Iron Hands: How Not To Play Them

Don't mind the red solo cup... I was proxying in Drop Pods...

Don't play Purge missions if at all possible. Iron Hands may be more durable than some other marines MSU armies... but it wasn't enough.

So anybody who thinks Orks can't be played effectively haven't met my friend. He plays orks, always has, and always will! Yesterday we played a 2500 point game, in which I brought my Fist of Medusa detachment with as many tricks as I could muster. He brought a double-CAD with a formation, which consisted of a nasty number of Nobz in Mega Armor, a massive Bike Squad, a Stompa, and lots of Painboyz.

You know what kills my Iron Hands quite efficiently? Lots of Str 8 or higher. Most of his Mega Nobz had Powerklawz, which was a hard counter to my FNP rolls. He also took lots of high-strength shooting with his Stompa, which spat out S10 Massive pie plates that would decimate entire units wholesale as they exited their pods.

I usually play my Iron Hands with a single Deathstar of some kind. It usually involves a Captain with the Gorgon's chain, a command squad with an apothecary and special weapons, and in this case also a Chaplain with the Tempered Helm (pseudo-preferred enemy to the shooting attacks of the unit). Unfortunately, I used a drop pod as the transport for the unit. This means that where I dropped them, they had to hoof it from then on. This didn't work out so well. I tried to killbox his trucks with meganobz by blocking them in a tight street with drop pods. It was not terribly successful... my dice rolling was pretty abysmal and my scatters took my pods off on tangents. But I still got them in there, I just made a pretty big mistake. I had hoped on effective shooting being able to kill the orks well enough that they would be unable to effectively charge... and I hoped wrong.

Powerklaws made short work of any unit they charged. Even my poor Centurions holed up in some ruins.

I'm going to be making some big changes to my list. We'll see what I can come up with to make this less of a one-trick pony.

Iron Hands Superfriends - Angels of Death

Iron Hands Captain

So the Angels of Death supplement has been out a while, and my friends and I have been having fun testing out some different lists here and there with the new Nested Detachment formations (aka Decurions).

I've always liked Iron Hands, though before their FNP was somewhat ineffectual when compared to some of the tastier Chapter Tactics on the market. With the new Fist of Gorgon detachment, however, their Chapter Tactic suddenly became more viable. The new Iron Hands Reliquary also added a whole new reason to take that chapter as well.

In my latest game, the MVP definitely ended up being a Captain with a Relic Blade and Gorgon's Chain, attached to a command squad, with a ML 2 Librarian attached. In the formation and with the Chain, I was able to easily maintain a +2 FNP result for the entirety of the game. Highlights include going toe-to-toe with an entire unit of Meganobs with PKs and a Painboy, as well as an entire unit of Bikes with a warboss and a painboy.

For 4 turns this unit withstood ridiculous amounts of krumpin' (thanks to the Librarian casting the Might of Heroes power from the Librarius discipline) and was able to take out the Meganob squad and also put a few wounds on the Warboss. My Captain, with his 3+ invulnerable save and 2+ FNP, was able to tank every wound thrown his way. He didn't suffer a single wound the entire battle, despite the opposing Warboss's best efforts.

Other fun tricks was giving my Centurion Devestator squad 5+ FNP with an attached Librarian in Terminator armor (also able to tank invul wounds, and give the squad +2 Toughness from Might of Heroes), and I greatly enjoyed the FNP benefits my tactical squads were able to reap. My opponent was running mostly Meganobs, however, so the Powerklaws may not have been the best example of my list's newfound resilience.

All in all, however, I believe that with the new formation, this is a fun list to play. I like to run:

• Librarius Conclave (1 power armor ML 2, 1 bike ML 1, 1 terminator ML 1)
• Demi Company (Bikes with meltas, Gravcents, 3 basic squads, command squad with 2 melta/2 grav/ apothacary, and the Captain with a Relic's Blade and a Gorgon's Chain, mostly in drop pods where able. Command squad took a rhino.
• Skyhammer Annihilation Force (1 Dev squad with Grav, 1 Dev squad with LCs, Assault squads with flamers)

The Librarius Conclave let me sprinkle my little force multipliers around, spreading out the FNP bonuses of the detachment. The Skyhammer gives me some decent mobility, allowing a 1st turn drop that gets lots of models on the board quickly and where I want them to go. The command squad hauled ass on turn one, getting them where I needed them to go and camping midfield objectives, and proving to be a very difficult unit to move. Bikes zipped around as needed, grabbing objectives (thanks obsec) and popping juicy targets with their meltas. The gravcents got deployed in the middle of the board, on elevated terrain, providing a deadly obstacle to enemy movement. (Definitely made their points back).

This is probably one of the better ways to run this detachment. With lots of infantry, you get lots of benefit from the FNP bonuses. If I were to change something from my list, it would be to provide more rhinos to the Demi company instead of drop-pods, to give more first-turn presence. The mobile strike force of the Skyhammer helps grab those deep field objectives well enough where the pods in the Demi company aren't as needed.

I'll be playing this type of list more in the future, and I would love to see if I can add to the Superfriends command squad to make a decent deathstar.

Ideas so far include:

1. Adding a Company Champion for more CC capability
2. Adding a Chaplain for another invulnerable wound-tank, and increasing CC capability
3. Adding one more librarian for redundancy to keep those buffs going.

That's it for now, I'll report from the field as I test them out further.

Discussion: Nurgle CSM Pt. 2

Continuing the discussion began in Part 1.

To continue my justification of my units, we move on to the Troops section.

Plague Marines-
Plague marines have been hailed as the single most worthy Troops choice in the CSM codex, and I am inclined to agree. Though I think they are a bit overcosted currently, Plague Marines have a few notable benefits over their standard CSM brethren:
A) They have increased toughness, as well as Feel No Pain. This makes them tanks to small arms fire.
B) They have access to 2 special weapons per squad, which allows small fire-teams to pack a vicious wallop.
C) They are troop choices, and thus are a scoring unit.
D) They have blight grenades, which allow them to take some of the punch out of units assaulting them.

However, for all these benefits, there are several notable drawbacks to Plague Marines:

A) Feel no Pain is negated by anything AP 1 or 2, or that would cause Instant-death (I.e. force weapons, weapons with double the strength of the model's toughness, etc), and power weapons. With no invulnerable save, this means that Plague Marines are especially vulnerable to high-strength or low AP weapons like Demolisher cannons, Lascannons, and Plasma. Since they cost a lot of points, a few heavy weapons can ruin a squad of Plague Marines. Close combat can also ruin them if they are up against Power Weapon wielders of any type.
B) Without some form of transportation, they are quite slow (as foot-troops are oft to be). With the amount of mechanization in 5th, they really need a transport to get them across the field faster.
C) They lack access to heavy weapons, instead having to rely on shorter-ranged special weapons such as the meltagun and plasmagun. This isn't a severe drawback, but without transports, armies like Tau and IG can outrange them and destroy them before they can close the distance.


Summoned Lesser Daemons-
My list, with the models on hand, was severely lacking in the troops department. I needed something to capture and hold the objectives, so I turned to Summoned Lesser Daemons to fill the gap. They aren't too bad, surprisingly, and can even turn the tide for some objective-based battles! They have a few things going for them:
A) They have a +5 invul save. This means that they can sometimes withstand attacks that would have wiped out whole squads of Plague Marines, such as Demolisher cannons and the like.
B) They are fairly inexpensive compared to other choices in the codex.
C) With personal icons, they can bail out some of your other units with a precision deep-strike. They can also Assault the same turn they arrive, a huge bonus.

The downside to them is that they HAVE to be held in reserve. You don't get a choice. This means that you cannot use them for screening your other units at the start of the game or similar uses. The other downside is that they lack offensive punch, having only regular CCWs and 2 attacks at strength 4, so they are no better in assaults than regular CSMs but they have no shooting attacks either.


Summoned Greater Daemon-
To help fill the heavy anti-tank gap, I put in a Summoned Greater Daemon. This is a hit-or-miss strategy for me. On the plus side, if I successfully summon a Daemon by sacrificing a champion from elsewhere in the list, I get another Monstrous Creature that can chew through tank armor in assaults. Not so great is that I have to sacrifice a perfectly good model on the table to get him, and there is no guarantee of when the Daemon will arrive. Still, an extra MC in this list helps give the opponent another target to split his fire on, helping take some of the heat off the Daemon Princes. During my last game, a Summoned Greater Daemon pinned a squad inside their Chimera by standing at the rear of the vehicle and wrecking it. Only the sergeant had enough room to deploy, and he was quickly killed by lesser daemons backing up the larger Greater Daemon. Use his base size to your advantage.

I will go on to Army tactics and tips in part 3.

Discussion: Nurgle CSM

Followers of Papa Nurgle have been around for a while, but how are we faring against the ever-rising trend of Mechanization in 5th?

To be clear: I am new to CSM, especially Nurgle. However, I have trouble finding any relevant tactics on the Internet outside of Kirby's blog: "3++ is the New Black", and I don't know when that was written or how relevant it is to the times. On the other hand, I have played a few games with them recently, so I would like to discuss some of my recent observations on CSM and Nurgle-followers in particular.

Here is a list of what I currently run (until I can get more models anyway):
1 Daemon Prince with Lash
1 Sorceror with wings, plasma pistol, Mark of Nurgle, personal icon and Warptime
3 Chaos Terminators plus 1 Champion, Icon of Nurgle, 3 powerfists, 1 Reaper Autocannon
3 Chaos Terminators, Icon of Nurgle, 3 powerfists, 1 Reaper Autocannon
4 Plague Marines plus one Champion, 2 Meltaguns, powerfist, plasma pistol, personal icon
4 Plague Marines plus one Champion, 2 Meltaguns, powerfist, plasma pistol, personal icon
10 Summoned Lesser Daemons
10 Summoned Lesser Daemons
1 Summoned Greater Daemon

Now, I didnt intend this post to be about my list. I am well aware that it is a sub-optimal list, and I'm ok with that. I would, however, like to discuss some of the benefits and uses to some of the units in my list.

Daemon Princes-
I have found that the Lash Prince has long been lauded as the best HQ choice in the CSM codex. I have seen the benefit of Lash of Submission, though now I find it's use limited in the current trend of mechanized forces. Though limited more so now than in the early days of 5th, that does not mean useless! There are common situations that Lash comes in handy for still; such as IG bubblewrap situations. Being able to pull a squad away to leave a Leman Russ vulnerable can be a great use of Lash. Really though, I think the best use for Princes is to use them as vehicle killers and general bullet soaks. Lash really is the best choice if you decide to mark a DP, as the cost is quite low and it gives you some versatility.

Sorcerers-
Sorcerers are a matter of taste. Most people prefer to go the route of Daemon Princes as their HQs to reap the benefits of a Monstrous Creature at an affordable cost. I chose to put a Sorcerer in for a couple reasons: A) I had Built a model for it from bits already B) Mobility is something Nurgle CSM struggle with without rhinos C) I needed a redundant personal Icon to summon daemons with, in case my Plague Marines died. With his wings, I could fly further up the table and drop a squad of lesser daemons into an assault. I gave mine a mark of Nurgle for the added toughness, and a plasma pistol for some light anti-vehicular punch. Warptime can help against squads in close combat, scoring more wounds in the hopes of inflicting a failed morale check. Again, this is not for everyone. In our current meta-trend of more and more vehicles, you are well advised to stick with the Daemon Prince as your 2nd HQ option.

Chaos Terminators-
These elite choice troops are likely to be one of the most valuable transport-popping squads in the codex. Though they cannot go toe-to-toe with imperial Terminators in assault, chaos have cheap and easy access to the reliable Reaver autocannon. The Heavy 2, twin-linked strength 7 shots can reach vehicles up to 36" away, which is pretty darn good for popping light transports. Add a mark of Nurgle to the unit, and these beasts become much more resistant to small arms. Here's a tip: do not deep strike these types of units unless you have a really good reason to. You want these guys at medium range, picking apart transports, MCs, and other targets of opportunity. Outfitting them for CC is costly, and should be avoided if you have better options.

I will continue my dissemination in part 2.

Midwar Tigers- nigh Unstoppable?

Today, me and the Missus broke out the semi-portable game board we threw some new paint on the other night. Wanting her to have a better chance than normal, we decided to play an "unfair" game, with her using a full Schwere Panzerkompanie of 5 Tigers and supporting Grenadier platoon vs my US Tank Co. I've been putting together. I had a total of 13 shermans, and a full-strength Armored Rifle platoon in support aided by limited air support provided by P-38 Lightning aircraft.

I'll spare you the boring turn-by-turn wall of text (since I didn't take photos), but I'll make a few notes of some lessons I learned about fighting against Tigers while getting my posterior handed to me:

1. Focus fire. Sure, most weapons in MW cannot penetrate a Tiger's tough shell, but many of them can force the crew to bail out at least. The more dice you have those Schwere Panzers rolling, the more likely it will happen. Once it does...
2. Keep on the pressure. If you force a tank to bail twice in a row, you may scare the crew off, effectively getting a kill. Alternatively, if you can assault a bailed tank with infantry, you can capture the crew, again effectively killing the tank.
3. Attack from unexpected directions. Try to outmaneuver the slow Tigers with fancy footwork, and hit the weaker side armor to better your chances. Also, remember that the Top armor value of a tiger isn't all that much better than other tanks, so hit it with artillery bombardments or ground attack aircraft to take advantage of this.
4. Smoke 'em. Trust me, you do not want those Tigers getting full ROF with those 88's. Smoking them forces their owning player to make a choice- move and shoot at lower ROF, or take a penalty to the dice and stay put to fire full ROF.
5. Remember to play to the mission. 5 tigers are ridiculously tough, but they can't be everywhere at once. Use this to your advantage, and try to isolate the objectives so that you can handle them piecemeal. Having one tiger on an objective is a challenge, but having 5 on an objective is a lost cause. This may go with...
6. Utilize the terrain. Try to take shot from positions that give you cover or concealment (better yet, both!) to reduce the impact of return fire. Go Hull Down, shoot from the trees, whatever it takes to get that extra protection.

I made several glaring mistakes this game:

1. I forgot the 16" safe zone aircraft require to attack ground targets. A few times, I had Lightnings ready to go but forgot this rule.
2. Defender gets 2nd move in Breakthrough scenarios. I forgot this, and deployed my halftracks poorly.
3. I didn't use smoke enough. If I had, my armored Rifles assault may not have gotten MG'd to death, losing all my bazookas.

Well, feel free to discuss.

--FP135
2

Let's Talk Tactics: Alternatives to Mechanized

It is pretty obvious these days that Mech is King. King of the competitive scene, at the least. All competitive lists I have seen in the past half-year or so have been at least semi-mech if not completely mechanized. It seems to work, if used properly, but why is it so popular? Let's investigate.

What makes transport vehicles desirable? In the real world, the answer is obvious: it puts a layer of steel between you and the bullets, and gets you where you are going without you having to hoof it. The tabletop reasons are much the same: it provides extra protection for the troops being transported as well as gets them where they need to go faster. Since a lot of transports are not especially durable, it can be assumed that it is more for the second reason of maneuverability rather than the first reason of protection.

Maneuverability, in objective games, allows you to position your troops onto objectives easily. This in turn allows your troops to dig in, utilize cover, break out the heavy weapons, etc. The faster you can take the objectives, the faster you can make use of defensive positions. In annihilation games, maneuverability can let you run circles around enemies. This can give vehicles protection against assaults, or units with longer ranged weaponry can outdistance their foes to stay a step ahead.

So, now that can assume to know what the main benefit of Mech lists, how are some ways we can mimic the benefit?

1st: Fast running- Tyranids commonly make use of this by including lots of units that have Fleet of Foot or Move Through Cover. They can cover the distance quickly from friendly deployment zone to hostile deployment zone, and everywhere in between. This benefits them directly since they are primarily assault-oriented (the units that have those USRs, that is) or close-distance-shooters.

2nd: Deepstriking- Tyranids, SM, and Daemons can all make extensive use of this deployment strategy. The unit can come down anywhere on the field, which has obvious benefits, but the drawbacks can be severe. First, the randomness of the final deepstrike position can prove problematic if you are relying on short-range weaponry like meltaguns. Unless the unit has a "failsafe" rule that prevents mishaps, like the SM Drop Pod, this deployment can be a gamble. Sometimes you lose the bet. It really hurts your strategy when a fully-kitted terminator squad materializes inside a rock and the entire unit is lost...

3rd: Bike or Jetbikes- These units are blazingly fast, especially when used in conjunction with turbo boosters. The downside is that they can be blazingly expensive! They do benefit from some increased durability, but there are also risks involved when navigating any sort of difficult terrain (except for jet bikes). Another benefit is that some of these units can mount heavy weapons like Heavy Bolters or Multimeltas. What is even better is that they can use them on the move, due to bikes having the Relentless USR conferred. These units are great, and White Scars or Ravenwing players will swear by them, but they are just too few in number to base an army on in my opinion.

4th: Jump or Jet Packs- Here is where the Blood Angels come into their own. Somewhat more expensive than their footslogging brethren, Jump packs enable consistent movement at double the infantryman's normal rate. Most jump packs also confer the Deepstrike special rule, making them useful for alternative deployment strategies as well. Jet packs, used by Tau, also confer the Relentless USR like bikes do. The humble jump pack, however, is cheap enough to be widely distributed across an army without reducing its numbers too significantly. Furthermore, with the release of the new Blood Angels codex, it can be added to some very effective units to make a highly-mobile strike force. Sanguinary Guard utilize 2+ saves, and when coupled with Jump Packs this enables them to move from cover to cover quickly, making for some very effective assault units.



What are some benefits to using alternatives to Mech in this current trend? It really depends on your chosen codex and the alternative being used, but here are some common factors:

A) Lots of Mech lists make thorough use of anti-vehicular weaponry. With an alternative list like one of those listed above, those anti-vehicular weapons such as Meltaguns have less effect. They can only kill a single model at a time, normally, and this will not deter a normal infantry unit.

B) You cannot be immobilized or shaken if you do not use transports, meaning that your movement will be a lot more consistent. Your opponent would have to destroy, route, or pin an entire unit to prevent it from moving.

C) All of your units will have an opportunity to fire, not just what can see out a fire point.

D) There's no risk of an exploding transport damaging the units carried within if you utilize an alternative list.

E) You don't give up killpoints for thinly-armored transports.


To be fair, here are some of the downsides to neglecting transports:

A) There is less protection from small arms fire. Even the lightest-armored vehicle is immune to lasgun shots, but the same is not true for most of the alternative unit types listed above. Transports that utilize heavier armor (like the Valkyrie, or the new Storm Raven) are even better off in this department. A Land Raider is immune to anything below S8, which makes them pretty attractive as pillboxes.

B) A lot of transports can mount heavy weaponry and fire them even on the move. It is hard to argue with the payload that can be mounted on a Vendetta, or the new Storm Raven. This makes the transports dual-purpose, which can be a better expenditure of points and a better distribution of the killpoint. It also enables them to support the unit they are transporting by doing more than just drawing fire.

C) In some situations, it can be beneficial to deploy the "transportee" separate of the transport in order to get more units on the table. This can be done for a number of reasons, such as to provide cover for weak units, block LOS to other units, or simply present more targets for the enemy to divide fire between. You cannot do this if you don't have the transports to separate from the cargo.


So with these thoughts in mind, I set about creating a Jump-Pack spam list with the new BA Codex. I intend to utilize the "Descent of Angels" special rule to maximize my maneuverability while minimizing the available killpoints (which is the bane of my mech IG) by limiting vehicle use. Here is what I have so far, based on the models I have:

Mephiston (Has a psychic power that enables him to move as if a jump pack)
Jump-equipped Honor Guard with some upgrades
Sanguinary Guard with some upgrades
3 Assault squads with 2 meltaguns each, full 10 man squads.

That's right, count them... 6 killpoints total, 9 maximum if I combat squad the assault squads. 30 Scoring marines, which is as good as any marine list normally is, and a total of 6 meltaguns and 2 infernus pistols. I can combat the assault squads if neccessary to give me more scoring units, but they're pretty tough in full size squads. This list is definitely designed to drop in the opponent's face and kick the enemy square in the... Baals. Mephiston is a monster all of his own, and I intend to keep him out of sight until I have some supporting units to assist him. He is interchangable with Dante in this list, in case I decide I need the Sanguinary Guard to be scoring or I want to utilize his pin-point deepstrikes. It is similar to a Deathwing list, with a low model count, but it is much more maneuverable and aggressive.


So, in closing, what kind of alternative lists have you come up with to counter the mechanized trend? What reasons do you stick with Mech over an alternative for?

Please, gentlemen, feel free to discuss.

Until next time,
--FP135

Developing a Strategy for your Army

Firstly, I must confess that I am guilty of trying to use "internet logic" to create a good list, without really knowing the tactics behind such a list. It's true, for the last couple weeks I have been trying to playtest my IG list that I intend on taking to a local tournament. I posted my list on a 40k forum (Dakkadakka) and let other players tweak my list and give me advice. I ended up with a list that looks very hard on paper, but is very hard for me to play when I don't know the exact tactics and synergies that go into such a list.

To avoid the problems that I had, whenever building a new list you should take into account several key factors that can drastically influence the game:

1) Getting the First Turn.

Generally, depending on what kind of army you are playing with or against, you'll usually want the first turn.

If you are an assault-based army fighting a shooting-based army, the 1st turn is often useful if only to deny the shooting player the first round of shooting. Orks love getting the first turn against IG, as they have just enough heavy weapons to put a dent in the IG firepower if they get the first turn. For more pure-assault based armies (such as specialized tyranids or chaos daemons) this first turn can give them just enough time to get into cover and out of fire lanes.

For shooting-based armies (such as IG or Tau) the first turn is nearly critical. It allows you to pour the fire on distant targets, using the longer ranges of your heavy weaponry. It reduces the amount of incoming fire you will receive the next turn, if you choose your targets wisely. It can also deny mobility to the enemy, if you can stun or immobilize transports (or dare I say it, wreck them!) before they can travel across the board.

Ok, as a Shooting-based player, I need the first turn. But I lost the roll! That's nothing I can do about it, right? WRONG! I can try to seize the initiative! It has never actually been successful for me, but at least I can say I tried. I always try to seize the initiative, because I usually need that first turn.

2) Deployment Strategies.

After playing a few games, I have come to realize that I was deploying poorly. Deployment is a huge part of your overall game strategy, and this is the balancing factor to getting the first turn. If you do not get the first turn, then you want to pay extra attention to your deployment strategy. Some armies have special methods of deploying (drop pod assaults, chaos daemons, new tyranids with spore pods, etc) and they will have different tactics. Basically, if you are a shooting-based army, you are going to want space. If you are an assault based army, you are going to want to get as close to the line as possible, to close into combat and get the charge. Other factors to consider are matching anti-armor to enemy tanks, anti-horde weapons to large infantry units, and the terrain on the board. If you want to keep an infantry unit from getting assaulted, putting it on the top floor of a 3-story ruin in your deployment zone will help. Just make sure it has the range in weaponry to utilize the advantage.

Most importantly, play to your game. If you are playing an objective game, it wouldn't do to deploy in a refused flank and take no objectives. You won't win easily that way.

3) Unit Synergy

In 40k, many units are not "one-man-shows." They rely on other units to make up for their shortcomings. This relationship with other units is called Synergy. Synergy is not a quantifiable statistic, and has to be gauged with experience and tactical know-how. For example, as an IG player, I know that Meltagun Veterans only work as they are supposed to when they have some means of getting close to enemy tanks, usually by riding in transports. I also know that these chimera-riding veterans are going to be choice targets, so I get some long-range fire support to help take the heat off them. I usually add in a few Leman Russes to accomplish this. Some heavy artillery would do the same thing.

When making a good army list, it pays to look at how well units will work together, instead of trying to find "teh uber unit" and spamming it multiple times.

I've recently been developing my own "Bubble Wrap" for my tanks when fighting assault-based armies in annihilation games. I take a cheap infantry platoon, and use it to make a screen across the front of my vehicles that are vulnerable to assaults. I mix in some power weapons and a commissar, to give this platoon a bit of survivability in an assault. I deploy them surrounding the Leman russ or other target of import, and keep them spread out enough so that blasts don't cripple them but that they provide anti-assault coverage for the vehicles. I sit these vehicles as far back as the table and their weapon ranges allow, and fire pie-plates all game long.

4) Most Importantly: Form your own opinions and strategies.

Reading it on the internet is one thing, but you have to find what works for you and your army on your own. Everybody has suggestions on how to do it better, and in some cases you should listen to them. But for the most part, you have to figure things out on your own. The best way to do that? Play lots of games! Get as many different players and armies as you can to practice against you. If you get stuck into the same crowd that plays the same armies all the time, try branching out to other areas to game against some new people with new strategies. This is the best way for you to feel out your army, and figure out the "works" and "don't-works" of your strategies and units.




...And that wraps up this article. For those interested, I have been formulating these tips as I get repeatedly stomped at my new local game store, where I am facing new players and new strategies. I usually get my army handed to me by forgetting to follow my own advice during a game! So try to keep these tips in mind when creating battleplans for your army.

Until next time,
--FP135

Old Codex 'Nid Tactica Pt. 1: Hive Tyrant

Old Codex 'Nid Tactica




I've been getting in a fair number of games with my new Tyranid force lately, and I thought it might be of some benefit to jog down my thoughts on how the force currently plays before the new codex comes out. That way, we can directly compare the two later.

Let's start with a unit summary and my thoughts on using them:

HQ

Hive Tyrant
The Hive Tyrant is a useful addition to armies that utilize a high number of Monstrous Creatures to function effectively. He is a worthy combatant as it is, but you can tailor his Biomorphs to fulfill a certain role. I suggest picking a role and sticking with it, as general-purpose models tend to be A) more expensive and B) less effective at either given role than a purpose-built unit.

The Hive Tyrant is different from most Tyranids in that it has a decent Ballistic Skill, but also has access to the Enhanced Senses Biomorph, making him quite effective with ranged weaponry. The Tyrant also has a fairly decent Strength statistic, making him a good candidate for weaponry such as the Venom Cannon that boost the strength of the attack to the max. Taking weapons to complement the Venom Cannon, such as twin-linked Devourers, will ensure that you're Tyrant fills the gap in ranged weaponry that most Tyranid armies suffer from. With the Living Ammunition special rule, it should be able to make short work out of most infantry.

You can alternatively make your Tyrant a worthy assault combatant. Boosting his stats with Adrenal Glands and Toxin Sacs are a good start. Extra stat boosts like Extended Carapace are optional, but promote the survivability of the Tyrant. A popular Biomorph to add is a pair of Wings, allowing the Tyrant to close across the battlefield rapidly. This variant of Hive Tyrant is sometimes referred to as a "Flyrant". The additional mobility is especially useful to assault-oriented Tyrants, but at the cost of being unable to add the Extended Carapace biomorph.

Choosing weapons for the assault-oriented Tyrant isn't a difficult choice. You can opt for a combination of the following weapons: Scything Talons, Rending Claws, or a Lashwhip & Bonesword. Scything Talons should be your first choice. They add an extra attack in CC, and is the only way you ever will get extra attacks in CC. Rending Claws are useful on regular troops, but a bit redundant on Monstrous Creatures. Since MCs negate armor saves, and roll 2D6 for armor penetration, there isn't much use for the rending ability. The Lashwhip and Bonesword combo offers an interesting mix of assault buffs for your troops and negative attack modifiers for your enemies. The Bonesword makes the Tyrant permanently under the effects of the Catalyst psychic power, which allows the Tyrant to strike back in close combat even if killed before his turn in the initiative order. The Lashwhip is not like the Lash power for Chaos (unfortunately) but instead cuts the attacks of models in base contact with the Tyrant by 1, to a minimum of one. Both of these powers are primarily defensive, but useful when using the Tyrant to counter expensive CC-efficient Special Characters.

And finally, the Hive Tyrant has access to a few of the Tyranid psychic powers. Many of these are intuitive, and don't require psychic tests, and therefore cannot be stopped by wargear such as Psychic Hoods. This is a significant advantage.

He comes with the Synapse Creature power, which makes him and Broods within 12" of him immune to the Instant Death rule, and makes them Fearless. He also comes with the power, The Horror, which forces models that wish to assault him roll a morale test. If they fail, they cannot assault the Tyrant that turn.

Some of the powers the Tyrant has access to include Catalyst- which was described in the Bonesword description above but can apply to any brood within 24" of the Tyrant, and Psychic Scream- which provides a -1 modifier to all enemy Leadership tests for units within 18". It is notable to add that if multiple creatures have this power and are in range to the same unit being affected, the modifier is cumulative. Further powers include A Shadow in the Warp- which forces enemy psychic tests to be made on 3D6 and discount the lowest roll and nullifies all results of Perils of the Warp, Warp Blast- which is one of the few powers that may require a psychic test. It comes in two variances: focused and unfocused. The focused blast is much more powerful, and capable of destroying vehicles, but it is shorter ranged, has to make a psychic test, and also cannot be performed by a creature with the Enhanced Senses biomorph. Finally, there is the power Warp Field, which grants a +2 armor save and a 6 Invulnerable save to the bearer of the power. This sounds like a perfect way to boost the survivability of a "Flyrant", which cannot take the Extended Carapace biomorph.


In summary, remember to choose a role for your Tyrant, and equip him accordingly to that role. I suggest filling the gap as a "shooty" unit, due to his higher-than-average Ballistic skill.

In the next article, we will review the Broodlord. So until next time,
--FP135

Inciting the Mob: IG Hordes

As many of you may have noticed, I am adding to my Imperial Guard army with Catachan infantry garnered from Ebay auctions. I netted 48 of these buggers for around 25 bucks, so I was not too picky with the condition they were in upon arrival. For the record, I hate getting models that were assembled with super glue...

Anyway, after repairing the models, swapping around kit, and constructing the two I was missing from spare bits: I finally have a full platoon of infantry. I managed to outfit each sergeant with one of those really huge-and-mean looking swords/knives, enabling me to count them as either power weapons or regular CCWs as the list requires.

I even had enough bits to construct a PC squad with all flamers, to give a further assault-oriented edge to the unit. I've been playtesting a few ideas, and I have some results:

If you plan to do any assaulting: blob (combine) your infantry squads up and keep them light. Don't stick any heavy weapons that will weigh them down. Straken is an expensive character, but he is a godsend if you are going to be doing any rousing infantry charges. Furious charge and counter-attack are not special rules to be taken lightly, as they can exponentially increase the effectiveness of this platoon on the charge. 5 Sergeants with powerswords on the charge = 15 power attacks made at S4... as effective as a 5-man vanguard squad with power weapons (albeit at lower initiative). What's more, is all those 45 infantry to the rear are great ablative-wound-takers. Your Sergeants can just shrug off the attacks onto their lesser brethren, and keep fighting on.

Low leadership? Worried you will take more wounds than your opponent? That's not always a bad thing. Let them fail that leadership test... as long as you have your Company commander behind them to give the "Get back in the fight!" order, this will put the squad in a prime position to let loose with those lasguns. That sort of volume of fire is bound to do some damage, even on venerated Space Marine units. My last playtest pitted a list that included this platoon against a Blood Angel list, and this platoon was able to eat up two assault squads and a tactical squad without taking significant casualties. How? What they couldn't kill outright in the assault, they would decimate with a fusillade of lasgun rounds after the regroup. It was a bit risky, but the 10 point addition of a vox to each the infantry squad(s) and the command squad made it worth it. Counter-attack made them receive charges like champs too, getting the extra attack (if not the S and initiative bonuses).

This platoon type is spendy though, and can only ever focus on one target at a time. It is also awful-slow, and requires decent deployment space. Let's not forget to mention the monotony of moving 55 infantry models just for one turn... and moving them every time you assault or receive a charge... it is quite a task. Experienced horde army players may be used to this, but it is new to me. If you are like me, you much prefer to push a couple tanks around and get right into the shooting.

For that reason, I probably will not make horde IG my preferred style, just because I am too lazy to move that many infantry models. Just be aware though, that these kinds of armies have their merits. Don't underestimate the Queen of Battle, the poor bloody infantry.

For the hobby aspect of it, I am not looking forward to painting another 50 infantry models like I did last month... But hopefully since I don't plan on them being integral to my list for this month's competition, I won't have to meet a deadline to getting them done.

So what are some of the ways you run your IG platoons?

Until next time,
--FP135

Let's Talk Tactics: Leman Russ Demolisher Kit

This post is a lot like a continuation of the review I did for this kit a few days ago. Since that post, I have since playtested every variant in a couple different configurations to try and determine what works and what doesn't. I'll share the tips I picked up with you.

1. Remember, the Demolisher kit is still a variant of the Leman Russ. It does have higher side and rear armor, but not in a significant amount... So don't think of it as a Land Raider. Keep its flanks guarded.

2. Each Variant has a specific job to do. Think of your Demolisher kit as a toolbox, and you need to pick the right ones for the job at hand. List synergy is more important than the effectiveness of this tank individually.

3. Most of these variants are designed to be most effective at medium to close ranges. This opens up your tank to assaults. Again, implement a strategy to guard your flanks and keep as many assaulting units at bay as possible. A tactic I have seen used is surrounding the tank with a tarpit of regular guardsman.

4. (This is more of a modeling tip than anything else-) Remember that this kit does not have the accessory sprue. I almost always put a pintile-mounted Heavy Stubber on my vehicles to add a defensive weapon. 10 points for a weapon that gets three 36" range shots at S4, on the move even, isn't too shabby. You may have to find other sources to get these stubbers, but it is the one upgrade I always recommend.


Well that does it for the general tips, now on to variant specific tips:

DEMOLISHER

Remember KISS- keep it simple stupid! The Demolisher is used for similar purposes as the regular LRBT, albeit at a shorter range. It is slightly more powerful though, making it better for taking out groups or units you really don't want around. It eats terminators for breakfast, instant-killing them and bypassing their armor. If they fail their invul. saves, their dead meat... even those fancy terminator chaplains and captains. It also has a very high S ordinance main weapon, making it effective at destroying enemy vehicles. Adding Pask to this tank gives you an effective close-support tank, at a pretty comparable price to the standard LRBT. Since the demolisher is designed to work at short range, the hull weapon you choose really comes down to list synergy again. If you are lacking anti-tank firepower at range, then a lascannon is a safe bet. If you plan on using it as a line-breaking infantry-eating device of devastation, a Heavy Flamer is a great idea. The Heavy Bolter is really only useful if you want a bit farther reach than the Flamer, but in most cases I would much rather take the Flamer for this variant. The sponsons you choose also goes into list synergy... and the planned role the tank will play. To save points and keep your tank from being too points-heavy, sometimes it is better to not take sponsons. If you want to augment your tank's role, then sponsons can come in handy (especially if you don't plan on moving the tank a whole lot). If you intend on continuing your trend with a close-range tank killer, then Multi-Melta sponsons will really make this tank a lethal close-range bulldog. Plasma-cannon sponsons are spendy, but can further augment the role of heavy-infantry killer. For a cheap way to make the tank absolutely dangerous to regular infantry, adding Heavy Flamer sponsons is the way to go. Again, heavy bolters only have limited uses. If you don't want to spend the extra 20 points for PC sponsons, then the cheap 20 point H.Bolter sponsons are an alternative to give you some more 36" range weapon shots. Me... I'd just go with the PC sponsons.

PUNISHER

I think this tank is overcosted for the role it is designed for. Pretty much, you are not taking this tank to do anything other than kill regular infantry, such as Ork Boyz or Guardsman. This tank is designed for math-hammerists, it seems. Twenty S5 shots sounds great on paper... until you consider that the tank's BS is a measly 3. That pretty much guarantees that about half those shots are going to miss. Factor in that there is no AP for the Punisher's Gatling gun, and that it's range is limited to 24", and you see where the problem comes in. Like the Demolisher, this puts you in close range, and in danger of being assaulted. To really make this tank effective in the role it is designed for, it takes a lot of points. To ensure that more than half (on average, that is) of your shots hit, you need to upgrade it with Pask. Now we're looking at 230 points. H.Bolter sponsons for more shots... plus a pintile stubber for a defensive weapon... you're looking at a 260 point tank for killing some infantry. Ouch. On the other hand though, if you're going to spend that many points on it, it should do a pretty substantial amount of damage to it's intended targets. With all the bolters added, that comes out to 29 S5 shots that have a 66.6 percent chance of hitting (with pask), plus the pintile stubber rounds. You're bound to kill a handful of regular infantry models with that many shots hitting their targets. I still feel as though there are better alternatives to this tank, however. If you want to take this variant, then remember it's intended role and use it as such... don't try putting Lascannons, Multi-meltas, or Plasma-cannons on it.

EXECUTIONER

This one is a fun variant, but on the spendy-side. A Plasma cannon that spits out 3 blast pie-plates in one shot is a pretty great main weapon for destroying termies or light transports. The most expensive by far, though. The plasma cannon sponsons adds a pair of pie-plates you can throw down, but at a pretty heavy price. Of course, this variant makes mince-meat of infantry squads better than the Punisher (in my opinion), so it is probably worth it! Adding Pask doesn't help its role much, unless you are using it to pop light transports, but since the Plasma cannons use the scatter dice the fifty-point addition is not totally necessary. I would normally take a Lascannon as the hull weapon, to ensure the tank can defend itself against other armor, as well as insta-kill any independent characters. None of the other hull weapons really aid in this variant's role. For sponson weapons... really for me its only a choice between running it without sponsons or with Plasma-cannons. Again, none of the other sponsons really add anything to the tank's main roles. You could take Multi-meltas to further the anti-vehicle capability, but that's a matter of preference.




In summary, the most cost-efficient variant is likely to be the Demolisher. A high S blast weapon with low AP makes for a fine main gun, albeit a short ranged one. The most overcosted for the role is the Punisher. It is unable to fulfill its role with any sort of efficiency without very heavy points investments. The most expensive period is the Executioner, but it is very effective at its intended role. All of them are great tanks though, and have their uses. Just remember to synchronize them with your lists, and specialize them for their intended roles.

Let's Talk Tactics: IG in Cities of Death

The next scheduled tournament next month is slated to be a Cities of Death tournament, at 1500 points. I am tickled pink, as I consider this to be my specialty! On ebay I saw two of the old-model Demolishers going for cheap, so I picked them up. I also have been constructing various ICs of differing kinds, and for this tournament I figured Straken would be appropriate.

Let's get into the meat and potatoes of the issue: IG are primarily a "shooty" army, right? So how in the sand-heck are they supposed to contend in a game that places emphasis on tight-quarters battles? Well, I have a few ideas to throw down-

Imperial Guard are PRIMARILY shooty, but they have plenty of options to be more effective in close combat. For example, Colonel Straken lends models within a certain distance of him to have the Counter Attack and Furious Charge special rules. This is in addition to his effectiveness as a combatant himself. As a WS 5, T 4, and S 6, he is not to be taken lightly in assaults. Heaping on the special rules he has access to, he truly becomes a monster in close combat. Thus, I considered him absolutely essential to a cityfight game.

Sometimes, the best way to approach a problem is not from the front, but from the sides! IG are not Space Marines; they don't need to bash their way through opposition all the time. Therefore, using units that have the ability to outflank can prove invaluable at hitting from an angle that one does not expect. There are several ways you can accomplish an outflanking maneuver- A) Take some scout units such as Scout Sentinels, and an Astropath to help ensure they make it on the side of the board they need to go on. B) The special character Usakar Creed lends the outflank ability to any single unit in your army. An outflanking Russ squadron or entire Infantry Platoon is pretty scary. C) Alternatively, if you take the SC Al'Rahem, any part of his Infantry Platoon MUST outflank. I see this as being the worst of the three choices, because it does not leave the decision to outflank up to you.

Those are general ideas that benefit the army strategically, but let's look at tactical decisions you can make in your list based on the units that are available to you:

Veterans can really come into their own in the dense confines of a city table. Melta-vets need short distances to be effective against armor anyway, so having terrain-dense boards like those that are frequently seen in Cities of Death can give them something to hide behind while they close for the kill. If Chimeras don't do much more than add a killpoint for you, then take them out and give the squad either Carapace or Forward Sentinels doctrines. The abundance of cover makes this one of the few instances that you would actually use the Forward Sentinels doctrine, mainly for the cover buff the stealth cloaks give. If you still prefer to have them safely tucked inside a Chimera, then I suggest adding the dozer-blade wargear to the transport for a mere 10 points. That may seem like it would add up, but it is far more costly to risk losing a Chimera to a poor Difficult-Terrain roll.

Now the fun kinds of tanks start showing their worth, as well. Demolishers, Executioners, and Punishers all have a higher rear armor value than any of the other Russ variants. Since assault attacks hit against the rear armor value, that one point makes a HUGE difference in a Cities of Death game where the enemy can be in assault range before you have a chance to fire. Additionally, the shorter effective range of these tank's main armaments make these better suited for this kind of fight.

Fast Attack slots are in high demand as always, and if you have the models, it is pretty much garunteed that the lowly Rough Riders or Sentinels are going to lose out to Vendettas, Valks, and Hellhound variants. The ability to simply cruise over the terrain with a Valk or Vendetta is an obvious advantage, and the amount of firepower those fliers can put out is pretty staggering as well. Add in some suicide Vets with Demolitions, or even Storm Troopers with Meltaguns for a quick grav-chute insertion, and you have a pretty top-notch contender for those FA slots. Your pocketbook might say otherwise, however... the Hellhound variants are slightly cheaper, and no less deadly. They lack any sort of transport capacity of course, but the array of short-ranged weaponry they mount is brutal. The one I am drooling over is the Devil Dog, or the Melta-hound as it is referred to by some. It sports a special kind of meltagun that spits out a blast template up to 24" that is truly terrifying. Another popular variant is the Bane Wolf, or Chem hound. It has an AP3 template, that wounds on 2+ automatically due to being a poison weapon. This has "MEQ-killer" written all over it. It definitely wrecks somebody's day, given the chance to get within template distance. The standard Hellhound seems to be less popular these days, as it's S 6 and AP 4 template are not quite as good as you would expect for a main-armament weapon. It's template, however, can be placed up to 12" away from the weapon's muzzle, making it one of the most range-effective of the 3 variants.

Artillery has been referred to as the "King of Battle" before, and in Cities of Death this becomes even more apparent. The advantage of firing while remaining out-of-sight is pretty obvious, but the real trick to the artillery is matching the power of the weapon for the job you need it for, as well as ensuring that the range contributes to that role as well. For example, the standard Basilisk might be fine for normal games that take place on a 4x6' board, where the high-power and long range are better utilized, but on a smaller 4x4' board that is the city-fight standard for Alpha and Gamma level games... the minimum range of 36" basically renders this artillery piece as a glorified gun emplacement: needing to shoot what it sees. In a Cityfight, the best bang for your buck is going to come from one of two artillery pieces, in this author's opinion: either the Medusa or the Griffon. The Medusa does not suffer from a minimum range due to not being an barrage weapon. The only weapon that comes close to the power of a Medusa is the Basilisk, which suffers from a massive minimum range requirement. If you are going to have to shoot over iron-sights anyway, it may as well be with the bigger gun, right? The Griffon is one of my preferred artillery pieces for a Cities of Death game, because it has a very short minimum range and it has the Accurate Bombardment special rule that allows a re-roll of the scatter dice. At S 6, AP 4, it is still going to threaten infantry as well as light armor (because remember that barrage weapons resolve hits as if they hit the side armor, to represent the weaker top armor), but deliver its payload much more efficiently. At a maximum range of 48", that is more than enough for Alpha and Gamma level boards.

Now let's talk about Infantry Platoons... In this game, you need to make a choice with your infantry platoons. Are they going to be mobile, and take objectives? Or are they going to be stationary, and lay down covering fire down open avenues? If the former, then you are going to want to take assault weapons (i.e. flamers and whatnot). If it is the latter, you will want to outfit some squads with Heavy Weapon teams such as lascannons, missile launchers, autocannons, or mortars. This is one of the few game types where the mortars can come into play rather effectively, so I like to add a squad of them to tuck out-of-sight to harass the opponent's infantry. For my squads, I kit them according to what weaponry I think my army is missing... usually Lascannons or Missile Launchers. If you are keeping them mobile, blob them together and have your flamers lead the way, putting enemies to the torch. If you are static and using gun-teams, then you have the choice of blobbing them for extra-padding for the gun teams, or keeping them separate to take different firing lanes. Either way you run them, you can use your PCS accordingly. The PCS can either stay close-by for order support, or it can do its own thing. Be forewarned, however, and take note that a PCS is only half the size of a single squad and has many less soldiers to use as ablative wounds. It is considerably more fragile than your other units.

And lastly, I like using Storm Troopers. True, they are a lot more expensive than vets and they are not scoring, but consider this: they have better armor, better standard weapons, the same ballistic skill, and they also have the benefit of their Special Operations rule. This allows them to do whatever you think will suit your strategic plan best- infiltrate and cause pinning on the first round of firing, reroll your scatter dice on a deepstrike, or move-through-cover and scout. This allows a great amount of tactical flexibility. I prefer to deepstrike them accurately in the opponents backfield, distracting him and causing his advance to falter. He has to make the choice of doubling back to defeat this threat quickly, or hoping that the Storm Troopers won't kill everything if he doesn't outright destroy it right away. The more special weapons you have in this squad, the harder it is for him to ignore... 2 meltaguns make them definitely not a unit he wants deepstriking behind a squadron of Leman Russes or an ordinance battery. And of course, the AP 3 hot-shots are tailor-made for puncturing Space Marine power armor, or those Tau suits. Sure its still only S 3, but think of how many wounds you would get with those regular lasguns if your opponent wasn't allowed to roll all those saves... And if your opponent has power armor troops, chances are he isn't making them stick to cover that much. Most SM or CSM players get used to not needing the cover unless faced with heavy weaponry, so it is likely that a deepstriking unit that can puncture their armor will catch them unaware.


Finally, we come to Stratagems. If you haven't already, pop over to GW's website and look up their stratagems specifically released for the IG in CoD. I'll just go over some of my favorites:

First up is Forward Spotters. This can give you a theme to your army by itself... basically any unit that has a voxcaster can "spot" for ordinance weapons... meaning that if a vox-equipped unit has LOS to the target of the barrage, then the barrage weapon can re-roll the scatter dice as if it is twin-linked. This stratagem can be a huge help to armies that rely on mortars and ordinance batteries. It can even be of use to a Master of Ordinance! It is listed under the Dirty Tricks category.

Second is less useful, but a neat idea for conversionists or kit-bashers. It's called a Killdozer Tracked Ordinance device, and it is under the Armory category. Basically its a bomb on wheels that can escort "an elite infantry unit" and be used to blow up a single city ruin. I could see where this could have its uses, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

Third up is a Key Building, called a Voxbooster. If an officer is inside the building, this device adds an extra 12" inches to his command range. Can you imagine Creed giving orders up to 36" away? Especially on a smaller 4'x4' board, this could be invaluable.

Fourth is another Key Building, called a Communications Relay. As long as a friendly unit occupies it, the Array grants the player the ability to re-roll any of his reserve rolls he wishes. It says that nearly word-for-word on the website, so I see that this might be interpreted differently, but to me it is pretty clear that you only should get ONE reroll of a reserve roll per turn.

Fifth is definitely unique... but it would take some uniquely-converted miniatures to pull off. Its called Lascutters, and it is part of the Armory category. It allows any infantry unit to be outfitted with a single Lascutter, which in turn allows the unit to move through an impassable terrain feature to the other side by treating it as difficult terrain, with the condition that the entire unit must roll a high enough difficult terrain test to move through it in one turn. No stopping in the middle! Again, the rules are kind of vague, but I am sure you can't use the cutter to move through an impossible water feature! Using your head and playing fair, not being "That Guy", and generally being a good sport will show its valor here.

There are a few more, but they are not my favorites, so go on over to the site and check them out.


So, to Recap:
You can gear you're army to have more assault-proficient units.
You can opt for avoiding direct confrontation and approach from the flanks
Keep in mind that the units you choose will be fighting in closer quarters and at shorter ranges, and that line of sight will often be obstructed.
Also keep in mind there will be abundant cover, and to utilize it to your advantage.
There are a wide variety of stratagems available to Guard players, as written on GW's website article "Imperial Guard: Cities of Death Tactics."

Well, that concludes this in-depth look at Imperial Guard and their uses in Cities of Death games. Did I leave anything out? Feel free to add to this post by commenting!

Until next time,
FP135

Let's Talk Tactics: IG Infantry

If you snoop around on the forums a lot, you may come across two very common types of list for the infantryman's IG: Mechanized or Static Gun-line. It seems to be common consensus that the former is quickly rendering the latter obsolete, but I think a healthy balance in the two is a good approach. I call this: "Mech with an Anchor".

I have gotten in 3 games in the last week with my newly-raised IG army, at varying points levels, and am starting to form ideas on what works and what does not. For example: lone Sentinel = fail. Squad of Sentinels = not fail. I have noticed that the mechanized veteran squads definitely increase the army's mobility, but at some sacrifice in stand-off punch. The normal infantry platoon has better access to the heavy weapons with specialized squads, and thus are able to hold off heavier units with the aid of such weapons. I don't necessarily like the cookie-cutter lists that are circulating the nets now, that mainly consist of veteran squads in Valkyries or Chimeras copy-paste-copy-paste... This is A) too expensive, with how much a valk or Chimera kit is running these days, and B) somewhat unimaginative. The Gunline lists are not much easier on the wallet, and becoming somewhat outdated due to their immobility. I wanted to create a slightly fluffier force than either extreme list, to keep games at the club more interesting and to keep more money in my wallet. I settled on a mix between the two, opting for a single Veteran squad in a Chimera (with plans to buy at least one more Chimera kit in the future), two Veteran squads on foot, and a single Infantry Platoon.

The Infantry Platoon, for a single troops choice, can contain nearly any amount of points you wish to dump into it. It is possible to make a single platoon worth just over 2700 points at full strength (and with the most expensive wargear options)... that's almost an apocalypse game right there! Not that anybody would want to, much less be able to, field a platoon of that size, but it's fun to think about! I opted for a smaller size, fielding a simple two infantry squads, two heavy weapon squads, and the PCS. One heavy weapon squad was comprised of Mortars, and the other Lascannons. The PCS was outfitted with a fun little combo: two Flamers, a Vox, and a single Heavy Flamer. I would take more infantry squads, to help blob them up, but I don't have that many models yet.

This is the basic premise of the Mechanized Anchor strategy: Your 'Mech vets are the outriders, pushing forward as quickly as possible in their transports to take and hold objectives. The next wave are your less-mobile, but still as dangerous, veteran squads on foot, along with any other limited mobility units such as Sentinels or Tanks. The last wave is a mass of regular Guardsman, as many as you could fit into the platoons. Use the PCS to burn out any dug-in opposition and rally the infantry or drive them forward more quickly with orders. The heavy weapons, still troop choices, sit back on the rear objectives with the Company Command squad to play Goalie. A trio of Lascannons with a Company Commander's "Bring it Down!" order is usually enough for the games I play, but I have considered stepping it up another squad of autocannons or missile launchers for some anti-infantry defense. A trio of mortars is handy, dependent on the opposing force. I find that the mortars do little more than piss off MEQ forces, as the mortar shells do little to harm anything but the most basic troopers.

You need mobile anti-armor assets though. I have heard good things of the Devil Dog, but I do not have the money to buy several kits and run multiple tank units in my already-tight list. Therefore, I opted for one big slugger that can dish it out as well as it can take it: the Leman Russ. The variant used is a matter of personal taste, but I use the LRBT to fulfill the role of anti-armor platform and I equip it as such: A Vanquisher with an additional Lascannon does the trick nicely, but I prefer the Demolisher if I think that the range will not be an issue and I have enough points. The large blast at STR 10 and AP 2 allows the Demolisher to play equally well at either anti-armor or anti-infantry. If I feel that I have enough AT already in my list, I will generally rely on the old fallback: the standard LRBT. The battlecannon is perfectly sufficient as a general-purpose munition, able to still put the hurt on MEQ and able to penetrate all but the heaviest vehicle armor.

You can go back and look at my old list, but it hasn't changed much. I am finding that the Guard has a special little niche for nearly any type of player; from treadheads, to horde footsloggers, to Mechanized and Air Calvary, the Guard has a slice of it for us all. Grab a fork and dig in, or your E-tool if you feel so inclined!

Don't forget, next post is the 100th of this blog! It may be a few days, as I want to collect enough material to make it memorable! Watch for it!

Until next time,
--FP135

Let's Talk Tactics: Assault Marines vs Vanguard Veterans

In the last post, I discussed a few ways that Assault Marines might stack up against a SM player's regular troop options. In this post, we will explore the FAQ: "Assault Squad or Vanguard Veterans?"

First, let's check the stat line. At first glance, the Vanguard Squad looks exactly the same as the standard Assault Squad's stat line. However, you will notice that a Vanguard Veteran gains an additional attack, as well as a point in Leadership. This isn't in the stat line, but I thought it might be relevant: Vanguard also benefit from the "Heroic Intervention" special rule. Furthermore, Vanguard have a wider choice of weapons and wargear. Both are considered Fast Attack options, and thus neither edges an advantage from organizational choice.

Now the points. Some may argue this is the disqualifying point for including the Vanguard, and I'm inclined to agree. A Vanguard Squad costs 25 points more than a regular Assault Squad right off the bat. Now consider that a Vanguard squad does not even have Jump Packs included in those points; you have to pay for them separately. A whopping 10 points extra per veteran is what those will cost you. It would be cheaper to put them in a Razorback or a Rhino, but then you lose the Deep Strike ability and the independent mobility the jump packs bring. Although the Veterans get better weapon options, those cost extra too.

So, it boils down to this: Is it really worth the points for the extra attack and the weapon options? I think no. Tell me what you think!

DSL finally up! Let's Talk Tactics: Assault Marines

Well, I'm now settled in and we finally got our DSL running. I haven't had time for a Sunday Terrain piece, but I have been painting a few miniatures in order to get a jump on June's goals! This assault marine is the first I have been working on this month.

I really love the visual quality of Assault Marines. Their poses are pretty dynamic and look great, but thinking tactically in a non-Blood Angel list, are they even worth taking? Many competitive lists I have seen do not include Assault Squads. Why is this?

At first glance, they do not seem to be significantly better than a tactical squad. Their only visible difference is their wargear, which includes jump packs and the combination of a pistol and ccw. While the pack gives them better mobility, and the weapon combination gives them 3 attacks on the charge, this still does not seem significantly better than their tactical brethren. However, when you compare the two in points, the Assault squad is only 10 points more expensive. That comes out to 2 points more per marine, which is not too bad for the addition of jump packs. If you feel so inclined, you could also switch out all their jump packs for a rhino, giving you a cheap trade for the transport (20 points really). The main advantage of Tactical squads over the Assault squads seems to be that only the tactical squads are scoring units. Assault marines do not seem that bad.

But how to incorporate them into my force? How to use them during a game? Assault Marines typically stand out on the battlefield, due to their larger-sized jump packs, and so I find they draw a lot of fire as they hop on up to charge. On terrain-dense boards this may not be such a problem, but on open fields they can get picked apart. A tactic I have found to be useful is to use other unit's transports as a screen while they advance. The transports are likely to get blown up, but as long as they block LOS to the squad long enough for them to position for a charge it can be worth it. If they don't get blown up, they can do all sorts of fun stuff like tank shock infantry out of the way, ram intervening vehicles, etc.

What other ideas do you have for Assault Marines? Next article we will compare the standard Assault Marine vs. the Vanguard Veteran

Let's Talk Tactics: Creating SM Lists for Cities of Death FAQ

There is a tournament at my friendly local gaming store (FLGS) this weekend, and it is a 1500 point cityfight competition. It will be battle points only, so we will skip painting considerations and dive straight into the tactics!

In Cities of Death, most game types require you to "occupy" a building in order to get the win. Buildings themselves become the objectives, and you will find your units battling fiercely to repel attackers as well as furiously throwing themselves upon defenders. With the advent of 5th edition, the mechanics of these city-fights have changed somewhat. Before 5th, there was a complicated list of scoring units and stipulations on what units could occupy buildings for the win. Now, only troop choices can occupy buildings as scoring units, and only other scoring units can contest a building's occupancy.

Begin the FAQ mode:

Q: What does this mean to your army list?

A: Troops. Lots of them. For some of the veteran players, that prefer to minimize troop choices and take the max in elite, fast attack, and heavy support, this method of list building can be contrary to what they are used to. For us SM players, it means either a lot of scouts, or a lot of tactical squads. Leave your bike lists at home, as the limited maneuvering room will limit their effectiveness in this kind of battle.

Q: So we now know to take tactical troops. Can you be a little more specific?

A: Yes, I can! Take your tactical squads in the full allotments of 10 troopers per squad. Using combat squads can double the number of scoring units, and give you greater flexibility with their combat roles. For example, you can delegate your flamer or meltagun to one combat squad, and your heavy weapon to the other. Do NOT use combat squads in killpoint games, however, because you double the amount of kill points for each squad.

Q: What special/heavy weapon options do I need to take with them?

A: Take weapons based on your opponents list, if you have that information available. Meltaguns/multimeltas work fairly well against armored lists in the tight confines of a city board. For anti-horde work, nothing digs troops out of cover better than flamers. For anti-horde heavy lifting, try a heavy bolter. If you want more general-purpose weaponry, if you don't know what list you will be facing, I suggest flamers/missile launcher combos. The missile launcher can be effective against either light armor or infantry hordes, and the flamer is best for negating cover saves. Additionally, the flamer/missile launcher combo does not cost any additional points to a full 10 man squad, making it the most cost effective option.

Q: What other units work well in city fights, to support my troops?

A: I like my SM cityfighting lists to be infantry heavy. It is kind of hard to get your vehicles around in cityfights, and there are various stratagems that can make it even harder on you (i.e. anti-tank obstacles). With infantry, you can slow them down but rarely stop them. I like to take dreadnoughts for heavy hitting power and tough armor. The multi-meltas really work well in the city fight environ for taking out armor, but they have enough assault capability to dislodge units from buildings. Taking a flamer instead of a storm bolter is helpful to that end. Assault marines really shine in cityfights too, where their advanced mobility and lots of cover lets them get real close without taking a lot of fire beforehand. Terminators are my last choice, but sometimes fit the bill for some heavy shock troops to dislodge tougher opponents holed up in buildings or ruins. I rarely deepstrike units, as this can lead to epic failures with all that terrain scattered about.

Q: What's your cityfighting list look like now?

A: I'm still working out the various kinks and numbers, but I'll post that later today if I get time.

Q: Why do you ramble on about this junk so much?

A: Just trying to help!

Q: You suck at this.

A: That's not a question!


What other tips do you SM players have to add to this?

Let's Talk Tactics: Space Marine Biker Lists

Due to the bids going high on some of my products on ebay, I have yet again began looking to expand my SM lists. Something that has got my attention as of late is the rules for fielding an entirely mobile force via the special character Kor'Sarro Khan of the White Scars. Of course, you can have any chapter and use a "counts as" biker for the Khan, but I would think it would have to be appropriately modeled.

A sample of the SM Bike madness:

Kor'Sarro with his bike Moondrakkan

6 Squads of SM bikers, as troop choices, with +3 Bikes and Attack Bikes with Multi-meltas

This list runs you just under 1500 points at 1495. In a 1750 or a 2000 point list, you could fill 3 Fast Attack slots with more biker units, or give the troops special weapons like meltaguns. This sounds like an absolutely deadly list to use against some IG treadhead lists.

Think about it: You have got so many bikes zipping around with high toughness, decent armor saves, and TL bolters. Then add in the attack bikes with Multi-meltas, and you have a formidable fast-attacking force. Further add in meltaguns for each squad, and you have a truly fearsome tank busting list.

Some downsides:
A) The cost of buying so many freaking bikes. The thought alone makes my wallet wince. If you calculate that at the current price for a boxed set of 3 is 45 dollars, you can assume 15 dollars a bike is a fair estimate, if you consider that shipping will probably cost as much as you would save by buying at discount. You have 36 regular bikes, + Khan, + 6 attack bikes. The regular bikes alone would cost around 540 USD!!! Ouch! You still have the attack bikes and Khan. If the attack bikes are 20 (which is a very lowball estimate) you still end up tacking another 120 USD onto that 540, then another 15 at the least for a Kor'Sarro Khan. Grand total being 675 USD! At that cost, do you know how many AoBR sets you could buy? You could buy probably at least twelve, giving you 120 Tactical Marines, 12 Captains/Masters, 60 Terminators, and 12 Dreadnoughts, plus another 240 ork boyz, 60 nobs, 12 warbosses, and 36 deffcoptas! Kinda puts things in perspective, huh?
B) The lack of long range weaponry. Almost every single weapon in this list is limited to 24 inches or less. Your average board usually isn't longer than 4' wide, or at least mine aren't, so with a turboboost of 24" you can usually fill this gap pretty quick. But what if you don't get to go first? Then you can get picked apart by some opponents who are quick to grasp the idea.
C) The lack of numbers. You will get eaten alive by hordes, who will soak up your attacks with ease. I am thinking of boyz spam lists, which can be as heavy as up to 240 boys in a 1500 point list. Of course, that kind of horde is not going to have very powerful attacks, but with that many bodies of troops, that player won't need them. Quantity has a quality all of its own.
D) No Chapter Tactics. This means no choosing to fail morale tests, because Khan's special tactics overrides this. This may be a minor drawback to some, but to others it limits their tactical usefulness.

Some upsides:
A) Outflanking the enemy- a squad or two can be held back in reserve to outflank later in the game. With the short-range hitting power of melta weapons, this can ruin somebody's day if they have been keeping that armor at hull-down behind that hill!
B) They have turboboosters. This allows them to go a mind boggling distance across the board, as well as gives them additional protection from shooting that turn. They can't fire weapons that turn, but if you find yourself far away from any juicy targets, then this can turn the tide.
C) They also have higher Toughness. A higher Toughness allows them to absorb a bit more damage than your average tactical squad. This doesn't work in all situations, and they still can be instant-killed, but it does help get them close enough to shoot those guns.
D) Potential for LOTS of melta weapons. At 2 meltaguns and 1 multimelta per squad, this build allows you to really pour it on. Mech' armies will cry as your fast bikers pop open their transports like soda cans dropped down a flight of stairs.

Well, that should give you some food for thought on using SM bikes. At serious peril to your income, a biker list would definitely be a joy to play, even if not the most competitive list out there.

Let's Talk Tactics:SM Anti-horde

Arguably, some of the most effective armies out there right now consist of hordes. Orks and IG are foremost in my mind, and each take a different kind of tactic in order to win against them. Orks have the combination of numbers, toughness, and assault capability, whereas Guard horde players have numbers, shooting capability, and more numbers. Therefore, some minor adjustments to your SM list can specialize to one or the other.

Ork Hordes:
Weaponry with high-strength blast templates are better for orks due to their higher-toughness than most units. Plasma Cannons, Demolisher Cannons, and even the standard Missile Launcher can be of use here. A Whirlwind launcher might be decent if stuck in a back corner, but I wouldn't bet on it surviving long if your enemy has any sort of flanking units like Deffcoptas. Decent strength teardrop templates are also great, but generally you don't want to be that close to them because they will assault the crap out of you. If you do find yourself in that assault range cordon, then be sure to try to get the assault first before they do. This will rob them of the benefits of furious charge, and might save you from some casualties. Against a primarily-horde army, there is one more trick you can try: Heavy Armor. This is the bane of the normal boyz squad, as they can barely scratch its thick hide. Throw in some Dreadnoughts for support, preferrably standard or venerables with missile launchers or plasma cannons, and you have a pretty tough nut to crack. Keep on the lookout for weapons that can crack it, however, such as a Zzzzap guns, shokk guns, killcannons, etc. Nothing ruins your day like watching a LR and its dreadnought companions going up in smoke in a single shooting turn from your enemy. Wave goodbye to over 400 points of your list!

Imperial Guard Hordes:
Luckily, most IG troops are not tough like the ork hordes. Unfortunately, they have a TON of shooting firepower, even if it is those crappy Lasguns. Because they have to shoot, at least that means they are pretty static and cannot move around and run about if they want to bring that shooting power to bear. Your SM have good armor, so taking cover will not protect you unless you are completely out of LOS, so don't bother. Instead, charge in! Blood Angel and Black Templar players can have a field day with it. BA DC squads can shrug off an amazing amount of fire, and their rhinos are especially effective at getting them across the board quickly. Better yet, get a LR! Get your DC into one of those bad boys and assault them right into the front lines! A chappy and his Liturgies of Hate will keep you thumpin' heads left and right. Get those VAS jumping in the fray too, with their multiple attacks! The more contact you can make, the less the IG can shoot. Get some teardrop template weapons in your Tactical squads, so they can fry on the charge. Be wary though, if you fry too many IG before you can initiate assault contact, that leaves you open for a short range barrage of fire from nearby units!

Some tips on things to avoid:
*Heavy bolters are a win/lose. They generally can't hit as many targets in a round of shooting as a regular blast template. On the other hand, they are slightly more powerful than a frag missile blast, so it can be useful in some instances. For the points though, it is usually safer to use the ML since it can fire Kraks too.
*Try to cut down on expensive options. More bodies will help close the gap, and give you more offensive capability in the long run. I generally limit my HQ option to just the Chaplain, and leave my special characters at home. The SCs are usually super-expensive, and they can go down quickly if they get caught by a horde. Use the points to put in another squad of marines, or a vehicle that won't be easily penetrated.
*Be wary of your plasma weapons, for the usual reasons.
*Avoid high-strength, high-cost, single shot weapons such as lascannons. Unless the horde army has vehicles, and you want that unit to be specifically Anti-tank, then leave your Lascannons at home. They don't have the potential for wounding hordes for the cost. This means you are better off leaving you Predator sponsons at home if you don't have the heavy bolters for it.

Can you think of any other effective anti-horde tips?