Urien Rakarth Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

A Newbie’s Outlook on Conquest, Warhammer 40K and Wine – Alex Bosch will talk about decks, trends and various topics that strike his fancy while deep into several glasses of wine.  A guest article from Alex Preston-Bosch.

I sit at the table filled with dread.  The inevitability of my demise swells inside as I place my warlord on the table. My opponent gives me a look of pity and surprise that has become far too familiar in these past few months. This is the opening scene of any game when playing our infamous Dark Eldar warlord, Urien Rakarth.

Now, I will be the first to admit that my confidence in poor Urien isn’t high enough to bring him to a tournament quite yet, but lately I have been turning those looks of pity into disgruntled sighs as I send volley after volley of ranged damage raining down onto the enemy units across the table.

So here is how I learned to love Urien again, by accepting what he was and not trying to make him anything he wasn’t.

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Revisiting The Threat Beyond

Its been a while now since the Warlord cycle ended and, while it has taken me a bit longer than intended, there is still a lot to be gained from going back to take another look at those War Packs. I think that, for the Tactical Squad, The Threat Beyond may have been one of the most anticipated War Packs at the time it was originally released. Astra Militarum had mostly been floundering since the Core Set and the pack seemed to include great cards for many factions. With the Warlord cycle in full swing, I think the impact was taken very much in stride. Looking back now this may have been the biggest release of the cycle. But enough build up; let’s talk cards.

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Buying Guide – Tyranids

When the Wahammer 40,000: Conquest Living Card Game was released in 2014 the core set included 7 playable factions. However, the rulebook stated that there would be a total of 9 playable factions. In 2015 the first of those two additional factions – the Tyranids – was released.

In my first article, Buying Guide – The Basics, I talked about the structure of the Living Card Game format and game a general overview of some good starting purchases. In this article I’m going to talk about getting started with the Tyranid faction.

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War Journal – There is Only Worr

Rotation 5 – December 3rd to December 22nd

Its been another slow month in my gaming life this December. I only managed to get in 10 games of Warhammer 40,000: Conquest but included in that was the first tournament I’ve been to in a while. With the release of Decree of Ruin I made the decision to focus my limited gaming time on our new Astra Militarum warlord Broderick Worr. While Captain Cato Sicarius and ”Old One Eye” were also sleeved up to play this rotation, I didn’t manage to get enough games with either to warrant reviewing them. So on that note lets talk about our grizzled Militarum vet. Read More

Ork Spoilers from Boundless Hate

FFG left us a nice holiday gift under the tree – some spoilers for the upcoming Boundless Hate War Pack!  So, as a belated holiday gift for all of you, we are happy to have the opportunity to pass these spoilers on to you. So don’t delay, rip off the wrapping paper and jump right in.

Front Line 'Ard BoyzFront Line ‘Ard Boyz

This card is a decent four costs unit that provides a nice ability to the Ork side of the faction wheel. Comparing this against the Tau’s Fire Warrior Elite, for an extra resource this unit gains one extra ATK and an extra command icon, which is a decent gain. The ability allows Ork units with Brutal to avoid receiving a fatal blow for a bit longer, providing them an opportunity to get those stronger swings in. Throw in a Kustom Field Generator and this unit becomes a real pain for your opponent. Attachments such as Rune-Encrusted Armor and Hostile Environment Gear are also great options for this unit. For Orks, Chaos and AM the 4 cost unit slot is already pretty crowded, but being able to keep certain units alive through an extra opponent attack or for another round should not be overlooked.

Ramshackle Trukk

Ramshackle Trukk

The Ramshackle Trukk is the newest Ork Elite unit. As an Elite unit it hits really hard with 7 ATK, however the low health of 3 is offset by the Goes Fasta! specialization. Most likely, regardless of whether you or your opponent has initiative, this unit is going to get its attack in before dying. Getting more than one battle out of this unit might be hard to do, since there is a good chance it will have taken some damage and will have dropped back to 3 health before it gets a chance to go back up to 7 health or even get back into a battle. Due to that, this card should be reserved more for decisive battles or closing out the game. One might consider using this instead of a Goff Nob or more interestingly if one can build a specialized vehicle deck that uses Dozer Blade. The 2 command icons are nice, but seems like a waste on this card.

Rok BombardmentRok Bombardment

The Rok Bombardment uses the new mechanic where card effects are based on planet symbols, however in this case, the effect is only a bonus, the main effect is still valid on any planet no matter the symbols. Orks have many ways to make use of the Brutal mechanic and this card plays right into that as the effect boosts those Brutal units’ attack the next time they attack. The effect will be more valuable in units with higher health or if there are ways to keep certain units alive longer, like using the new Front Line ‘Ard Boys. The 2 shields are also always nice, however right now Orks are spoiled with 2 shield events, all of which are pretty good. Dakka, Dakka, Dakka! is most likely to be the card swapped out for this with both cards deal one damage to units. Rok Bombardment usage is more situational but doesn’t have the negative of exhausting your warlord. Overall, a very interesting card that might require some experimentation.

Overall, these are some great cards. They all provide some new and interesting mechanics to the Ork faction side of the wheel and I personally look forward to getting them into my decks. I, and the rest of the Tactical Squad, would like to thank Fantasy Flight Games for giving us the opportunity to share these spoilers with you.

Revisiting Zogwort’s Curse

Well, Worlds Weekend at the FFG Event Centre in Minnesota recently came and went and now that thing have began to calm down it seems I have time to get some more writing done. That means it’s time to continue revisiting the cards we were released during the Warlord cycle, this time looking at the cards contained in the fourth War Pack, Zogwort’s Curse. This pack saw strong tools for many of the factions, though overall it may have been underestimated.

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War Journal – It Just Won’t Die

Rotation 4 -November 3rd to December 2nd

Its that time again! War rages on amongst the stars and my quest for greater tactical prowess and combat experience continues. It has been a rough several weeks and unfortunately my opportunities to both play games and write have suffered from a busy schedule. As a result I spent longer focusing on the warlords I had built for this rotation. In this War Journal I’m going to focus on Ku’gath, Plaguefather and Colonel Straken. I had 13 games between the two. I also played a few games with “Old One Eye” but I’m going to continue to experiment with that deck so I’ll leave that write up for my next journal.

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War Journal – Flap, Flap, Flop

Quack… Quack… Quack… Quack. Quack. Quack. Qua- What..? Baharroth doesn’t play for the mighty ducks? Hmm… Well I suppose I should move along quickly then.

Rotation 3 – Oct 14th to Oct 29th

Well its been another few weeks and I’m done with two new warlords and moving on from another. I didn’t get nearly as many games in as I would have liked over the past two weeks and set my self back in my schedule a bit in an attempt to get a few extra games in. Thankfully, there’s nothing too pressing on the horizon, but unfortunately this rotation felt like a bit of a flop. All told I got in 11 games during this rotation, 5 with Baharroth,  3 with Torquemada Coteaz, and 4 more with “The Swarmlord”. How did I feel? Lets dive-bomb right into it.

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