Well, there's a couple things I've been falling behind on, mostly due to work - so I'd really like to clear at least a few of them out today, get myself back down to a reasonable workload.
As a result, sadly, this means the post will undoubtedly be scatty and somewhat unfocused. On the bright side, you should kinda expect that by now. :p
Obviously, Live Blogging is MUCH more fun with other participants, so I'm going to begin in approximately 90 minutes - that gives me time to finish the last mission of Kill Team (Xbox, ofc, not the shitty table-top version) and grab a quick bite to eat, as well as to collect my thoughts and try to make this as efficient as possible.
See you then?
13 comments:
Ok, let's begin. Firstly, I've been asked to write an Imperial Fist army list for my friend James - he wants to start an army of yellow...luckily, he's an excellent painter, and this shouldn't prove beyond his capabilities.
He wants to include Chaplain Cassius "as he's a beast" and exclude the book-contained Fist characters of Lysander and Kantor - both replace Combat Tactics with Stubborn, as you readers are doubtless aware, and this is as often a disadvantage as not.
Luckily, Cassius is reasonably cheap, for what he brings - although we do then have the issue of requiring a unit to baby sit him.
So: Cassius, and the obligatory 2 Tactical Squads in a 2k list (Multi-Melta, Flamer, Rhino) take us to 535 spent thus far.
So, what can we take that is iconically Imperial Fist? Well, the Codex doesn't actually help us much with this, unfortunately.
Luckily, I have a fairly good grasp on what they're about from my own knowledge of the 41st Millenium, for instance the Index Astartes articles, back in the day. Quite apart from this, we know that the organisational structure of various Space Marine Chapters is largely similar, thanks to the Codex Astartes - so it'd be fair to say we could include any unit from the Codex we pleased.
With a pair of midfield Melta-Bunkers, we should look instead to ranged support, I think.
Given we have Rhinos to protect from early elimination before they get into position - I think a pair of predators, for their superior armour when faced with long-range enemy firepower are best.
For now, let's go cheap, and plump for a pair of Dakka Preds.
Predator:
Autocannon, Heavy Bolters - 85
Predator:
Autocannon, Heavy Bolters - 85
With those in, let's look at our Fast Attack section, to bolster the midfield. We all know the two MMs we have won't be sufficient anti-tnak for most opponents, so let's look into the options for this: Land Speeders, and Attack Bikes.
Bikes are cheaper, but Speeders add greater mobility, speed and a secondary weapon much more valuable than a Twin-Linked Bolter.
Two squadrons of two, perhaps, to get the ball rolling.
Land Speeders:
(2x)Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer - 140
Land Speeders:
(2x)Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer - 140
Thus far, then, we have spent 125+205+205+85+85+140+140 = 985...jst under half our points, and we have pretty decent anti-infantry power, between the Predators, the Flamers, and the Tacticals of course. Let's look into some more ranged anti-tnak firepower then.
Damn typoes. Oh well.
Anyway.
Fists are portrayed as often used in defence, as Siege defensive specialists - but also as siege breakers, which doesn't entirely make sense for them to specialise in both, but whatever.
What kind of things work in sieges? Well, Ironclad Dreadnoughts would - but they wouldn't really add that much to the list.
Sure, they'd add a little bit of combat threat, but not a HUGE amount - and their ranged power is insignificant, and thus they can be ignored by the foe for a couple turns as they slowly plod towards things they want to squish.
An alternative to their lack of speed is to send them into battle via Drop Pod - but unless you can muster even numbers of these, they actually turn out to be a hindrance, keeping valuable forces out of the fight while you need them, and making your army disjointed and attack piecemeal, thus making its defeat all the easier for an assured opponent.
Let's gloss over these now...what else? Well, Vindicators SOUND like they'd be good, what with their massive explosive rounds, and the "Siege Shield" they port...but in reality, that's not the case. In the Grim Darkness of a Cityfight, getting shots on a tank's Side Armour at close quarters (where the Vindicator MUST operate due to it's short-ranged weaponry) is going to be SILLY easy, and the thing just becomes Melta bait that much easier.
We want, then, things that are able to help our force from Range - because the list requires it, but also that are no slouches up close and personal, if they actually do get caught in the sort of situation they are supposed to be good at.
Dreadnoughts? Well, we're kinda compelled really. Having used up 2 each of our other Non-Troop selections, we can't double up on any other type of unit, and are left with no plausible alternatives that aren't hideously expensive.
How about this rather unusual configuration then:
Dreadnought:
Multi-Melta, TL-Autocannon - 115
Dreadnought:
Multi-Melta, TL-Autocannon - 115
I considered, briefly, the Plasma Cannon as an alternative, but I don't really think it would add very much to the list - it'd be very good at doing something the list shouldn't reaalllly be struggling at - killing elite enemy troops outside of cover. Given the relative scarcity of troops with a 2+ Armour Save, their prohibitive cost and low numbers should see you torrent them down - this is much more reliable, and harder for the enemy to stop. Bear in mind that a single Weapon Destroyed result would prevent you from fulfilling this role with your Dreadnought, and that's not the hardest thing in the world for an opposing player to achieve.
Those two Dreadnoughts, added to our 985 above, mean we've spent 1215 - leaving a massive 785 to spend on 1HQ, 1 Elite, 4 Troops, 1 Fast Attack, and 1 Heavy Support. Are we likely to fill them all? Hell no. But we could. I think...Let's not try.
Well, we haven't got a place for Cassius to ride yet - I'm very aware of this hiccup.
Also, our ranged fire is largely restricted to 4 Autocannons, two of which are twin-linked. This doesn't seem enough to me either.
Still - the list already has made it very clear that it'll primarily be a close-ranged list, so let's not take away from that. We're not necessarily trying to craft a top-end list here, just one that has at least a fighting-chance against most things it'll face. A true Take-All-Comers list, but without the need to necessarily maximise all of the available slots (displayed, once again, by the inclusion of Ortan Cassius.)
Speaking of - there's no real necessity to hurl him into the fray, expending him in meaningless circumstances. Sure, sometimes that'll be for the best, and the unit he's in should reflect that - but he's probably a lot more effective here used to deter enemy assault troops rather than to act as some kind of distinctly average linebreaker.
As a result, let's turn back to Elites, and select some Sternguard for him to ride with.
Sternguard aren't really cheap - but a Rhino with 2 Missile launchers inside makes a valuable bunker - and they can always deploy behind/beside the Rhino, positioned to get Cover but not grant it.
Let's have, then:
Sternguard:
Missile Launcher, Missile Launcher, Rhino, 2 Combi-Meltas. - 180
Why the C-Ms? Well, like the rest of the list, this unit needs the capacity to fight ok at close quarters if necessary - and the AP1 is a MUCH more reliable anti-tank weapon than the missile Launcher's AP3. Adding +1 to Damage Rolls is the single biggest thing you can do to gain more Kills on enemy transports and battle tanks.
So, with 605 left, we should probably return to Troops, which are now looking a little light...
With a mere 20 MEQs in the list thus far, I figure we need at least another ten. If we take another 10-man unit, though, mightn't that clog the midfield somewhat? Create a horrid Parking Lot of Despair where our vehicles get constantly Stun-Locked and unable to participate in any meaningful way beyond T2?
Indeed, it might. So perhaps we need to rejig things a little.
Firstly, let's consider splitting the Tacticals up - despite the versatility of Combat Squads, and the HUGE boon that rule is - it isn't always enough to make the difference I'd like with regards to taking more than a couple of Objectives, as opposed to merely contesting them. Mostly, of course, because the FoC doesn't simply allow you to take Transport vehicles without a squad assigned to them - that would indeed be pretty brutal for the foes of the Emperor.
As is, for me to get the extra vehicles I desire (despite saying above how I don't necessarily want to clog midfield, that doesn't mean I don't want to include more armoured behemoths...you need a way to GET to where you're besieging...) I must take an additional two or more units from my Troop selection.
So, let's go with the humble Tactical Squad once again (as if we had an alternative!) and plump for a simple 5-man Combat Squad, with a Combi-Melta on the Sergeant, in case a Dreadnought rears it's ugly head nearby, or somesuch - perhaps an enemy Rhino attempts to contest late-game. Whatever, having some sort of anti-tank capacity in the unit is quite vital.
For Transport though, a Rhino is of limited use to a squad that doesn't have a Special and/or Heavy Weapon to fire out of the top hatch, and so we look to mix it up a little bit with Razorbacks.
Nominally, the single best Razor is the Las/Plas. Apart from having simply superior weaponry, it also has the massive benefit of not being crippled by a single Weapon Destroyed result - and not being out of the fight with an Immobilised result either, as the FlamerBack is so prone to.
However, while the Stronos pattern offers a decent amount of anti-tank fire, we have to question whether it is indeed the most efficient usage of points here. Even if so - do we really want this list to so closely resemble the majority of other Marine lists out there on the web?
Not this time.
So, let's plump for the cheapest, most derided, and in some respects the most useless of all Razorbacks : the BolterBack.
The squads, therefore, will look like this:
Tactical Squad:
Combi-Melta, Razorback [Heavy Bolters] - 140
But they aren't adding to the overall ranged anti-tank, so how do I plan to overcome this deficit?
Simple. Let us upgun and upgrade the aforementioned Predators.
Replacing the Heavy Bolters with Lascannon Sponsons instead means paying out an extra 35 points each - which means the units above are (in a sense) costing us 175 points instead, which is still far from terrible for a Scoring Unit with Transport - although far from excellent, especially since for the same number of points we cold have 10 on foot with a Missile launcher, and 5 guys who'd never ever get into the battle proper and do anything...oh right. ;)
Anyway, those 350 points out of our stockpile leaves us with 255, and 2 Troops, a FA and a HS slot...and of course a second HQ is available to us, if we should decide to forego further competitiveness.
Before we wrap this list up, let's recap. So far, we have:
Cassius - 125
Dreadnought:
Multi-Melta, TL-Autocannon - 115
Dreadnought:
Multi-Melta, TL-Autocannon - 115
Sternguard:
Missile Launcher, Missile Launcher, Rhino, 2 Combi-Meltas. - 180
Tactical Squad:
10 men, Flamer, Multi-Melta, Rhino - 205
Tactical Squad:
10 men, Flamer, Multi-Melta, Rhino - 205
Tactical Squad:
Combi-Melta, Razorback [Heavy Bolters] - 140
Tactical Squad:
Combi-Melta, Razorback [Heavy Bolters] - 140
Land Speeders:
(2x)Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer - 140
Land Speeders:
(2x)Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer - 140
Predator:
Autocannon, Lascannons - 120
Predator:
Autocannon, Lascannons - 120
Well, if we look at that, it actually works out really well. Anyone see how I'm going to finish this list off?
How about a Librarian to get a Hood on the table?
We could. Do you think that would be more valuable than adding another target to your existing 2 AV13, 2 AV12, 4 AV11 and 4 AV10?
I think I'd go for five more sternguard. Leave the missile half behind, and load the other five in the rhino with cassius. Then again I've always felt using Sternguard as expensive devastators is not ideal.
Personally I'd go for the Dev-guard combo:
10x Sternguard with c-meltas, Rhino
5x Devs with 3-4 ML, Rhino
adds two strong closer range units in transports, and one relatively resilient missile squad to add to your long-range firepower.
Guys, guys, I hate to say it, but I think that TKE is with name.
I *am* with name. Well spotted. :P
The Devs would work fairly well, balancing out the Sternguard. Question becomes - do I need those Combi-Meltas? And do they add much, when they don't score? As I see it, they basically become a unit of Fire Dragons, in a shitty Transport.
Hint: I'd really like to get two more ranged units into the list, both with at least 2 S8+ shots, in order to eliminate enemy Walkers or Land Speeders/equivalent.
After that, it'd be nice if I had something to counter one or two nasty tricks - this is alluded to in the tags, if you're stuck.
Add the third Predator, and some attack bikes with MM.
Much closer. My plan was to take the 3rd Predator (120) then another Land Speeder Squadron, for saturation (140) - except that that's too many points, so we strip three of the Heavy Flamers off (1 per squadron) to net 30 points back (or 25, rather, because we were 5 over...) and we use that to "counter Necrons" by purchasing Dozer Blades for our Troop Transports, and our Sternguard Rhino. Done, and dusted.
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