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    Orbis Lacteus September 2009

    Orbis LacteusGigamalon Forum News Letter

    Issue 1st 9/19/09

    Cirno Day is over. I had fun. Anyone who

    didn't hates kittens. -Gigamalon

    EVENTS

    9/9/09 Cirno Day! And also Liz

    Whalens Birthday

    9/11 Memorial of the

    September 11 Terrorist

    Attacks

    9/19/09 FIRST NEWS LETTERYEAH!

    Quote of the Month: Each person has an ideal, a hope, a dream

    which represents the soul. We must give to it the warmth of love, the

    light of understanding and the essence of encouragement.-Colby Dam

    Civil War grips the Forum:Weapon of choice is

    Trolling

    On Monday Sep. 14, 2009 10:57 pm Dr.

    Mctrollenstein M.D. began a topic called The

    Airing of Grievances with the intent on banning

    forum Moderator C.O. Ninja. The Dr.s sister

    Schala added further support to the effort to get

    Ninja banned. Ninja appealed to the forums

    ruler Gigamalon for support, yet little did

    anyone know that a massive Xanatos pile up

    had just ensued. Over the next 3 hours the topic

    grew larger and faster than any one posted

    Continued on Pg 6

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    Luck & Competition(Continued on pg 7)

    One of the most notable things about any competitiveactivity is the role played by random chance in

    determining the winner. This can take a variety of

    forms, and it is wrong to say that less luck inherently

    makes the subject more competitive. Part of theappeal of adding chance to competitive activities is

    that it forces participants to adapt to unexpected

    circumstances, or to compete without knowing all of

    the relevant information and thus giving an advantage

    to the participant who is able to act most effectivelyon the information available to them. Luck can ruin

    the competitive nature of the subject when it beginsto supplant skill, enabling lesser-skilled individuals to

    triumph over better foes, rather than making thedifferences in skill more readily apparent.

    There are two main forms of luck to which the above

    can apply. I shall call the first "objective luck," wheresome randomly determined outcomes are simply

    better than others. This includes, for example, therandom cards which one may be distributed during a

    GIGAMALON

    There are two main forms

    of luck to which the abovecan apply. I shall call the

    first "objective luck,"

    where some randomlydetermined outcomes are

    simply better than others.

    KITTEN GENOCIDEGRIPS NATION!Apparently scientist have discovered that the cause for

    the mass death of kittens across the United States is not

    a new strain of Influenza, but divine retribution for a

    nation of double posters. Since this development,

    P.E.T.A. has unleashed a myriad of posters similar to

    the one on the left pleading for the end of Kitten

    genocide. P.E.T.A. refused to comment on the

    situation.

    C.O. NINJAA Campaign Poster advocating the ill

    affects of double posting

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    Allies in Warhammer 40KBy Gigamalon

    Master Warhammer Player Gigamalon explains the ins andouts of the allies system in Warhammer 40K. He then proceedsto analyze and highlight the strengths of every ally piece in theGame.

    Several armies in the Warhammer tabletop game areallowed to use allies from another codex in addition to the

    forces that can be found in their own rulebook. The most

    notable of these allies are the Inquisitorial armies from

    Codex: Daemonhunters and Codex: Witch Hunters;

    however, there are several other possibilities which I will

    go into later in this article. The rules for using Inquisitorial

    allies for other Imperial armies are pretty straightforward

    once you get used to them. You may take up to 1 HQ

    choice, 1 Elite choice, 2 Troop choices, and 1 Fast Attackchoice from either the Daemonhunters or Witch Hunters

    army lists (or both, thus doubling the number of allies you

    can take!) as part of the force organization chart for any

    Imperial army (Space Marines and their variant chapters,Imperial Guard, Daemonhunters, or Witch Hunters).

    There are a few restrictions: the compulsory 1 HQ/2

    Troops must come from the primary codex itself i.e.,you may not use a Grey Knight Hero and an Ordo

    Hereticus Inquisitor Lord in a Space Marine army, nor

    may you use Imperial Guard but only have Sisters of

    Battle for your troop choices. Also, you must abide by any

    restrictions within the Inquisitorial codices themselves

    for example, you cannot take Death Cult Assassins unless

    you have an Inquisitor from the same codex (note that this

    means that you MUST take an Inquisitor Lord if you wantto use Assassins, as the Assassins use up your single allied

    Elite slot that a normal Inquisitor could potentially fill.Additionally, you are not allowed to use an Ordo

    Hereticus Inquisitor and an Ordo Malleus Assassin,

    despite the fact that their stats are the same; Games

    Workshop has ruled that the requirements must be

    fulfilled within the same codex. See their Inquisitorial

    FAQ for any further clarifications). Finally, note that you

    may not take any Heavy Support choices as allies you

    must have an Inquisition army as the parent army if you

    want to make use of those options. So, why might you

    want to use allies instead of the choices within your own

    codex? Variety and versatility are major factors here it's alot of fun to have your massed ranks of Guardsmen

    backed up by a handful of elite Grey Knights, and such a

    combination also does an excellent job of offsetting each

    side's normal weaknesses. I'll go over some of the allyingoptions below:

    Inquisitor Lord: Inquisitors have a truly staggering

    number of options for customization, all of which I won't

    go into here (that could be it's own article!). This makes

    them able to fulfill a variety of roles in your army, though

    you should be careful about going overboard with

    upgrades (these guys can easily go over 300 points with

    their retinues, but won't perform like a 300-point unit...).These are most notable forunlocking some of theInquisitorial Elite choices; specifically, Assassins andDaemonhosts.

    Daemonhosts: These Ordo Malleus units prevent you

    from using any Grey Knights, and while they are kind of

    fun due to their strong melee ability and random psychic

    powers, you shouldn't rely on them to be game-changing.

    They are the best way to change your army's tone from

    mindless drones of the Emperor to a sinister, radical force,though.

    Assassins: You can only ever have ONE Ordo Officio

    Assassinorm operative in your army, and for a good

    reason: these guys are strong and fun. The Vindicare can

    target individual models in a squad with a variety of

    special sniper rounds, making him ideal for killing off

    sergeants and special weapons users; he is even allowed to

    fire into melee! Callidus Assassins can pop up right in themiddle of the opponent's army (this is notconsidered deepstriking!) and attack them with her C'tan phase blade,

    which ignores ALL saves (this dispatches of those

    irritating Eldar Farseers with contemptible ease). Culexus

    Variety and versatility are major factors

    here it's a lot of fun to have your massranks of Guardsmen backed up by ahandful of elite Grey Knights

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    Finally, Eversor Assassins (and their littlesiblings, the Death Cult Assassins, of which

    you may take three as a single Elite choice) aresimply berserker units that throw out an awfullot of power weapon attacks in a hurry.

    Grey Knights: The Grey Knights are to Space

    Marines as Space Marines are to Guardsmen.Boasting Storm Bolters, higher WS,higher S, a sergeant power weapon, and apassive ability that disrupts the ability of distantunits to fire at them, Grey Knights are meleepowerhouses that counter the relative meleeweaknesses of the other Imperial armies quitewell (albeit at a much higher point cost).Additionally, these guys can take Incineratorsand Psycannons, powerful assault weapons thatignore invulnerable saves. The Fast Attackversion can even deep strike. As an Elitechoice, or as a retinue for a Grey Knight Hero,you can also take Grey Knight Terminators,which are amongst the most powerful units ingame, period. A Grey Knight Hero can betaken as an HQ choice.

    Battle Sisters: The Adeptas Sororitas are, statwise, equivalent to Veteran Guardsmen, buthave the additions of power armor, bolters, andfaith points for a mere 11 points each.Generally speaking, the Sisters are strongest inabout the 9" and below range so long as theyaren't in melee, as this is where they can bringall of their juicy flamers, meltaguns, and rapid-fire bolters to bear. If you bring a lot of Sistersin your army, you will also accumulate a lot offaith points (you start with one per Adeptas

    Sororitas Veteran Superior, plus an extra two ifyou bring a Canoness, and gain the points asecond time if a faithful unit dies). These pointscan be used to fuel a variety of special acts offaiths, which can do such things as giving the

    Their armor save to an invulnerable save. You can

    take a Canoness as an HQ choice, Celestians for anElite choice, Battle Sisters as Troop choices, and

    Dominions as a Fast Attack choice. You can alsotake Seraphim as a Fast Attack choice these

    Sisters have jetpacks and dual pistols (including

    flamer pistols and melta pistols, odd as that might

    sounds), can be upgraded to carry melta bombs, and

    give a Leadership boost to nearby friendly units.

    Sisters do best when they have transports to get

    them to their favored range; use

    Rhinos/Immolators from their own codex or savesome leftovers from your own army.

    Priests: I wouldn't take these as Imperial Guard, as

    their Ministrorum Priests are frankly superior, but a

    couple of these sprinkled among your assaultsquads can be very helpful as they allow you to

    reroll hits on the charge (in addition to carrying

    modestly strong weaponry themselves) at the

    exchange of causing the squad to always count as

    having moved. They aren't outstanding, but they

    also don't take up any force organization slots!Combine with Grey Knights for maximum fun.

    Arco-Flagellants: These berserker units are

    reminiscent of Eversor Assassins, except that youmay choose when to flip their kill switch, causing

    you to lose control of these quite powerful power

    weapon/invulnerable save-equipped units in

    exchange for making them absolutely vicious. You

    need to take at least one Priest to use these OrdoHereticus units.

    Sisters Repentia: Ehh... sorry, but these units aren't

    very good under the current rules. You're better off

    with Arco-Flagellants most of the time, unless youabsolutely need the added strength behindtheir attacks (or just want them for fluffreasons!)

    Inquisitorial Stormtroopers: These units are often

    overlooked, due to being one point cheaper thanBattle Sisters despite having poorer weaponry,

    armor saves, and no faith points. They can be useful

    as a cheap unit for taking objectives, though. I'd

    avoid them as Imperial Guard, since Veteran

    Guardsmen are about the same but can take morespecial weapons and normal Guardsmen are better

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    At holding objectives. So, all of these options are available to anyone who plays Space Marines,Imperial Guard, or the Inquisition! You might find that Grey Knights make a good shock troop for

    Guard armies, or that a couple Priests. Scattered throughout your Space Marines will make themmuch tougher in close combat. Adding an Inquisitor and Assassin will give your army a much

    more "special ops" feel, as well. However, you are not limited to using Inquisitorial forces asallies Space Marines and Guard can be taken as allies to Inquisitorial parent armies, as well.This type of allying is much more heavily restricted, unfortunately- there is a very specific list ofunits you are allowed to take, with much more stringent prerequisites. Also, you may NOT useSpace Marines and Imperial Guard in the same army, no matter what (barring a DeathwatchKillteam, that is... more on that later). Do note that some of the numerical restrictions in placefor Inquisitorial allies do not apply to these allies you could take three Space Marine heavysupport choices or four Tactical Squads as allies to the Inquisition! Space Marines may

    contribute Tactical Squads and a single Scout Squad as Troop choices; if at least two Troopchoices are from the Space Marines, you may also take a Land Speeder Squadron, an AssaultSquad, a Bike Squadron, a Devastator Squad, a Land Raider, a Predator, and a Dreadnought

    (counts as a Heavy Support choice when allied). The Imperial Guard may take any number ofInfantry Platoons; if at least two are taken, they may take a single Leman Russ Battle Tank (no

    variants allowed), a Rough Rider Squad, and either a Scout Sentinel Squad or an ArmoredSentinel Squad.

    That concludes the myriad allying options offered by the Inquisition. In the next issue,I'll cover the various other options available to other armies, such as Cypher the Fallen Angel,Codex: Kroot, and Codex: Deathwatch. -Gigamalon

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    Continued from page 1

    Posted before that day. Gigamalon and Ninja began to troll the

    enemy faction, which resulted in approximately 2.5 hours ofhacking each others profiles. As the abuse of Moderator powers

    continued Gigamalon saw it fit to ban everyone from the forum.

    He then proceeded to redraw the moderator powers. The War

    ended 25 minutes past midnight on Tuesday September 15 2009.

    The remnants of the battlefield were hilarious. The topic had

    inserted photos all over it deriding the moderators who made

    angry posts. Dr, Mctrollenstein found himself a moderator,

    appointed by Gigamalon after the war. Gigamalon seems to be

    the one who had inserted most of the humorous photos in the

    topic. The aftermath of the war, as noted above, left the Dr. as anew moderator and Gigamalon as supreme ruler of the forum.

    Mr. Gigamalon had proved his power over the forum and thus

    brought order to it. -C.O. Ninja

    C.O. NINJA

    Which resulted inapproximately 2.5hours of hackingeach others profiles.As the abuse ofModerator powerscontinuedGigamalon saw it fitto ban everyone fromthe forum.

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    game, where some cards will be

    objectively better than others (forexample, 50 points is better than 10

    points, or an Ace will usually be better

    than a 10), or a game where higher dicerolls are better than lower ones. I shall

    call the second "subjective luck," where

    a given choice (or outcome) is, on itsown, roughly equivalent to others, buthas a value that differs depending onthe choices of your opponent (this

    assumes that you choice was made withno knowledge of your opponent's choice;otherwise, this would not be luck but

    rather an exercise in judgment). The

    most basic form of this is the children's

    game "Rock Paper Scissors." Each of the

    three choices is objectively equal to theother two; however, the subjective value

    of a given choice varies wildly depending

    on the random choice of your opponent.

    It will be most helpful to analyze the

    nature of these types of luck and their

    influence on the competitive nature ofcertain activities by studying severalexamples of competition and observingthe role which luck plays in determining

    the victor.

    A lottery is probably the most extreme

    example of a competition that rides

    solely on objective luck. There is zeroskill involved; one person will simply be

    declared, at random, the winner. Aseach person involved is not making any

    sort of choice, there is no subjective luck

    involved; from this, it can be easily

    determined that a lottery is hardly a realcompetition in any sense of the word,

    and that one seeking to test their skill

    should look elsewhere.

    A much more interesting example is

    chess. One might be tempted to say thatthere is no luck at all in chess, and that

    the winner is determined solely on skill

    however, that is not entirely true. Theperson who takes the first move (white)is determined at random, and studies ofwhite/black win percentages indicate

    that white wins slightly more often(roughly 52-56% of wins, with thedifference being greater at higher skill

    levels). Now, that being said, there are a

    number of other factors in chess that

    mitigate this advantage based on the

    player's skill and ability to avoidmistakes, meaning that the better player

    will usually win. This is amplified when

    considering timed matches that force

    players to think under a time limit such matches tend to have a reduced

    difference between white/black win

    percentages, presumably because theirskill to think and make decisions quicklyis now being measured as well, whichfurther reduces the effect of the initial

    chance involved giving one player an

    advantage. Because chess has so manyways to reduce the effect of luck when it

    does occur, it is still primarily a game of

    skill, and a justly respected one at that.

    Next week, I'll continue this article,using some examples near and dear to

    me as well as some other common ones

    with which most readers should be able

    to identify. Stay tuned! -Gigamalon

    Luck & Competition (Continued from pg 2)

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    Lorem Ipsum Dolor September 2009

    Former Hillsdale AcademyAlumni develops I.L.L.

    I.L.L. stands for Influenza like illness and it has become theprimary source of fear in this country. Since the outbreak of

    H1N1 Influenza A this spring, the world has become very

    finicky when it comes to I.L.L. Apparently former Academy

    Alumni Richard Paul Pewe III has developed an I.L.L, which

    he believes to be H1N1. He will report back to us with further

    information. We hope he gets better- C.O. NINJA

    An undated photo of Richard Paul Pewebefore his illness.

    Orbis Lacteus

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