GW v PP Price Comparisons

So, I saw an artile on BOLS about Warhammer 40k on the cheap. So, I naturally decided that I should compare my 2 hobbies and see what kind of price differences we are talking about. First I made a Tau list that I could like playing and then 2 Warmachine lists I woudl like playing, both at their standard tournament force sizes, 1500 and 35 respectively, and got current costs, plus taxes, and compared them. The Warhammer 40k list came out to 432.84. not bad for a Tau list at 1500, Warmachine came out to 307.57.

Now breaking it down, just to the starterboxes if you want, the Tau one can support 689 points by itself, i omitted the stealthsuits from the 1500 as i have never found a use for them. The Khador battlebox supports 11 points by itself. Everything in the Khador box though has a use, and at 49.99 vs the Tau box at 110.00 it seems a better deal. I included copies of the rosters below in case anyone wanted to compare for themselves.

Tau 1500 point list

-------------------------

1500 Pts - Tau Empire Roster - Sample Roster

HQ: Commander Shas'el
-1 Commander Shas'el - Bonding Knife; Hard-wired Drone Controller; Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Missile Pod
--1 Crisis Bodyguard - Hard-wired Drone Controller; Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array
---2 Shield Drone - Shield Generator
--1 Crisis Bodyguard - Hard-wired Drone Controller; Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array
---2 Shield Drone - Shield Generator
--2 Shield Drone - Shield Generator

HQ: Commander Shas'el
-1 Commander Shas'el - Bonding Knife; Hard-wired Drone Controller; Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Missile Pod
--1 Crisis Bodyguard - Hard-wired Drone Controller; Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array
---2 Shield Drone - Shield Generator
--1 Crisis Bodyguard - Hard-wired Drone Controller; Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array
---2 Shield Drone - Shield Generator
--2 Shield Drone - Shield Generator


Troops: Fire Warrior
-6 Fire Warrior, 155 pts - Pulse Rifle x6
--1 Devilfish  - Burst Cannon; Landing Gear; Disruption Pod; Flechette Discharger
---2 Gun Drones - Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

Troops: Fire Warrior
-6 Fire Warrior, 155 pts - Pulse Rifle x6
--1 Devilfish  - Burst Cannon; Landing Gear; Disruption Pod; Flechette Discharger
---2 Gun Drones - Twin Linked Pulse Carbines

Troops: Kroot Carnivore Squad
-12 Kroot Carnivore Squad, - Kroot Rifle x12

Heavy Support: Broadside Battlesuit
-1 Broadside Battlesuit - Twin Linked Railgun; Smart Missile System; Drone Controller; Team Leader
--2 Broadside Battlesuit - Acute Senses; Twin Linked Railgun; Unit Type: Infantry; Smart Missile System; Target Lock
--2 Shield Drone - Shield Generator

Heavy Support: Hammerhead Gunship
-1 Hammerhead Gunship - Railgun; Landing Gear; Targeting Array; Two Burst Cannons; Disruption Pod; Flechette Discharger; Multi-Tracker

Model List

3 Broadside Battlesuit 3@ 35.00ea (105.00)

2 Tau Crisis Battlesuit Commander - 2@ 30.00 ea (60.00)

4 Crisis Bodyguard - 1 Box Set, 3@ 24.75ea (74.25)

2 Devilfish and gun drones - 1 Box Set, 1@ 35.00

12 Fire Warrior - Box Set

1 Hammerhead Gunship - 1@ 49.50

12 Kroot Carnivores - Box Set

14 Shield Drone - 12 convert from Gun Drones with Suits, 2@ 2.99ea (5.98) (Warstore ebay store gun drones to convert)

Tau Empire Battlebox box set - 110.00

Tau Codex - 24.75

WH40k Rulebook - 57.75

Total: 412.23
VA Sales Tax (5%): 20.61
Subtotal: 432.84

Khador 35 pt list:

List 1 (35pts)
35pt Khador Roster (Standard Game)

Selections:

* Warcaster
* Kommander Sorscha
    * Warjacks
    Beast 09
    Destroyer

* Unit (19pts)
* Doom Reavers (Ldr and 5 Grunts)
* Man-O-War Shocktroops (Leader and 4 Grunts) 
* Widowmakers (Ldr and 3 Grunts)

* Solo
* War Dog 

List 2 (35pts)
35pt Khador Roster (Standard Game)

Selections:
* Warcaster (22pts)
* Karchev the Terrible
    * Warjacks
        Beast 09
    Destroyer
    Juggernaut

* Unit
* Man-O-War Shocktroops (Leader and 4 Grunts)
* Widowmakers (Ldr and 3 Grunts)

Model List
Kommander Sorscha - Battlebox Box Set
Karchev the Terrible - 49.99
Beast 09 - 54.99
Destroyer - Battlebox Box Set
Juggernaut - Battlebox Box Set
Man-O-War Shocktroops - 44.99
Widowmakers - 19.99
Doom Reavers - 32.99
War Dog - 9.99

Warmachine Rulebook (Softcover) - 29.99

Khador Battlebox - 49.99

total: 292.92
VA Sales tax (5%): 14.65
subtotal: 307.57

125.27 difference

Warhammer Learning Tournament

This past weekend I played in a Warhammer 40k tournament which pitched veteran players against new players to help them learn. I have to say that I had a mixed experience with it. The first game I played was against a blood angels player. I cant remember the specifics of what he was running but I was running a Farsight list which was very suit heavy and had very little troops (2 6 man teams with fish). We ended up drawing as I didnt play very agressively, the points limit was 1500 and 2 hours per round. We just made it past th first turn. My turns werent too long, his turns though dragged through. The second game I had to play the judge as we had an odd number. We have a rivalry between his Necrons and my Tau. The third game was against a Deathwing Termie list which ended up with no land raiders by the 2nd turn and almost no one left alive 3 turns later.



Overall a good day, felt kinda guilty though about almost tabling my opponent.

Models, Models, Where does it end

Ok, so I know that Games Workshop is the "Evil Empire bent on controlling us and subverting our will so they can sell us a stick and call it a model". Quite frankly though some of their more recent offerings have been very well done and, setting personal opinions about Finecast aside, downright beautiful. I know that it is probably borderline sacrilege, certain models such as the Rhino and the basic Land Raider I am never going to find beautiful at all. The basic box just doesn't appeal to me. Some of the other older stuff such as Eldar Wave Serpents and the common Devilfish/Hammerhead/Skyray chassis is just as alluring as a woman in black stockings and heels....

I'm getting off track though.

In the past year there have been some beautiful vehicles released and some which I wouldn't touch with a nine foot pole. I think the creme of the crop though has been the new necron toys. I know we are still waiting on the Doom/Night Scythe model, but lets face it, the new Necron vehicles have this whole Egyptian techno evil feel to them that no metal box, flying or otherwise, can ever come close to matching. The only thing I think that scares me about them is their implied fragility from not having an outer skin and being so skeletal in their construction.

I have seen a couple in person and I will say it is awkwardly disappointing when you do see them. The model seems to carry off a sense of being larger then it is in photographs. I still have to say it is impressive to see. Unfortunately I probably wont be playing with one soon though as the rigors of real life intervene on my escapism. Oh well. I still have my Tau to hold me over until things fall back into place.

Some Warmachine under the belt

So, I had an opportunity to play Warmachine last night with my Khador army. I was playing agianst trollbloods... wow, talk about hard to kill. Anyway. I learned 2 things. The first is that I need more infantry then jacks. Yes the Jacks are cool and I still plan on getting Karchev as my second caster.... mmmmmm jacksuit.......aggghhhh. I played with this list last night:

35pt Khador Roster (Standard Game)
* Warcaster (22pts)
    * Kommander Sorscha (22pts)
        * Warjacks (27pts)
                Beast 09 (11pts)
        Destroyer (9pts)
        Juggernaut (7pts)

* Unit (13pts)
    * Man-O-War Shocktroops (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
    * Widowmakers (Ldr and 3 Grunts) (4pts)

The reason I went with this list is that I already own the Man-O-War units and the Jacks and Sorscha. I borrowed the widowmakers from another player at the store. Both games ended in a caster kill. Unfortunately it was my caster that took the hit. The second game was alot closer though and really came down to poor Focus management on my part as Sorscha nearly killed the enemy caster in hth.

I feel encouraged though as this list did decently well but felt too jack heavy and was similar to the list I want to run of:

35pt Khador Roster (Standard Game)
* Warcaster (13pts)
    * Kommander Sorscha (13pts)
        * Warjacks (18pts)
                Beast 09 (11pts)
        Juggernaut (7pts)

* Unit (19pts)
    * Man-O-War Demolition Corps (Ldr and 2 Grunts) (6pts)
    * Man-O-War Shocktroops (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
    * Widowmakers (Ldr and 3 Grunts) (4pts)

* Solo (3pts)
    * War Dog (1pts)
    * Widowmaker Marksman (2pts)

In the list I ran last night the Shocktroops didnt do too much with the Shield Cannons but were able to hold thier own against the enemy and I think the addition of another Man-O-War unit would benefit the army greatly. I also think the War dog would make a great unit to go along with Sorscha, as it does for every Khador caster.

I hope I can get this army together before the new League begins this Feb and see how they do. I might end up doing some proxying to get a feel for it though before I ever buy the units to make sure they work together how I would like them to.

My new Distraction

So, I have a new distraction from my distractions. I have picked up the 2 Player battle box and also picked up Beast 09 for the Khador faction. My friend is interested in Menoth so I let him have them and I am building up my Khador force. I am hoping that before the next shattered grounds leage begins I will have at least a 35 point army (already at 31 points). I will try to include some pics of my Khador Army. I am going for a Red Army Feel without as many reds as I have seen in most Khador armies. The majority of the models are an olive green with Sorscha and Beast so far getting the Lions Share of any reds.

I am thinking for a 35 point army I would like to run one of the 2 following types of lists:

35pt Khador Roster (Standard Game)
* Warcaster (22pts)
    * Kommander Sorscha (22pts)
        * Warjacks (27pts)
                Beast 09 (11pts)
        Devastator (9pts)
        Juggernaut (7pts)
* Unit (12pts)

    * Man-O-War Demolition Corps (Ldr and 2 Grunts) (6pts)

    * Man-O-War Shocktroops (Leader and 2 Grunts) (6pts)

* Solo (1pts)

    * War Dog (1pts)


or:

35pt Khador Roster (Standard Game)
* Warcaster (13pts)
    * Kommander Sorscha (13pts)
        * Warjacks (18pts)
                Beast 09 (11pts)
        Juggernaut (7pts)

* Unit (19pts)

    * Man-O-War Demolition Corps (Ldr and 2 Grunts) (6pts)

    * Man-O-War Shocktroops (Leader and 4 Grunts) (9pts)
     
    * Widowmakers (Ldr and 3 Grunts) (4pts)

* Solo (3pts)

    * War Dog (1pts)

    * Widowmaker Marksman (2pts)

The top list is more favorable to my wallet as I can have it with the purchase of a Demolition Corps Sqd and War Dog, the bottom one requires a little bit more money and places all of my firepower in the hands of the guys on the ground leaving my jacks to kill jacks.

Khador Army

A Little bit better

Beast 09 EXTREME CLOSEUP!!!!!!

Beast 09 Front

Beast 09 Three Quarter view

Destroyer - correct axe came in the mail, have to put it on

Juggernaut

Sorscha-P