Creating A Theme For A List

Wiseman here for my first post, with Act of Heresy coming in January I’ve been busy trying to work out my list for it. Not always the easiest unfortunately to do, finding something that will be competitive, without going too far above or below the power curve. It also needs to be something that will be fun to play with, for both myself and for the opponent to play against. I wanted to do something different as well, instead of my Imperial Fists, I figured it was time to get my Dark Angels done (it may have helped that I had also heard that the next book would have rules).

Unfortunately at this point, I was left with too many choices. One of the really great parts of the Horus Heresy is the construction of an army list. I do like that Games Workshop try to open options up to players, in fact, truth be told, I don’t oppose the idea of formations to create thematic lists, it's just that the execution of it feels rushed and does leave a bitter taste in the mouth when you look at free upgrades for buying certain models.

But Forge World have definitely taken this idea, and pushed it in a direction without stopping you from having to think. Though there is only currently 4 Army Lists (Crusade Army List, Mechanicum, Solar Auxillia, and Imperial Militia and Warp Cults), the options that they have created inside of these really do allow you to run any variety of army you like, with 18 legions, 3 styles of Mechanicum Armies and  9 different Provenances you can mix and match for the Militia list.

If this wasn’t enough the Legions have Rites of War to tailor it even further in the direction that you would like to go, you love the image of falling from the sky to rain down fiery death, Salamanders Orbital Assault has you covered. A shield wall marching down corridors of a ship, clearing it room by room, that's what your Imperial Fist Stone Gauntlet is for.  On top of all this there is then the alternate force organisation charts, Onslaught opens up more heavy support, Leviathan allows you to see how an army would go bringing down a Titan, or you can be the master of your fortress with the Castellan force organisation chart.

While this may seem like the game set in the 41st millennium, Forge World have taken this variety and tempered it with making you think about what you want to do, Pride of the Legion may sound awesome because it allows you to take Terminators and Veterans as troops, but is that so great when you are left with such a small number of models on the table that will not only gift your opponent extra VP if you lose them all, but prevent you from bulking out your army with cheap expendable troops by cutting off your option for allies?

You really need to sit there and plan out your list before you start, and this is what I’ve been enjoying most about preparing for Act of Heresy, I wanted to do a Dark Angels army, and when I read about the discipline of the First Legion making planet fall by Drop Pod onto Macragge, I knew that was how I wanted mine to approach the table. I’ve always enjoyed playing armies that have minimal deployments and this is something i wanted to carry into my new army. Deep Striking all my units on where they were needed.

There were some units I knew I needed to field in the list, because they’re just too cool not to: Jetbikes; Dreadnoughts; Deathstorm Drop Pods; a Caestus and a unit of Javelins. Though fitting all these in together while still getting troops was not going to be easy.

The first place i looked was the Orbital Assault Rite of War

Effects

*All units in the army eligible to take a Rhino as a Dedicated Transport may instead select a Legion or Dreadclaw Drop Pod as a Dedicated Transport

*Legion Dreadnoughts may take Legion Drop Pods as Dedicated Transports (on a 1:1 ratio) and Contemptor Dreadnoughts may take Dreadclaw Drop Pods as Dedicated Transports

*Units and models in Terminator Armour gain the Deep Strike special rule

*legion Rapier Weapon Batteries may selection Legion Drop Pods as Dedicated Transports

Limitations

*Units that cannot be deployed via Deep strike either by having access to the rule themselves or because they cannot be carried in a transport vehicle that has it (Infantry in Drop Pod for example)may not be chosen as part of the army.

*You may not take a Fortification Allied Detachment

*All units purchased Dedicated Transport must begin the game within them.

For a deep striking army, this is always going to be the most obvious option, Drop Pods for Infantry and Dreadnoughts, nothing allowed to start on the table. The limitations for it aren’t massive limitations if you’re going for that style of theme.

As I looked at the though it didn’t quite give me what I wanted for my list, I couldn’t get enough onto the table in turn one without running the risk of losing it all if I went first (this has happened to me in the past in 40k when I’ve tried running Drop Pod armies before). Deathstorm pods and Dreadnoughts aren’t the most resilient when there is an army's worth of firepower coming their way. Also Deathstorm Drop Pods are an option as Fast attack in this style of list instead of being a Heavy Support Choice.

There were options to minimise this risk, Kharybdis Assault Claws with 20 Marines inside being the biggest of these, a large Terminator Squad teleporting in could also be an option but runs the issue of having the unit land in an area where they won’t mishap, and also being susceptible to blast weaponry, and while Cataphractii are more durable, they can’t run to make themselves more resistant to templates hitting them.

In the end I decided that Drop Pods for tactical squads while a nice option, wasn’t as great as the possibility of being guaranteed not going first. For this reason, I actually opted for the Onslaught Force Organisation chart, instead of the Orbital Assault.

Compulsory

*1 HQ

*1 Troop

*1 Heavy

Optional

1 HQ

3 Troops

4 Elites

2 Fast Attack

3 Heavy Support

2 lords of war

Rolling thunder:

Thanks to the thunder of their approach, the attack of an onslaught army is usually more then easy to predict. As a result, in any mission where the first turn is the result of a dice roll and unless the enemy force is also an Onslaught Force Organisation Chart this army never has first turn unless it can Seize the Initiative.

This would allow me to take just one Tactical Squad, and then instead add in extra Tactical Support Squads if i needed them.The Tactical Squad would be able to arrive in a storm eagle coming in later in the game, and a Tactical Support squad with Plasma Guns coming in via Caestus to go where i need them most.

The lack of a 3rd Fast attack left me with a conundrum for the trio of Jetbikes, Storm Eagle and Javelins that i wanted to run. But adding a Jetbike to my Praetor allows me to give them to his Command Squad as well (the Legion Banner is also a nice addition), and a unit of Knights flying in from the sky is definitely a cool image, each one a hero about to issue Challenges as befits them.

This is exactly what i like about the heresy, is that with a theme in mind for how you wish to build your list, there's many different ways to go about executing it. If you think outside of the box, you can come up with some great combinations for your armies and create a really interesting list. The Rites of War are a great basis for this, but with a bit of thought you can tailor your list to get different effects and gaming styles.

2000pts Sons of Horus - Playtest and Tweak

G'day all, Keepy here with a quick revisit from the previously posted army list for the Sons of 
Horus. The original army list can be found here.

So I had my good mates Buzz and the Dice Wizard himself Braden (from the Dicewizard blog) come over for a friendly playtest game on the Istvaan III board (which is still a WIP.... why do I have so many half finished projects?!) and play test my SoH list as well as give Buzz's Dark Angels list a run.

Buzz's list went something like this:

+++  2000pts Dark Angels (using Stubborn) +++

HQ

145pts Legion Chaplin w/ Artificer Armour, Jump Pack, Power Fist, Refractor Field

145pts Primus Medicae w/  Jetbike, Meltabombs, Refractor Field

Elites

65pts Apothecarian Detachment (x1) w/ Artificer Armour, Power Weapon

Troops

380pts Legion Assault Squad (x9) w/ Combat Shields, Meltabombs, 2x Power Weapons, Sgt w/ Artificer Armour, Pair of Lightning Claws

240pts Legion Tactical Squad (x14) w/ Close Combat Weapons, Sgt w/ Artificer Armour

Fast Attack

170pts Legion Javelin Attack Speeder Squadron (x2) w/ 2x Cyclone Missile Launchers, 2x Mulitmeltas

300pts Legion Jetbike Sky Hunter Squadron (x6) w/ 2x Plasma Cannons, Meltabombs

270pts Legion Storm Eagle Assault Gunship w/ 2x Twin Linked Lascannons, Twin Linked Heavy Bolter

Heavy Support

135pts Legion Sicaran Battle Tank 

150pts Legion Vindicator w/ Combi-Bolter, Machine Spirit

+++ End List +++

Modus Operandi: The Chaplin would attach to the Assault Squad to make them Fearless and also give them hatred. They would look for targets of opportunity or go tank hunting with Meltabombs. The Medicae Primus would attach to the Jetbike Skyhunters, giving an already tough unit FNP. The Tactical Squad loads up into the Storm Eagle and provides aerial fire support as well as a scoring unit which can be used for last minute objective grabbing. The Land Speeder would outflank, and put some hurt on the rear armour of tanks or use Frag Missiles to hit squads. The Vindicator could move 12" and still shoot it's Demolisher Cannon thanks to Machine Spirit, giving it a heap of range, and the Sicaran was there for all round dakka / AA duty.


As you can see the Dark Angels are very mobile, and can put out a fair bit of dakka whilst still being choppy. It wasn't until I put out all my models that I realised that the SoH list was missing something, I couldn't put my finger on it but it just looked light on the ground. I won't go into a full battle report, but the key points / events were:

• The Sicaran and Venator are nearly permanent choices in a conventional 30k list. The Venator popped most of the armour and the Sicaran drew a heap of fire, and also denied the Javelins jink saves which brought about their end. In saying that, Buzz rolled badly whilst trying to outflank them, and they turned up auto on Turn 4. Then he rolled up the outflank side with no one on it. Le sigh.

• The Seeker's Dreadclaw scattered onto terrain and went into ongoing reserves. They showed up on Turn 2 gunning for the Jetbikes who were Deathmarked, but they were locked in combat with one of my Tactical squads... so they intercepted the DA Assault Squad instead, killing all bar three and the Chaplin. There were no other targets available so they held an objective, the Dreadclaw went flying off to either flame units or act as an area denial piece for the Storm Eagle.

• The DA charged their Jetbikes into the first Tactical Squad which was holding an objective, the Medicae Primus and the Tac Sgt ended up in a dual for four turns and could not kill each other (many lols and angry shouting at dice). This left both squads tar pitted until it turned into a massive battle royale with both the remains of the DA Assault squad and the full strength second SoH Tactical squad charged in! It was pretty funny to watch and play with this mass of 50 or so bodies fighting around an objective.

• The SoH Landraider really didn't achieve anything and the cheap version I purchased didn't have the assault rule. So instead of saving me points for other things, my counter charge unit could not counter charge, making the command squad kind of redundant as they could not reach any combats without being shot to pieces first. 

So that was a general summary of what happened. SoH managed to get a win, but it was neck and neck until the bottom of Turn 5. It would have been a different game if those speeders came on. GG Buzz! Mucho fun. From the game I learnt a few things about my list and some glaring faults with it. After the game Buzz, Braden and myself sat around for a while and discussed a few options with how to improve the list. Some observations and changes were:

• The Command Squad in a Proteus Landraider is a very ineffective way to run them. Not only could they not assault out of the vehicle, but the 7th Ed FAQ also means that the Legion Standard does not effect models outside the vehicle like it used to. They need to be dismounted for others to benefit from the 6" Fearless bubble. The fix? It worked out for the command squad to ditch the Landraider and take Jetbikes was 25pts cheaper. Easy fix! This left a big points gap for the Praetor who had to upgrade to have a Jetbike, and while I was at it added a Powerfist. I will discuss where the points came from shortly, but the reason for the Powerfist is so that with a Paragon Blade, you have two specialist weapons and gain an extra attack, as well as a good anti-tank option for mulit-hits, unlike the single shot Meltabomb.

•  Legion Tactical Squads at full strength of twenty are rather unwieldy. They can put down a heap of fire and have excellent overwatch capability but it is not very often you have all twenty in rapid fire range or LoS of your target for maximum effectiveness for Fury of the Legion. The good thing was that if you took a few casualties, it was hardly noticed from damage output. Rather than keep the big squads, each one got cut by five men freeing up 100pts to use elsewhere (see Command Squad above).

• Legion Seekers did well but once the spent their combi-weapons they ran out of punch. It was nice to have BS 5 and preferred enemy on a chosen unit, but as soon as that target is unavailable or destroyed then they really don't have a job that they can do effectively. These are going to be replaced with a 9 man Legion Tactical Support Squad with Plasmaguns, mounted in a separate fast attack choice Dreadclaw. No BS 5 or Deathmark rule, but you can fire them all day until your hands melt off (which will no doubt happen on numerous occasions).

• Apothecaries were solid. They saved about 50% of the casualties that would have been thanks to some good rolls and really kept the Tactical Squads in the fight. With the Command Squad going to Jetbikes, it will cost too much for a Medicae Primus to attach to them, to do so would cost me a unit or vehicle which I am not prepared to drop at this stage. I also dropped two of the Augury Scanners from the the two Apothecaries that will be supporting the Tactical Squads. They are nice to have but they really didn't get used. Most things that turn up on Deepstrike / Outflank are vehicles, and bolters can only do so much. I kept the one for the Seekers / Support Squad as they may actually do some damage to tanks / terminators / flyers, unlike bolt guns. Apothecaries were also upgraded to have Artificer Armour to give a bit more protection.

• Vehicles were solid. The only upgrades that would be good would be Dozer Blades and Armoured Ceremite, but with only 5pts left to spare the Sicaran got a Dozer Blade to enhance maneuvering.

 Implementing these into the new list, it looks a little something like this:

+++ 2000pts Sons of Horus +++

HQ

215pts Praetor w/ Iron Halo, Paragon Blade, Powerfist, Jetbike

395ptspts Legion Command Squad (x5) w/ Jetbikes, 5x Combat Shields, 4x Power Weapons, Power Fist


Elites

170pts Apothecarion Detachment w/ 3x Apothecaries, 3x Artificer Armour, 1x Augury Scanner

Troops

240pts Legion Tactical Squad (x15) w/ Legion Vexilla, Sgt w/ Artificer Armour, Powerfist, Meltabombs

240pts Legion Tactical Squad (x15) w/ Legion Vexilla, Sgt w/ Artificer Armour, Powerfist, Meltabombs

310pts Legion Tactical Support Squad (x9) w/ Plasmaguns, Sgt w/ Artificer Armour, Meltabombs

Fast Attack

100pts Dreadclaw Drop Pod

Heavy

190pts Sicaran Venator Tank Destroyer

140pts Legion Sicaran Battle Tank, Dozer Blade

+++ End List +++

I am pretty happy with the tweaks, the Jetbikes for the Command Squad will make them much more
self supporting, speedy and most of all useful rather than a points sink that doesnt get used. Tac squads are a bit easier to use but still have a pile of wounds, and the bulk plasma in the Tactical Support squad should be enough to hurt nearly anyone. 

So... What do you think about the changes? I would love some feedback guys.

Till next time

Keepy