Warning! This is a long post! I recommend that you get a soda to drink while you read, preferably Pepsi as opposed to one of those insufficient rip-off Coke products. You have been warned!
++++++
I am going to have to put the next addition of ‘Information from the Numbers’ on hold for a little while. Instead, I am going to be selfish and talk about a personal list. Please note that this is not simply a list that I am working on, it is one that I will be getting the minis for and making into my standard Tournament List, with a few changes if I want to play something less competitive.
I have already spent some time talking with Marshal Learoth (through email) about this list and we refined it to a certain extent; I have also play-tested it a few times (well, various versions of it) on Vassal; but I’m afraid that I’m not quite happy with it.
First off, how the list is right now:
Emperor’s Champion: Vow (Abhor) -110
Castellan: Storm Bolter, Frag Grenades; Terminator Command Squad (4): 2 Assault Cannons, Chainfist, Tank Hunters; Drop Pod; -321
Terminator Squad (5): 2 Assault Cannons, 2 Chainfists, Tank Hunters; Drop Pod; -295
Dreadnought: Assault Cannon, DCCW, Heavy Flamer, Extra Armor, Smoke, Searchlight; Drop Pod; -154
Dreadnought: Assault Cannon, DCCW, Heavy Flamer, Extra Armor, Smoke, Searchlight; Drop Pod; -154
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Missile Launcher, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Land Speeder: Typhoon Missile Launcher, Heavy Bolter, -70
Land Speeder: Typhoon Missile Launcher, Heavy Bolter, -70
Land Speeder: Typhoon Missile Launcher, Heavy Bolter, -70
So I’ve got six Crusader Squads with Missile Launchers and Plasma Guns in Drop Pods, a standard set of Typhoons, two Dreadnoughts with Assault Cannons and Heavy Flamers in Drop Pods, and two squads of Tank Hunting Terminators with Assault Cannons in Drop Pods- one of them led by a Castellan with a Storm. And of course I have the Emperor’s Champion. There is a total of 10 Drop Pods (one less than the absolute most I can have, a sacrifice in favor of the Terminators).
I found that what I wanted was a Gunline list that is Drop Pod based. Why? Well, I like how Drop Pods look (especially compared to Rhino Chassis, I must admit) and so if I am going to have a standard list I want it to be a Drop Pod one. As for the Gunline, I could go for Marshal Learoth’s goal of simply surviving with enough to contest everything except what I claim, but that just doesn’t sound like it would give me the satisfaction I’m looking for. I want to see blood, darn it. So a Gunline in Drop Pods it is.
However this presents a problem. With a Gunline I want LoS to as much of the board as possible without sacrificing the safety of my squads but Drop Pods block a large arc of sight, especially since I have been trying to bring down multiple Pods at the same place (to basically form vehicular Bubble-Wrap for my Squads) limiting my vision to a very select window (in fact, sometimes nothing). With limited LoS and limited range due to farther away Drop Pods the Missile Launcher isn’t doing quite so well.
How to solve this problem? Well, the obvious approach would be to completely drop the Heavy Weapons from my squads, in favor of either Power Weapons to make them more threatening or just using those points elsewhere. However I don’t like this solution because it detracts from my ability to shoot and I’m already having some difficulty destroying my opponent.
Another approach is to simply exchange the Missile Launchers for Multi-Meltas. First let’s look at Missile Launchers vs. Multi-Meltas. They cost the same price for the squad but they fill different rolls. For one, the Missile Launcher has Duality by being able to target Hordes effectively as well as Light Tanks, while the Multi-Melta is specialized against Tanks but is very reliable at it due to being AP 1 and having the Melta property. If we ignore the range difference (which we can in this case) we are comparing Duality to Reliability. Since they aren’t directly comparable, we are going to have to look at what I need in my army before we decide.
Alright, I have the ability to kill Infantry pretty well, but I could use a little more Light Anti-Tank (though I technically have enough, I’d just like some more) and I am in dire need of Anti-Heavy Tank. I had originally planned to kill Heavy Tanks by assaulting them with my Dreadnoughts or Terminators (hence, the Chainfists) but I have found that this is a flawed strategy. What do Land Raiders normally hold? Terminators. Not only that, but Assault Terminators. I come down in my pod, plink at the Land Raider with my Assault Cannons, and then get assaulted by what’s inside (always ending in my death while the Land Raider moves on to cause havoc). I have no way of countering this aside from flanking it with two units so that I can assault it with whichever one the Terminators ignore, and that is both hard to pull off and easily countered.
So I need to find replacement Anti-Heavy Tank. I’ve got some options here, I could get some Multi-Meltas on my Dreadnoughts (pretty easy to land within 12” once you count base size and disembarking distance), or I could get Multi-Meltas elsewhere, such as in Crusader Squads. But let’s wait on that and instead add up all of the special guns in my list currently and what they should be fired at (by that mean what they are best against and yes, I am going somewhere with this).
4 Tank Hunting Assault Cannons- Light Armor or Infantry
2 Assault Cannons- Light Armor or Infantry
2 Heavy Flamers- Infantry
12 Missile Launchers- Light Armor
6 Plasma Guns- Light Armor or Infantry
3 Heavy Bolters- Infantry
See a pattern? Yes, an Assault Cannon -can- penetrate a Land Raider, but more than likely it isn’t going to. Similarly, I can use all of my Missile Launchers to eventually glance them, maybe even get a lucky Immobilized result. But unless there is absolutely nothing else to shoot at or that Land Raider absolutely has to go down for me to have any chance whatsoever of winning, I would be wasting my shots.
So I think that I’ve established pretty solidly, I need GUNS that can RELIABLY kill HEAVY ARMOR in my list. I already have all of the other bases sufficiently coveredLascannons won’t manage, as high strength doesn’t equal Reliable; to get that I need something that can play around with penetration rolls (or is strength 11+). It has to be Gun-based so some more Chainfists won’t fit the bill. Now, I could take Meltaguns instead of Plasma Guns, but the range loss would hurt me too much since while there is little difference between 48” and 24”(or even the 12” that it basically is) when I can drop wherever, 24” to effectively 6” means that I won’t have the chance to effectively shoot vehicles before their passengers sally forth to attack me. All of these requirements leave only Multi-Meltas and Demolisher Cannons. Demolisher Cannons only come on a Platform that cannot Deep-Strike and costs too much to fit into this list, so they are out.
Multi-Meltas. Ideally, I want them on the Dreadnoughts and Land Speeders so that I can effectively increase their range by moving and firing, but they are cheaper and more plentiful in Crusader Squads so that is the best place to put them.
Alright, Multi-Meltas instead of Missile Launchers, a necessary minor change to the list with great consequences. If anyone is still unhappy about the range loss, I will play-test a few games and make a post about how it seemed to fair and if I lost any shots due to range.
++++++
And now for some ideas about other changes that I’ve thought of. These changes I’m explaining for my own further understanding and practice in explanation as well as hopefully your improved understanding of the game. Here we go.
The first one that comes to mind is the MM/HF Speeder instead of the Typhoon. Slightly more expensive but it is specialized against both Infantry and Vehicles plus it is Fast Melta for greater ability to strike where I need. With the Drop Pods I can keep it behind cover (reducing the vulnerability problem that arises from closer range) while it waits for targets to approach or aims one gun around the Drop Pod and takes pot-shots. I’ve heard that it is successful in other lists and I could easily afford the upgrade by dropping the Chainfists; it may well be a viable option.
And now we move on to the Dreadnoughts. I mentioned an idea to give them Multi-Meltas because they can move 6” and then fire it (or fire it the turn they drop down), which is nearly as good as the MM/HF Speeder but it costs enough that I would have to switch the Castellan’s Storm Bolter out for a regular Bolter and drop their Searchlights and the Chainfists to afford the two Multi-Meltas I would need. Well, since the Chainfists aren’t really needed and since a Storm Bolter is really just a glorified Bolter then this shouldn’t be a problem and may be another good option.
However I can’t change both, but I’m not all that happy with the Chainfists any more and hey, Multi-Meltas are cool too. However, I would have to balance the loss: six Missile Launcher shots (my last six) and three Heavy Bolters for three Multi-Meltas and three Heavy Flamers, or two Assault Cannons for two Multi-Meltas?
Now, I would like to keep the Assault Cannons that the Dreadnoughts have and I feel like I’m wasting the range on the Typhoons, but I’m going to have to go with Multi-Meltas on the Dreadnoughts. I think that the change is worthwhile, even though it may not really be needed. Although it does give me a reliable way for my Distraction units to handle Heavy Armor like they were originally intended to do. So my final list looks like this:
Emperor’s Champion: Vow (Abhor) -110
Castellan: Bolter, Frag Grenades; Terminator Command Squad (4): 2 Assault Cannons, Tank Hunters; Drop Pod; -312
Terminator Squad (5): 2 Assault Cannons, Tank Hunters; Drop Pod; -285
Dreadnought: Multi-Melta, DCCW, Heavy Flamer, Extra Armor, Smoke; Drop Pod; -163
Dreadnought: Multi-Melta, DCCW, Heavy Flamer, Extra Armor, Smoke; Drop Pod; -163
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Multi-Melta, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Multi-Melta, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Multi-Melta, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Multi-Melta, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Multi-Melta, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Multi-Melta, Plasma Gun; Drop Pod; -126
Land Speeder: Typhoon Missile Launcher, Heavy Bolter, -70
Land Speeder: Typhoon Missile Launcher, Heavy Bolter, -70
Land Speeder: Typhoon Missile Launcher, Heavy Bolter, -70
++++++
Alright, thank you for letting me spew forth my thoughts and reasoning to help improve my list. This may be fairly useless to any who read it but it has really helped me and I hope that it can help you.
However, I am curious to know what anyone thinks about the list. Not specifically any ways to improve it but just a general opinion or any thoughts or questions. May the Emperor be with you.
No comments:
Post a Comment