Frankie’s ground pounding Death Guard army is no joke! It features some resilient infantry, loads of support powers for force multiplication, and of course, Mortarion!
| Unit | Force Org | Cost | # | Total | Weapons | Cost | # | Total | Total |
| Battalion Detachment | Death Guard | Command Points | 3 | 1125 | |||||
| Typhus (Miasma of Pestilence, Putrescent Vitality) | HQ | 175 | 1 | 175 | 0 | ||||
| Daemon Prince with Wings (Blades of Putrefaction) | HQ | 170 | 1 | 170 | Malefic Talons | 10 | 1 | 10 | |
| Biologus Putrifier | Elite | 74 | 1 | 74 | 0 | ||||
| Noxious BlightBringer | Elite | 63 | 1 | 63 | Plasma Pistol | 7 | 1 | 7 | |
| Plague Marines | Troops | 19 | 20 | 380 | 2x Blight Launcher, Bubotic Axe x10 | 78 | 1 | 78 | |
| Poxwalkers | Troops | 6 | 18 | 108 | 0 | ||||
| Poxwalkers | Troops | 6 | 10 | 60 | 0 | ||||
| Battalion Detachment (Alpha Legion) | Chaos Space Marines | Command Points | 3 | 402 | |||||
| Daemon Prince with Wings (Warptime) | HQ | 170 | 1 | 170 | Malefic Talons | 10 | 1 | 10 | |
| Sorcerer (Warptime, Prescience) | HQ | 90 | 1 | 90 | Force Sword | 12 | 1 | 12 | |
| Cultist | Troops | 4 | 10 | 40 | 0 | ||||
| Cultist | Troops | 4 | 10 | 40 | 0 | ||||
| Cultist | Troops | 4 | 10 | 40 | 0 | ||||
| Super-Heavy Auxiliary Detachment | Death Guard | Command Points | 0 | 470 | |||||
| Mortarian (Miasma of Pestilence, Putrescent Vitality, Curse of the Leper) | Lord of War | 470 | 1 | 470 | 0 | ||||
| Totals | 85 | 1880 | 117 | 1997 | |||||
| Command Points: | 9 | Detachments: | 3 |
Reecius’ army is Catachan, all the way! With loads of flame weapons to take advantage of their amazing Regimental Doctrines and special order, this is a mobile, mechanized army that can do some serious damage at close range! For his Warlord Trait, Reecius chose the awesome Grand Strategist. It takes advantage of many of the new special rules and stratagems available to Astra Militarum but can it overcome the Death Guard?
| Unit | Force Org | Cost | # | Total | Weapons | Cost | # | Total | Notes |
| Vanguard Detachment | Catachan | CP | 1 | 833 | |||||
| Company Commander | HQ | 30 | 1 | 30 | Power Fist | 10 | 1 | 10 | Laurels of Command |
| 0 | P.Pistol | 5 | 1 | 5 | |||||
| Veterans | Elites | 6 | 10 | 60 | H.Flamer | 17 | 1 | 17 | |
| 0 | Flamer | 7 | 3 | 21 | |||||
| 0 | P.Sword | 4 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| 0 | P.Pistol | 5 | 1 | 5 | |||||
| 0 | Shotguns | 0 | 5 | 0 | |||||
| Chimera | Transport | 75 | 1 | 75 | H.Flamer | 17 | 2 | 34 | |
| 0 | Storm Bolter | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Veterans | Elites | 6 | 10 | 60 | H.Flamer | 17 | 1 | 17 | |
| 0 | Melta Gun | 12 | 3 | 36 | |||||
| 0 | P.Sword | 4 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| 0 | P.Pistol | 5 | 1 | 5 | |||||
| Chimera | Transport | 75 | 1 | 75 | H.Flamer | 17 | 2 | 34 | |
| 0 | Storm Bolter | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Veterans | Elites | 6 | 10 | 60 | Melta Gun | 12 | 3 | 36 | |
| 0 | H.Flamer | 17 | 1 | 17 | |||||
| 0 | P.Sword | 4 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| 0 | P.Pistol | 5 | 1 | 5 | |||||
| Chimera | Transport | 75 | 1 | 75 | H.Flamer | 17 | 2 | 34 | |
| Storm Bolter | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Scout sentinel | Fast Attack | 35 | 1 | 35 | H.Flamer | 17 | 1 | 17 | |
| Scout sentinel | Fast Attack | 35 | 1 | 35 | H.Flamer | 17 | 1 | 17 | |
| Vanguard Detachment | Catachan | CP | 1 | 589 | |||||
| Straken | HQ | 75 | 1 | 75 | 0 | ||||
| Harker | Elites | 50 | 1 | 50 | Payback | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Astropath | Elites | 15 | 1 | 15 | Laspistol | 0 | 1 | 0 | Nightshroud |
| Bullgryn | Elites | 35 | 6 | 210 | Bullgryn Maul | 7 | 6 | 42 | |
| Hellhound | Fast Attack | 73 | 1 | 73 | Inferno Cannon | 20 | 1 | 20 | |
| H.Flamer | 17 | 1 | 17 | ||||||
| Scout sentinel | Fast Attack | 35 | 1 | 35 | H.Flamer | 17 | 1 | 17 | |
| Ministorum Priest | Elites | 35 | 1 | 35 | Chainsword | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Spearhead Detachment | Catachan | CP | 1 | 537 | |||||
| Primaris Psyker | HQ | 28 | 1 | 28 | Force Stave | 12 | 1 | 12 | Psychic Barrier, Nightshroud |
| Leman Russ Battle Tank | Heavy Support | 122 | 1 | 122 | Demolisher Cannon | 40 | 1 | 40 | |
| 0 | H.Bolter | 8 | 1 | 8 | |||||
| Heavy Weapons Team | Heavy Support | 6 | 3 | 18 | Mortars | 5 | 3 | 15 | |
| Wyvern | Heavy Support | 85 | 1 | 85 | H.Bolter | 8 | 1 | 8 | |
| Manticore | Heavy Support | 125 | 1 | 125 | H.Bolter | 8 | 1 | 8 | |
| Bassilisk | Heavy Support | 100 | 1 | 100 | H.Bolter | 8 | 1 | 8 | |
| Totals | 59 | 1476 | 523 | 1999 | |||||
| Command Points: | 6 | Detachments: | 3 |
Lets talk about Infantry Squads Reece. I’m thinking of running maybe 6 Catachan ones with plasma/ plasma gun/axe. With Straken, Priest and another Commander.
Have you tried it? Good/Bad?
I was thinking of using Combine Infantry Squads to ‘save’ the equipment when the squads get shot up.
I love Catachan Infantry Squads. I like the Infantry Squads in genera though, honestly.
There is no power axe anymore, only a power sword. That said, with Catachan I love the Flamer/ Power Sword combo. it is cheap, effective and really benefits form blogging them up as they benefit more from orders and such, particularly the Burn them out! order.
Good thing I spent the last two editions making custom power axes for all my sergeants. Now I have a grotesquely swollen officer class as I still have all the power sword guys from 5th edition.
Yeah, you and a lot of folks are in the same boat, unfortunately.
Can you use Combine Infantry Squads multiple times at once? Say, turning six 10 man squads into three 20 man squads.
Well not in matched play thanks to the restriction on using the same stratagem more than once in the same phase. Playing narrative or open though and as long as you have the CP you can combine as many squads as you want.
I thought one of the selling points for 8th was not having crazy durable units, but a 2++ isnt far off from the demons of 7th with a 2++ rerollable? I know it burns CP to keep it up but still….
It is actually vastly different than a 2++ reroll, honestly. It’s 6 times less effective, a 2++ means 1 in 6 wounds goes through, a 2++ rerolling 1’s means 1 in 36 wounds goes through. It’s not even close.
That said, it is extraordinarily tough. But, as you noted, it requires quite a bit of support and the the Take Cover! order only works in the shooting phase.
Ah okay, its only in the shooting phase it can get that low? I must admit I haven’t had a good look at the IG stuff yet. Still, its shaping up to be the codex to beat! The gripes my guard friends had was the tanks were not strong so they were forced to take hordes of infantry, but that wasn’t a bad thing considering their power. With the infantry power still strong, and the tanks now terrifying, looks like there’s a new competitive sheriff in town 😛
Yeah, indeed. AM are going to be a top tier army, no question. But, they are hardly so broken as the internet is claiming, but hey, that is par for the course =P
It’s worth pointing out as well that 2++ saves are much easier to get around now than they were in 7th. Mortal wounds are the great equalizer! (not to mention multiple powers that cancel out your invulnerable saves)
Yeah, exactly. I mean, I won’t pretend it isn’t amazing as it is: Bullgryn with a 2++ vs. shooting are absolutely crazy strong, but there are way stop it and smite always does what it does.
😛 you beat Frankie’s campetetive built death guard (Or, as I like to think of it, a gatekeeper list.) with a grab bag. If you had put your nose to the grindstone and built a super mean list, this wouldn’t have been remotely close.
Poor Morty. He’s much more killable than people originally seemed to think. Love him still.
Wonder what a more shooty version of a DG list would have been like against the AM list used?
Yeah, Frankie I think could have really benefited from more long ranged shooting. My army was able to just wait for the wave to crash over it and then counter.
The army he uses has very little tgat can reach out and touch enemy artillery and tanks turn one.
Some predators and plague tanks would have helped a lot with taking out some of those long range guns.
I think that it is quite likely that Morty is too much of a points sink. He takes up quite a few and then his support staff eats up a lot too. Might just be better to replace it all with some firepower.
Yeah. When Morty is good, he is a wrecking ball. But if the other player has tools to deal with him, he can get smoked. Without Warp Time he would really struggle against any army that wasn’t coming at him.
Im not too familiar with death guard codex but I think with how aggressive Frankie was playing maybe squeezing in a squad of obliterators/ bikers/ raptors might have helped. Hard to say what to switch around as it is already synergetic, overall a very good BR. Also Reece did you have any units flank or drop in? Very interesting lists as always.
The guard just had sentinels for speedy units and they got to the flanks the old fashioned way.
The units you listed aren’t part of the deathguard codex but suppose he could have included them in the regular CSM detachment he had. Though deathguard have their own shooting units unique to them which are quite good.
Really the little blighthaulers would be perfect for his slow melee army.
XD First time I saw his full stats I went “Magnus is stronger”.
Hey Reece you seem pretty active on this one, can you confirm or deny that send in the next wave costs reinforcement points, granting that you are not a GW rules writer or official source?
I do not provide an official answer, but it costs points, it is not “free.”
We’ll see what they say in an FAQ but as a rule of thumb, any time a new unit is created or brought on to the table, it costs points. If a unit already in play is replenished, the new members of the unit are free.
Thank you. Even if you aren’t an official source you are still quite influential. People would not see that it’s different from tide of traitors or the ad mech stratagem.
Very nice batrep! I really dig the format on this one–I know some people prefer the longform batreps, but I think those work better streamed on twitch, personally.
I was really impressed that Frankie was almost able to pull out the win despite the really aggressive play halfway through.
I’d like to see a bat rep featuring a more Infantry Squad oriented army at some point–specifically, how well do Infantry Squads support tanks with the new Grinding Advance rule?
Lastly, can you comment on the likelihood that we will see the Forgeworld Leman Russes get the new Grinding Advance rule? I think that Annihilators will make excellent tank/monster hunters with the new rule, and Conquerors armed with a Battle Cannon, Co-Ax Stormbolter, and Heavy Flamer seem custom made for Catachan.
Glad you liked it!
And I would assume all Russes will get Grinding Advance.
I’m very confused by Reece’s comments during the pre-game commentary when he says that Frankie’s flying creatures can’t attack Reece’s guys at the bottom floor of a building, i.e. that just sitting in the bottom floor somehow makes those guys immune to assault.
I don’t see anything in the rulebook to support this. Anyone can be on the bottom floor of a building (or any part of any terrain feature), except that certain units can ONLY be on the bottom floor of a multi-level ruin. The only other limiting factor is that only infantry can go through walls. Models with Fly specifically circumvent this restriction, as well as other obstacles (p. 177 – “If the datasheet for a model says it can Fly, it can move across models and terrain as if it were not there”).
So a model with Fly can move across walls, or giant towers, or anything else as if it weren’t there. Presumably this is to represent a model taking off with wings or jumppacks high into the air, and coming back down wherever it wants within the movement range. So there’s nothing in the rules preventing a model with Fly from taking off outside a building and coming down on any level of a ruin or building, regardless whether that ruin or building is open or fully enclosed or has a roof level or whatever.
Think he was mostly just talking about how he deployed with no room to charge into them. So if the do cannot land on the bottom floor because of space issues then he can’t assault the guys below him.
He did have a very packed deployment area. To get in there you have to chip away at the front units to even make a dent. Unfortunately the front units are buffed bullgryns.
Oh, you mean the bottom floor was also full of guys to screen the vehicles? Not sure if that’s what he was saying.
Exactly.
Monsters cannot move through the walls of ruins, therefore could not get to the bottom floor, and as there was no room to land, he therefore they couldn’t assault my units.
Great battle report thanks.
This is weird – my reply form has someone else’s name and email already written in it: someone called primo federalist.
Why on earth? Is there a bug?
Where do you get the Cool Akira shirts Reece? One of my favorite animes/mangas of all time. Always looking for cool Akira swag. Thanks. Great batrep as well. I applaud Frankie for playing aggressive.
Yeah, it was a fun game. And I get my nerd shirts from a few vendors. If you google it you should find tons.