I has Kamikaze

No, not this kind

With the advent of 6th edition the once mighty Space Marine Dreadnought has, according to the tinterwebs, taken a bit of a kicking.

However, being the sceptical old sod that I am when it comes to internet wisdom, when running Iron Hands I never leave home without at least two of them in my army list.

Apparently, like many other units, they're no longer the super dooper paratrooper, be all and end all when it comes to close combat.

Hello. They are.

What has happened is that it's harder to get them into close combat, which is mainly due to the undeniable shift that 6th edition has given us towards shooting and the introduction of overwatch which puts its charge against haywire grenades and meltaguns etc.

Nonetheless, if one of these baby monsters gets close enough to get a hold of your troops, it's either going to make a mess of them, or tie them up.

However, I'm not going to prattle on about using them in close combat, instead I'm going to offer my thoughts on using them as most people now think of them, as a drop pod suicide unit, and not in the manner you're thinking of.

Recognise this?

Yep, it's a Venerable Dreadnought.

'But I has to has an Ironclad as a suicide unit'.

Why?

'An Ironclad with a flamer and multi-melta doesn't cost much more points wise than a Venerable with a flamer and multi-melta and you get slightly more armour value and I want my Ironclad to survive'.

No extra armour here.

Ok, how many Kamikaze pilots have you heard of who took extra armour to survive?

No doubt some really good history buff will prove me wrong, but I'll hazard a guess and say none. And Kamikaze pilots and your drop-dread share a common purpose; they're bloody suicide units that aren't expected to live much past initial impact.

The reality is that the interceptor rule and new rules on drop pod assault aside, you're hoping to plonk it behind your opponent's bestest ever unit or most dangerous piece of armour so that it can shoot the shit out of it.

If it dies having managed this; and there's a very good chance that it will pop its clogs in your opponent's next shooting phase even if it is an Ironclad; your Kamikaze has achieved the glorious end that all good servants of the Emperor so dearly crave.

Did you see what I did there?

And this is where being a Venerable suicide unit rather than an Ironclad one, gives you a slight edge in achieving your kill that mofo objective; the multi-melta you're toting hits on a +2, not a +3. As I've said previously, I'm not that much into mathhammer, but even I know that you've got a better chance of hitting what you're aiming at with a +2 roll.

Another benefit, is that being Venerable allows you to make your opponent re-roll penetrating hits. Are these good enough reasons to take consider dropping the Ironclad for?

Well I think so. Over to you.

I has a hangover

Now, those of you who know me in real life won't find that a particularly mind-blowing revelation. You see, I like the odd shandy or ten now and then.

Now hangovers can be a pain the backside, no two ways about it and I definitely wouldn't recommend painting or modelling when you've got one.

But what they are good for, is reflection on past events. Normally the past events in question are 'how did I get home?', 'did I really eat that kebab?' or the most famous one of all 'I'm never going to drink again'. 

And once you finally get into the darkest recesses of your short-term memory; tease the answers out of the jumbled kaleidoscope of synapses that help you recall stuff and realise that you did eat the kebab, got a taxi home and that you'll be in the same state in the near future, you've got nothing else to do apart from lie on the couch, feel sorry for yourself and wait for The Quest for the Holy Foreskin to come on the National Geographic Channel. 

Now, even I can't lie on the couch for 3 days. I make the house look untidy, so in the absence of doing anything remotely useful about the house, I decided to take a moment or two to reflect on what went on in my 40k year, and what I would like to see next year. 

Unfortunately, I've decided to share it with you lot.

So what happened?

Well, quite a lot apparently, but my year didn't really start until the release of the new Space Marines codex. I know, I apologise to all of you who hate Space Marines and love your armies the bestest, but it's my blog, my year and in my little world, nothing of note happened until September.

And I saw the new codex and I was as happy as a dog with 4 bollocks and 2 tongues. Some of the new models (we'll conveniently forget the Centurions) that were released alongside the codex were stunning. The new Sternguard, Vanguard and Tactical Squads were superbly modelled. The new Stalker/Hunter kit is great as well.

But the best thing about the codex was the little bit of love that Chapters other than the Ultramarines got, and the Chapter Tactics that came alongside them.

The codex did more than make me a happy teddy bear, it reignited my 40k hobby. I got my paintbrushes and models out and started making an effort again. I built army lists and started playing, casually and at tournaments. In short it made me want to be part of the hobby and it's made me look forward to 2014.

So what would I like to see next year?

Honestly? For all of you who don't play Space Marines to get the same happiness out of your armies that I got out of mine in the latter quarter of this year.

Have a Happy New Year and if you're old enough, get absolutely shitfaced at the bells.

Cheers