Why walk when you can ride?

As I frantically try to write up an IG army list, I've realized that I have a problem.  You see, IG aren't the greatest of armies.  The soldiers are nothing to be scared of, for certain.  However, a plethora of heavy weapons will make them a bit scarier.  Unfortunately, not so much that I suddenly like the infantry.

No worries, the Imperial Guard has AWESOME tanks!  The Leman Russ is feared throughout the galaxy as its big gun is as destructive as any opponent can imagine (and there's lots of options for that big gun- each of them ridiculous!) and its thick armor makes the tank a real pain to have to kill.  The IG also has great artillery tanks, between the good 'ol howitzer on tracks to the scary multiple rocket system (also on tracks).  But best of all are the transports- the reliable Chimera.

The average soldier in the Imperial Guard is an adequately equipped human conscript who lacks the wargear and training to be of any real threat to the powerful enemies of mankind.  Worse, this soldier is then stuck walking into a hail of firepower the enemy designed just to defeat the meagre defenses of that flak vest and pot-helmet issued by the IG.  Both of these problems can be solved by loading a squad into the Chimaera and rolling right at the enemy.  Not only is the soldier now safe from the deadly raking of bullets and bolts sent downrange by the enemy, but the APC has enough armor to survive small arms fire and packs enough firepower to make even renegade Space Marines take pause. 

Let me be clear here.  The armor is NOT thick enough to withstand heavy weapons or the more powerful assault weapons, nor are the vehicle-mounted guns powerful enough to kill a Space Marine easily or even scratch a heavy tank.  But a Chimera IS protected enough to keep the soldiers inside a bit safer than if they were walking and it IS armed well enough to put out a large volume of medium strength firepower.  This vehicle is so good, in fact, that a single infantry squad doubles in cost (or costs a bit more than simply double points) but triples in effectiveness.  Why is 'Mech-guard' (and the very similar 'Leafblower', for that matter) so common in the tournament scene?  THAT'S why!

Yay, Chimeras!

And therein lies my problem.  As I try to make a good list, I find that I need Chimeras to make this work.  I had packed up my IG long ago and then recently pulled out the figure case that housed my 250 or so infantry models (thank you, hobby buddy who made me interested again!).  I know how many of each kind of 'big' tank I have and even how many Sentinel walkers I have, but I had no clue how many Chimeras I owned.  Last night, I finally pulled them out again and found that I have 8 in total.  That's enough to make any IG player happy.  And then I realized something disturbing...

My Blood Angels ALL have jump packs except the two Tactical Squads and a Death Company.  But I have three Rhinos, so they can ride.  My Ultramarines Battle Company is equipped with 5 drop pods, leaving three squads to travel the battlefield- in Rhinos.  My Deathwing has three squads of deep-striking Terminator squads and three more who ride in, you guessed it, Land Raiders.  My Eldar come equipped with Wave Serpents and Falcons, my Tau roll on foot except when I pay for their Devilfish(es)...  hell, even my Word Bearers have three more Rhinos set aside for them!  It appears that I can't live without a transport for any squad I own!  Maybe it's because I grew up and live by the largest Army base in the world, mostly populated by the the US 1st Cavalry Division.  Maybe it's because this philosophy of warfare has infiltrated my thinking and now I use it in my 40k hobby.  Or maybe it's just because I've always liked tanks.

In any case, let me ask the same question every Cav soldier asks every light Infantryman- 

Why walk when you can ride?!?

Oh Cadia!

If you didn't read that title to the tune of Canada's national anthem, shame on you...

Today I write about a love of mine that had disappeared.  Fortunately for me, one of my great hobby buddies has been asking me about IG and (surprise, surprise!) re-ignited the embers of my passion for these pickles.  While he is still trying to determine the direction of his soon-to-be-started army, I already own a HUUUUUUUGE army.  In the interest of time and protecting myself from the pain of typing, I won't show them off here.  But I do take solace in the fact that I'm good when it comes to purchases for the mighty Imperial Guard...

Instead, I'd like to talk a small bit about the unsung heroes of the Imperium.  While the storyline of the game focusses on the epic battles fought by the Astartes or the gains to be had by the heretic forces of the Chaos Gods, the gaming community has gone to great lengths to making the real warriors of the galaxy a rare sight and an even more rare good opinion of being shared.  I'm not saying that the IG are undeserving of the vitriol sent their way, but I am sad to see them as the 'step-brother' of the Emperor's forces.

You see, the Imperium of Mankind holds sway over nearly a million worlds across the galaxy, spread across thousands of sectors and systems.  While the powerful Space Marines are more than a match for anything that the alien, heretic, or witch can throw at humanity, there are only a thousand Chapters of an average thousand warriors across the Imperium.  For those that aren't good at numbers- that's a million Astartes total!  So unless the Space Marines are powerful enough to guard every planet with a single warrior, the Imperium would fall were they the primary defenders of humankind.

Enter the Imperial Guard.  From each world under the Emperor's rule are drawn a million fighting men or more.  Each of these forces are given basic equipment, basic training, and then sent everywhere across the galaxy to fight in the unending wars that trouble the Imperium.  Language is different, training is different, even regimental organization is different from one world to the next.  But faith in the Emperor and the vision of a united humanity draws them all together and, with an uncountable horde to fill armies across all space, the Imperium struggles onward as it had for ten milennia. 

There are many different 'Regiments' of IG- think of them as similar to Chapters of Space Marines.  Each has their own uniforms, markings, equipment, and specialties.  I personally own Mordia, Kreig, and tons of Cadia.  It appears, by fluff, that Cadia is the 'average' style for IG across the galaxy.  Everyone is issued with a lasgun, a pot-helmet, a flak-vest, and the holy book known as the 'Uplifting Primer'.  While many Regiments discard this equipment in preference to their own, usually less advanced or effective, wargear, most use this equipment as issued.  I also prefer Cadia as I, too, have gotten to wear 'fatigues' and hold a rifle and I didn't look too different from a Cadian soldier myself.  As they say, being able to identify is one of the greatest characteristics of a fictional character and a real reader...

Let's talk about the army in game terms...  it sucks!!!  It's made up of tons of regular, barely-trained humans with standard, mass-produced equipment sent to battle the unimaginable enemies such as the ravenous Tyranids or the perfidious Eldar.  On the worst of days, they are gifted with the glory of fighting renegade Space Marines or nightmarish Daemons.  Can the lasgun kill a Space Marine?  Only if the Marine is blinded by it and subsequently falls onto a rock and recieves a lethal concussion (power armor good!!!).  Can a million Guardsmen stop an advancing Tyranid swarm?  Only if the aliens stand still for three whole days just inside weapons range and allow the IG to balance their numbers out.  Luckily, Imperial Guard armies are supported by lumbering Leman Russ tanks and extraordinary super-heavy battle tanks.  This additional firepower is a 'force-multiplier' in the strongest of terms and makes the IG army useful both in storyline AND on the tabletop. 

Anyone that believes the Imperial Guard army isn't worth playing is an idiot.  The army can be very effective (even if 'mech-guard' and the similar 'leaf-blower' are the best options right now) and provides a great amount of versatility.  Between a nearly-'armored company' to a 'veteran corps' to a
'horde list', the options are there.  Want to lead your army with a desk-warming corps of officers, or a stern-faced jagbag Commissar-Lord, or a glowing psyker?  Do it.  Want to have missles flying around instead of tanks exploding trench walls, or have walkers stomping around the battlfield shooting their weapons at every teddy-bear in sight?  Do it.  It's all there...

Let me know about your own IG armies or just shoot me your thoughts.  As always- Happy Hobbying!

GW's Third Wheel

I woke up today and decided to write my most unpopular post ever.  I spent all week trying to choose between a number of subjects, but I couldn't seem to get myself motivated.  But this morning, I jumped from my bed filled with a passion, and that passion pushed me here...

Everyone knows that Games Workshop is a large company with many Divisions.  That being said, most people don't know that GW also does this with their games.  There are two divisions in that gaming world- 'Core' games and 'Specialist' games (at one point known as 'Fanatic' games).  More amazingly, people will assume that GW's Core games are Warhammer and 40k.  Little do they know that the Lord of the Rings game is also a Core game!

I bring this up for two reasons: 
1- The level of disrespect that GW gets for the LotR game is horrendous.  I plan on pimping the hell outta this game for a few reasons, but that'll come later.
2- The game itself is quite good, but too many gamers have become entrenched in their own 'way' and ignore this game altogether.  The engine itself is great, and this game does a great job of filling a niche in the miniatures-wargaming world.  And that's the reason I'll be pimpin' it...

Let's jump in and break this down:
So why did GW pick up and even place such an emphasis on this universe?  It's important to note that I have a great deal of experience in this subject, so let me spread the enlightenment and banish the ignorance...  There are many reasons that could rationally fit, but one is the real reason-

Market Share!!!

Wait, what?  What does that even mean?  It's simple, young one...  Not everyone is into knights and dragons (especially here in the US of A), and not everyone is into spacemen with guns and aliens.  That being true, every grownup in the world is familiar with the Hobbit and every person with even a small bit of interest in the realm of 'fantasy' was caught by the movies being released for Lord of the Rings.  Why would any company of strong values and specific focus not jump on this bandwagon?  Here's millions of customers that GW would suddenly gain access to.

Now I've heard customers over the years say that Star Wars or Harry Potter would be better than Lord of the Rings.  My response is that these people are idiots.  How can a wargame company make a game that 40k is already loosely based on?  How can a wargame company make a game about a bunch of kids and their adventures in a universe with no war?  Simple arguments, but gamers tend to be opinionated people, and not necessarily right.  Add to this the hatred of Star Wars by Trekkers such as myself (and even Star Wars fans hatred of the prequels), or the hatred of Harry Potter by true 'fantasy'-lovers as myself, and you lose a large portion of the customer base.  Needless to say, this was a good decision by GW and the amount of money that they made off that game proves it.

Last point here- I'm sure I'll get the comments of how few people who bought the game stuck with it and the 'bubble' burst on GW only a few years later.  I'm sure these comments will contend that this proves that the LotR game hurt GW more than it helped and again proves that GW's choice was a terrible one.  This is easy to answer.  First- both points are correct.  However, it's because the idiot staff in the stores at the time did NOT do their jobs, which is to spend time develping the customers from beginner to competent hobbyist.  Those red-shirts sat behind the registers and took peoples' money happily, only to get their monthly bonuses and not to 'make new hobbyists'.  I say this because I've witnessed myself, and my shops were always near the top of the list for LotR sales.  I can also say that most GW staff, being Warhammer or 40k players, didn't care about the LotR game.  This meant that very few stores saw any real support for the game and the bubble was bound to burst.  To prove that point- GW made all LotR blisters discounted 80% for staff in 2002.  Why?  Because even the 'Ivory Tower' noticed the lack of staff sales and was trying to inject a little passion.  Did it work?  A little, but certainly not long enough to guarantee the 'bubble' wouldn't burst.  And there you have it.

Now onto the more fun, less marketting side- the game itself!
GW really filled a niche in the wargaming world when they produced this game.  The advantages to the game fit clearly into three categories- the models, the rules, and the scale.

First, the models.  So many other wargames, from GW or from other companies, use the 'epic' scale on the miniatures.  The hands are bigger, the armor and weapons unrealistic, or the features are overblown on the minis.  Reaper and Rakham make fantastic fantasy models, but at 28mm and using this 'epic' style, don't always 'fit'.  I love those companies and minis, but my DnD games should not be populated by Barbarians that are nearly the size of the Dragons they're fighting- while holding swords that three men couldn't swing together!  LotR miniatures are in 25mm and exhibit realistic features (they do this to copy the movies and therefore the real humans that portrayed those characters).  I can't lie, but I find these models so much more attractive.  But that's just me...  Add to that the phenomenal models that GW made and you really have a winner.  Do I think that LotR models are better than Confrontation or even Warhammer models?  No, but I do consider them great for the realistic style they portray.

Second, the rules.  Warhammer and even 40k are 'conditional' rulesets.  FoW is even worse for that 'if so, then' habit.  Some games use the 'turn-by-turn' sequence while others use the 'integrated activation' format.  Some games use the 'buff' style (see also, WarMachine) where all other models can't act until one 'leader' does their thing.  Worst of all are the games that require chart after chart to determine what happens.  Not LotR.  The Strategy Battle game is as simple as it gets, yet still very complicated in tactics.  Every model moves, then shoots, then moves again to 'assault' someone, then fights.  Even with the exceptions inherent to any ruleset, it took less than ten minutes to teach a newbie how to play.  The most complicated part of the game is the 'to wound' chart, but with a little study can be memorized as well.  I happen to be a fan of anything that is simple to start yet  not limitting later on.
  On this point, I've heard so many gamers complain that the rules weren't complicated enough and the game sucked.  When I asked how they played the game, the response was almost universally that they only played a 'demo game' and their entire opinion was based on that one or very few experiences.  That makes me sad, and I promise that some of the best games I've ever played were LotR.  Remember, this comes from a long-time wargamer and 40k player. 

Finally, the scale.  Yes, there are alot of smaller 'Skirmish-games' out there.  Yes, 40k can be played at a smaller size (Warhammer not so much).  But LotR is always small enough to be played in a manner of minutes.  Not only are the rules simple enough so they don't slow the game down, but the number of models and the objective of the game means that a collection of a dozen 'doods' and a spare half-hour during lunch-break is just as much fun as a massive tournament game situation.  In fact, the game scales better at around 350-500 points, which rarely leads to more than 30 models!  The cost to collect a force rarely tops $100 (even at tournie-size, unless characters and rarer metal models are the player's focus) and the gaming area itself is as small as a coffee table or as large as a card table.  Everything about the Lord of the Rings game is about small, intimate conflicts between a good force and an evil force. 
  I do have to note here that there is a much larger-scale version of the game known as War of the Ring.  I also have to note that 'cheeze' is still prevelant in the tournament scene for the normal game, but dice controls the majority of the action.  This means that the scale of the game is not only small in collection and area, but also in competitive nature.  The game is limitted to a fun battle to tell a good story.  Anything else is the normal wargamer putting their own 'spin' on it to get something more akin to other, different games.  Again, it makes me sad.

If these arguments aren't enough to make you wanna investigate more about the game, then stay tuned for more.  In the future, I'll put up pictures of my painted collection, how-to articles on playing the game, and tactics.  But until that undetermined time, I highly suggest you check the game out.  It may be GW's 'third wheel', but it's alot more fun and cooler than the community seems to think.  And remember, this coming from a wargamer who grew up on 40k.  That's gotta mean something...

Let me know what y'all think, and of course,
Happy Gaming!

How do I collect?

Time for one of my rants.  Luckily, this one may include a little bit of advice to the more confused gamers out there...

First, I think it's important to point out that I spent nearly a decade selling toy soldiers for GW, so this is a subject near and dear to me.  Not only did I have to help people make their decisions (and make no mistake, I was damn good at it!), but I had to develop my own principles for myself.  Being surrounded by this stuff all day every day, as well as recieving a handsome discount, meant that I could certainly just buy to my heart's content.  Needless to say, not only is that bad for the pocketbook, but regret finds a much larger opening to attack later on.  Now that I've provided this 'full disclosure' statement, let's get to the fun...

When it comes to collecting useless things like toy soldiers, fanboys such as myself can go overboard and, yet, never finish.  It became a priority of mine to find a 'finish line' in order to feel better about myself.  How did I resolve this?  Let's look at my massive 40k collection and focus on that.

Of note and one of many ways to go, GW makes ridiculously fantastic models.  Not only are the models brilliant, but they're usually modular and come with a gazillion options in the form of bitz.  So if I concentrated on whatever looks cool, I'd never be finished.  EVERYTHING LOOKS COOL!!!  Okay, almost everything.  I figured I'd throw this in there so people don't start the whining...

The first step to playing a game is 'Choosing a force'.  There are some unique scenarios and even campaigns that limit this step, but most (if not 99%) of games require armies to be chosen from a forgiving, vague chart known as the Force Organization Chart.  I chose to rarely, if ever, break this chart with all my armies.  Why?  Simple- Rarely will I, or anyone that I'm playing against, play a game larger than 2,000 or so points.  I know that there's larger games and even Apocalypse, but how often will those come up?  Not very, and this from a guy that was responsible for getting these events happening every weekend.  In addition, only long-time veteran gamers have forces large enough to legitimately participate in games this size.  The average game shop has a half-dozen of these players (of which I am and was one), and three or four dozen gamers of the normal ilk.  That is to say that the majority of gamers are equipped to play normal-sized games from collections only slightly larger.  Therefore, I'm gonna prep for the norm- plus more.  That being said, that handy 'ol Force Org Chart is a great cap, built into the game itself!

What makes 40k unique to other strategy games?  That's easy- 10,000 years of history and storyline!  This is the part of the hobby community that chaps my hide.  The community has become overwhelmed by the tournament scene, and this level of 'fluff' has become a very disregarded aspect.  I spent years trying to allay the fears of old gamers who whined that the codices (during 3rd and some 4th edition) lost this fluff and GW was killing their own background.  Lo and behold, the great company started pumping out massive codices again which just happened to include a great more storyline and background details than even the vaunted 2nd-edition books.  And yet the community now takes to pulling the newly-released codices from the shelf, flipping to the back third where the army lists are, and then making decisions for purchases based off the percieved effectiveness of the list.  One minute, I'm recieving incessant whining about the lack of fluff, the next I'm seeing the same crybabies just ignoring it.  You can imagine my anger...

I say this because I really appreciate the 'fluff' of the game.  I love the background, the stories, and even the novels set in the 41st Millenium.  In fact, even my uber-nerdy love of Star Trek means nothing when compared to my love of the 40k universe.  To be fair and honest, most of this happened because of the 'Star Trek' movie of 2009 destroyed all that I knew and loved of that universe.  But I digress...  This all comes to a point when I collect my armies.  See, when I pick up a new codex, I don't immediately flip to the army list and begin the number crunching.  I read from front to back and soak up the fluff first.  The background and storyline significantly determine how I collect my armies.  Let me give you a real-world example:
A Space Marine Chapter is split into Companies, with the main Battle Companies serving the main role within the wars of the Imperium.  The Blood Angels are organized in the same way as nearly all other Chapters with Tactical Squads forming the majority of the Battle Companies. 
-When I built my Blood Angels 5th Company army, I included two Tactical Squads (with the possibility of a third forthcoming) and two Assault Squads.  I can have no more than two Assault Squads because each Company is organized that way in the fluff.
-Yet when I read the online community's various lists on the plethora of websites and blogrolls I frequent, I see NO Tactical Squads and a common theme of at least four Assault Squads.  Why?  Because it's more effective on the tabletop and, some would argue, cheaper to purchase. 
Can you see the difference?  I'm not saying that my way is better (well, I am, but I don't appreciate the competitive scene anymore, making me ridiculously biased), but the difference in thinking becomes brutally obvious at that point.  Better yet, I used to be the second example (I have a host of trophies to back me up here), but I've basically evolved past the idea of winning and now enjoy the universe for what it was originally meant to be- a cool story!  And just like all good readers, I find solace in the constraints a good writer places on my interpretations.

But I'm not done yet.  I have one more principle when I collect, and this one is a bit harder to explain.  See, I've got a collection (and had much more again) that makes most gamers jealous.  I don't just buy whatever the great GW feels like releasing that month.  I don't just pick up everything that has power armor or big tanks or whatever.  I tend to buy with sweeping stories in mind.  I buy for fairness.  Let me give you a more clear idea:
I own Chaos Space Marines because my vaunted Ultramarines needed a fair foe.  So who did I choose to throw my evil loyalties behind?  Word Bearers, of course!  They and the Ultramarines have a loooooong history of animosity towards one another, and red is a perfect contrast to blue on the tabletop.  Let's get even more specific here:
My Ultramarines are built around the 2nd Battle Company, once led by the valorious Captain Agemman and now by the impetuous Captain Sicarius.  I have the battle company and a few more toys besides, but it's all about the standard Battle Company.  My Word Bearers are Chaos Space Marines, especially now that 5th edition removed the idea of 'Legion special rules' (I'm okay with it, but that's a whole other article).  That being said, I have no Plague Marines, Thousand Sons, bikers, or any of that other stuff that isn't well-known to to the Word Bearers.  I filled out the army with lots of Daemons, Possessed, Defilers, and tons of regular-'ol Undivided marines. 
Why would I limit myself in such a way?  Why not have my Ultramarines led by He'stan or Shrike?  I'm sure that'd make my army more dangerous.  Why not have Thousand Sons and Obliterators in my Word Bearers, and even back them up with a Slaaneshi Sorceror with Lash of Submission?  I know that my opponents will lose confidence in their hopes of beating me on the tabletop if I did so.   The answer is simple:

Because I like 40k's background and storyline.  This isn't War Machine, where I can have elves running around with my Cryx even while they fight each other. Nor is this Magic: TG, where I can put all the colors together and get the biggest bang for my buck out of my deck.  For the tournament scene, which has overtaken the hobby community of late, fine.  It is what it is.  But for the regular 'ol garage gamer like myself, I just wanna have fun and tell a good story. 

Before my expected summary, there's one more point that I have to make:  I hate 'spamming'.  That is when the same unit, with nearly identical options and upgrades, is repeated more than twice on the tabletop.  GW puts out 100+ page codices with almost a couple dozen unit options for each army.  Add to this the dozen or so unit upgrades for almost all the units and you'll get a huge variety of possible army-builds.  I love this about 40k!  When I build an army, I like to include as many different units as possible.  Will I repeat the same unit a few times?  Sure.  Even my heavily-principled-self isn't an idiot.  But why would I waste my time taking the same three units repeated three times each for what should be a fun game?  Competitive gamers are all about this (especially since 4th edition, or 3rd-ed's lascannon/plasma gun/Razorback gun-line of the SM ilk), and it saddens me.  For all the money I've spent and loyalty I have to an otherwise dark universe, I'd like as many pieces of it as I can justifiably get my dice around.  But again, that's just me...

In summary, here's how I collect a 40k army:
1.  Pick a 'finish-line'.  The Force Organization Chart is my personal one.
2.  Stick to the storyline.  It can be fun.  It even builds a loyalty and respect to your collection that you wouldn't normally see coming.
3.  Be fair.  Pick units to fight against another army or objectively fit into a campaign.  And DON'T SPAM!  Your dollars like to see different reasons for disappearing.


Let me know what y'all think (hell, I'll even take a disagreement or two  :-) ), and until next time-

Happy Hobbying!