Ok, new army list time. I am going back to my roots, with extreme prejudice, lol. For those of you that followed my blog from the beginning, I used to run a dual Land Raider list with Mephiston, and some other assault elements, terminators or Dreads, depending on how I was feeling that day. The list worked well for me, and incorporated some of my favorite things about 40k. First, Land Raiders. I’m a sucker for the big beautiful anvils of doom. I just like them, one of my favorite units hands down. Second, I really like the assault phase. Like Goatboy and some of the other internet personalities, I like to win the game in close combat. I think it is time I go back to what I know how to do, at least reasonably well.
Just so we can get this out there, this is a “rock” list, as in paper, rock, scissors. I expect this list to do well against a few armies, and not so well against the others. My support elements will have to be designed to pick up the slack when my assaulting units don’t have the strength of numbers to take down horde Orks or ‘Nids. And that is ok with me, I can live with that.
So onto my list. I’d like to talk this through a bit so stay with me. It’s important to get the evolution of the thought process down, so you can find the weaknesses and fix them. So let us get to evolving.
First off HQ. Librarian with Blood Lance and Shield of Sanguinius right? Wrong. I’m mixing it up here. I have loved Librarians in the past and still will, but this is going to be an all-out assault army, and I’m not sure they fit the bill here. So onto another HQ unit I have wanted to try, the Reclusiarch. He is a combat machine, and with the Blood Litanies, he makes a squad of Terminators even more dangerous. Rerolling to hit is dangerous when swinging thunder hammers around. So we have a Reclusiarch and a little gaggle of Termies following him around. Let’s put that hammer unit into a Land Raider so they can get where they want to ideally. Now the question is what kind of Land Raider. There is the Crusader and the Redeemer to choose from in my mind, but which one suits my purposes better? In this case it is the Crusader. I want this unit to be super killy so I will throw in a Sanguinary Priest for the Furious Charge and Feel No Pain. Str: 5 I: 5 lightning claw Terminators that reroll to hit are absolutely ridiculous. So that makes for 7 models in the unit, and a Redeemer isn’t capable of holding that many Terminators so the Crusader will have to do.
Now one Land Raider is good, but two is better. So this time we take a Redeemer, because flamestorm cannons are super cool, and I at least need to play test with them a bit. I may make some lists with flamestorm Baals in the future, and I’d like to be able to gauge their effectiveness. We don’t want this sweet ride to be empty so let’s get some more Terminators, of the assault variety of course. This leaves us one empty seat in the Redeemer, and who better to fill it than another Sanguinary Priest. This ensures both squads of Terminators will have FNP and FC at all times.
So we have our super killy units of death and destruction ready, how about some Troops to make things legal. We are going to have to minimize these squads because I have already used most of my points for my standard 1750 list. What to take in this slot? I am surely lacking in any kind of long range fire support, and the cheapest way to get some of this in is with assault squads and Razorbacks. Two assault squads with a Razorback apiece fit the bill. So we will throw some heavy weapons on the Razorbacks so they can open up tanks from the other side of the board. I will need all the shots I can get, so let’s do the lascannon and twin linked plasma gun. I will lose some accuracy at long range, but the extra shots at close range will make up for that loss. For when the marines get taken out of their Razorbacks I will give them some goodies to help them retain some kind of effectiveness. Let’s start with a meltagun and finish with an infernus pistol on the sergeant. That should give them a bit of punch still. And discourage people from trying to tank shock them off objectives late game. Death or Glory ftw! I could also put in a power weapon instead of the infernus pistol, but I’d rather not but a CC upgrade when I don’t really want these guys in CC.
This leaves me with about 125 points or so left over. What to do with these points? I still have the need to pop tanks and give my Terminators juicy targets to assault. I like speeders, but I don’t have the points to fit in some with melta and Typhoon missile launchers. The long range of the missiles would be nice, but I don’t know how I would squeeze them in. I could try Predators for long range support, but again, only one autocannon/lascannon Predator won’t do the job. A Vindicator could possibly work, but I don’t have the model so that is out. This leaves me with some attack bikes with multi-meltas on them. This is a unit I have used before and really enjoy. They have some tactical flexibility that I like. They can be reserved easily to come on the board later game to pop tanks that are getting into your own deployment zone. They have a 36” threat range for light armor, and a 24” threat range for heavy armor. They are resilient to small arms fire, and they can tie up weak CC units for an entire game. Lastly, I can put 2 of them down for the points I have left over. Sounds like a winner to me.
So to recap I have:
Reclusiarch with Terminator Armor-170
Sanguinary Priests x2 w/ Terminator armor and power weapon -160
5 man Terminator Assault Squad, 2x LC, 3x TH/SS - 215
Land Raider Crusader with multimelta-260
5 man Terminator Assault Squad, 2x LC, 3c TH/SS - 215
Land Raider Redeemer with multi-melta – 250
5 man Assault Squad w/ meltagun and infernus pistol – 125
Razorback with TL plasmagun and lascannon - 55
5 man Assault squad w/ meltaguns and infernus pistol – 125
Razorback with TL plasmagun and lascannon – 55
Attack bike w/ multi-melta x2 – 100 points
Total: 1730
This leaves me 20 points for some upgrades. I was thinking about a combi weapon on my Reclusiarch and maybe some melta bombs for my sergeants. That would round out my squads with some extra tank killing up close, and I can’t see anywhere else to use the points.
So let me have it. I want to hear some opinions on the list, even if it is to tell me that I am half retarded for even putting this list on the intarwebz. Be honest with me, I’m ready for the truth.
Hm, I've never fielded either LRs or Termies, so it's best to ignore my comments, lol. But I'd just ask are the Termies assaulting together, or are the two LRs zipping around independently? If they will be near each other, you could rely on one Priest and double up on the Reclusiarchs for smashing into a line of units or taking on those hordes. Just a gut-reaction thought I had, so if they are acting independently, then having two priests would be best.
ReplyDeleteBut you'll have to report on how those RZBs work, because I have only met fail with 5-man teams and RZBs. Would like to read more reports of them in action with the LC/PG load out in particular. I know Jawaballs is currently swearing by RZBs in general, but need a bigger testing pool.
I usually keep them together when I play with them. It tends to clump the opposing army up as well, which is bad for them, because I then get a 20" charge and end up multi charging all over the place. So you are right, I could probably get away with only one Priest. But they are pretty decent in combat with Ws:5 and 2 attacks with a power weapon. I was trying to come up with a way to fit in another Chaplain or Reclusiarch, for when my two squads are not charging the same target. I don't have any idea where to find the points though.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Razorbacks go, I loved them this last game. They were super effective. Each turn they did something useful for me, from stopping the dreads cold, to taking the multi-melta of the opposing Land Raider. The unit is really cheap, and if they get ignored because of the giant Deathstar of Termies staring them in the face, then they can really wreak havoc on the opponent. I'll play some more games with them to keep you informed!
Termies in raiders is a tough nut to crack, for just about any army. Guard usually does well against this type of army (since they have TOO many meltas at their disposal) but other combat armies basically have to hope you roll average on your armor saves because if you have one good round of rolling, the game is essentially over. I've never liked playing this type of list personally, but I can for sure see the appeal. In a BA list with FNP, that sort of save is seriously insane! You're basically limiting your foes to using AP 1&2, and power weapons, because they're going to have to WOUND you 12 times for a single model to be removed, statistically. High volume of fire isn't going to be an issue. Hordes will also be smushed by these guys, though if I were you I might consider taking a Librarian instead of Reclusiarch, since then you can have Preferred Enemy both rounds of combat, as well as some other random power. Just something to think about.
ReplyDeleteAs for taking the 2nd priest out, I'd recommend against it. I've discovered that (at least in my game store) people like to target him with the one power weapon in the squad (since he's an IC) and they just tend to disappear fairly often. Having a backup will make your army that much more reliable, and you can't really argue with how cheap they are for what they do.
Attack Bikes also rock. I wrote a tactica about them a while ago, if you're interested:
http://rumorsofheresy.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-i-love-attack-bikes.html
I have thought about the Librarian as well. The preferred enemy is good, especially in both rounds of combat. A few things though, psychic defense is everywhere now it seems, and I really don't like to see the rerolls taken away. Second, it's a drop in combat prowess. I really need the high initiative power weapons to beat down the opposition. The more attacks the better, so I can silence the powerfist before it can single out my IC and instant kill him. That wouold be bad.
ReplyDeleteI'll take a look at the tactica, I can always use more ideas! Thanks for the heads up.