Whiners should be turned into Spawn!

It has been years since GW put out the latest version of the Chaos Space Marine codex.  It replaced one of the most broken army books ever written, but that hasn't stopped the skads of haters over the years. 

I have been playing this awesome game since Clinton was President of this country, and I've had the honor of seeing EVERY army get their love over and over.  Add to that my time in the Emperor's service and I can tell you that my own Power Armor has taken every kind of shot the less-controlled gamers out there can throw.  One of the many has been the incessant whining about the CSM book.

In second edition, the game saw a great Chaos codex- thicker than any other and packed full of great artwork and fluff!  Then, the much-ridiculed third edition was released and the Chaos Marines were given their 'pamphlet', just like everyone else.  Unlike everyone else, however, this pamphlet/codex worked for Chaos.  The Ultramarines were terrible, the Eldar were useless, and the Orks didn't even know they were an army for the longest time.  But all this came as hindsight and, eventually, GW produced addendum codices and Chapter-approved articles which helped flesh the armies out.  For Chaos Marines, this equalled ridiculous 'up-gunning' in the form of Legion rules.  Oh how frustrated I was, as a Word Bearers player, that the background and army-themes changed to better fit the models.  But alas, it was cool and really allowed the CSM to exhibit that customary theme they so desparately craved.

Then came the days.  GW released 4th edition and the greatest of all Chaos codices.  This book was packed full of options- so much so that tournament-organizers such as myself had to judge those army lists separate from the rest of the pack just to dedicate the necessary time to check everything!  Daemon Princes were broken, Bloodletters were beyond broken (even at 28 points or whatever they were at that time), and the Legion rules found in the back of the book were redonkulously broken.  This book was so powerful that tournaments in the entire tri-state area I was in were dominated by the Chaos ilk.  This book was stupidly good, but at least it was fun and could be beaten.

Now is the days of 'woe-is-me' from all those Chaos players.  No longer do Legion rules exist.  No longer do Chaos Marines 'pop out' Bloodletters with little the enemy can do other than die.  No longer does the Chaos player simply need to show up to almost always win. 

You see, GW released the newest book just before 5th edition was revealed.  The codex showed a distinct format of 'simple and good'.  No longer was there supposed to be an entire science to understanding the army-building, but instead focussed on the playing IN the battle itself.  It wasn't the only book to get this format, either.  Check out the Dark Angels and Eldar books.

So let's talk about what the gripes people have brought to me are and how I answer all those:

My army sucks because I'm a moron!!!

• The units aren't as good anymore!  Apparently, Berserkers being WS5 and with Furious charge (while rockin' 4 attacks on the charge) doesn't make up for the lack of 'choppas'.  Apparently, Raptors are useless even though they're nothing but special-weapon-wielding Assault Marines for only 20 points, which was cheap before normal Space Marines dropped in cost.  Apparently, Daemon Princes aren't as good as Lords, despite being waaaay cheaper AND with better stats!  See a theme here yet?
• Chaos Marines are no good compared to everything else!  Yeah, because being cheaper than loyalists, with a higher Leadership (making up for not having ATSKNF) and being armed with bolters AND close combat gear is terrible, right?  Second only to Grey Hunters, they are the most versatile troops in the game!
• There's no options in this book anymore!  Let's see, of all the options in the 4th edition version of the army, players took the same things that are now listed in the 5th edition codex.  In other words, GW did little more than remove the overpowered 'daemonic gifts' and leave the common options in the book.  Did I mention this was the new format when that codex was released?  Also, every single unit in the book has tons of options as it is.  Did Lords lose their Daemonc Mounts?  Nope.  Did Terminators lose any weapon upgrades?  Nope.  In fact, they gained Lightning Claws!  For cheap!!!  Again, most common options, in.  Stupid overpowered Daemonic crap, out.  Easy.
• They can't take real Daemons anymore!  Of all the daemons that Chaos could take, it was Bloodletters or Plaguebearers that were seen on the battlefield.  I must admit that the 'summoning' rules mixed with Daemon Banners and holding Bloodletters were so broken that it frustrated the hell outta me (see the pun I did there?).  That being said, GW wanted to make an all-Daemon army, and they could only do that if CSM no longer used them.  Who would use all Daemons when they don't have armour, transports, or heavy weapons if the CSM book gave you all those PLUS the warp-spawns?!  In addition, there is a great reason from a 'fluff' standpoint- When the Chaos Gods look to send help to their forces in the Material Realm, they'll send their best to help the poor Cultists and they'll send their average to help their nigh-unstoppable Renegade Marines.  What help do the Legions need?  Not much...

• Finally, the most important and common complaint of all- I can no longer do my themed list anymore!!!  Man, it must suck to not be able to use Khorne Berserkers and Bikers to back up that Khorne Lord...  Oh wait, you can!  Seeing as Cult Troops are still troops, this isn't an issue.  What's really missing is the bonus to summoning for 'sacred numbered' squads.  Well, waaaaaah!  The ability to still represent a chosen Chaos God or a basic Legion is still there.  If anyone should be angry, it's me!  I play Word Bearers.  First, we lost our cultists to the damned Alpha Legion, but we gained Daemons and Dark Chaplains.  Then we lost all of it.  If any armies suffer from this sudden 'lack of theme', they're the Undivided Armies- Word Bearers and Alpha Legion!  Black Legion, Night Lords, and Iron Warriors lost little or nothing at all.

At the end of the day, I get so tired of the cry-babies.  I have been an avid Ultramarine player for years and always pooped on, yet I didn't start whining until this year.  And that whining was in response to Chaos players whining about their book.  I like theme.  I like specific Legions/Chapters being awesome at what they do.  But I'm also a lover of the game for the story, not the rules.  And until my Ultramarines become something other than the worst Chapter in their own book, and my Word Bearers become something other than red Black Legion, I'm gonna tell all the whiners out there this:

Anyone who continues to whine about this deserves the final fate of all failed champions-  Spawn-hood!!!

The Word is Lord!

 As promised, I would start painting soon.  I had the urge and my crippled left arm wasn't enough to stop me, so here's some work!

I mentioned before that GW seems to be focussed on Dark Angels and Chaos, so I decided to start working on the greatest of all Chaos Legions- the Word Bearers.    I love Terminators, so it only made sense for me to have HQs in that armor, plus Chaos looks good in the big, bulky plate! 

Here's my Warlord:

Some of you are looking at it and saying, "But Jay, they can't have a single Lightning Claw and a Power Axe!"  Yeah, I don't care.  This model looks cool as hell and it sorta gives me some leeway in-game:  I can claim it as a Daemon Weapon OR two Lightning Claws if my opponent is willing.  More than anything, I just thought it looked cool and besides, who knows what the new codex will allow?

Now we know that any Chaos army has Warlords, but what makes the Word Bearers unique?  Simple:  Chaos Chaplains (or Dark Apostales for you nutters out there)!!!  I decided, many moons ago, to convert one up and use him for the sake of uniqueness.  On top of that, you guys know that I'm super pro-fluff, so I was more or less compelled. 

Here's the Dark Chaplain:

Again, I'm sure some of you are staring incredulously at this guy and wondering, "Jay, why would you have TWO Lords in one army?"  Fret not, friends, for this is NOT a Lord.  Since GW saw fit to remove the option of Dark Apostales from my army list (and I wasn't too bent out of shape, but that's a different discussion), I decided to use my Chaplain as a Sorcerer.  Think about this- who would master the power of the warp better than the warrior who preaches it?  Yeah, now you get it.  And yes, that means his Dark Crozius is a Force Weapon...

I have to admit, it felt good to paint.  My injuries didn't slow me down nearly as much as I thought they would and Chaos can be a blast to paint if you're motivated enough to do it.  Let me know what you guys think and expect more from the painting bench on this side. 

Happy Hobbying!

Working towards Chaos

Most of my readers probably think I don't do anything with my hobby and I do little more than rant.  To be fair, this is mostly true these days.  If you don't know, I was in a terrible accident a few months back and I no longer have control of one of my arms, making hobbying pretty difficult. 

That being said, I have been working on my models slowly now for a few weeks.  What better to rebuild use of my arm than doing something I can't fail at?  After all the years, my muscle-memory for this hobby is such that you can put a model and a paintbrush in my hand while I nap and you can bet that I'll wake up with a fully painted model.  :-)

So without further ado, let me prove to you what I've been working on...

As everyone believes, GW will be releasing the 6th edition of 40k later this year, and rumour has it that the forces in the starter box will be Dark Angels and Chaos Space Marines.  Luckily for me, I happen to have both armies!  Now, I must admit that my Dark Angels army is limitted to Deathwing currently, as I gave my 'green' army away in a shop raffle many years ago.  Emperor knows I have enough unbuilt Marines and such to build a new army when the time comes.  (Don't believe me?  Check out 'the Workshop' to see my inventory levels.)  As far as Chaos, I started building a Word Bearers army many, many years ago, then I gave it away, then I restarted it and never finished.  Now I get to work on them again...

Here's some pics of what I've built in the last couple of weeks: 

6 Raptors built from Marine bits and Possessed stuff.  After all, aren't Word Bearers happy to be half Daemon?

8 Marines built just because I had the bitz.  See what keeping leftovers can do for ya?

A Spawn with 5 heads.  This is to remind my Warlord what will happen if he fails...

But wait, there's MORE!

I found this Rhino in my bitz box, so it had to be built...

Unfortunately, I was short two track bitz.  Rather than get upset, I used these plates as mudflaps to cover the gap.  Oh how a little creativity can not only solve problems but also come out sweet-lookin'!

So what does my collection look like so far?  Like this:

Remember how I build to a full Force Org chart?  Here's much more to meet that goal:

That's another Defiler, 3 Obliterators, a Sorcerer and bitz to build a Thousand Sons squad, and a boatload of Lesser Daemons (including the Daemon Prince if thee warlord proves his mettle!)

Now everyone knows that I'm no longer a competetive player and I build to the 'fluff'.  To show you how crazy I am about this, check out this example of my insanity:

That's right- Drummers for CSM!  Word Bearers are known for their musical chanting as they stomp towards the enemy...

And there you have it!  I am going to finish building and begin painting very soon.  And when that happens, not only will I be ready for the new 6th ed, but there will be...

Now get back to your workbenches and Happy Hobbying!

Easter Give-away contest

I figured to give y'all the opportunity to get in on this action as I have.  Here's the deal:

One of my good blog-buddies is giving away a fantastic Easter basket full of goodies and even some models.  All you have to do is become a follower on his blog and leave a comment on his post. 

And I do have to mention- his blog is actually quite good, so please join it just to get your 'literacy' on!

Here's the link (WHERE YOU SIGN UP, and be sure to READ THE DIRECTIONS):
http://sippinonpaintwater.blogspot.com/2012/03/easter-basket-giveaway.html

And here's a sneak-peak of said basket (Do NOT sign up here, just oggle...):
http://sippinonpaintwater.blogspot.com/2012/04/easter-basket-preview.html

Good luck to y'all and wish me luck as well!  And of course,

Happy Hobbying!