Blood Angels

So, Blood Angels.

Long time followers of my blog (Hi Mum!!) will know I had a huge Blood Angels army back in 5th edition. Firstly I ran a full Jump Pack Descent of Angels army, and then a triple Stormraven army with added Dreadnoughts. However, at the end of 7th I sold all of it to finance my Genestealer Cult army. Kinda regret that now!!

Anyway - I love the new Codex, particularly the Strategems, which I think allow you to play the army like it should be played (fast and deadly!). And I need an army for the GT final (I would play Harlies if I thought the Codex would be out by then, but I doubt it). So, I’ve been furiously painting Blood Angels and trying to work out the best build. OK, maybe not the best build, but the best version of the build I want to play.

Winter War List Review

A great days gaming. three good games and lI earned a lot. Usual format, what worked and what didn’t in my list, and some learning points.

Genestealer Cult

Well ……. this hasn’t happened for a while. I find myself enthused by a new faction – Genestealers Cults (GSC).

The play style, and in particular the Cult Ambush rule has really taken my fancy. I’ve spent the last week pouring over the codex and reading everything I can online about GSC and I’m pretty sure I want to start this army. I wanted to run a horde, taking maximum advantage of the Cult Ambush  rule. The list I’m moving towards is a Cult Insurrection Detachment with a Brood Cycle formation, a Subterranean Uprising formation, and a GSC Combined Arms Detachment. Something like

Raven Guard List - Post FAQ

If you look back a few posts you’ll see I took a Raven Guard list to LVO and DM3. Both lists were based on a Talon Strike Force, with a Battle Demi Company and Shadowstrike Kill Team. The heavy lifters in both lists were 3 tooled up Vanguard Squads. This relied on the Vanguard’s ability to come in from reserve, any turn I chose (including turn one), and assault out of deep strike. The lists differed in the Vanguard’s delivery mechanism.

The key is landing the Vanguard without scatter so they don’t mishap and are in guaranteed charge range. As part of the formation, you need to take 2-4 units of scouts. If the Vanguard deep strike within 9” of 2 of scout units, they don’t scatter. In the LVO list I had 4 units of scouts in Land Speeders Storms. I infiltrated them, scouted them into position, and deep struck off the LSS’s hulls. However, the problem was, if I wasn’t going first, the scouts needed to survive a turn of fire before I could bring in the Vanguard. Given how fragile Scouts are (even in Land Speeders Storms), first turn was pretty important.

Further Raven Guard List Analysis

So I need to come to some sort of conclusion on the changes I plan to make on my list after the LVO and DM3. I also plan to reply to the really interesting comments by Jjpwyrm in this post.

As mentioned in my last post the main issues I found with the list were problems with flyers, problems with intercepting Tau, and fragility of the vanguard. I concluded that there was little I could do about flyers, adding in a grav centurion squad might work versus intercepting Tau, and trying to squeeze in 3 more Vanguard would allow me to combat squad one of the units creating a naked 5 man unit who could eat over watch.

So, after long hours with battle scribe, I’ve come up with a couple of options.

Raven Guard List

I think the list worked really well. Being able to get the alpha strike off reliably, whether I go first or second, and not needing to worry about getting seized on, is huge. All I sacrifice for it was 2 land speeder storms, and 2 Multi Meltas. Swapping out the Assault Squad for a bike squad is an improvement. Having a fast OB Sec unit is great, and with the Techmarine and the Chaplin, it’s no slouch in combat against anything short of a dedicated combat unit. And making the Techmarine the Warlord, give me a re-eoll on the Strategic Objective table, which is the only one worth taking with this list IMO.

Farsight Bombs Revisited.

A while ago I wrote an article questioning how effective a Farsight Bomb might be. The conclusion I reached was that it wasn’t that effective. Well, I was wrong!

A couple of weekends ago I played against Franco from 40k Global at Dark Millenium in Stirling. He played his Farsight Bomb (I played my bikes) and I must say I was impressed (great game BTW – I won the Primary objectives, but Franco dragged it back on Secondary’s for the win). The biggest problem I saw was keeping so many points off the table to deep strike down on (hopefully) turn 2. What I hadn’t really thought through was using an SM Libby with Gate of Infinity to “gate” the bomb around the board, benefiting from Farsight’s “no scatter” rule each time. I knew it was possible of course (there is a “little” rules issue over whether Farsight’s ability works with gate, but most TO’s are ruling it does), but I hadn’t really appreciated how powerful it was. I got a demonstration from Franco.

Preferred Enemy List Review

List Review

A number of things in my list worked well, and a number not so much.

What worked

Preferred Enemy Take 2

Thanks to Sam for pointing out the error in my last list (need to make Khan the Warlord to give the bikes Scout). It has made me think again about whether he’s worth it. I’ve hummed and hawed (good Scottish expression!), and I’ve decided not to. I want to see if the list works without Scout.

There are a number of reasons – I want to see if my theory hammer on how to play Stalkers works, and that depends on Iron Hands being the Primary. Also, I like having the Inquisitor as my Warlord, allowing me to “throw away” the Chapter Masters. Finally, Khan is pretty pathetic for everything else, other than scout.

Space Marines for 2014

This year was the year of the Tau, 2014 will be the year of the Marine.

Well, maybe! I feel the need for a change and I’m getting excited about a new marine army.

I already have a bike army and a drop pod army, so I fancy something a bit different. I’m thinking about a heavy mechanised list, with at least one Land Raider!

Bike Marines

A bit of a break from Tau ramblings, and a few thoughts on bikes.

Long term readers of this blog (!) will know I have an SM biker army. It was built to take to Throne of Skulls last year, so it runs at 1500pts. I haven’t played it since the new Codex came out, and haven’t really thought about it much either. But I have a 4 man team tourney at the beginning of January, and my brother will be playing my Tau…… so time to bring on the bikes.

Tournament List, Counter Attack 2013

This weekend a buddy and I are off to Counter Attack a 5 game, 1750pt, Forge World allowed Tournament in Edinburgh.

In my continuing quest to take something a little different (!), I’m taking Tau, with no Ethereals, no Firewarriors, no Riptides, and no Batman Commander. Trying out a Farsight XV8 army.

List for Warrington GT

XV8 Commander

Well it's submitted now, so here it is for what it's worth.

I’ve decided not to change my list radically to deal with “Tau Hunters” e.g. Tzeentch Screamer Stars, Seer Councils etc. The more racial options I came up with (Grey Knight Allies, with Coteaz and a Vindicare) seemed too extreme. I think they weakened my list too much, and I really wasn’t going to have time to practise with it.

The list is an evolution of the list I took to Clan Wars. Here it is

List for Clan Wars 2013

OK, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth (and some excellent input from Rathstar and Bottom Banana) I’ve settled on a list for Clan Wars next weekend. Here it is

Marker Drone Platforms

I have a 2 day tournament in 2 weeks time, and I need to think about my list. It’s 1750pts, no forge world, 5 games. Most of the Scottish ETC team will be there, together with a bunch of regular Scottish tournament goers, so, it’ll be reasonably competitive.

Farsight List - does if really work?

Just because I don't think the bomb works, doesn't mean I wont paint the model!

Using Commander Farsight to create a large unit of suits that deep strikes into your opponents lines is a classic Tau List – often called the “Farsight Bomb”. Firstly I should say I have never used this sort of list. In the old codex the problem was that Farsight gimped your FOC, in that he limited the other choices you could take. As well as that, I always doubted the wisdom of (a) keeping so many points off the table for possibly 2 turns, and then (b) delivering it (including your warlord) into your opponents lines – sure he’ll kill 3 units, but what happens next? Most armies will have enough left over to retaliate effectively.

Gun Line Tau

This list is a counter point to the last one – i.e. no tanks!

 

The core of this list will be a bunch of guns behind an Aegis Defence Line. So, let’s get a bunch of guns.

 

Three full squads of Fire Warriors are a good start. Add in an Ethereal to use Storm of Fire, and buff their leadership and that’s a lot of dakka at 15”. I also want to try cascading marker light support. The idea is that one unit fires with an embedded marker light, and then the next unit picks it up. So you give the first Fire Warrior Squad a Shas’ui with a Marker light and 2 Marker Drones. You’ll probably get at least 1 Marker Light hit, maybe 2. The next Fire Warriors Squad also has a Shas’ui with a Marker Light. When they fire they pick up the marker lights from the first squad, to boost their BS. In this way the gun line “passes” the Marker Light hits to the next unit, increasing the gunline’s  BS as a whole. It might be tricky to organise, but I would like to try it.

Mech Tau

So the first list I want to go through is a Mech Tau list.

I’ve always tried to build “all comer” lists with my Tau armies. Tau were the army I took to most tournaments all the way through 5^th, and in the first few months of 6^th, and I still think an all comer army is the way to go for tournament. The problem has been in 6^th that building an all comers list is harder. The sheer variety of armies, with allies thrown in, and of course flyers has made it much harder. However, of all the Codices in 6^th, I think Tau has the best chance of doing this… so let’s see.

Email In: Blood Angels List Analysis

Hello Sir#67 here,

Earlier on in the week I received this email from a player at me local store:

"Been pouring out the Blood Angels for your up and coming tournament, still figuring out their place in 6th Ed.
From what I see they haven't changed very much, everything minus has a plus to counter it, Like DC lost the initiative bonus of FC but gained an attack, so they are just as kill-y, also can't be kited about.

Been looking at Sanguinary Guard, Since 2+ Armour units just cant be swatted off the table by a random Sergeant's Power Sword or Lightning Claw, big downfall of Sanguinary Guard.

I've come up with this list I'd like your feedback on it

Nathan"

This is the list he sent in:

Dante

Honour Guard: Jump Packs and 4 Plasma guns

10 Assault Marines: Meltagun x2, sergeant with Lightning Claw and Storm Shield

10 Assault Marines: Meltagun x2, sergeant with Lightning Claw and Storm Shield

Sanguinary Guard: Death Masks and Glaive Encarmines (Power Swords)

Sanguinary Guard: Death Masks, Chapter Banner and Glaive Encarmines (Power Axes)

Baal Predator: Flamestorm Cannon

Baal Predator: Flamestorm Cannon

2 Attack Bikes: 2 Multimeltas

Looking at the list I can see that Nathan wants to play quite aggressively. I think the longest range of any gun in this list is 24"!. Sanguinary Guard are obviously important and Dante has been included to make them scoring, a good move in my opinion. He's also added a squad of plasma gun toting Honour Guard to take advantage of Dante's precision deep strike.

The two Baal preds add a bit of anti infantry firepower and could provide the assault marines/sang guard with some mobile cover while they jump up the field. The various meltaguns in the list look like Nathans answer to heavy armour.

Disclaimer: When I review lists I like to keep the core of the list as similar to the original as possible and change things around the edges. The only time I'd totally rewrite a list is if its way off the mark eg. If a Codex Space Marine List contained Vulkan but had only minimal flamer/melta weapons I'd suggest a full revision.

Review

There are a few things that stand out for me in this list. First are the Baals. Only having 2 vehicles in the list means the majority of your opponents anti tank fire will focus on them. Using them as cover for the marines could lead you to giving up a relatively easy first blood. I'm also not sure the flamestorm Baal is the way to go in this edition. To use the flamestorm effectively you have to get really close and with the 6th ed rules on vehicle assault I think as soon as you get one shot off the Baal will be assaulted and glanced to death.

Another standout for me is the Sang Guard squads. Death Masks are not really worth the points you pay for them. They're also not cumulative so if Dante joins one of the sang squads then the points are wasted. The chapter banner is something else I'm not sure on. It's a lot of points on something that can't be picked up by another squad member. With the changes to shooting I can see this guy getting singled out quite often. The extra attacks also make it more likely that the Sang Guard are going to win combat in the first round exposing them to retaliatory shooting attacks.

In terms of armament I'd also like to see a mix of axes and swords in the two squads. I've found that 3 Swords, 2 Axes works best. The swords are your front line, they make their attacks and are also the first casualties if any are caused. The axes then step up in their initiative step and make their attacks.
A mix also means you've got a bit of flexibility in each squad. Mixing the weapons also means both units will have a similar threat status. At the moment most opponents would focus on the all axe squad as that is clearly the most dangerous. If they were both armed similarly then although both are slightly weaker threats the threat is spread over a larger area and thus creates more of an issue. (I understand this might sound quite abstract. I'll try to do a post on how I visualise level of threat across an army and how it changes the way I play my games)

The final thing I'm not sure on is that by making the list very aggressive your sacrificing the ability to hold backfield objectives efficiently. You could always combat squad and leave 5 assault marines back there but they wont be doing anything other than camping one objective and that's a waste of points in my opinion.

My Version:

After changing a few units/load outs but still sticking with the overall theme of Nathan's list I've come up with the following:

Dante

Honour Guard: Jump Packs and 4 Plasma guns

Sanguinary Priest: Jump Pack, Lightning Claw

10 Assault Marines: Meltagun x2, sergeant with Lightning Claw and Storm Shield

10 Assault Marines: Plasma Gun x2, sergeant with Lightning Claw

Sanguinary Guard: Glaive Encarmines (mix of swords and axes)

Sanguinary Guard: Glaive Encarmines (mix of swords and axes)

2 Attack Bikes: 2 Multimeltas

2 Attack Bikes: 2 Multimeltas

Devistator Squad: 4 Missile Launchers

I've swapped out the Baals for another 2 attack bikes and a devistator squad. Both units will add to the lists long range firepower and allow for some extra scoring units in Big Guns and the Scouring. They also increase the chances of you gaining first blood.

I've changed the assault squad load outs so that one squad can hang back slightly but still contribute with their plasma guns. If your playing a game with alot of objectives then this squad could combat squad and still contribute to the game overall.

The sang guard are now just 2 bare bones units. They still provide a decent threat that needs to be dealt with but at a significantly reduced points cost.

In fact I've saved so may points that I was able to fit in a Sanguinary Priest. The idea is he joins the Meltagun assault squad and provides a bit of protection from small arms fire, plasma etc. The reason I've got him joining the assault squad and not the sang guard can be summed up in one word: Challenges. Sang guard units don't contain any characters so cant usually be challenged. If the priest was with them then he would always be the one accepting/refusing and therefore would probably get himself killed or wasted his WS5 lightning claw attacks.

In the assault squad the Sergent answers any challenges, hopefully taking any hits on his storm shield, leaving the priest to get a few extra wounds in with his own weapon. The assault squad also needs his buffs more. The sang guard are armed with master crafted power weapons, some of which will give a +1 S bonus anyway. Its the kind of thing a lowly assault marine can only dream of.

To be honest I'm not sure if the priest adds enough to be worth his points. As he is he costs as much as a scout squad with cammo claoks which would be another scoring unit to sit on an objective or outflank onto one late game. I don't think the decision is that clear cut it's the kind of this that only playtesting will tell for sure.

I think this list will perform better and more consistently than Nathan's original. It still requires a skilled hand to use well but should be alot of fun to play.

If anyone else has a list they'd like reviewing drop me an email at gregpiskosz@hotmail.co.uk

Until next time

Sir#67

Drop Pod List Analysis

I really enjoyed playing this list. Despite being an all pod army, it’s reasonably flexible, but at the same time needs a bit of thought.

Things that were awesome

• Vulcan. Being able to twin link flamers and melta guns makes the alpha strike much more reliable. Also, while not being the beast that Lysander is, with his MC Relic Blade, Digital Weapons, 2+, 3++ saves, and FNP from the Command Squad, he’s no slouch in a fight. He’s also great at “tanking” wounds from anything with Interceptor.
• Command Squad. I only really included them to get the 7^th pod, but they worked really well as a special weapons platform. They were especially good as a plasma platform with FNP from the Apothecary. I think I only lost one guy to an overheat all weekend. One think I thought about, but never did, was doubling up on special weapons. Each vet can take 2 special weapons – so I could run both melta and plasma on each guy. However, I suspect it’s too many points in one T4, 3+ single wound model. Maybe 2 flamers on the plasma guys? It’s only 5 points each. Five points for a twin linked flamer is pretty good value. Alternatively, for the same points I could run 4 melta guns and 4 flamers i.e. a melta and flamer on each guy. Makes charging them a worry (BTW I realise that I can only fire one weapon per turn!).
• Heavy Flamers.  The 2, twin linked Heavy Flamers on the Dreads were deadly to anything not in power armour. Being able to deploy them from the Pod 6” allows you to line up the “perfect” placement.
• Sternguard. The Swiss army knife of the Marine Codex. With some combi weapons, they have an answer to everything. Also they combine really well with Lysander. He makes their bolters twin linked, tanks wounds that might wipe them out, and makes your opponent think twice before charging them ( i.e. twin linked Vengance Rounds on Overwatch plus the Fist of Dorn!). However, not sure melta guns on the Sternguard are the way to go. I put them there because I didn’t think Vulcan’s special rule twin linked combi melta’s. However, having re read the rules, I think it does. Combi Meltas would be better as I keep the special ammo.
• Pods. I know there is a lot of chatter on the Internet about Rhinos and Razorbacks not being as bad in 6^th as everybody first thought, but IMHO pods, are much better. Being able to react to your opponent’s deployment (whether going first or second) is golden. Being able to deploy 6” on the drop makes scatter less of an issue, and storm bolters are great at knocking off the odd wound, and finishing off that last remaining squad member – not to mention knocking down FMCs! Another thing I hadn’t though of before, is that they’re great at blocking off parts of the board. In game 3 I was able to stop the Chaos Lord and Kharn getting to my army for a couple of turns. In game 4 I was able to block the Chainfist wielding Lone Wolves from getting to my Dreads (in the end it didn’t matter as they died first turn anyway), and in the last game I was able to build a “pod wall” to stop the demons getting to my troops. They are susceptible to hard counters however – specifically interceptor, warp quake and Coteaz “I’ve been expecting you”.

 Things that weren’t so good

• Combi Plasma weapons. Not sure it’s worth the 10pts to put them on the Tac Squad Sergeants. In most games I never got to fire them. Also putting them on Sternguard risks an expensive “overheat”.
• Iron Clads. While the Heavy Flamers were golden, the Dread’s themselves are a bit lack luster. With AV13 front and sides they are pretty robust, and they murder vehicles, but they get bogged down too easily in prolonged combats. Don’t get me wrong – that can be a good thing. In game 4 one of them tar pitted the guard blob squad for most of the game. But it can also be annoying when there are other things for them to do. I wonder whether taking more Sternguard and giving them Heavy Flamers might be better.
• Lysander. Don’t get me wrong, he’s great at babysitting the Sternguard, and at dealing with the hard stuff (he finished off the Mauler Fiend in game 3, and Little Geek’s Fiends in game 5). However, there is an opportunity cost – can I spend the 200pts on something better?

 

Overall weaknesses?

• In game 2 I was lucky I got first turn and Hesh didn’t get warp quake off before my pods came in.
• Generally I’m weak against fast armies, but given the style of the army I can’t think of anything I can do about that.
• I have no answer to psykers. If I could get some psychi defence it would also help against warp quake.
• Despite my win against Little Geek, I’m weak against Demons, and Wraiths might be tricky. A Null Zone libby might help.
• I have no flyer defence, other than twin linked multi meltas! Maybe a Stormtalon or 2?

 

Changes

I’ve thought about a couple of changes over the last few days. The first was to swap out the Iron Clads for more Sternguard. However, on balance I think I’ll keep the ‘clads. They are a great delivery platform for the Flamers, and having something big and scary, which can bog down stuff that might kill the rest of your army (e.g. Wraiths), is a good thing. I think I’ll  strip the Combi Plasma’s from the Sternguard, and stick with combi melta. I’m going to take out the melta guns on the Sternguard.

I’ve also thought about a more radical overhall to make the army more mobile, or to give it some anti flyer capacity. The obvious answer is to combine it with some scoring bikes, and to add in a couple of Stormtalons. However, that’s a completely different army. I like the “theme” of an all podding list (not saying I wont build the pods, bikes and ‘Talon list in the future, ‘casue I think it would be really fun).

The big decision is Lysander. I’m thinking about swapping him out for a Libby with Null Zone and Gate. Null Zone to help against Demons and Wraiths, and Gate to get the Sternguard out of tricky situations, or to give a tac squad way more mobility. That would leave me 100pts for more Sternguard. Alternatively I could ally in a Jet Bike Farseer with Runes of Warding and Fortune, along with 3 Guardian Jet Bikers for 196pts. This would give me psychic defence, and a fast scoring unit.

However, I played a couple of games against a Grey Knight List with Coteaz and strike squads at the non-club on Wednesday. This is a very bad match up for a podding list. I was lucky and won both (one of the justicars blew his head of while falling to get Warp Quake off, and “I’ve been expecting you” bounced of the Iron Clads). However, in one of the games I played a libby rather than Lysander. What it showed me is how vulnerable the Sternguard are to units with Interceptor without Lysander to tank wounds (“I’ve been expecting you” is essentially a short ranged multi shot version of interceptor).

So, is it worth giving up Lysander for a Null Zone Libby and some Sternguard? Alternatively, is it worth giving up Lysander for a Farseer and 3 guardian jet bikes? Or should I keep him to baby sit the Sternguard.

Thoughts please.

EYIG