Cities of DEATH

Alwawys an interesting game type to play under and talk about, Cities of Death is sometimes like playing mini-apocalypse thanks to the strategic assets. The increased amount of terrain, and lower chance of being able to draw LOS accross the entire table means that long-range shooting, and large units become less viable, whilst short-range and assault focused units become stronger choices. With 5th Editions mission changes, the victory conditions are now quite different to standard games also, with many old units able to grab objectives once more.

Ever since I first played Cities of Death I've loved it. It certainly makes you aproach the game differently, and the strategic assets allow you to be alot more sneaky than normal, as well as enableing you to alter your attack plan slightly to match your opponent or the mission.

So, why am I talking about Cities of Death? Well I've been considering just how the new rules effect it, and I thought I'd bring some of my thoughts and observations to your attention in the hopes that they might help you adapt to this great 40k supplement.

Infantry
Always a good choice in Cities of Death, they're now even better when compared to other unit types. The ability to "Go to Ground" means they're tougher than ever to shift from a building, whilst the fact they can now run means that slow movement through Difficult Terrain is reduced alot.
One important thing to note here is vertical movement. Most other unit types are unlikely to have to deal with this, but the rules for vertical movement have changed. You can no longer move 6" forwards, and 2 floors up in the same time. You now have to split your movement between the two, so you'll have to consider more carefully how you want to traverse large multi-level ruins and buildings.

Jump Infantry and Bikes
These folks have much the same issues as before, they're able to mitigate the large amounts of Difficult Terrain by driving round it, or jumping over it at high speeds. These units are also usually optimised for either assault or short-ranged firefights making pretty well suited to the Cities of Death environment.
Quite a nasty change that's been added in 5th Edition though is the alteration to how Difficult Terrain effects them. You now take Dangerous Terrain tests alot more often, so actually using them to get into terrain itself is significantly more dangerous.

Vehicles
This is a mixed bag. Most have got worse when it comes to actually fighting, although a few have become better choices when compared to others. Survivability though has got alot better.
As far as I can tell dangerous terrain rolls can no longer destroy a vehicle, so moving through ruins is less dangerous. This is fortunate, as many vehicles can only fire a single weapon when moving now, because of this you should feel more comfortable risking a move at full speed through a building to set yourself up for firing at full effect in the following turns, rather than creeping forward firing just one.
The increase in survivability comes from the change to how cover effects vehicles. Instead of the old 4+ and reduce a penetrating hit to glancing, you can now ignore the shot entirely! You'll have to be more vigilant though, as with the changes to area terrain, you now actually have to be physically obscured rather than just parked in some area terrain.

Walkers/Monstrous Creatures
An amalgamation of the benefits and negatives of vehicles and infantry here. The run rule being very important, as well as the need to actually be obscured to claim cover. Important stuff to consider when taking these big fellas.

Skimmers/Jetbikes
Very important change here is that you can no longer sit on top of terrain instead of inside it. This makes moving a little more risky, and removes the ease of gaining LOS on another unit from the top of a building. An important thing to consider here is if you ever used the strategic asset that allowed you to drop infantry onto the top floors of building/ruins. To do this you'll actually have to risk a dangerous terrain roll for your transports. So this choice is a little harder to make now.

Infiltrate
These units are something I've not really seen addressed in Cities of Death. In regular games you can now opt to Outflank with them if you wish, and I'm not entirely sure if this would carry over into Cities of Death. If it can, then would you need to take the Infiltrators strategic asset to allow them to do so? And if thats the case, can units with Scout outflank?
If you are planning on using Infiltrators or Scouts, and intend to make use of Outflank, I'd discuss this with your opponent ahead of time. Deciding if you need to have the Infiltrators stratagem to allow Outflank, and if you are going to allow Outflank at all in Cities of Death.

Deep Strike
A pretty nasty change exists here. Deep Striking into difficult terrain now prompts a dangerous terrain test. Combined with the fact that Deep Strike is already fairly risky, and the fact that Cities of Death has lots of difficult terrain for you to scatter into, these units might be a little too risky to use in my opinion.
Deep Strike is, as ever, a useful tool to have in your arsenal though. Maybe not something to rely upon in Cities of Death though. Sewer Rats might be a good alternative if you intend upon using "suprise" units. There are risks involved here too though of course, and I'd make sure you have enough drain covers pin safe areas, just in case the enemy blocks the ones where you would really like to appear.

Preliminary Bombardment
Some notable changes to this one. The old version used the standard rule that existed in the main rulebook, the new one does the same, but you have to dig a little harder to find it. The biggest changes to take place are that the shots now have a Strength and AP value. This makes them more dangerous against some targets, but worse against others of course. The other major change comes in the form of protection offered by some terrain. Now, if you are in these terrain types you are completely immune to the bombardments effects! I'm not quite sure how this interacts with the old rule that caused any hits against units in ruins/buildings to cause dammage to the ruin/building they were in also. So this is one to remember, and discuss with your opponent before the games starts.

Command Centre (I think that's what it's called at least!)
If I remember rightly this is the Key Building that gives units Stubborn, and Counter-Attack. This is now quite a nice combo if you want to play defensivly, and it's bonuses can be applied over a relatively long range which is another nice bonus. COunter-Attack has been buffed somewhat as it now gives you +1 attack when someone charges you, if you can pass a leadership test. Quite a good deterent to anyone planning on trying to get you out of a building. Combine this with the fact that your unit may be stubborn too, allowing them to ignore leadership modifiers, thats a good combo for defensive assault units.


Those are some things that leap to mind at any rate, hope they're usefull in helping you have a good game using the Cities of Death rules in 5th Edition.

So, what works best in Cities of Death in this Edition? Well in my opinion, the same as before: A good mix of everything! Thanks to 40k in general favouring multiple shot weapons, blasts and templates, due to the large amount of cover saves generally available now, a standard 40k army, will generally have all the tools it needs for Cities of Death. You might want to tailor things slightly in some armies, but for the most part you should be fine.

Little Suprises

Got in from work lat night to find an unexpected little red card from Royal Mail sitting on my doormat.

Now I know I ordered some new books on swordsmanship from Amazon...but according to their site they've not been dispatched yet.

I'm also still waiting on my sword from Armour Class, but they said they'd email me when they started work on it, and also I asked them to change the delivery address to my work place.

So what the hell is waiting for me at the Post Office?

Cant wait to find out, I hope it's something exciting!

Reasons to be Cheerful

I've been silent for a bit, mainly because I've been busy, but also had little to write about. I do have a few new toys to play with though that I picked up at the recent reenactment markets, but I'm still waiting on Armour Class for my slightly modified mortuary hilted backsword. I'm hoping that the wait will be worth it, as they're well past the originally stated completion date, at about 10 weeks now. Fingers crossed it will be everything I'm hoping for when it eventually gets here.

The long delay does however mean that I don't get to put it through it's paces on Tuesday night, with what appears to be a really fun evening.

Tuesday night sees my backswording group having a fight night! Sounds like allot of fun to me, and I don't think it's something that's been done in my time at the group. The closest thing would be the tournament qualifiers earlier in the year, but that didn't have too many people taking part, and it didn't have the range of activities that Tuesday will have.

Here's a run down of the fun:

• English Country Backswording - Lots of fun to be had here, it's the only bouting the novices will be allowed to do, as they aren't graded yet. So it could be fun seeing what the new blood is going to be like, as well as having a bash with the regulars.


• Sword and Dagger - I love this. The drilling felt a little awkward at times, but it just felt completely natural when I fought with it for the first time. Looking forward to giving it another go, and possibly using steel.


• Steel on Steel - Would have loved to have had my Mortuary hilt for this, it would have been a great test for it. Sadly the lack of the new sword means I'll have to wear a gauntlet if I want to fight. Annoyingly the extra weight means I'll have to be allot more cautious with my blows otherwise I'm liable to strain my injured shoulder. So don't expect to be doing this too much, but I'll give it a go at least once if I can!


• Pugilism - May well give this a go with all the training we've been doing lately. Not too much though I expect, as I'm still not entirely comfortable fighting with my fists, big nancy that I am.


• Shin Kicking - Fun to watch, and cheer on, but I wont be taking part. Last time I tried, it took a toll on my shoulder pretty quickly due to the continual pressure. Always nice to see our resident Shin Kicking champion having a laugh though!

So, a fun night ahead this week. Really looking forward to having a bash, and also seeing how everyone else does. I shall endeavour to grab a camera and get some photos.

Money, Money, Money....

I decided today to look back over the year at what I'd spent some of my cash on with regards to my new sword fighting hobby. 

It's rather startling to read, but I don't think I regret a bit of it! 

• Bastard Sword - £90
• Scabbard - £30
• Shirt - £18
• Leather Bracer - £10
• Fencing Mask - £53~
• Mortuary Hilted Backsword - £150
• Scabbard - £20
• Kettle Hat - £100
• Padded Jack - £90
• Gauntlets - £100
• Boxing Mask - £13
• Grappling Mitts - £10
• Gum Shield - £10
• Dagger - £75

Total: £770 

Thankfully a load of that kit should last me a good while, so I shouldn't be spending masses amounts of cash again any time soon! Still, for an initial investment that’s a fair wad of cash. 

Fo anyone worried about getting into this hobby and spending that much, don't worry. I'm just one of those fools who can't resist spending money on shiny objects.

So what does all that allow me to do? Well look like a plonker whenever I want of course!

Forge World, What Nice Folks

Whilst browsing 40k forums, I came accross a post detailing the latest Forge World newsletter. Now on top of news about their new models, they also pointed out that there's a new Pdf on their site with updates to Imperial Armour Volume Two - Space Marines & The Forces of the Inquisition, so I toddled off this morning to give it a look over.

Well, I was rather suprised when I actually had a look at it. Not only have Forge World adjusted the points and rules of all their Space Marine units to match the latest Codex: Space Marines, but it looks like they've also given us what looks like a little peek at whats to come in Codex: Imperial Guard.

Some of the changes included in the new Pdf:

Points differences between the Predators fixed

Razorback points & options matched to the Space Marine codex (Note, looks like the Multi-Melta is gone)

Damocles Rhino changed slightly, but mostly with regards to using Imperial Navy fliers

Land Raiders all made to match the new rules, includes an increase in the capacity of the Prometheus!

Dreadnoughts all made to match their Codex: Space Marines equivalents

Drop Pods made to match Codex: Space Marines

Deathstorm Drop Pods replace Deathwind Drop Pods

Inqusitorial vehicles made to match Codex: Space Marines

NEW rules for Inquisitorial Chimera! New points make the Chimera alot cheaper, the standard "out of the box" model now weighs in at 55pts! Also new rules called Armoured Firebase and Mobile Command Vehicle are mentioned which have never been seen before. These may hint at rules coming in Codex: Imperial Guard next year

Grey Knights Land Raiders made to match Space Marine ones

Sisters of Battle Rhino points made to match those of the Space Marines

So thats alot of nice news for many people. Wierdly this sees probably the first instance of Forge World rules giving an army the same unit but for less points than it's codex. I don't think this is a problem though, as most of the units covered are rather over costed in their parent codex currently, and those armies are largely seen as having a few problems in the current rules.

Anywho, here's a link to the Pdf: Rules Update

Looking Forward

So far I’ve done two grading’s as part of my swordsmanship, and had a lot of fun in the process. Come the new year I’ll have probably done another grading, and this one promises to be even more challenging, but a lot of fun all the same! 

Things to learn:

• Grounds
• Governors
• True Times
• False Times
• Four Fights
• Four Actions/Divisions of Motion
• Three Defensive Actions
• Four Offensive Actions
• Five cuts
• Guards/Wards
• Drills 1-10

Things to be judged on:

• Bout with sword and dagger
• Bout with steel

So, quite a bit in there really! (Although I've likely missed something, or included something I don't need to know yet) A good chunk of it is stuff we’ve already covered, so thankfully I should be alright. I am however really looking forward to the two bouts. The sword and dagger because my last couple of fights with those weapons went really well and it felt completely natural, and the steel because with any luck I’ll have my new sword to play with!

Wargamming

I've been a wargamer for years now, and only recently have I actually managed to play a campaign properly. It's something I've longed to do for ages, and tried to do numerous times over the years with pretty much uniform failure being the result. In the past I've always had grand ideas about map based story driven campaigns with multiple players involved and all sorts of other shenanigans. 

Well this time I decided to scrap all of that, and instead went and played the simple campaign laid out in the new 5th Edition rule book. I've just stuck with one opponent for the course of the campaign, and the only additional rules we've used have been the new experience ones in the rulebook, and so far it's been allot of fun. 

We've developed a few favourite units, and hated enemies, and both won and lost veteran units thanks to being a bit too eager to test out their new abilities! 

It’s also been a nice way of flexing my muscles with my Eldar a bit more, as all too often I create one army list and stick to that. The added bonus of a gradually escalating campaign has allowed me to experiment a little bit, and had shown me that some units are nicer than I’d have first thought. 

Anyway, if you are a wargamer and haven’t taken part in a campaign yet, I’d strongly advise that you do, it’s a lot of fun!

Swordplay

I guess I'd better explain this a little. The start of this year saw me discover that my brother had joined a local group that taught historical swordsmanship, and after finding out that it wasn't classical Olympic stuff, and was in fact based on past fighting manuals. So, with my interest gained I decided to convince a couple of friends to join me, and we went along to the start of the new term.

It's been nearly a year since we started, so I can't really remember exactly how that first session went now, but no doubt it involved lots of confused looks between the three of us, and my brother shaking his head in amusement over our mistakes. I do remember the session finishing with a number of the experienced members fighting amongst themselves, and this spectacle along was enough to ensnare us and ensure we kept coming back for more.

As a rough idea of what we do, here's a video from a tournament we held at Oyster Fayre, a medieval fair held in Colchester. If features me getting completely owned in the final. And yes, some of those really did hurt! (As you can see in the photo below the video)

Ouch!

The Beginning

Hello there, and welcome! 

Years ago I attempted to write a diary, as I'm sure many people do when they're younger. Life however always seemed a little dull though when you actually used pen to put it to paper, so that quickly stopped and all I was left with was a big book with lots of inconvenient lines and text in it that got in the way of my doodling.

Now though my life isn't just about what happened in the day though, it's also all about opinions and thoughts on all the different things that happen to me, and as my friends will no doubt attest, I like nothing more than yapping about things that I've read, and thoughts that I've had.

So, that rather confusing block of text I've written brings me to today. I've considered it for a while, and finally decided to write a blog. I doubt anyone will read it, but it will be nice to look back on in the future to see what thoughts and feelings I had about things in the past and chuckle at how misguided and uninformed I no doubt am!

So, who am I then? Well I'm currently in my mid-twenties, working as a programmer, and living in Bedfordshire in the UK. I could probably be described as a stereotypical geek, thanks to my love of sci-fi and fantasy, and a primeval urge to watch of Star Trek and anything else that happens to include laser beams or space ships. I don't keep my geek urges restricted to the sofa and the TV though. I've also been rabid player of 40k for many years now, and more recently decided to give myself a more physical expression of geekdom; swordplay! Oh yes!

What else is there about me? Well I can't think of anything right now, so I guess you may find out over time.