Plasma Cannon List Examination.

It feels like it's been a long time since I looked at a list, and that's because it has been. Anyway, I had some time the past two weeks where I had paper, a pencil, and plenty of time to do some calculations.

What I was doing was checking individual weapons and units on the Metric System by Nikephoros. I checked all of the weapon options for Crusader Squads, similar setups done by Command Squads and Sword Brethren and Crusader Squads, etc.

FYI: The Multi-Melta gives the best numbers for the cost and the Lazorback does the same ratio of damage to Marines as the Bolterback. But now back on topic.

I was looking for a way to make the Heavy Bolter worth taking and so I compared an Initiate with a Heavy Bolter to one with a regular Bolter and found that the Heavy Bolter was 50% better for the price. Then I checked on Lascannon to Bolter (25%) and then I thought of something. I had long ago passed off the Plasma Cannon as an over-priced risky weapon that had was only mediocre at killing armor and all-together inferior to the Missile Launcher; so I checked an Initiate with a Plasma Cannon to an Initiate with a Bolter. 439% better. I was stunned. And then I got an idea for a list.

Some tweaking later and checking it on the Metric System, it is not too shabby.

Emperor’s Champion: Vow (Abhor), -110

6x Crusader Squad (5): Bolters, Plasma Cannon, Plasma Guns; -666

3x Razorback: TL-Lascannon, Extra Armor, Smoke, Searchlight; -287

3x Razorback: TL-Lascannon, Smoke, Searchlight; -272

3x Land Speeder: TML, Multi-Melta, -255

3x Predator: Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons, Smoke, Searchlight; -387

Alright, first off is why I chose each unit. I don't need Accept Any Challenge and Abhor the Witch gives me some Psychic Defense plus it's cheap. I have so many Crusader Squads simply because they are more points efficient than Sword Brethren or Command Squads for what they bring and Termiantors wouldn't fit the Armor Saturation. Plasma Guns because they are nice and I like the range. Razorbacks to give me some extra Anti-Tank as well as being able to hurt AV14. Multi-Meltas on the Speeders for their extra help against AV 14 (when it gets closer) and it isn't like I need the Anti-Infantry. Predators add Armor Saturation as well as Anti-Tank.

Originally, the I had regular Typhoons and Tri-Las Predators but that combination didn't give me enough Anti-AV14 so I changed. Before I made the change, however, I did try to give the Crusader Squads Meltaguns. But the Meltaguns have such a short range and I don't have an easy way to make them mobile or make sure they hold the mid-field so I went with this.

The Strategy is to sit the Crusader Squads right on top of objectives, preferably two of them. If I can only get one objective claimed then I will hold it with three Squads (room allowing) while the other three get positioned where they can shoot lots of things. The Typhoons, Razorbacks and Predators shoot vehicles, especially transports, while the Crusader Squads would prefer to shoot at Infantry but they do have the ability to target light vehicles. The Land Speeders won't be using their Multi-Meltas for a while until they need to stop some heavy armor when they move Flat-Out to block them and then open fire next turn.

Now for the scores; they are as follows:

DMS: 39.68

DMCC: 7.2

DRPG: 76.92

DLRPG: 13.59

What do these numbers mean? They mean that I am right on par with Marshal Learoth's Hyper-Optimized NOVA Open list in destructive output; extra DMS but lower DMCC (both by about the same amount). Of course, I might have to re-adjust this because I had forgotton that Plasma Cannons don't shoot if you roll a '1' (as opposed to another template which will simply still fire). Even so, I'm not dropping by too much.

Now, it is worth the effort to have plans on how to deal with certain army types so I'm going to run through some common ones.

Hordes. I place an average of 5 AP2 Blasts and 6 AP5 Blasts at ranges that can touch the other side of the table. Heavy Bolters and massed high Strength low AP shots will gradually thin their number. All the Lascannons and Plasma Cannons will also serve quite well to take down anything that is especially strong long before it reaches my forces. Plus, I can form a defensive perimeter of Tanks should the enemy get too close while I unleash Bolter fire. In a standoff, I think this list has the tools needed.

Mech Marines. Massed mid- to high-Strength guns will quickly de-mech them and then their Armor saves will be worthless to the Low-AP. Again, range will not be a problem.

Biker List. Biker lists have the advantage of impressive mobility and improved Toughness. Toughness will do nothing against most of the guns in this list and Mobility won't save them. There is the danger that they will close quickly and use their Meltaguns/Plasma Guns to kill the tanks, when they will get shot by Small Blasts until they are all dead. Even so, they pose the greatest threat so far.

Rocks. Now, I'm thinking of lists that have one or two super units in transports that come to kill me. Lascannons take down their ride, Plasma Cannons ignore their armor. Ideally, each Rock unit will take 1 turn to eliminate. Of course, they may be able to get close, when the Land Speeders move Flat-Out to block them while I shoot at other parts of the army and next turn 3 Multi-Meltas plus any required Lascannons serve to destroy the vehicle.

Mech Imperial Guard. Once again, same strategy in general. However, this type of list presents something that is unique. I have absolutely no close combat ability whatsoever, which means that I will not have the option of running over to them to beat-face. I have to use especially careful target priority and clever use of terrain and cover in order to overcome a well built one of these lists. Why? Because my strategy is the same as theirs and they are better at it than me.

Skimmer Armies. I expect to have killed all or most of my opponent's vehicles by the end of the game, if they do have some left that are in a position to contest objectives then I will be sure to maneuver some of my own tanks into their way so that they cannot as well as contest objectives on my own.

Deep-Strike. This is simply being careful in Deployment. I admit, right now I have no idea how I would do it but I only need to learn and then apply that learning to this particular list. Oh, and when they come down? AP2 Small Blasts. If they run then there is less chance that I will miss completely.

Those are the only major ones I can think of except for Terminator Armies and Monstrous Creature-heavy ones. But I have plenty of what can kill them so they aren't a problem either.

Sorry about the length of this post and how poorly worded it is. But I don't feel like editing it anymore so here it is. Thank you.

Painting Challenge work.

About a week ago I accepted a challenge over at B&C to paint an addition to my army. It had to be at least one complete unit but had no maximum limit. Of course, there is a deadline and if you fail that deadline a banner will be placed in your signature telling everyone that you have failed. On the other hand, if you succeed then you get a different banner proclaiming your triumph. I vowed to complete a Chaplain in Terminator Armor and two Drop Pods.

The Chaplain took me about...two and a half hours total from unpackaging him to painting and basing him though I could have gotten it done a half-hour earlier had I used a quicker drying glue on his base. The Drop Pods are taking longer. First I had to assemble them (which I have done, though it was not the most enjoyable part) and then I had to prime them for painting. I do not like painting an entire figure Black, it just gets tedious; would I have attempted an entire Drop Pod then I might have gone mad, you never know. Instead I purchased some Black Spray Paint for a buck and used that. I am still working on that part since I need to allow the paint 24 hours to completely dry before adding more than the second coat or else it will wrinkle.

So once they dry I will begin painting them with the other colors. I need White on various parts, I need to get the highlighting done, I need to paint the wires and buttons and what-not, and it should take me only about 3 hours of work.

Remember, the Deadline for the Painting Challenge is August 21st, I need to get painting!

Heros of Helsreach, a quick review.

Greetings.

Over the past four days or so I have purchased and devoured the Black Library novel: Helsreach. I thouroughly enjoyed it (though there were a few parts that I didn't like and one habit of the author's style that should have been fixed) and recommend it completely to anyone who is a fan of the Black Templars.

The action didn't get repetetive, the characters were believable (well, as believable as towering Astartes could be), it was discriptive, a very good read. I especially liked Grimaldus's first speech.

That is all.

Vassal

For any who don't know: Vassal is a program that allows you to simulate a game of 40k. It uses sprites instead of Minis and has all kinds of neat-o things like a system to calculate hits and wounds, a dice-roller, and so on. While it does not replace actual games it does allow, if you are like me and don't have a built army yet, to get some practice games with lists that you have made.

I have already been enlightened to a couple of things, such as how a list I'm currently trying to improve plays and how I like it as well as a few things that needed to be fixed on another of my lists.

I might get a Battle-Report in sometime, we'll see. But that's all for now.

Oops, I almost forgot. Since I talk about how cool Vassal is, I might as well provide a link to where you can learn more/install it.

http://bloodofkittens.com/blog/2011/01/21/40k-abuse-getting-started-with-vassal-a-how-to/

Uphold the Honor of the Emperor.

Okay, I was just looking at one of the Primer articles on YTTH and noticed in the recent comments that Stelek had posted something about Black Templar. Being a fanatic, I went to check it out.

He had made a list that used Lascannon/Heavy Bolter Predators with PotMS to fire each of the guns at their preferred targets. I had thought of that before but not too closely and didn’t try out a list that utilized them because of the price they come by. But what was interesting about it was that he had chosen ‘Uphold the Honor of the Emperor’.

Now, I normally despise that Vow. At the cost of cover saves you get a measly 6+ Invulnerable save. If you want a cheap Vow then Abhor the Witch is just 10 more points. But he made a comment about it. “Why Uphold? Meh, they wanna fire [censored] missiles at your Marines, go nuts. The vehicle swarm thanks you…” -Stelek

At first I was kind of curious about why he specified missiles, then it hit me. We gain cover saves only against weapons that are AP3 or better. Which is limited to (in our arsenal) Lascannons, Melta, Plasma, and Krak Missiles. Plasma excepted sometimes, those are all weapons that would be doing much more good aimed at vehicles. He had 6 Razorbacks, 3 Predators, 3 Land Speeders, and a Dreadnought. So you won’t have trouble not being able to take cover saves (if you do, then you are already going to lose and a few saves won’t win the game…probably). In fact, you don’t even have to worry about placing them in cover at all, which means you can get positions which afford greater vantage points or more protection against enemy melee units.

Uphold the Honor has a use and a place that it did not have before. Would Abhor be a better option? The only way he could get Abhor would be to decrease his Anti-Vehicle fire, which he is kind of light on since he has Heavy Bolters on all of his Razorbacks and his Land Speeders aren’t Typhoons. But that’s all I have for now.

I return, and two realizations.

I’m back.

I had an amazing time this year and I even had a night off each week (Woo-Hoo!). We only had two days that we changed the schedule due to the heat (rather than the 5-7 from previous years) and not a single negative comment from any of the scouts or scout leaders in their reviews. Not a single one! A phenomenal success.

But now back to more important things. :)

Alright, I apologize for waiting so long to post but I got out of the habit during Scout Camp and it took a while to get back into it. I finally began to return to the swing of things yesterday when I went to B&C to check a personal message I had received. The message directed me to a thread I had commented on a few times and from there I got busy. But it made me realize something:

No matter how much you love a hobby, no matter how much work you have put into it, no matter how set it is in your routine, there are always chances to go do something else that will pull you away. But if someone asks you about something, or asks for help or simply tries to discuss the particular subject, then you will continue with it. Community does wonders.

But now to the meat of this post. It has to do with an article recently done by Nikephoros. He was talking about Offense vs Defense and how it affected his Metric system. His focus was primarily about how Defense and Durability is limited primarily by points, whereas Offense or Destructive ability is limited more greatly by the Force Organization Chart.

But what I found most interesting was the illustration he used with MSU. Using the Max Bodies approach, you could have 4 Crusader Squads of 8 Initiates and 2 Neophytes with Frag Grenades and a Power Weapon in a Rhino for 904 points. Or you could take 6 Crusader Squads of 5 Initiates with Frag Grenades and a Power Weapon in a Rhino for 918 points. But the second choice is not less survivable, they have 2 fewer Initiates and no Neophytes but you do have 2 more Rhinos in addition to the extra Power Weapons. So you gain 2 Power Weapons, but lose a minor amount of survivability.

I know this may sound obvious to you, but to me this is an amazing thing…humor me, I’m easily entertained.

Sometime next week I’ll post a list that I’m trying to work on. It is an important list so I’m putting a lot of effort into it. Until then, have fun!