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Prepping for the Tournament


While I’ve been working on my Deathrain suits, I’ve been contemplating my army list for the tournament, and whether I wanted to make any changes to it. Then the other day Old Shatter Hands posted this video breakdown of his 1850-point army. His approach to his army, especially in regards to how he handles troops, got me thinking. I have to agree with his assessment that Fire Warriors just aren’t currently worth their points as-is, but since we have to take them, we might as well make the best of them. That means keeping them mobile and off the table as long as possible. I’ve tried the static gunline thing, and as much as I like the idea of it, it just doesn’t work in 5th Edition as well as it did in the past. Assault happens too quickly, and their shooting is too unreliable thanks to a mid-range BS and plentiful cover saves. (As an aside, I find Markerlights to be too expensive a fix for Fire Warriors.) I think I’m going to follow OSH’s advice and keep small units of Fire Warriors in ‘fish, instead of large ones. I’m also freeing up the Helios suits and replacing them with a pair of Piranhas; I’ve had good luck with the increased mobility, and it’s a source of more gun drones that can contest objectives as needed.

So, I’ve made a hybrid of his list and mine, which I can hopefully try out in a few practice games before the tournament itself:

HQ: Commander Shas’el (264 pts)
1 Commander Shas’el(Cyclic Ion Blaster; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Plasma Rifle; Targeting Array)
2 Crisis Bodyguards (Hard-wired Drone Controller; Hard-wired Multi-tracker; Plasma Rifle; Twin Linked Burst Cannon)
2 Gun Drones

Elite: Crisis Battlesuit (186 pts)
3 Crisis Battlesuits (Missile Pod; Plasma Rifle; Multi-Tracker)

Elite: Crisis Battlesuit (94 pts)
2 Crisis Battlesuit (Flamer; Twin Linked Missile Pod)

Troops: Fire Warrior (155 pts)
6 Fire Warriors (Pulse Rifle x6)
1 Devilfish (Gun Drones; Disruption Pod; Multi-Tracker)

Troops: Fire Warrior (155 pts)
6 Fire Warriors (Pulse Rifle x6)
1 Devilfish (Gun Drones; Disruption Pod; Multi-Tracker)

Troops: Fire Warrior (155 pts)
6 Fire Warriors (Pulse Rifle x6)
1 Devilfish (Gun Drones; Disruption Pod; Multi-Tracker)

Fast Attack: Piranha Light Skimmer (70 pts)
1 Piranha Light Skimmer (Fusion Blaster; Gun Drones x2; Disruption Pod)

Fast Attack: Piranha Light Skimmer (70 pts)
1 Piranha Light Skimmer (Fusion Blaster; Gun Drones x2; Disruption Pod)

Heavy Support: Hammerhead Gunship (170 pts)
1 Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun; Two Burst Cannons; Disruption Pod; Multi-Tracker; Target Lock)

Heavy Support: Hammerhead Gunship (180 pts)
1 Hammerhead Gunship (Railgun; Smart Missile System; Disruption Pod; Multi-Tracker; Target Lock)

Total Roster Cost: 1499

On a side note, I ordered two Devilfish sprues from The War Store, so I should have three ‘fish available for my Fire Warriors by the 23rd. Everything’s falling into place for the tournament! I may not have everything painted, or even primed (curse you, winter temperatures!), but since it’s not a requirement for this tournament, I think I’ll manage.

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This entry was posted on January 7, 2010, 7:29 pm and is filed under Army Lists. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Sholto
    Looks like a solid mech list. You don't have targeting arrays on your piranhas. I like having a 3+ to hit with their fusion blasters rather than a 4+, but if you can't spare the points and are planning to use them for other purposes then that's understandable.

    Looking forward to seeing how your army does at the tourny. Lots of photos?
  • As many as I can get. :)

    And I'll see if I can fit in targeting arrays. It would make a huge difference. I'm still in the tweaking stage on this list, so the final list will probably have a few small (but vital) changes.
  • Sholto
    I have never used Target Locks on my Hammerheads, so I would remove those, but you might have found a use for them. I move my HHs 12" every Turn, to ensure that close combat attacks are only hitting on 6s, but since that means I only get to fire the railgun I don't spend extra points on the secondary weapons systems. That includes not getting an SMS.

    That gives you 20 points, which lets you get targeting arrays on your piranhas. I would suggest a BSF on at least one hammerhead, maybe both. If you are expecting horde armies, flechettes on a piranha or devilfish could be a smart move.

    Your two bodyguards are identical, which is not ideal for wound allocation purposes. With the weapons load-out there is not much you can do (other than give both gun drones to one suit). I am not a big fan of burst cannons on suits, however, and certainly not a fan of twin-linking them, so that is where I would look for efficiencies.
  • rathstar
    Hi,

    I'm looking forward to see how your army list performs in the tournament. It's more mechanised than the list I usual use, so I'd be interested in how a different type of army list performs.

    Your list looks pretty well optimised however your bodyguard looks odd, you paying alot of points to be able to reroll the burst cannon shots. With the 3rd elite slot freed up, why not make them an elite choice (NB: You'd have to give the drones to the shas'el) The shas'el can still join them, but also leave when the going get tough, or ignore them and join another squad if they would benefit from his drone protection more.

    A radical idea is that for 30 pts more than the bodyguard you could have 3 plasma/burst suits. Your list is quite optimed so it's hard to see where to get the pts, but my idea would be: Strip both hammerheads to the base Railgun, Burst, Multi & D.Pod, which saves 20 pts. You could combine the pihrana into a squadron and lose the d.pod from one saving 5 pts (and 2 kill points). That leaves only 5 pts for you to find.

    Good luck with the tournament.

    Rathstar
  • One reason the plasma/burst suits work as bodyguards is that bodyguards can take hard-wired wargear, which normal suits can't without being team leaders. Having the hard-wired multi-trackers means I can maximize the fire coming out of my HQ unit. I could run them as a third Elite choice, but I'd have to give up the twin-linking if I wanted to keep multi-trackers.

    You do bring up a good point about running the Piranhas as a squadron. I'm torn; I like being able to split one off to go for another target if necessary, but at the same time there are a lot of benefits from going with a squadron. I'll have to think on that one a bit.

    Thanks for the well wishes!
  • rathstar
    Hi,

    "Having the hard-wired multi-trackers means I can maximize the fire coming out of my HQ unit" - that's true, but my point is, Is it a cost effective increase in firepower ?

    Your bodyguards (excluding the drones, which could easily be moved to the shas'el) cost 72 pts each. A plasma/burst/multi elite slot crisis suit would cost 58 pts. Is it worth 28 pts to get 1.5 extra Str5 hits a turn out of the 2 bodyguard (if you're within 18" range) ? I just think that's alot for the effect it has. Alternatives for the 28 pts could be:
    1) Upgrading one of the plasma/missile suits to a team leader with 2 gun drones to aid their survivability (25 pts)
    2) Upgrading one of the plasma/missile suits to a team leader with a targeting array (hard-wiring the multi-tracker), plus give targeting arrays to both pihranas (25 pts)

    However it's only a minor tweak to the list, it's not that big a deal, and you should take to the tournament whatever you've found works for you.

    Rathstar
  • One other point in the TLBC suit's favor - I already have them modeled. :)

    Your suggestions aren't bad ones at all, though, and putting targeting arrays on the Piranhas would definitely be worth the points. In fact, replacing the SMS with Burst Cannons on the one Railhead would free up enough points to put TAs on both of them. Definitely something to consider (although I do love SMSes...)
  • rathstar
    "One other point in the TLBC suit's favor - I already have them modeled. :)" - lol, that always wins arguments, especially when you've got other things to paint for the tournament.

    Rathstar
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