Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Space Marine Bikes @ 1850

Part 2 of the Dark Eldar article is on the way, I promise. I haven't had much time to type it all up yet. I did, however, respond to someone in the 3++ Chatterbox today to give an idea of where I'd start for a bike-based list under 6th Edition. Here's what I had to say:

Friday, October 26, 2012

Playing Dark Eldar in 6th (Part 1): Hybridization

I've seen many people having trouble with Dark Eldar in 6th Edition, and for good reason. They are perhaps the most fragile army in the game. Orks have individual models that are more vulnerable, but their weight of numbers produces a durability all its own. So how do we go about utilizing this army to its fullest potential? Two things. First, we toss aside the full MSU lists we saw under 5th Edition. Second, we get a little Desperate! This is gonna be long, and spread into multiple posts, so bear with me!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Playing Dark Angels: Allies for Now

When it comes to building a competitive list for 40k, there are many factors you have to plan for in your army list. Most of these boil down to 2 things: mission type and opponent's army composition. 6th Edition has added a new unit type that has become difficult for the Dark Angels to work around: Fliers. There is simply not a unit in the codex with the durability and firepower to handle them on a competitive scale. Your army needs to be capable of dealing with 3-5 opposed fliers in a competitive setting. Sure, the infamous Cron Air (Necron Airforce) can pump out 8-10 fliers, but I expect it will be living a short lifespan and already has some hard counters in some of the more popular armies.

Combine this with an increase in infantry and plasma usage and, and the traditional Dark Angels army (Deathwing) starts having problems. We can increase this capability, but it really comes down to needing to branch out with allies to get the tools we need. When we do this, we find that rather than shoring up DA weaknesses, DAs make the better allies, as the core of Belial and 2 squads of terminators give other armies some great durability and combat-effective units. The army that makes best use of these units and covers our needs most is Imperial Guard. Here is a look at how we would run with Imperial Guard primary with Dark Angels as allies.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Chaos Space Marines @ 1850

I'm helping my friend Alex work up a list for Chaos Space Marines so he can learn the game and get some solid tactics under his belt. He's already got a decent CSM collection, so the following list uses some of the stuff he likes and gets enough shots and bodies on the field to deal with the major problems he might face.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Updating Grey Knights + IG @1850

I've been doing a good bit of playtesting with the Grey Knight + IG list recently posted, and I've been trying out various combinations. The following is the current incarnation, and is pretty well set to be what I am using for the 2013 Alabama CAGE Match provided Dark Angels doesn't give me something more awesome to work with.

You can see the list and my thoughts on it after the break.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Major News! First post for 6th Edition

I know it's been a while since I've posted up anything, but with all the changes going on in the world of 40k, I really didn't have much to add that others weren't already saying. I've also been analyzing the meta with various lists I've seen people discussing. I ran a successful GT last month which utilized double FOC available. I feel I have a solid enough grasp on the game right now to make some statements and lists.

I'm also starting up commission work, and I will soon be putting up lots of pictures of stuff that's in progress or completed. Right now I'm sticking to local work, so if you're anywhere near Rocket City, USA, check out The Foundry and ask about having RayJ do your commission!

With that in mind, here is my first truly competitive army list for 6th Edition. It has a major weakness in the fragility of its troops, but it puts out shots like nothing else. This list is built at 1850 using Grey Knights as the primary army, and Imperial Guard as an allied detachment.

painted by Lukas-the-Trickster

Primary Detachment

  • 100 Inquisitor Coteaz
  • 63 Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband
    • 3 Warrior Acolytes
    • Razorback
      • Psybolt Ammunition
      • Searchlight
  • 63 Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband
    • 3 Warrior Acolytes
    • Razorback
      • Psybolt Ammunition
      • Searchlight
  • 63 Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband
    • 3 Warrior Acolytes
    • Razorback
      • Psybolt Ammunition
      • Searchlight
  • 63 Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband
    • 3 Warrior Acolytes
    • Razorback
      • Psybolt Ammunition
      • Searchlight
  • 63 Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband
    • 3 Warrior Acolytes
    • Razorback
      • Psybolt Ammunition
      • Searchlight
  • 136 Dreadnoguht
    • 2 TL Autocannons
    • Psybolt Ammo
    • Searchlight
  • 136 Dreadnoguht
    • 2 TL Autocannons
    • Psybolt Ammo
    • Searchlight
  • 136 Dreadnoguht
    • 2 TL Autocannons
    • Psybolt Ammo
    • Searchlight

Fortification

  • 100 Aegis Defense Line
    • Quad Gun

Allied Detachment

  • 70 Primaris Psyker
  • 165 Psyker Battle Squad
    • 5 Sanction Psykers
    • Chimera
  • 390 Infantry Platoon
    • [115] Platoon Command Squad
      • 4 Flamers
      • Krak Grenades
      • Meltabombs
      • Chimera
    • [125] Infantry Squad
      • Flamer
      • Autocannon
      • Power Axe
      • Meltabombs
      • Commissar
        • Power Axe
    • [80] Infantry Squad
      • Flamer
      • Autocannon
      • Power Axe
      • Meltabombs
    • [80] Infantry Squad
      • Flamer
      • Autocannon
      • Power Axe
      • Meltabombs
  • 140 Vendetta
    • Heavy Bolter Sponsons
  • 150 Ordinance Battery
    • 2 Griffons

Total: 1848/1850

The list should be pretty straight forward. Use the Platoon Command Squad as a sort of spearhead, usually riding along in the Vendetta. Their Chimera is great for blocking razorbacks and providing a backup transport for the Psykers.

Use Coteaz to man the Quad Gun, and pump S7 shots at anything that enters the table within 12 inches of him, on top of the 1 use of Skyfire/Interceptor each turn.

13 Vehicles is still going to be hard to mess with for most armies, provided you use the IG blob to block assaults properly. Depending on the enemy army, you may want the Primaris Psyker to roll up Biomancy for a chance at Iron Arm or Telepathy for Psychic Shriek. Keeping him with codex powers is also useful for the Lightning Arc.

Combat effectiveness outside the blob is going to be next to nil, along with squad survivability. This list is really relying on ranged firepower to pull most of the weight. Here's a weapon breakdown:

  • 1 S* APd6 Large Blast
  • 3 S9 AP2
  • 12 S8 AP4 Twin-Linked
  • 4 S7 AP4 Twin-Linked
  • 6 S7 AP4
  • 2 S6 AP4 Ordinance Barrage
  • 15 S6 AP4 Twin-Linked
  • 6 S6 AP-
  • 18 S5 AP4
  • 7 S4 AP5 Template
  • 21 S3 AP- Rapid Fire
  • 15 S3 AP- Pistol
  • 4 Meltabombs
  • 4 Krak Grenades
  • 4 Power Axes
  • 1 Force Stave
  • 1 Nemesis Daemonhammer

Comments, suggestions for improvement, and general critique are all welcome. This list is designed around dealing with mass fliers and large infantry squads, while having enough troops to hold objectives late game.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...