Tag Archives: Beginner starter army

Combat Patrol: Tyranid – Beginners 1,000 Point Starter Army

Today we’re looking at the Tyranid Combat Patrol box, continuing our series of 1,000 point start armies using the Combat Patrol boxes as our base.

I’ve put links throughout this article to buy the items at Element Games (UK only), but hopefully you’ve got a FLGS nearby who can also help. If you buy from Element Games, you also help Woehammer as we get a small affiliate bonus.

Combat Patrol Beginners Armies
Aeldari (Eldar)
Adeptus Sororitas
Blood Angels
Orks

Combat Patrol Tyranid

Like the other boxes the Combat Patrol box is filled with goodies and makes for fantastic savings when you’re starting out in collecting an army for 40k. They are RRP of £90 (or local equivalent), but most FLGSs provide a discount on this.

Inside the box you get:

Hive Tyrant (£36)
3 x Tyranid Warriors (£35)
36 x Termagaunts (£63)
3x Ripper Swarms (included on Termagaunts sprues)

That’s a total of £134 if you were buying these kits separately, meaning you get a saving of £44.00

To add to this boxed set, we’re going to add a few extra units that’ll give you something different to paint and expand your synapse.

Meaning that the total army including Codex: Tyranids comes to a total of £238.50.

Element Games provides this all at discount, meaning the whole lot including the book will cost you just £165 – that’s not much more than the RRP of the models in the Combat Patrol box.

The Army List

This is the list I’ve come up with

HQ
Swarmlord – 240 points
Tyranid Prime – 90 points
Tervigon – 215 points

Troops
5 Tyranid Warriors – 155 points
12 Termagaunts – 84 points
12 Termagaunts – 84 points
12 Termagaunts – 84 points

Fast Attack
3 Ripper Swarms

997 points
(depending on loadouts)

Swarmlord

Games Workshop – The Swarmlord

This is our first of 3 HQ choices – perhaps overkill but we need the synapse – and he’s a close combat monster. This kit will allow you to assemble a Hive Tyrant, or a winged Hive Tyrant instead but with all the Termagaunts, who doesn’t want this hunk of awesome to lead them.

Games Workshop via Wahepedia

13 wounds, with a 4+ invunerable save and only Melee weapons… but with 9 attacks, damage 3 and -4 AP. He’s slicing and dicing almost anything in the game and even Terminators are relying on their invulnerable saves.

In addition (what a phrase) he’s a two power psyker and ignores the first damaging hit in combat. In a 1,000 point game he’s definitely going to be a target.

Tyranid Prime

So this is more of a niche choice, but he’s here because I’ve got a unit of 5 Tyranid Warriors so I’ve got one left over. Just ensure he’s obviously different, watch your opponent panic and get the rest of the army in. Seriously he’s just a Primaris Captain for the ‘Nids and they are ten a penny.

However he makes a great painting opportunity and a good model to practice on before you do the Swarmlord.

Tervigon

Much like the Swarmlord, I’ve chosen this because of the number of Termagaunts… the Tervigon get’s you more! But if you’re bored of them you can build it as a Tyrannofex.

Tervigon from Games Workshop

The Tervigon also has 17 wounds, so he’ll either drag shooting from the Swarmlord, or be the one left when you get in close and brutal… but as mentioned above he helps the Termagaunts… a lot

Games Workshop via Wahapedia

You could get another box of Termagaunts for his once per battle, but yours are going to die getting to the enemy so you’ll be fine.

Tyranid Warriors

Not everyone likes them but the models are iconic which is why I’ve bought another 3 of them… so there are 6. As above one of them is our Prime for Synapse coverage, but the other 5 are in one unit.

Games Workshop

I use these for the ranged threat… so Venom Cannon and Deathspitters are my choice — but of course you can make your own choice if you prefer different load-outs.

Games Workshop via Wahapedia

None of the options will set the world alight, but they allow the Warriors to hold some more distant objectives but still contribute to killing the enemy. Plus… they are Assault weapons so you can move and shoot.

Termagaunts

36 Termagaunts… 36! I love hordes and this is awesome… what a box! Of course you may not be so keen especially as a new player and here Contrast Paint is your friend. Have a play with some options and chose a paint scheme you are happy with.

I’m a fan of the spinefists, but the devourers are also good and allow the Termagaunts to provide a similar role to the Tyranid Warriors. Spinefists mean you’re going to be getting closer to the enemy – which may backfire.

Games Workshop via Wahapedia

You also get them coming back with the Tervigon.

WHAT NEXT?

There are two main ways to take the army… monsters or more troops. Monsters are Carnifexes, Haruspexes, a Tyrannofex or a Toxicrene. The names may be confusing, but you’ll have it down in no time.

Other options are foot troops and you’ll need Hormagaunts… and Genestealers for more combat punch!

Remember you can purchase these at your FLGS or local supply source, but if you’re in the UK and fancy helping Woehammer out, you can use Element Games!

I hope you enjoyed this, how would you build a 1,000 point list from the Combat Patrol Box? There may well be aspects of the codex or units that I have not included that you think should be, so why not let us know in the comments below.

Declan and Eeyore

Combat Patrol: Aeldari – Beginners 1,000 Point Starter Army

Today we’re looking at the Aeldari Combat Patrol box, continuing our series of 1,000 point start armies using the Combat Patrol boxes as our base.

Combat Patrol Beginners Armies
Adeptus Sororitas
Blood Angels
Orks

Combat Patrol Aeldari

Like the other boxes the Combat Patrol box is filled with goodies and makes for fantastic savings when you’re starting out in collecting an army for 40k.

Inside the box you get:

Farseer (£18)
Wraithlord (£35)
10x Guardians (£32.50)
6x Windridets (£65.00)

That’s a total of £147.50 if you were buying these kits separately, meaning you get a saving of £57.50.

To add to this boxed set, we’re going to add a few extra units that’ll give the army a bit more play (especially onto Space Marines).

  • Guardians (£32.50)
  • Howling Banshees (£35.00)
  • Shining Spears (£37.50)
  • Falcon (£35.00)

Meaning that the total army including Codex: Aeldari comes to a total of £262.50.

However, remember that if you email Sarah at scnhobbyworld@outlook.com and ask to go on her mailing list, you can get 25% off Games Workshop products. Meaning the whole lot including the books will cost you just £197!

Here’s our final 1,000 point list.

Faction: Aeldari Craftworlds
Craftworld Selection: Far-Flung Craftworld
– Attributes: Hail of Doom

HQ
Farseer (100pts)*
Psychic Power: Guide
– Warlord Trait: Fate’s Messenger
– Singing Spear
– Warlord
– Treasures of the Aeldari: Kurnous’ Bow

TROOPS
Guardian Defenders (120pts)*
10x Guardian Defender w/Shuriken Catapult and Plasma Grenades
– Guardian Heavy Weapons Platform: Bright Lance
Guardian Defenders (120pts)*
10x Guardian Defender w/Shuriken Catapult and Plasma Grenades
– Guardian Heavy Weapons Platform: Bright Lance

ELITES
Howling Banshees (95pts)*
1x Howling Banshee Exarch w/ Shuriken Pistol & Banshee Blade
– 4x Howling Banshee w/ Shruriken Pistol & Banshee Blade
Wraithlord (155pts)*
2x Shuriken Catapult
– 2x Bright Lance
– Ghostglaive

FAST ATTACK
Shining Spears (105pts)*
1x Shining Spear Exarch w/Laser Lance & Twin Shuriken Catapult
– 2x Shining Spear w/Laser Lance & Twin Shuriken Catapult
Windriders (120pts)*
6x Windrider w/Twin Shuriken Catapults

HEAVY SUPPORT
Falcon (185pts)*
Bright Lance
– Twin Shuriken Catapult
– Crystal Targeting Matrix
– Spirit Stones

DETACHMENTS
*Patrol Detachment

Total: 1,000pts

FARSEER

Aeldari Farseer

This fellow is our only HQ choice and your Warlord, so you’ll want to keep him out of harms way.

With that in mind we’ve given him Fate’s Messenger as his Warlord Trait. Once per turn this will allow him to change the damage characteristic of an unsaved attack against him to 0. Remember he also has a 4+ invulnerable save as well making him reasonably tanky.

As our only HQ we’ve kitted him out a bit. He has the Kournous’ Bow relic which replaces his standard Shuriken Pistol. It gives him 6″ of extra range to 18″ as well as an additional 2 shots on the Shuriken Pistol’s 1. With a pip more strength means it’ll hit on 2’s and wound Space Marines on 3’s, but with added benefit that any successful wounds are mortal wounds (MW).

On top of this we’ve given him a Singing Spear, which in melee hits and wounds on 2’s no matter the target doing a flat 3 damage. It also counts as an assault weapon and should be used instead of Kournous’ Bow when charging into combat with a character as it’ll do more damage to a single unit than the three attacks from the bow. In fact with a shooting phase followed by a combat phase this can down most single model HQ’s should they stray to close.

For his power we’ve selected Guide. If cast, this will allow a Craftworld Core or Craftworld Character within 18″ to re-roll their hit rolls for their attacks until your next Psychic Phase. If you cast this on a 10+ then that range increases to 24″. This applies to all the other units in our army list apart from the Falcon. Great for those Banshees in the combat phase.

You also have access to the powerful Eldritch Storm stratagem. Really great for grouped enemy units within 24″ of your Farseer. But, you want to cast Eldritch Storm and Guide? No problem!

With Unparalleled Mastery you can do just that! Admittedly you’ll be eating through your CP, but it’ll be fun right?

GUARDIAN DEFENDERS

Guardian Defenders

These boys and girls are perfectly suited to holding objectives. When they’re within range of an objective they can re-roll hit rolls of 1 with their Shuriken Catapults. Ok these weapons aren’t much to write home about being Assault 2, Strength 4, -1 Armour Pen and 1 damage apiece. BUT, we’ve taken the Craftworld Attribute Hail of Doom, which means each unmodified hit roll of 6 automatically wounds the target. This will mean when they all open fire there should be on average 3-4 hits that go straight to the enemies save roll step. On top of this you could also use the stratagems Martial Citizenry and Bladestorm.

Bladestorm means that all those 6’s to hit you roll generate an additional hit – before you ask, you still have to make wound rolls for these hits they don’t auto wound under the Hail of Doom attribute.

While Martial Citizenry will allow you to re-roll 1’s to hit for attacks even when not near an objective.

We’ve also taken a Bright Lance weapons platform with both units of Guardians as these will add some nice anti-vehicle attacks to the army.

HOWLING BANSHEES

Howling Banshees

These are a great melee unit and great for throwing at infantry units you’d like to… what’s the term?… Blend?

When they charge, units are unable to fire overwatch or set themselves to defend due to their Banshee Masks.

With three attacks each (four for the Exarch) hitting on 3’s and wounding Marines on 4’s you should see 5 damage assigned to those marines before armour saves. Wait, did I say armour saves?! Silly me, they’re virtually non existent as they’ll be saving on 6’s, and that’s only thanks to their Armour of Contempt rule.

The Banshees can run and charge as well but be aware you’ll be hitting on 4’s in combat instead of 3’s, reducing that earlier damage output to 4 damage instead of 5.

With a save of 4+ and 5+ invulnerable you’ll want keep this unit safely out of harms way until you’re ready to use them. Perhaps consider placing them in the Falcon we’ll be looking at shortly? Alternatively for CP you could deploy them in reserve using Webway Strike.

This’ll keep them out of harms way until you need them and give them a chance at getting into the fray straightaway.

WRAITHLORD

I personally think this is one of the best models in the Aeldari range. We’ve equipped ours with two Bright Lances. This combined with its Ghostglaive (Crushing Strike) means it’s very good as a vehicle hunter should you need it.

In melee against infantry it can choose to use the Ghostglaive as standard, in which case the Wraithlord essentially doubles it’s attacks to 8 (Ghostglaive grants two hit rolls per attack). Those will be hitting on 2’s and wounding standard marine infantry on 3’s. That puts out around 8 damage on average before saves are made.

You can use the Tears of Isha stratagem to keep the Wraithlord as healthy and fighting fit as possible. Healing D3 wounds in the command phase for 1cp.

WINDRIDERS

Windriders

These are great at taking our horde infantry like Orks or Astra Militarum. We’ve six bikes here which armed with Twin Shuriken Catapults amounts to 24 shots at S4 -1 AP. Hitting on 3’s and wounding Space Marines on 4’s. However, these guys and girls will also be re-rolling 1’s to hit thanks to their Swift Demise ability, and automatically causing additional wounds on 6’s thanks to Hail of Doom.

Use them to attack lightly armoured foes, capture objectives and harass the enemy lines.

SHINING SPEARS

The Shining Spears benefit from Twin Shuriken Catapults, but they also have additional shooting and combat capabilities thanks to their laser Lance.

The Laser Lance has a single strength 6 shot as range which may be ok for plucking a couple of wounds of a light vehicle or murdering a couple of Space Marines. Where it excels however is in the combat phase.

Make sure you charge with this unit, as doing so will give them +3 strength on the charge meaning you’re wounding Marines on 3’s instead of 5’s. With 3 attacks each (4 for the Exarch) you’ll find you’re causing 8 wounds worth of damage before saves. Saves? Yeah with -4 AP there isn’t much armour that can stand up to their charges. Including Space Marines. Getting your Farseer to cast Guide on them as well would really help.

FALCON

In the mid 2000’s I used to face my nephew’s army of Eldar two or three times a month. I came to hate his grav tanks, they just had all these tricks that meant they were so difficult to kill!

This unit is perfect for transporting your Howling Banshees around, getting them into combat quicker. With its Cloudstrike ability it can arrive from reserve an deliver it’s deadly cargo 9″ away from the enemy.

It comes armed with a Bright Lance for a little extra punch and it’s standard twin Shuriken Catapults.

WHAT NEXT?

I’d consider having some fun and getting some more of the specialist units like Fire Dragons, Swooping Hawks or Dire Avengers. But really, you need to probably lean into the speed of this list. Perhaps drop the Wraithlord and think about more bikes or things like Swooping Hawks etc.

I hope you enjoyed this, how would you build a 1,000 point list from the Combat Patrol Box? There may well be aspects of the codex or units that I have not included that you think should be, so why not let us know in the comments below.

Peter

Unboxing – French Starter Army for Black Powder: Epic Waterloo

Warlord Games have released their Epic Waterloo miniatures and game system this weekend just gone. I was lucky enough to pick my French Starter Set from SCN Hobby World yesterday and I was eager to take a peek and see what was inside.

It’s one of the largest starter boxes I’ve seen, and one of the heaviest! I picked mine up at 20% off for £72 through Sarah at SCN Hobby World.

Lifting the Lid

Theres a tonne of sprues inside. Ten infantry, three heavy cavalry and three light cavalry. Along with the meaty full colour rulebook, a scenery piece, painting guide and flags. I

It was all very nicely packages tightly inside. Warlord must have learnt their lesson form the ACW version Starter Set here, as a common complaint was that everything was a bit loose inside that box and often some of the contents would arrive damaged.

“Do you have a flag….?” – Eddie Izzard

They have coloured the plastic of both starter sets, (blue for french and Red for British) so if you’re eager and know someone with the other set you can play straight away without the need for painting.

Sprue 1 Light Cavalry

Hussar!

There enough here for 11 bases of Light Cavalry, as well as 3 artillery. Made up of 4 Lancer bases (one spare model), 3 Hussar bases (3 spare models) and 4 Chasseur bases (1 spare model). None of these models are command models but the addition of two Imperial Eagles on each sprue allows you to convert some in to standards. You can also use the spare models for ADC’s or for diorama pieces on your Brigade Commander stands.

Geek Point 1: The standards were made optional as none of the French Cavalry had their standards on the Waterloo campaign.

Sprue 2 Heavy Cavalry

These are the other 10 bases of Cavalry, but these make heavier versions of the Cavalry regiments. Here you’ll have 4 bases of Cuirassiers, 3 bases of Carabiniers and 3 bases of Dragoons. Again, you have the inclusion of an artillery piece on each sprue and two french eagles. There were a lot more Cuirassiers and Dragoons at Waterloo than Carabiniers but I can understand why Warlord have included one of each type on the sprue.

Sprue 3 Infantry

There’s loads of infantry… all told just over 800 men. The detail on the sprues is incredible given their size, and time has been taken to differentiate the flank companies of Grenadiers and Voltigeurs from the centre companies.

This sprue is packed. You’ve eight stands of infantry and enough skirmishing Voltigeurs for another stand, as well as some foot artillery and a command figure.

Bases

Bases… lots of them!

Of course, none of these would play well without the basic addition of bases… just look at that pile! It’s huge.

Dice

And some dice… as if wargamers don’t have enough to build their own fort! Still a good inclusion for a starter set.

Declan’s picture of the dice included

Decoster’s House – Building

Decoster’s House

Warlord games have teamed up with Sarissa Precision to bring some scenery with the boxset which also comes with its own painting guide and stencil.

Flags & Painting Guide

A great addition is a full colour sheet of French flags. This will really add to the colour and make the regiments individual on the tabletop. Well done to Warlord games for this inclusion.

Rulesbook

The full rules book for the Waterloo Campaign in Epic Battles. This appears to be a full rulebook at 260 pages. It’s in glorious full colour as well and means you don’t need a separate copy of any of the existing Black Powder rule books.

Summary

This is a great box, and real value for money. It should draw many GW fans looking to get into Napoleonics. Declan and I are just two of them.

Combat Patrol: Space Wolves – Beginners 1,000 Point Starter Army

Today we’re looking at the Space Wolves Combat Patrol box, continuing our series of 1,000 point start armies using the Combat Patrol boxes as our base, and hopefully going someway to fulfilling my pledge I made last week.

Combat Patrol Beginners Armies
Adeptus Sororitas
Blood Angels
Orks

Combat Patrol Space Wolves

Like the other boxes the Combat Patrol box is filled with goodies and makes for fantastic savings when you’re starting out in collecting an army for 40k.

Inside the box you get:

Space Wolves Primaris Lieutenant (£17.50)
– this Lieutenant is only available in this boxed set
5x Reivers (Can also be built as Hounds of Morkai) (£27.50)
10x Intercessors (£35)
1x Invictor Warsuit (£37.50)
2x Space Wolves Upgrade Sprues (£18)

That’s a total of £135.50 if you were buying these kits serparately, meaning you get a saving of £50.50.

It has been pointed out by veteran Space Wolf players however, that this boxed set may not be the best place to start your collection. Instead, they suggest the Blood Angels Combat Patrol box*. But that’s not our challenge, so today we’re going to start with the Space Wolves Combat Patrol box.

To add to this boxed set, we’re going to add two units that are unique to the Space Wolves.

Wulfen (£35)
Stormwolf (£50)

Meaning that the total army including Codex: Space Marines and the Codex Supplement: Space Wolves comes to a total of £217.50.

However, remember that if you email Sarah at scnhobbyworld@outlook.com and ask to go on her mailing list, you can get 25% off Games Workshop products. Meaning the whole lot including the books will cost you just £163!

Here’s our final 1,000 point list.

HQ
———-
Primaris Lieutenant (General) (80pts)*
– Special Issue Bolt Carbine & Master-Crafted Power Axe
– Warrior of Legend (-1CP)
– Command Traits: Warrior Born & Resolve of the Bear

TROOPS
———-
5x Intercessors (110pts)*
– 4x Auto Bolt-Rifles, 1x Astartes Grenade Launcher
– Sergeant: Plasma Pistol & Astartes Chainsword
5x Intercessors (110pts)*
Auto Bolt-Rifles, 1x Astartes Grenade Launcher
– Sergeant: Plasma Pistol & Astartes Chainsword

ELITES
———-
5x Hounds of Morkai (110pts)*
– Combat Knives and Special Issue Bolt Pistols
1x Invictor Tactical Warsuit (160pts)*
– Fragstorm Grenade Launcher, Heavy Bolter, Twin Ironhail Autocannon, Invictor Fist & Twin Ironhail Heavy Stubber
6x Wulfen (147pts)*
– Pack Leader: Wulfen Frost Claws
– 2x Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield
– 2x Wulfen Claws

FLYER
———-
Stormwolf (280pts)*
– Lascannon, Skyhammer Missile Launcher, Twin Hellfrost Cannon

DETACHMENTS
———-
*Vanguard Detachment*Interestingly, Blood Angels players recommend the Dark Angels Combat Patrol box for their own force.

PRIMARIS LIEUTENANT

Space Wolf Lieutenant

We’ve forgone a lot of HQ choices to allow us to get the Wulfen and Stormwolf in the list to add the fast punch the army needs. That said, it means that this small squishy lieutenant will be the warlord and so will need to be protected. Place him with your Intercessors to allow him to buff them with re-rolling 1’s on attack rolls.

If he does suffer any wounds then you can always use Healing Balms for 1CP at the end of the movement phase to heal D3 wounds back. To give him some extra staying power makes he has the Warrior of Legend Stratagem attached to him giving him two Command Traits, then make one of those command traits Resolve of the Bear. this will give him a 6+ invulnerable save and prevents enemy attacks against him from re-rolling their wound rolls or damage rolls.

For his second command trait, equip him with Warrior Born, that way if he does find himself in combat he’ll always fight first that phase.

INTERCESSORS

Primaris Intercesssors

With the Space Wolves, they’re a very aggressive army and love to get stuck in , in the fight phase. Bearing that in mind it’s probably best to equip your intercessors with Auto-Bolt Rifles, giving them Assault 3. This means they can fire off three shots each in the shooting phase and still charge. Plus if you use the Stratagem Rapid Fire, they can all shoot again. This is particularly good if you decide to run them as a large squad of 10 instead of two groups of five.

You can also give on of these units the Stratagem Cunning of the Wolf for 1CP, used during the deployment phase, it’ll give them the outflank ability allowing them to come in on one of your movement phases 6″ away from any table edge and 9″ away from the enemy. Even better to get them stuck in sooner.

If you are wanting to charge and you’re not in Assault Doctrine, you can spend 1CP on Bestial Nature which then treats the unit as if it is in Assault Doctrine. This is good for the Wolves as it means they’ll benefit from their Savage Fury detachment rule meaning that each roll to hit of 6 in melee will score an additional hit.

HOUNDS OF MORKAI

Super-powered Reivers!

With a grapnel launcher equipped as standard this unit already benefits from the outflank ability that you can purchase through the use of Stratagems for your other core units. They’re a good anti-psyker unit too! If they’re the closest enemy unit to a Psyker, then that Psyker will have to target them with any Psychic powers, while also suffering from -1 on any psychic tests that they take if they’re within 18″ of the Hounds of Morkai, or -2 if they’re within 6″. Plus, the Hounds of Morkai get to add 1 to their hit rolls and 1 to their damage rolls if they’re targeting a Psyker.

If you’re using a mission which has the Strategic Reserves rule and you’re more than 6″ away from an enemy, then you can spend 1CP on the stratagem Guerilla Tactics, to place them in reserve. You can then set them in the following turn using the outflank ability once more.

INVICTOR TACTICAL WARSUIT

This and your Stormwolf make up the ant-armour elements of your army. With the Twin Ironhail autocannon this walker can take on a lot of the lighter vehicles in the game and take a wound or two of larger tanks as well.

Also good at getting into combat with vehicles and using its 4 attacks at S14 to smash most tanks to pieces. With its Concealed Positions rule, you can set this up at the start of the game 9″ away from the enemy deployment zone and enemy models to help do just that!

WULFEN

Crazy Boys

Shove these inside your Stormwolf fly them up the table then drop them in amongst the enemy lines and watch your opponent panic. Give a couple Thunder Hammer and shields that way if they’re targeted you can use their 2+ saves against small arms fire and their 4+ save against heavier weapons. This will give them a bit more survivability when you need it.

They’re always treated as being in the Combat Assault doctrine and so will always benefit from Savage Fury as described earlier.

STORMWOLF

The Stormwolf will have two roles inside out list, the first is it makes a perfect transport to move the Wulfen around the table. The second role it can perform is as an anti-vehicle unit. With its powerful strength 9 lascannon and strength 7 Skyhammer Missile Launcher it can dish out some serious wounds on most light armoured vehicles in a single turn. As it can fly your opponent is going to subtract 1 from their hit rolls that target it as well.

WHAT NEXT?

Well once you’ve got that lot painted and have a few games under your belt, you may want to think about another HQ unit at the very least. Bjorn the Fell-handed could be good for this, or any of the other great Space Wolf special characters. Even if you choose not to get Bjorn, perhaps consider purchasing a Wulfen Dreadnought…….

I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know in the comments below how you would build a 1,000 point list from the Combat Patrol Box and why not also let me know what you think to my list. There may well be aspects of the codex or units that I have not included that you think should be, so why not let us know in the comments below.

Peter