Musings on 7th edition

I know I have been gone for a while. I have been painting my helldrake. What a labour intensive model! It's finally done now so back to blogging.

With all the rumours circling around about 7th, I wanted to wait until I had the book in hand before blogging about it. The problem is that it is dominating the community and I'm having a hard time thinking of much else. So here we go with my feelings upon the speculations and rumours.

**disclaimer - opinions are like arseholes, I know. If you don't agree with mine that's great! Please share yours in the comments below and we can have a little civilized banter about it.**

I have heard for a while that this edition will allow us to assault out of rhinos and consolidate into combat. I really hope that this true. It will allow us assault junkies to have better odds of doing some actual damage before getting shot to death. Thumbs up!

The designated psychic phase does nothing for me personally since psykers aren't an integral part of my lists. That being said however, I think it's a great idea. It would allow the game to be streamlined and provide a possibility of rival psykers cancelling out your attack. Narrative games would benefit from a psyker duelling phase. Two massively powerful characters wielding the destructive capabilities of the warp. AWESOME!

Now we get to the meat and potatoes of it all: unbound armies. The idea of being a huge jerk and taking all daemon princes and heldrakes just does not appeal to me. That being said, another fast attack slot for a second unit of five spawns would be so fun. But I'm not gonna lie; this development is making me hold back on my tournament plans until I see how the event organizers deal with the changes. I just can't see myself having any fun against an army of baneblades. GW has been pushing us to balance the game ourselves since the beginning of 6th edition, and now I feel like I will play with house rules almost exclusively in my friendly games.

And let's be honest, the "advantages" of playing a force organized army, as the rumours have suggested, just don't seem worth it. Sure if my objectives cannot be contested that might save me the game, but I worry that my opponent's super heavy army won't leave me with many models to hold objectives in the first place. Re-rolling my warlord trait? I don't know how you guys feel about warlord traits but I can take 'em or leave 'em. There aren't many that I feel excited about. Now if I could choose my trait, then we would be talking.

I have this confusing feeling of excitement and dread as the number of days to 7th edition release date grow less and less. 

Rants and Raves: Online Conduct

I have been busy painting this week and haven't payed any games so this post is a bit of a rant about how we conduct ourselves in public forums.

Now this article comes with a disclaimer: most people are courteous and respectful in forums. If this is you, thank you! You are promoting a feeling of welcome within out hobby. I for one really appreciate it.

The first conduct issue is complaining. I get it. We all get those moments where we are frustrated and just want to get it out. The thing about doing this in a public forum is that it doesn't contribute anything to the hobby or community. In general I don't think it inspires people to interact with your post either, which is the reason forums exist. So instead of saying "GW doesn't care about the average consumer" "this new codex sucks" "this new unit is overpriced", turn that statement into a discussion and get the community engaged. "I think this. What do you guys think?" is a great way to turn it into a discussion and maybe it can help you to see a different way of looking at things.

The second conduct issue is bashing. This ties in directly to the first conduct issue. I see this all the time. A great thread with wonderful discussion suddenly turns sour when someone who disagrees with an opinion starts bashing someone else's character. Words like "idiot" "stupid" and "moron" inevitably turn up once the thread has gone the way of bashing. It's okay for us all to have differing opinions. We don't need to change anyone's opinion and we certainly don't need to take it as a personal attack if someone doesn't share our same way of thinking. So how do we deal with our emotions if we feel this need to defend our opinions? You can try saying things like "I see where you are coming from, I just have a different opinion," or state your opinion and walk away from the keyboard. How do you deal with someone who is bashing you? Well, this one is a bit tougher. You certainly don't want to bash them back, but sometimes you want to make sure he/she knows that his/her conduct is not acceptable. I would say if this is the case and saying nothing isn't your style then just be direct and honest while being respectful. "That kind of language/attack on my character isn't necessary", it's really just that simple. I have seen entire threads salvaged from the point of almost being completely lost just by saying that kind of thing. In most cases it is enough to snap a usually reasonable but now emotional person back to reality. This doesn't work in all cases, but if doesn't then you know you are dealing with a troll and perhaps a moderator is needed.

The last conduct issue is close to my heart: inclusive language and content. "This fan created picture of a busty female commisar in a g string is AWESOME!" Right click and save that bad boy and share it with your friends who will appreciate it. It honestly does not belong in a public forum where an already alienated female population is struggling to be taken seriously. If you do post something like that and people call you out for being insensitive it is NEVER okay to call them derogatory terms associated with their sexual orientation, gender, or moral ethics. The question I hear most often is "why don't women play 40k?" and this to me is one of two major reasons why. If you want a more diverse gaming community you have to conduct yourself in an inclusive manner that is sensitive to all members of society.

If we follow these suggestions we will make online forums friendlier and make more people feel safe while interacting with the community. More people contributing to the discussion means more content and a stronger hobby scene.

Army List Option #2: Dark Apostle

So having another game under my belt made me tweak my list a bit. Here it is, 1750 points.

Dark Apostle
    -Burning Brand of Skalathrax
    -Veterans of the Long War

20 cultists

5 Chaos Space Marines
    -1 plasma gun
    -rhino with havoc launcher

5 Chaos Space Marines
    -1 plasma gun
    -rhino with havoc launcher

5 Chaos Space Marines
    -1 plasma gun
    -rhino

Daemon Prince of Slaanesh
    -wings
    -power armour
    -black mace

Defiler

Heldrake with Baleflamer

Heldrake with Baleflamer

3 Chaos Spawn
    -Mark of Nurgle

Aegis Defense Line
    -Icarus Lascannon

Chaos Predator
    -Twin Linked Lascannon
    -2 Heavy Bolsters
    -Havoc Launchers
    -Warpflame Gargoyles

The Dark Apostle is going in the Aegis Defence Line with the cultists and the Predator will be behind them.

What do you guys think of this setup?

Army List Option 1 - Chaos Marines in Rhinos

So here it is: the 1750 point list to see how my marines fare in Rhinos.

HQ-Warpsmith
      -Burning Brand of Skalathrax
      -Aura of Dark Glory

HQ-Daemon Prince of Nurgle
     -Wings
     -Power Armour
     -Black Mace

TROOPS-3 units of 5 Chaos Marines each
              -Close Combat Weapons
              -in Rhinos
              -with Dirge Casters

TROOPS-2 units of 10 Chaos Cultists each

HEAVY-5 Havocs
           -3 Auto cannons
           -1 Lascannon
           -Combi-bolter(asp. Champ)

HEAVY-Defiler

FAST-2 Heldrakes
        -Baleflamers

FAST-3 Chaos Spawn
        -mark of Nurgle

FORTIFICATION-Aegis Defence Line
                           -Icarus Lascannon

Now let me explain a bit here, this list plays "MSU" style (multiple small units). I have purposely kept my troops in small numbers. The theory is this, in the current Meta where shooting is so heavy, that by splitting them into multiple targets you get a few more rounds out of the suckers. By placing them in rhinos I'm hoping to get them at least into round two. If I get them into round two I will be happy. If they get to round three I will be laughing maniacally.

The Warpsmith will be in a rhino, and able to fire dual flamey overwatch if the rhino doesn't make it.

The Havocs will be in the Aegis Defence Line, the Icarus Lascannon being manned by the champion.

So out of the people I have showed this list to, 50% think its great and the other 50% don't. I have played a similar list before to good results, but what do you guys think? Feel free to comment below.

Public Service Announcement: Nerd Rage

I wanted to take a moment to talk about, what we in the hobby affectionately call, "Nerd Rage" and what it is doing to the community.

We have all been there, GW is raising prices, our favourite codex was rewritten horribly (hello, Adeptus Sorotitas), "OMG THE SCREAMER-STAR!", etc. We get upset. We are all humans, it is bound to happen. But nerd rage is a completely different beast. That is where we go online to the forums, or to our game group and we decide to vent. This venting soon turns to name calling and down right overwhelming negativity. Heaven forbid someone disagrees with our opinion while in rage mode. That's when the inner troll comes out.

Now this is something that has to stop. It's poisoning our community. It ruins the atmosphere of our online forums and it makes people really step back from you and the point you are trying to make. Now I love a good discussion about controversial things, but it has to be a discussion and not a flame war. You need to encourage people to join in the dialogue. That's how the hobby grows and gets better.

And here is the biggest thing for me: what are you actively doing to deal with the things that enrage you? Models are too expensive?  Do you still buy them? If you do, you are proving to GW that their prices are reasonable. Is a broken codex grinding your gears? Maybe house rules are the way to go or return to fifth edition(which also saves you money since you don't have to buy new items). You don't like broken combinations? I would suggest talking to your opponent. Maybe both parties can agree to not use certain units.

It is up to us to create a warm and friendly gaming atmosphere for everyone. We need to encourage civilized discussion. If you are looking for a safe online community in order to discuss and share your love of warhammer 40k I suggest:

www.thewarmaster.com

I am an active member and we would love to have you join us.

My Most Feared Unit to Play Against

So, I'm listening to my favourite youtube content creator the other day, Fritz40K. I was watching this video in particular:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW45ouQ9bWE

and while he raises a good point about the small blast templates being way less effect then their larger counterparts, it did made me think about the Thunderfire Cannon.

As of late I have been playing against a lot of marine lists. In every single list there is at least one Thunderfire Cannon (sometimes two). This particular unit just devastates my front lines. I usually play 1000 points which I laden with tonnes of cheapies (yay! cultists!). But the Thunderfire cannon is tailor made to kill my poor zealots. I don't cry about it though because that's what my cultists are there for, right? Soak up all that barrage for hopefully two rounds to keep that thing from destroying my more expensive and powerful units before they get a chance to do anything.

So here is the thing, as I go up into the higher points in preparation for the tournament do I get rid of some of my cultists in order to take more chaos space marines in rhinos? Or should I just keep my cultist blobs? I'm going to write two lists in the next couple of days to test out each scenario, and then hopefully play them out against some Imperial Fists or Iron Hands. Do you think the Thunderfire Cannon is overrated? Do you think I'm completely off the mark? Feel free to comment and tell me your thoughts, I would love to hear what you have to say.

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to the Play 40k Like a Girl Blog.

My name is Tanya, and I play 40k(specifically Chaos Space Marines). I'm a relative new comer to the hobby. I have only been collecting for about 18 months and I have about 13 games under my belt. I am the first to admit that I am no expert, and because of that I belong to a few forums, I follow some bloggers, and I frequent batreps and tactics banter videos on YouTube.

Sadly, I feel like women do not participate in many of these discussions. It really is a shame since we have so much to offer. That leads me here today, to this very first blog post. I want to show other women that you CAN think tactically, and you are welcome in the hobby.

I do paint, but I feel like the women we do hear from in regards to 40k have the painting aspect covered. I will share my painting from time to time but in general I want this blog to cover tactics, rumors, batreps, content showcases from other bloggers, etc.

My short term goal for this blog is to follow me as I prepare for my first tournament. You will see me tweak my 1850 point list and sweat to paint my army in time. You can also read my batreps as I try to out match my opponents while learning all the rules of the game.

So, join me as I show the world what it means to play (40k) like a girl.