last, hopefully you have amassed enough bitz to build one using a single model, without having to by other kits just to complete one.

One kit is also available in Finecast, which I actually like, being more expensive, but easier to assemble and convert; however your opinion on said material may cause you to loathe the mere thought of purchasing the kit.

Well there we have it, our first Codex Review!

What do you guys say, Yay or Nay?

Thoughts, criticisms, unfathomable rage?

Craftworld Eldar Codex Analysis: An Introduction.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

idget

Hey guys,
This is the beginning of what will hopefully be the beginning of a somewhat regular column, which will be, as implied by the name, a analysis of the Eldar codex.
Each unit will have it's own dedicated post, where I will cover several major areas, Tactical Value, Theme, and Painting and Modelling.

I'll begin fairly shortly with the HQ choices for Eldar, however, I will group the Pheonix Lords together into one post,starting with generic characters and working my way through the Special Characters.

Any thoughts, criticism or unfathomable rage?

Exodites 1500 Points

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

idget

7 comments

Righto, this is my first list for Eldar Exodites at this stage, being foot orientated with some harlie sauce as well. Normally, Wraithlords are a far superior choice then Warwalkers, but their presence is too hard to justify in an exodite army.

The core consists of Pathfinders, the obvious choice for the theme with 2 units of Harlequins as well, having VoT, ensuring that the fire of the opponents army is either uselessly aimed at the clowns, who they cannot see, or is diverted to the Pathfinders, whom hopefully have been thrown in cover, with a significant bonus to their cover saves.

The Death Jester was a... debated choice, as I initially didn't see much use for it, outside of popping tanks. However, I decided it would be best for the Harlequins to hang back for the first few turns, so the Jester can open up some metal bawxes while they wait to assault.

The rest of the anti tank based around the warwalkers, who get buffed up by the Farseer, having a massive output in shots...

Exodites (1498pts)

1500pt Eldar 4th Ed

Selections:

HQ (388pts)

Eldrad Ulthran (210pts)
Farseer (178pts)
Doom (25pts), Fortune (30pts), Guide (20pts), Runes of Warding (15pts), Runes of Witnessing (10pts), Singing Spear (3pts), Spirit Stones (20pts)

Elites (540pts)

Harlequin Troupe (270pts)
Death Jester (10pts), Fusion Pistol (10pts), 10x Harlequin (180pts), 10x Harlequin's Kiss (40pts), Shadowseer (30pts)
Harlequin Troupe (270pts)
Death Jester (10pts), Fusion Pistol (10pts), 10x Harlequin (180pts), 10x Harlequin's Kiss (40pts), Shadowseer (30pts)

Troops (360pts)

Rangers (120pts)
- 5x Rangers (120pts)
  5x Pathfinders (25pts)
Rangers (120pts)
- 5x Rangers (120pts)
  5x Pathfinders (25pts)
Rangers (120pts)
- 5x Rangers (120pts)
  5x Pathfinders (25pts)

Heavy Support (210pts)

War Walker Squadron (210pts)
- War Walker (70pts)
  Missile Launcher (20pts), Scatter Laser (15pts), Spirit Stones (5pts)
- War Walker (70pts)
  Missile Launcher (20pts), Scatter Laser (15pts), Spirit Stones (5pts)
- War Walker (70pts)
  Missile Launcher (20pts), Scatter Laser (15pts), Spirit Stones (5pts)
  
  Thoughts? Opinions? Unfathomable Rage?

This Week in Non-Competive Gaming: Capitalist Workshop, Enough is enough

Monday, June 06, 2011

idget

Ok so I'm sure many have heard a lot of whining from others about GW, complaints that I haven't been publicly debating on the forums.
As an Australian, I've grown used to being the red headed stepson of GW's pricing, which were definatly annoying, but I could deal with.
The embargo is also somewhat irksome, but I always can get friends in the UK to pick it up and ship it to me.
Finecast personally is a change I have welcomed, after one squad of metal Harlequins or Wraiths you quickly grow in resentment for metal... *grumble grumble*
But it's the latest, most recent change that has sent me over the edge. Living in WA, our capital is the second most isolated city in the entire world, severally limiting gameplay.
Often Perth gamers are left with a choice of either going down to their local GW (3 in the entire city and surrounding suburbia) or 1 decent independant retailer, as in, the only one that has tables, a decent range and good employees.

The choice is fairly obvious, as I'd rather not get drowned by the "Z0MG GR3Y K1GH75! 50 1337!!!" marketing approach of GW.
In their infinite wisdom, GW have now decided tk attack Independent Retailers, if the rumours are true, refusing to give them black boxes and now shutting down almost all rumours, even the Incoming! articles one week prior to launch, forcing people to buy White Dwarfs for some form of rumours.
Oh, about that, GW now has apparently decoded that subscribers shall recieve their WD late and will have to visit their local friendly, *cough* capitalist *cough* GW store to read them...

So for those whom TL;DR
1. GW is now attacking Independent Retailers
2. They are forcing White Dwarfs down our throats more than ever.

If these rumours are true, then methinks Mantic's new Sci-Fi game system may have a large boost...

Changes to the Layout

Sunday, June 05, 2011

idget

Well, I've been doing some messing around with the layout..
Most of the links are dead at this stage, but hopefully I will have some use for them later!
What do you guys think? I really want the blog to be easily browsable for everyone, so your opinion is important!

Sunday, June 05, 2011

idget

Firstly, a disclaimer. These guys are supported by the fluff with regards towards their worship of Chaos.

My encounter with Croneworld Eldar began a long, long, time ago; in a galaxy far far away.
I was sitting in the basement of my parents house, whilst Mum told me to visit the Unemployment Centre (Gawsh I know; Plastic men demand my attention woman!) during my daily stalking of Brent, I believe there is a saying "What goes around comes around" is there not Brent; when I stumbled upon his Eldar

These became a prime example for mr of what a Croneworld Eldar army should look like.
No tanks, transports or Harlequins, just some crazy Chaos Elves running around with guns.
In all seriousness, I really like this list.

Storm Guardians are an excellent choice for both fluff and conversions, with some Daemonette weapons and heads clearly illustrating their... questionable lifestyle choices.

Dark Reapers and Fire Dragons howeveer, whilst being necessary, do not really fit the theme. With some conversions, they'll look fine, but are too armoured and powerful for my tastes in this kind of army.

IN CONCLUSION (As in, more to the point)

The Craftworld Eldar Codex seems more fitting with regard to unit choices, as Deldar seem too reliant on transports and Webway portals, neither of which the Croneworlders should have.

Storm Guardians form an excellent core for the army, being both fluffy and very easy to convert.
Wraithlords, Wraithguard and any other kind of heavily armoured beasties do not fit in either.
The Avatar however is an exception, mainly due to that story in the Chaos Daemons Codex, where the Avatar becomes possessed by a Kreper of Secrets, presenting interesting conversion opportunities.
Scorpions, Banshees and Hawks all fit the theme as well, with hawks perhaps having some dorm of Daemonic wings.
Reapers and Dragons are necessary for that anti tank and MEQ killing ability, but are too well armed for my liking, So use at your own discretion.
I feel stupid for having to mention this, but don't ever include Harlequins. the only time a croneworlder sees them is when they cop it in the face from their feet.

So there we go! Any criticisms, advice or rage to be spared may be put into words below in the comments. My format is still very much WIP, so any thoughts on it are more than welcome.

Codex Choices for Harlequins

Thursday, June 02, 2011

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So recently I've been beginning to construct some basic lists for my various Eldar factions; which did, however, initially create some difficulties in regards of which Codex to take.
After some thought, I decided to post up my general thoughts on Harlequins with regards towards which Codex to take and why.

Ok, so these guys are within both Codex's, however this limits you to a single elite choice. So with regards to counts as, (haters gonna hate) Dark Eldar are the best choice. Wyches can be used as mimes with very little conversion work, expect a guide soon, and can also be placed in venoms, the original Eldar transport.
Webway portals are also very fluffy, being one of the main ways Harlequins traverse the galaxy, further creating an accurate representation of them.

For the HQ choice, my personal choice is Lady Malys for one major reason; the character's fluff seems to make reference to the l
Laughing God, well at least that's my understanding of it...

So that's my justification for using the Dark Eldar Codex, what do you guys think of it? Do you use the Eldar Codex?

Thursday, June 02, 2011

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