40k Tactics - List Building

Whether you realize it or not everyone has a checklist. When you get up from the table after eating at a restaurant you check your pockets to make sure you have your keys, your phone and your wallet. Everyone does it even if you don’t realize it; your brain is constantly cycling through checklists. It should come as no real surprise that your army lists usually come out with similar tactics and similar qualities, because your brain is automatically using a checklist on you – even in army list building. So what’s in your checklist and how do you figure it out?

6th ED: Wolves and Divination

Fair warning for this article: I run a double Rune Priest build and I used to play Everquest. Now that I have gotten that off my chest, let’s go back in time about 12 years. Everquest shaman: great class that made its money making other characters and groups better. Wizards blast, Clerics heal, Druids taxi and Tanks tank – but the Shaman could universally make them all better. Using their buffs that give you bonuses to Health Points, Stamina, Strength and even speed the Shaman could dramatically increase the combat effectiveness of any group or, at higher levels, entire raiding parties with their AOE spells.

6th Edition Psykers - Missing the Point!

With the crisp smell of our new 6^th Edition rulebooks fresh in our olfactory receptors the internet punditry is in full swing churning out observations, advice and apocalyptic predictions. Amidst the din of lamentations and gnashing of teeth about the new found dominance of flyers, skyfire, flakk missiles and interceptors a small number of astute individuals are preparing for what will be the true nightmare of 6^th Edition – Psykers. Psychic defenses, except in the case of Wolves and Eldar, have been significantly diminished across the board. Psychic Hoods no longer affect huge portions of the battlefield and they have no ability to block ‘defensive’ powers (blessings) cast on enemy units. Short of an enemy psyker failing their leadership test the ability to reliably interdict enemy psychic powers is almost nonexistent in many armies, sure you can still roll a 6+ ‘Deny the Witch!’ but I would hardly refer to that as ‘reliable’. While the current status of ‘Psychic Defense’ in 6^th Edition can be batted around until we are all blue in the face, what I choose to focus on is the other 80% of armies who just got a huge boost from psykers.

6th Edition Inital Thoughts (from yet another random guy)

After getting in a game of 40k this weekend, and watching a couple others as well, I have complied some thoughts about game mechanics and how it looks like the battlefields are going to be shaping up. So instead of bitching about this that or the other thing, because its not going to get changed for a few years anyway, ill just point out some things I noticed.

6th Edition: Random Charge Length

Random charge ranges are in, OMG a piece of the sky just hit me in the head! Before everyone freaks out about random charge lengths, which will probably already be happening at this point, remember that particular door swings all the way from two to twelve inches in the following percentages:

2: 2.8%
3: 5.6%
4: 8.3%
5: 11.1%
6: 13.9%
7: 16.7%
8: 13.9%
9: 11.1%
10: 8.3%
11: 5.6%
12: 2.8%

Class is in session.