The Road to Cally

The Caledonian Uprising is one of the most competitive tournaments in the UK Calendar. Traditionally it’s also one of the biggest. This year it has 180 people registered. I don’t think there are any other tournaments in the UK that will exceed this. 

It's held in the North West Gaming Centre in Stockport near Manchester (I think .. my English Geography is a bit limited). It’s a bit of a drive (around 3 hours) but there is a bunch of us making the trip south so it will qualify as the closest thing I get to a “boys weekend” these days. Really looking forward to it.

But of course – there is the agony of list building to go through first!! All advice and thoughts welcome – however, there’s a theme (!) so here are a few ground rules. They are

·         Farsight Enclaves Primary, and one allied detachment,

·         based predominantly on scoring Crisis Suits.

·         Points are 1,850, and

·         Forge World is allowed.

The strategic concept of the army is “hammer and anvil” i.e. you have a deployed element which is the anvil, and an deep striking element that’s the hammer. Your opponent focuses on destroying the anvil, while the “hammer” destroys them. Doesn’t always work of course, but that’s the thinking behind it.

Last time we “spoke” I was toying with something like this

Commander, Twin pods, Target Lock, Talisman

Riptide, ECTA, Heavy Burst Cannon, Early Warning Override, SMS

3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Fusion Blasters

3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Fusion Blasters

3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Fusion Blasters

3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Fusion Blasters

2 XV8s with Twin Missile Pods, 4 Marker Drones

2 XV8s with Twin Missile Pods, 4 Marker Drones

2 Tetras

2 Tetras

Skyray

Skyray

Tau Allies

Commander, Twin Pods, Target Lock, Iridium Armour, Puretide Chip.

6 Fire Warriors

I’ve played a few games since then, and one day of a 2 day tournament (had parental duties on day 2, so “shared” my entry with a friend), and my thinking has “evolved”. I’ve narrowed it down to 2 lists, with a possible 3^rd..

My preferred option is 

Commander, Twin pods, Target Lock, Stimms

3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Twin-Linked Burst Cannon

3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Twin-Linked Burst Cannon

3 XV8s with Plasma Rifle and Twin Linked Fusion Blaster

3 XV8s with Plasma Rifle and Twin Linked Fusion Blaster

2 XV8s with Missile Pod and Twin Linked Missile Pod

2 Tetras

2 Tetras

2 Tetras

Skyray

Skyray

Skyray

Tau Allies

Commander, Twin Pods, Target Lock, Iridium Armour, Puretide Chip, Neuroweb System Jammer, Stimms

3 XV8s with Missile Pod and Twin Linked Missile Pod

10 Kroot

Nine times out of ten I deploy the Skyrays (the anvil) and deep strike/outflank everything else (the hammer). The list has something for everything Skyrays are anti flyer/FMC, the burst cannon suits are horde control/torrent of fire, the plasma /fusion suits are anti heavy infantry/heavy armour, and the missile suits mop up everything else. 

I could save some points by dropping the second twin linked weapon on each suit. If I did that I would have enough points to make the 2 man XV8 team up to a 3 man team, and some change. I’ve agonised over this, but finally decided to keep them. My reasoning is this – my marker lights are pretty vulnerable. Tetras are great an’ all, but most people focus on killing them first, and it’s not that hard to do.  Twin linking the 2^nd weapon makes the suits more independent of marker light support, so in turns 3 onward, when my Tetras are depleted, the drop off in power from shooting is less. It also means I need fewer marker lights, so I’m happier to jink my Tetras, hoping for a “6” or 2, because that’s all I need. In addition, twin linking a weapon makes suits way more effective when forced to snap shoot. In the games I’ve played I’ve found this helpful against flyers/FMCs, invisible units, and  when firing overwatch.

I’ve also gone for more Tetras, and moved away from marker drones. While Marker Drones sitting in a Mark’O Deathrain units are more survivable (and cheaper per marker light hit) I think Tetras are better, at least for this army. Their big benefit is mobility. Being able to move 12” and still fire to full effect is great, but being able to Scout, and outflank, is even better. Additionally, the fact they’re twin linked is good for putting marker lights on flyers and invisible units, plus it makes it less of an issue to jink to try and increase their survivability. Finally, they come stock with a homing beacon allowing my suits to deep strike with no scatter within 6”. RAW they don’t need to be on the table at the start of the turn to do this. So if Tetras and suits come in from reserve on the same turn, I can bring my Tetras on first, and then deep strike suits of their homing beacons. Sadly, for some inexplicable reason, the FAQ at Cally require them to be on the board at the start of the turn.

I’ve moved away from mixed weapons on suits. In theory the burst cannon plasma, or burst cannon fusions suits worked, but in practice I always found myself wanting all or nothing. If there were more FOC slots available (and more points!) I would split out the plasma/fusion suits into 2 units of double fusion and 2 units of double plasma. However, I think they get the job done as they are.

List 2 is based on the above list, but brings in 2 Riptides at the expense of a Skyray, some XV8s and the Tau Empire allies.

Commander, Twin pods, Target Lock,

Riptide, Ion Accelerator, EWO, Velocity Tracker, SMS

Riptide, Ion Accelerator, EWO, Velocity Tracker, SMS

3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Twin-Linked Burst Cannon

3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Twin-Linked Burst Cannon

2 XV8s with Fusion Blaster and Twin Linked Fusion Blaster

2 XV8s with Fusion Blaster  and Twin Linked Fusion Blaster

3 XV8s with Missile Pod and Twin Linked Missile Pod

3 XV8s with Missile Pod and Twin Linked Missile Pod

2 Tetras

2 Tetras

2 Tetras

Skyray

Skyray

The big change in this list are the 2 Riptides. I don't think Riptides are as good as they were in 6^th (can’t attach a commander, or an allied Farseer, and the changes to “Smash”), but they’re just as durable, and with Tetra support still pretty deadly. They also play to the lists standard strategy – i.e they provide a much more credible “anvil”. I’ve dropped the plasma rifles as the Ion Accelerators provide the AP2, but I’ve kept the Fusion Blasters. I like the fact that the Fusion teams are a bit more “disposable” in this list. 

The big thing this list loses is the Tau Empire Commander with Iridium armour and the Puretide Chip.

The final list is simply List 1, minus the Tau Empire element, but with a Culexus assassin.

Commander, Twin pods, Target Lock, Stimms

3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Twin-Linked Burst Cannon

3 XV8s with Burst Cannons and Twin-Linked Burst Cannon

3 XV8s with Plasma Rifle and Twin Linked Fusion Blaster

3 XV8s with Plasma Rifle and Twin Linked Fusion Blaster

3 XV8s with Missile Pod and Twin Linked Missile Pod

3 XV8s with Missile Pod and Twin Linked Missile Pod

2 Tetras

2 Tetras

2 Tetras

Skyray

Skyray

Skyray

Assassin Detachment – Culexus

It’s intended to be a hard counter to psychic armies, but it sacrifices the Tau Commander with his Puretide chip and iridium armour. Im not sure whether it’s worth it? 

List 1 is obviously better against non psychic armies with vehicles and monsters, whereas the Culexus (in theory)is better against psychic armies. I have a sneeky suspicion I have the fire power to deal with vehicles and monsters, without the need of the Puretide Chip, but I struggle a little against heavy psychic armies ( e.g. invisible death stars). 

However, what I’m unsure of is how easy it is in practice to utilise the Culexes’ abilities on the table. How do you get him within 12” of an invisible Centstar for example, when the grav cannons have a 24” range? My fear is that the Culexus is good in theory, but hard to get to work in practice. It would need a few test games.

So what do you all think? List 1 with maximum XV8s, List 2 with added Riptides, or List 3 with the Culexus?

EYIG.