Hello all!
It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for another of Raw Dogger’s randoms. Unfortunately, I will not be able to bring you my previously planned article titled Wave Serpents, What Up with That Dank Stank? and will instead have to solicit feedback and tactical help from you readers of Frontline Gaming. Last weekend at the No Mercy tournament in Sacramento, California I brought what I had thought was a tournament ready list and ended up going 0 -3. While one of the losses was in an inexplicable and frankly astounding way, taking all of those loses really opened up my eyes to the current tournament meta and the need to be able to reach out and grab objectives in the ITC format. The list that I brought would have been great if my opponents would just agree to sit still in open line of sight and let me shoot at them! What the hell, guys? So with hat in hand I traveled home after the tournament and began to re-write my list. Please keep in mind that the LVO is only a week away and I am working with the models I have and can get painted to the three minimum color standard by next Thursday.
Astra Militarum CAD
HQ
Company Command Squad (Kurov’s Aquila, Officer of the Fleet) – Basic command squad with the wargear item that gives all units from Codex: Astra Militarum the Preferred Enemy special rule. Officer of the fleet lets me potentially re-roll my reserves or give my opponent a -1 to theirs. Chimera so they don’t get squished turn 1 by enemy artillery.
Priest – Keeps the blob squad in line with the Fearless special rule and comes with some nifty war hymns in case I get into combat, which can only mean something has gone horribly wrong.
TROOPS
Platoon Command Squad (Melta Bombs) – Go into the Vendetta for a hopeful late game objective grab or line breaker.
Infantry Squad (Lascannon) – Combine with other infantry squads. In the Preferred Enemy bubble.
Infantry Squad (Lascannon) – Combine with other infantry squads. In the Preferred Enemy bubble.
Infantry Squad (Lascannon) – Combine with other infantry squads. In the Preferred Enemy bubble.
3x Sabre Platforms (Lascannons) – Excellent anti-air unit and with orders can potentially ignore cover. Wave Serpents better RECOGNIZE. In the Preferred Enemy bubble.
Veteran Squad – Bare bones because I needed another troop unit. Most likely held in reserve to come in on an objective close to my table edge or bubble wrap the Aegis in case of fast assaulters.
FAST ATTACK
Vendetta – What can I say about this guy that hasn’t already been covered? Three twin linked lascannons are the bane of fliers and are excellent against Imperial Knights as well. Carries the Platoon Command Squad.
Vulture (Twin Linked Punisher Cannon, Heavy Bolter) – A GREAT anti-infantry model with Straffing Run, the Vulture also puts the hurtin’ on Hive Tyrants, which should be abundant at the LVO.
HEAVY SUPPORT
Leman Russ Executioner (Executioner Plasma Cannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons) – Great anti 2+ save with a decent range. Armor 14 is still pretty tough to get through. In the Preferred Enemy bubble.
Leman Russ Executioner (Executioner Plasma Cannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons) – Great anti 2+ save with a decent range. Armor 14 is still pretty tough to get through. In the Preferred Enemy bubble.
Wyvern – A great anti-infantry tool that also can be used to blast enemy infantry hiding on objectives in the backfield. In the Preferred Enemy bubble but with twin link and shred in it’s weapon profiles it doesn’t really benefit from that.
FORTIFICATION
Aegis Defense Line – Hopefully will offer up some cover for the units in the backfield in the Preferred Enemy bubble.
Imperial Knight Ally
Imperial Knight (Rapid Fire Battle Cannon) – Taken as an ally instead of a Lord of War in my CAD to mitigate the bonuses to my opponent, the Knight really helps with getting up the flanks of an opponent while the Astra Militarum units do what they do in the backfield.
So what are your thoughts on this list? What are some tactics that someone with my low strategic skill level can employ using this list? How will it fare against the tournament meta likely to be seen at the LVO?
I feel like you’ve got some good units but I’m not sure how much I like the synergy of the list.
I feel like the Knight is a little bit by himself too much. There isn’t really anything to support him.
I for some reason haven’t really liked Leman Russes for a long time. They usually cost too much for me.
Are the Sabers by themselves or in one squad together?
You need to try Eradicators with Multimelta Sponsons. 140 pts of win.
I do like Eradicators but with the amount of Centurions, Riptides, and Wraithknights on the field the 2 Plasma Cannon shots are really clutch. I do like the idea of switching the heavy bolters for multi meltas, though.
Trust me when I say that the drop in cost of multimelta sponsons is the best thing to happen to Russes since forever. You can’t go wrong. I DO love the executioner, I just don’t have the models. I think for your list it would be perfect, I was mostly talking to MrMoreTanks.
You mentioned that you wanted more mobility, but I don’t see any in your list. A single vendetta with a pcs is mostly just a flying coffin for those poor sods.
There is no way for you to get maelstrom missions other than the knight. If you push him alone up the field most people have the means to deal with isolated knights.
The plasmacutioners are a lot of points without any real targets in the current meta. They’re bad against fmcs. They’re not good against serpents. They’re bad against knights. I’d take more blobs. But if you don’t have the models that’s certainly not helpful. At least swap the bolters for multimeltas.
I agree with you on the mobility part. I had a couple Taurox ready to go I would throw a couple of vet squads in them. The problem with guard is that all of their mobile scoring units are extremely squishy. The Knight will mitigate some of the mobility issues, hopefully.
The a swear is obvious, Rough Riders
Don’t the sabre platforms suffer from the current ruling on skyfire saying they have to snap shoot ground targets? Or has that been faq’d? It’s what’s kept me from using them.
They do, but with Wave Serpents, Flyrants, Command Barges, etc, around they perform reasonably well against a significant portion of the field.
Lul, I never though of the executioner in a bubble with Kuruv Aquila. Another Idea, Punisher?
What about giving the command squad a Chimera or a Lascannon for extra survivability? Maybe to finish off the last vehicle for something you need dead?
I agree with the above statements, you have good units there but not much synergy, or mobility. The best thing you have going for you is the preferred enemy bubble, but that only goes so far as to provide some mini-twin-linking. I understand you are going with what you have, but if you have more transports, maybe go with the parking lot of doom and vets in chims for a MSU style. Also add in Inq in lieu of the knight and through some skulls and coteaz in there. (maybe some psy powers to the blob? ) dunno just spit balling here.
Here should be your strategy: bring me along and I will berate your opponents with endless judgmental comments about their physical appearance or other unfortunate qualities. Maybe even make even suggest that they enjoy carnal relations with their own mother. And if that doesn’t work I will hug them….fatally
also because I’m too lazy to come up with anything different you’ll notice its what I said on the FB page!!!
YAAAAYYYYY I WIN THE INTERNET!!!!!!
or better yet, a Rapier destroyer in a Chimera. Who would love a str9 ordnance blast hiding in a chimera……..Or put it behind the ADL AND THEN cast orders on it for an ignores cover str9 ordance.
You can put Artillery in a Transport? Interesting.
You can with the rapier.
Where are you getting those rules from? Because normal artillery units cannot embark on transports (only Infantry can do so) and IA1 doesn’t have any special exceptions that I know of.
I’m also interested in the source for this. A Rapier Laser Destroyer in a Chaos Rhino would be a bit of hilarity, if it were possible.
Screw the Laser Destroyer, if that’s possible Imma buy some transports for my Cyclotrathe Beamers and Hades Autocannons!
Solid list RD. I don’t want to face you with this load out. I think going with lots of ignores cover and access to twin linking is really key to success. Good luck!
BTW I’ll either be running quad flyrant with Hierodule or my Nid/Eldar/Demon fusion I’ve been toying with.
The only critique I have of your list is that it seems to lack mobility for Maelstrom objectives. This is a problem I always face with nids. I was able to make due for a couple turns with DS rippers, but not sure how you will manage.
Yeah, I think the only way to get around mobility issues with the Guard is Veterans in transports, but they get popped really easily and you lose half your squad when it goes up. I think the Knight adds some objective grabbing power that will really help.
I’ve noodled running Tauroxes as transports for PCSes.
Why not bring Steven Seagal and a knight titan?
I’ve been doing pretty well with IG in this format for tournaments (took 4th when 3rd and up gave a prize in my last tourney, due to a 6″ consolidation roll on the bottom of the last turn, to give my opponent the win):
HQ:
*Primaris Psyker- Level 2 force axe (hide in the blob for prescience/force axe for MC’s)
*Company Command Squad (Master of ordinance and Lascannon)- Use this squad to punk wave serpents and tanks with the ignores cover order.
*Pask-punisher with plasma sponsons, LRMBT attached (split fire battle cannon).
Troops:
*Platoon command ( 2 sniper rifles, bolter).
*infantry squad x2 (lascannons/plasma guns)- will be buffed by the psyker, you’re hoping for ignores cover or 4++, although orders can help maximize this unit’s efficiency and fill in those gaps.
*Special weapon squad (2 melta guns/democharge)- These guys will jump out of the vendetta and score that last turn objective FTW, or blow an enemy off one.
*2 Grenadier plasma vets in chimeras- These guys are your objective grabbers, the carapace makes them durable enough to survive on an objective. You need these units to reach out and grab objectives.
Fast Attack:
*Vendetta
Heavy support:
*Manticore x2 (knights don’t get ion shields on top armor).
*2 Wyvern’s
I like the list but agree there is no mobility. I’d either drop the plasmacutioners or the knight and ally in some marines or something.
Maybe a better idea, pask punisher w/ plasma sponsons, then executioner. Then the CCS can give him PE, leaving you open for the better strategic table. You can then split fire the executioner, and pass makes for a great MC hunter.
That’s alot of units within the bubble. Enemy barrage will have a field day.
Presuming that the main beneficiary of the Preferred Enemy bubble is intended to be the Executioners (so that Gets Hot doesn’t eat you alive), I would recommend swapping the CCS for Commander Pask. If you have a Punisher built, that’s his ideal chassis, but others can be reasonably functional as well. He is a much, much, harder Warlord point to score than a CCS is, and comes in at a similar price. (You do lose out on Orders, but honestly you don’t have all that many great recipients for them with only a single 30man blob.)
I would split the Sabres up into three solo units to better force Jinking on enemy units and to be able to spread yourself to different objectives.
You’re going to struggle a lot of Maelstrom and distant objectives- hell, even midfield objectives. You don’t have a combat blob to advance on things, which will be a problem.
The Knight is definitely useful as a way to ward off assaulters, so I think you’re fine there, and the presence of other tough vehicles gives you some saturation. I think you’d be better off with a Knight Acheron or Castigator, but I’m guessing you don’t have the models to represent either of those. I’m not sure whether the Errant would be better for you- you don’t have very much heavy AT and a Necron AV13 list is going to give you fits, but the Paladin is superior against Wave Serpents.
I’m not sure how I feel about the Aegis. It’s nice for providing cover to your units, but on good tables (and LVO has good tables) it’s not all that necessary. Also, your Russes do not have Dozer Blades and that is not okay- 5pts to not get stuck when your gun only shoots 36″ is absolutely worth it.
Your PCS is probably better off with Flamers than Meltabombs. MrMoreTanks knows the deal here- four templates falling out of an airplane can absolutely vaporize someone’s backfield scoring unit.
There’s other stuff you could tweak about the list to fix it, but I think those are pretty achievable within your constraints.
One idea I was toying with for my IG:
Ally in an IH master of the forge. He gives your blob ATSKNF, a flamer for wall of death, can repair your favorite tank (Pask) on a 3+, plus he can bolster a piece of terrain, making that Aegis potentially redundant. Most importantly, he gives you access to the lovely Sicaran.
As compulsory troops choice you could just take a 5 man tac squad in a rhino with dozer blade and special/combi weapons of your choice for objective grabbing and some shooting.
This allied detachment clocks in at about 350 pts, plus you probably save yourself the points for the Aegis. You could potentially add an additional troops choice, a bike squad or a stormtalon. Of course if you use IH as allies, you cannot ally your knight titan, so there’s that.
Here’s a simple suggestion:
Step 1: Remove the Lascannons from the blob. You have plenty of those elsewhere.
Step 2: Get another priest.
Step 3: Buy at least one blob squad some ‘nades
Step 4: Ally in an Inquisitor with Liber Heresius (get him Lvl 1 if you can spare the points elsewhere)
That turns what was yet another stationary element (of which you might still have too many) into an agressive OS force. That blob scouts and intercepts any nasty CC threats, or, if there are no such threats, just runs up to the other side to eat/hold up whatever comes its way.
Hmm I like the cut of your jib. The 60 points savings from the Lascannons would be nice. I’ll have to work on the idea.
Technically the master of the forge cannot get within 1″ of Pask, which means he cannot repair him. IC’S even if battle brothers cannot get within an inch of a unit they are not joining or a vehicle they are not embarking on during the movement phase. BRB
They most certainly can be within 1″ of a vehicle (even a transport); otherwise the, ‘can attempt to repair a vehicle they are in base contact with’ would be paradoxical.
Sorry but that is actually a falsehood, you MUST remain 2″ away from a unit you do not wish to join (or cannot), or from a vehicle that you are not going to embark upon. Page 166. If you are doing so and are an IC then you are cheating. If your IC is part of a UNIT then he is no longer an IC and can in fact move to be within base contact to repair a vehicle.
He might be able to do it if joined to the blob, but that is a grey area.
Grey as in he would have to be part of the unit in order to get close enough to repair.
Grenadiers in Chimeras, w/las cannon team and heavy flamer popping out the hatches. Maybe auto cannons on the Chimera. They can hold still and unleash the long range firepower or move up and take objectives.
Yes AV12 10 10 isn’t that great, but it’s another layer of protection for your guys and it gives them mobility. Just remember, “front towards enemy” and give them something else to shoot at (like a knight titan).
I used plasma-cutioners for a while, until the guys I play with started maximizing the unit coherency distance. They quickly became useless and now I use demolishers instead. That strength 10 is pretty nifty
How many point can you spare for an IC to join the Sabres so their orders go off more often?
Ignores cover is great.
I’ve actually switched some things up and was able to put a commissar with the Sabres.