40k Birthday Bash 2.0 Update: Faction Decision! (...Possibly...) Part 4 - The Finale

Hello Again Ladies and Gents!

Today we see the home stretch for me looking at the Maynarkh Dynasty and trying to see if anything needs amending for using the Force in 7th Ed,  and the current codex.  And to finish out this little exercise for now we will look at the MacDaddy of the Maynarkh Dynasty, Kutlakh the World Killer!

But before we get into the meat of Kutlakh's rules I think it would be good to have a wee look at this mechanical bad-ass.

Kutlakh to start is, not the leader of his Dynasty,  he is the highest ranking general of their armies,  and in his own right,  as powerful as some phaeron's of lesser dynasties. The leader of the Maynarkh Dynasty has only ever been referred to as the Mother of Oblivion,  and has been hinted to have been either romantically or physically connected with the Silent King.

Kutlakh has never been focused on the political trappings of the Dynasty structure,  preferring to put his efforts into his martial might. At the close of the war in heaven,  the Silent King ordered the most powerful of weapons to be turned on the C'tan after he realised their insipid betrayal. The Maynarkh Dynasty was at the front of unleashing these cosmically destructive weapons on the Star Vampires,  with many being shattered into the shards they are in the 41st Millennium. Of all the C'tan attacked and defeated by the Necrons,  none was so utterly obliterated as Llandu'gor the flayer,  personally falling to Kutlakhs hand. With this act all of the Necron race was doomed to the possibility of the flayer curse. None more so than the Maynarkh themselves. But of Kutlakh, devolution to a flayer has yet to happen, he still maintains the majority of his sanity... For now...

Ooooooohhh Drama!!! 😝
I hope that all got you tingling,  as now we move on to look at this bad-ass on the tabletop!

Statline wise the S, T, and WS all rock in at a Melta bomb with,  W3 standard Necron initiative,  and A of a melta bomb -1. He comes equipped with a staff of light and the Obsidax.  Special rules include, Independent Character,  Adamantium Will, Re-An,  Splinter of Madness, Phaeron,  and Ever-living; these last two in the vien of the articles so far will just be straight dropped. Kutlakh comes with the Death Incarnate Warlord trait as standard,  so refer to my thoughts on this from the first article in the series.  He also is rocking a 2+sv.

The staff of light does not have the specialist weapon rule,  which conflicts with the obsidax,  which does. I can't remember if the previous iteration of the staff had this rule, but currently it doesn't,  so we'll stick to the current profile.

The Obsidax is a beefed up Hyperphase blade. It's S user,  Ap2,  Melee,  Instant Death,  and as previously shown a specialist weapon.  Pretty tasty.

Coming back to the Splinter of Madness Rule,  this confers,  Fear and Fearless to Kutlakh and any unit he is attached to.

It also gives a little interesting aside as well...

First off Kutlakh must always fight in a challenge if possible both declaring and accepting.  Next at the start of the sub fight stage both Kutlakh and his opponent roll a d6 and add it to their ld value. If Kutlakhs total is greater,  the opponent has their WS reduced by the difference for that assault phase 😱! Such it Imhotekh and your hand removal fetish! 😝

Kutlakh is nothing short of a beast in combat. He wants to chase your chapter masters,  your chaos Lords,  your big hitters and mess up their day. I think he is a good character,  and is reasonably priced at 44 melta bombs. High shooting and blob squads may cause him lots of issues though.  Protecting him with the Charnal Lychguard is key.

What do you all think? Is Kutlakh worth it? Is he too OP? Would you change anything about him,  let me know in the comments!

Hopefully I will hear soon on whether I can run this list,  and I will follow up soon,  if not I'll be feverishly looking at something else soon...

Until next time
Jonathan

40k Birthday Bash 2.0 Update: Faction Decision! (...Possibly...) Part 3

Good Morning Ladies and Gents!
I hope you all got an excellent night sleep as we return to the horror of the Maynarkh Dynasty,  and the dread legions at they're disposal!

First things first,  Fast Attack and Heavy Support Choices. If you have read the previous posts we are looking at the choices as per my list for the Birthday Bash 2.0 Tournament, so once I've finished this set of rereviews I'll come back and visit the other units in these respective slots.

So I having selected to use X2 Heavy Necron Destroyers,  a Doom Scythe and a Doomsday Ark,  with the Imperial Armour book you are instructed to use the entry from Codex: Necrons,  so these will be the same as you all know and love.  Which leads us to...

The Elites
This is a fun section and presents units that may seem new to some:

Charnal Lychguard
Just like with the current codex,  Overlords can have their fluffy body guard unit.  A Maynarkh Overlord can take a single unit of these deadly close combat bots.  Rocking the same stat line as their codex counterparts,  Charnal Lychguard,  gain the rage and fear special rules.  Now I hear you cry out how can these be reasonable versus their counterparts? I'll tell you.  They cost an extra 22 melta bombs on top for basically rage and fear... In any other life I'd say drop that points value down to maybe another 5 melta bombs on top of the unit and you'd be grand,  but for now,  I think superceding the re-an special rule and leaving them as is,  is an excellent compromise for the tourney without being OP.

Canoptek Tomb Stalker
OMG A GIANT MECHA CENTIPEDE OF DOOM!!! 😝 The first ever Forgeworld model produced for the cash strapped customer (kudos if you have a Necron Pylon,  I secretly hate you lol) this is the beefed up cousin of the Canoptek Tomb Spider.  Rocking the Deep Strike,  Outflank,  Hit and Run,  Night Vision,  Rampage, Fearless,  Fleet,  Acute Senses, and War Construct special rules,  this beastie stat line comparable to a Carnifex,  hits just as hard,  but from many different directions. You can also purchase Sepulchral Scarabs for 4 melta bombs that give it IWND and it's a monstrous creature with X2 glass flayers.

So what is the War Construct Rule I hear you ask,  well it basically means any weapon that wounds on a flat value will only ever wound on a 6. This is a unit that can't be guaranteed to be poisoned to death. Now a lot of these rules really make it seem scary,  but like nid players know deep striking big gribblies into a tabletop can be very hazardous,  and as it draws a lot of fire,  getting isolated is a death sentence for the model with only the wounds of +1 over a base of Necron Scarabs. It's big it's scary,  but it can die very quickly and at the cost of 45 melta bombs.

I feel the unit is fine as it is.  Just like all Canoptek constructs this beastie does not have the re-an rule either so no need to worry about that here.

As I feel the unit is actually well balanced for its points,  and is more of a psychological terror unit for your opponent I don't think this needs amending and worst well within the bounds of the current codex,  but please,  please let me know if you think this unit is overpowered,  and if so what would you change? It's an amazingly sexy model and I think would be a great addition to the upcoming event.

Next time we will be looking at the final entry,  on Kutlakh the World Killer!

Until next time...  Game with the lights on...
Jonathan

40k Birthday Bash 2.0 Update: Faction Decision! (...Possibly...) Part 2

Welcomes Back Ladies and Gents to my random waffling on how to amend Imperial Armour 12, specifically in relation to the Necrons of the Maynarkh Dynasty,  for use with the current Necron Codex!

So today we are going first look at the list I am currently using,  the the following articles will look in depth at each section of the Force Org,  and what needs changing if necessary.

The List
1500pts CAD, No Allies, No Lords of War. Total Army Cist:1500pts

HQ
Kutlakh the World Killer

Elites
X1 Canoptek Tomb Stalker
X5 Charnal Lychguard with flensing scarabs

Troops
X5 Maynarkh Immortals with flensing scarabs
X10 Maynarkh Warriors
X10 Maynarkh Warriors

Fast Attack
X2 Heavy Destroyers

Heavy Support
X1 Doom Scythe
X1 Doomsday Ark

The List is quite elite and could be blown off the board by a lot of shooting.  The Maynarkh list really favours aggressive close combat armies, which isn't what you would normally expect from a Necron army! So with that out of the way,  let's start looking at these units,  first off today, the troops!

Maynarkh Warriors
Maynarkh Warriors are comparable to their Codex counterparts in every respect but one: they can take fencing scarabs. I won't be taking them as I do not have the points,  however as a unit they will be grand for tarpit purposes,  and hopefully some occasional tank hunting. The only amendment would be that the unit must use the re-an rule from the main codex.

Maynarkh Immortals
Again another unit which is comparable to its counterpart in the Necron Codex. The differences here is that you can only ever take one unit of Immortals (for fluff reasons) and the unit gains access to flensing scarabs.  I have taken the scarabs here as gaining shred for the first turn of combat should help improve the units killy ability. Again this only happens for the first combat phase not every combat phase. As with the Maynarkh Warriors the only amendment would be that the unit must use the re-an rule from the main codex.

Neither unit has access to any other rules, so not a lot to really reconsider here. Points wise there also is no difference between Imperial Armour 12 and the Necron Codex as it stands.

Otherwise the list can take Flayers as a troop choice, however they are distinctly inferior to their codex counterparts,  not having inherent shred,  less attacks and having to be taken in units of ten. For me I would have considered the Flaybers but I only have 5 so I'm happy to leave them for this time.

Let me know what you all think I the comments,  are these units reasonable? We'll next look at Fast Attack and Heavy Support,  and if there is time possibly the Elites as well,  before finishing up with MacDaddy cray-ray himself kutlakh the world killer!

Until next time
Jonathan

40k Birthday Bash 2.0 Update: Faction Decision! (...Possibly...) Part 1

Hello People's of the interwebz!!!

Today I come to you with some thoughts on what I may be taking to Dave Westons 40k Birthday Bash 2.0 Tournament! After much thought I have come to the conclusion that I would like to deviate a little from the standard armies that we are all familiar with to have a look at the Necrons of the Maynarkh Dynasty,  as presented in Imperial Armour 12.

The first thing to acknowledge is that using this list has not yet been checked or approved by Dave,  so I'll let him know then go from there (fingers crossed I'll hopefully be able to bring it for something a bit different). Secondly the army is, to say the least,  "bit " out of date. To this end I propose the following amendments and non-amendments (might not be correct grammar but let's roll with it) to the rules for the Maynarkh Dynasty, as found in Imperial Amour 12:

Warlord Traits:
1. Predictive Strategist
Reserve Manipulation +/-1 whilst Warlord is on the table. Many armies can use similar warlord traits,  so I don't think this needs amending for use at the event.

2. Dust and Ashes
Denying Slay the Warlord to your opponent nets you a victory point. Not too power inherently but can be a game changer.  I still think this is OK as is.

3. Blood of Ancients
Just like good old Chaos champion rule for challenges,  with the exception ICs killed in combat award victory points.  Really need Dave W to make a call on this one. Any suggestions for the communities opinion on whether this is too OP is also welcome (and if so suggestions to update).

4. Unbending Will
Reroll re-an's within 3in of an objective. . Not too shabby, I think this is grand as is.

5. Fire of the Heavens
During the shooting phase (every one!)  a unit which is a vehicle or artillery can resolve a single ranged attack at +1S! Doesn't exceed max S,  but is still a bit OP for a friendly tournament...  Maybe reduce this to one use a game.

6. Death Incarnate
Warlord and unit gain Crusader. Not too shabby,  so fine as is.

Army Special Rules

Reanimation Protocols
So IA:12 was originally written with the 5th edition codex (some call it the first 6th edition codex,  but that is neither here nor there) in mind.  To this end,  I would say all units with this rule,  must follow the rule as presented in the current codex: Necrons.

Flensing Scarabs 
Unit equipped with Flensing Scarabs has the shred rule for the first turn of assault in the game.  Doesn't seem to bad,  keep it as is.

Entropic Strike
Harks back to the previous codex where you could remove a models armour save or reduce the armour value for vehicles.  I suggest replacing this to the entry in the current codex,  as this rule specifically applies to scarabs (I haven't seen any other units that can make use of this rule in IA:12).

Living Metal
Wording same as in current codex. No need to dwell here.

Ever-living
The rule no longer exists in the current codex,  so for all intents and purposes this rule should be ignored for all units that have it in IA:12.

Mark of the Flayer
Roll a d6 if a Maynard overlord/or unit they have joined fails a moral check or wipes a unit in close combat. Immediately apply result from MoTF table:

Berserk
Basically what kharn does when he misses in close combat (at d3 auto hits). Hits himself if on his own for a wound.  Fluffy and not to powerful,  definitely a hazard to use Maynarkh HQs,  love it.

Remains in Control
No effect.

Transfiguration
Overlord gains fearless and rage. At end of the battle,  overlord counts as destroyed for the purposes of victory points and StW.
More of the same,  a hazard to take but love the fluffiness,  can stay as is currently.

Next time I'll post about the units I may take in the book ((depending on whether I can take this army) some units are massively over costed these days hahaha) and what it may look like for my list.

Please let me know what you think in the comments,  are the amendments reasonable? Have the things that stayed the same reasonable? Shout out and let me know!

Until next time
Jonathan

40k: Tournament Prep, Dave Westons Birthday Bash 40k Tournament

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all doing well now New Year is well and truly behind us now. And with the Holiday Season behind us it's time to get back cracking and get some prep done for the coming year.

In February,  I will be attending Dave Westons Birthday Bash 40k Tournament (link), it's 1500pts, CAD only,  no formations and limited Lords of War. So basically I have to decide what I will be taking to this event so that I am ready to get any necessary painting and or repairs done before the big day.

The Options
Khorne Daemonkin
A fun army to play,  I normally go a bit mental and run across the board like a lunatic to get to grips with my opponent (mission objectives be damned),  I'm sure you'll all agree this is the right way to play KDK. Currently I don't have enough any of the Bloodthirster variants,  but there is every possibility this could change...

Dark Angels
Hit hard,  hit fast, bring lots of Dakka, or maybe lots of Terminators (not very efficient but damn they look cool. I also have,  hopefully the opportunity to bring my plasma obliterator ad part of this list (as I feel it just suits the theme of the Dark Angels more than any other army), and it looks gorgeous to boot! More painting and repair work needed here,  and a severe lack of marines and scouts for a CAD only list needs to be rectified.

Necrons
Probably the strongest of the armies I currently have, but I will have to look outside my preference of the destroyer cult here. I've got more necron warriors than I could possibly need so its a case of theming the army based on other units I have (Possibly a retro wave list of warriors,  or a mecha bug list...). Still a tough nut to crack in any situation (need to check if I can take my Tomb Stalker).

Anyways,  many thoughts and vacillating is required for any person going to an event. I'll be doing some update articles as prep continues towards the big day! I will also try to get as many photos from the event too,  I can't wait 😝!!!

Other Tournament-wise,  I am planning to go to the Double-Trouble 2 Event in June,  hosted by Alex over at fromthefang.blogspot.co.uk,  in Element Games,  gaming hall,  another really interesting event,  and I highly recommend you check it out! Hopefully I can also find a good Age of Sigmar event this year as well as I really want to jump in with two feet on this new and upcoming scene! If you have any suggestions for events in the North West of England,  drop a line in the comments,  I'd love to hear about any events you attend or run!

Until next time,
Jonathan

Magnus the Red, Daemon Primarch of the Thousand Sons

Hello Again Everyone,

Welcome to the New Year! I hope you all had a happy responsible holidays with much hobby fun had! I myself have been beavering away on my latest project: Magnus the Red! But before we move on I just wanted to apologise for the way the first battle report ended...  In that it kind of didn't... Basically upon getting my phone looked at for a minor repair, it got reset to factory settings and I lost all of the photos of the actual battle,  so there was little point I felt in writing an article without any images. For those of you that want to know how it finished up, The Grey Knights won,  12-8 with both Renegade knights being destroyed and only a unit of blood crushers and a unit of Paladins with Draigo at the end (really need to focus more on getting rid of Draigo as soon as possible). It was an intense battle,  and hopefully I'll have much better luck with getting it posted up next time!

Anyways without further ado onto Magnus!

Magnus the Red,  Daemon Primarch of Tzeentch,  Games Workshop 2016© 

Magnus the Red,  BY ME!!! 

This bad boy has been my Christmas project, and while progressing well (and tabletop ready, sans-basing) I still have to finish off some of the fiddly bits like tipping all the wings with ceramite white.

I cannot espouse the use of the painting tutorial over at Warhammer TV by Duncan and has really helped pulling everything to a level even I am impressed with! I didn't quite follow the paint scheme Duncan used but I am quite happy with it (if you want further details just ask in the comments). Also I suffered from "MUST BUILD IT ALL" syndrome and didn't make any sub assemblies. It speaks to how well this model is designed that this didn't cause too many issues.

For now,  a little rest is needed to avoid burning out on one model (I find this works only if you have one other model to paint not "all the models" as I usually do), so I'll be putting some time into Cannoness Veridyan.  I'll update on her progress as it continues.

I can't wait to finish off Magnus and hopefully in the future get him fielded alongside some thousand sons (Ian over at krakaddict.blogspot.co.uk is building himself some Space Wolves I'll need to attempt to stomp),  until next time,  have a great year!

Jonathan

Inquisitorial Mandate: Information on the Heretic known as Jonathan

Citizen! You have been identified as a person of interest in relation to the Heretic known as Jonathan!

This Heretic was identified upon entry to an EE (Empyric Elite) communications outlet on Glorious Terra! carrying 'fake' pict feeds from the world of Yrlan's Rest, in relation to a Heretic Insurgency. We of His Holy Ordos have removed said images, under the guise of routine maintenance, lest your soul be corrupted by such lies, and capturing the heretic in the process!

You may put your mind at rest knowing that no battle took place.  The world is not in danger. We are here to protect you.

Please report to the nearest Arbites precinct to await Inquisitorial commendation at resisting the presence of such a heretic in our midst. Any further information you may give will help root out further ner'do wells. There will be munitorum approved cake.

The Emperor Protects

Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor
Luther D'Angelus