Army List Analysis • IronStar [2000]

This army is composed of three separate detachments:

Clan Raukaan - Iron Hands - Allied Detachment
Ravenwing Strike Force - Dark Ahgnels - Formation Detachment
Librarius Conclave - Iron Hands - Formation Detachment

There are two Eternal Warriors and it's an all biker army except for the Darkshroud. Highly mobile, lots of mid ranged fire power and several units are melee centric. The army also has a lot of tricks.


++ Space Marines Supplement - Clan Raukaan ++
Allied Detachment (735)

+ HQ (260) +

Chapter Master (260)
Gifts: The Gorgon’s Chain - Iron Halo
Artificer Armor - Lightning Claw - Thunder Hammer - Bike

WS:6|BS:5|S:4|T:5|W:4|I:5|A:4|LD:10|Save:2+/4++

The Gorgon’s Chain:

The bearer of the Gorgon’s Chain has the following special rules, depending on how many unsaved Wounds he has suffered during the battle:
Wounds Suffered - Special Rules
0 Wounds suffered - The bearer has a 3+ invulnerable save, +1 to his Feel No Pain rolls and the Eternal Warrior special rule.
1 Wound suffered - The bearer has a 3+ invulnerable save and the Eternal Warrior special rule.
2 Wounds suffered - The bearer has a 3+ invulnerable save.
3 Wounds suffered - The bearer has a 4+ invulnerable save.

Each time the bearer suffers an unsaved Wound or recovers a Wound as a result of the It Will Not Die special rule, the effects of the Gorgon’s Chain change immediately; you should roll the bearer’s saves individually.

+ Elites (275) +

Command Squad (275)
Company Standard - 4x Melta Bombs - 4x Storm Shield - 4x Grav Gun - Bikes
Apothecary

WS:4|BS:4|S:4|T:5|W:1|I:4|A:2|LD:9|Save:3+

Company Standard:
Friendly units within 12" of the bearer, drawn from the same Chapter, re-roll failed Morale checks, Pinning tests and Fear tests.

+ Troops (200) +

Bike Squad (200)
Attack Bike - Multi-Melta (W:2)
Biker Sergeant - Combi-Grav - Melta Bombs
2x Space Marine Biker
2x Space Marine Biker w/ Grav Gun

WS:4|BS:4|S:4|T:5|W:1|I:4|A:1|LD:8|Save:3+


++ Dark Angels Ravenwing Strike Force ++ (920)

+ Fast Attack (510) +

Ravenwing Bike Squad (215)
4x Ravenwing Biker - 2x Grav Gun
Ravenwing Attack Bike - Multi-Melta (W:2)
Ravenwing Sergeant - Melta Bombs

Ravenwing Bike Squad (215)
4x Ravenwing Biker - 2x Grav Gun
Ravenwing Attack Bike - Multi-Melta (W:2)
Ravenwing Sergeant - Melta Bombs

WS:4|BS:4|S:4|T:5|W:2|I:4|A:2|Ld:8|Save:3+

Rules:
Grim Resolve - Hammer of Wrath - Hit & Run - Jink
Outflank - Ravenwing - Relentless - Scout

Ravenwing Darkshroud (80) - Heavy Bolter

Rules:
Deep Strike - Fear - Icon of old Caliban - Jink - Outflank
Ravenwing - Scout - Shrouded - Stealth

BS:4|Front:10|Side:10|Rear:10|HP:3|Type:Fast, Skimmer

+ Elites (210) +

Ravenwing Command Squad (210)
4x Black Knight
Apothecary
Ravenwing Company Banner - 2x Ravenwing Grenade Launcher

Rules:
Grim Resolve - Hammer of Wrath - Hit & Run - Jink - Outflank - Rad Charge
Ravenwing - Relentless - Rending - Scout - Skilled Rider - Stasis Anomaly

WS:4|BS:4|S:4|T:5|W:1|I:4|A:2|Ld:9|Save:3+

Ravenwing Company Banner:
Automatically pass hit&run tests and roll 4D6 for distance rather than 3D6. All friendly models within 12" reroll failed moral-, fear- or pinning tests.

+ HQ (200) +

Sammael (200) - Iron Halo

Rules:
Grim Resolve - Jink - Outflank - Ravenwing - Scout - Skilled Rider

Corvex (Jetbike) - Plasma Cannon - Twin Linked Storm Bolter
Raven Sword

Rules:
Eternal Warrior - Fearless - Gets Hot - Hatred (Chaos Space Marines) - Hit & Run

WS:6|BS:5|S:4|T:5|W:3|I:5|A:3|Ld:10|Save:3+/4++

Warlord Trait: Rapid Maneuver
Your Warlord, and any unit he joins, can either roll 2 dice when they run, using the highest roll, or can add D6" to any Turbo-boost they make (or Flat Out move, in the case of Master Sammael on his Land Speeder).


++ Space Marines Librarius Conclave ++
Formation Detachment (345)

Chapter Tactics - Iron Hands

Rules:
Empyric Channelling

Librarian (115)
Mastery Level 2
Force Axe - Melta Bombs- Space Marine Bike

Librarian (115)
Mastery Level 2
Force Axe - Melta Bombs- Space Marine Bike

Librarian (115)
Mastery Level 2
Force Axe - Melta Bombs- Space Marine Bike

WS:5|BS:4|S:4|T:5|W:2|I:4|A:2|Ld:10|Save:3+

Psychic Hood:
Each Time a unit (or model) is targeted by an enemy psychic power and is within 12" of a frieldly model with a psychic hood, the wearer may attempt to deny the witch as if he were in the unit.


++ Roster Rules ++

Chapter Tactics: Machine Empathy: (Codex: Space Marines)

Chapter Tactics: The Flesh is Weak: (Codex: Space Marines)

First Huntsman (Ravenwing Strike Force):
May reroll your roll on the Warlords Trait table.

March of the Ancients: (Supplement: Clan Raukaan)

Objective Secured (Allied Detachment)

Speed of the Raven (Ravenwing Strike Force):
On the first turn of the unit, units count as jinking if they moved flat-out or turbo-boosted. May fire their weapons normally in the following turn.

Strike as One (Ravenwing Strike Force):
All units in this Ravenwing Strike Force must be placed either in reserve or deployed as normal. When placed in reserve, all units automatically arrive in your 2nd turn.


++ Selection Rules ++

Fear:
At the start of the Fight sub-phase, a unit in base contact with this model must take a Fear test. If the test is failed then the unit has it's WS reduced to 1 for the remainder of the sub-phase.

Grim Resolve:
A model with this rule has Stubborn and therefore ignores negative Leadership modifiers. In addition they may never choose to fail a morale check. Allows overwatch to be resolved at BS2.

Hammer of Wrath:
On the turn this unit charges into combat they get an Initiative 10 automatic hit at their unmodified Strength for each model with this rule.

Hatred (Chaos Space Marines):
Reroll all misses in the first round of each close combat.

Hit & Run:
Take an Initiative test at the end of the assault phase, if successful choose a direction and roll 3D6, move that far ignoring all models in base contact. If this would take you within 1" of another unit, stop 1" away. Ignore Difficult Terrain, but make Dangerous Terrain tests normally. Enemy units left makes an immediate D6" consolidation.

Icon of old Caliban:
All friendlies within 6" have Fear and Stealth. Units beginning their assault phase within 6" are not subjective to Overwatch.

Rad Charge:
On a to-wound roll of 6, two wounds are caused independent from the targets toughness.

Stasis Anomaly:
Every model of a unit hit by one or more weapons with this special rule suffers a -1 penalty to their Weapon Skill and Initiative, to a minimum of 1, until the end of the turn.

Stealth:
Counts it's cover save as 1 point better than normal (Combines with Shrouded)

Swift Vengeance:
Sammael may fire up to two weapons.

ThunderLightning Star

Hi everyone !!!

The last list I posted was not legal so I've gone back and fixed the errors. So far my play testing has gone very well including top eldar builds. Again I present only the core. You can add on Grey Hunter drop pod units and|or White Scar biker squads to your style... You can run both bikes and pods as troops which is going to be the most well rounded. I am using the Space Wolf formation that makes Thunder Wolves WS5. The theme is 13th Company.

- Thunder -
Harald Deathwolf & 1x Wolf

Wolf Lord
Thunder Wolf Mount - Runic Armor - Storm Shield - Power Fist - Fell Claw - 1x Wolf

Wolf Priest
Bike - Runic Armor

4x Thunder Wolf
4x Storm Shield - 2x Wolf Claw - 2x Power Fist
Thunder Wolf Leader
Storm Shield - Wolf Claw

Iron Priest
Thunder Wolf Mount - 3x Cyber Wolf

Iron Priest
Thunder Wolf Mount - 3x Cyber Wolf


- Lightning -
Chapter Master
Bike - Artificer Armor - Shield Eternal - Thunderhammer


Here is how I run the Grey Hunters:

6x Grey Hunter
Power Axe - Meltagun
Wolfguard
Terminator Armor - Storm Shield - Power Fist - Meltabombs


Here is how I run the White Scars bikers:

3x Bike
2x Grav Gun
Attack Bike
Multi-Melta
Sergeant
Combi-Grav - Meltabombs

Grey Knights

Okay so let's talk about the new Grey Knights codex... I know a lot of players don't like it but I actually have nothing bad to say and there's lots of great things in my opinion. Sure they lost some nice things (psybolt ammo for example) but they also got some much needed point reductions. I see them as working very well combined with some other Imperial forces.

I always played pure Grey Knights so the loss of the assassins and =][= is no big deal to me plus if you are using multiple sources it doesn't really matter. Multiple sources are the future of 40k so if you can accept that then I think you'll end up a lot more happy.

Here are the units that stand out to me:

— Draigo is still a beast and finally has an AP2 force weapon plus he automatically knows Gate of Infinity (GoI) from the Santic lore which is a big deal. Not everybody accepts him right now since Draigo is classified as a Lord of War so you unfortunately might have to deal with that issue for awhile... Silly.

— The Librarian at level 3 Psyker will be a typical choice. He is a lot less points now and is a great force multiplier.

— Terminators got a hefty point reduction and I think they'll become the standard troop choice. I used them when I played the old Draigowing and they were a staple unit for me. You only need one unit if you use the new detachment and the option to combat squad is appealing. Psycannons still work well for them since terminators are relentless. My advice is to take at least two daemonhammers.

— The Dreadknight got a huge point reduction - I can easily see two (max number for the detachment) to three in most armies. I'd equip mine with the teleporter, heavy psycannon (6 shots !!!) and a heavy incinerator. They will be the bane of monstrous creatures - including FMCs - and Imperial Knights.

You can build a solid force using just these units. I'd also throw in a couple of the new assassins as well - the Vindicare and Cullexus are both really good.

Army List Review - Scars w. Inquisition

Here is an army list review by request:

Ordo Xenos Inquisitor (73)
Power sword - power armour - rad - psychotroke grenades /Warlord

A lot of players take Liber and servo skulls. The skulls are great versus White Scars and Khorne Dawgs... Any enemy unit that can scout or infiltrate. Now that there is a new War Lord Trait that allows you to infiltrate 3 units the skulls are even stronger. I don't see this guy lasting too long in a fist fight but those grenades are terrifying. Why'd you choose him as your War Lord? I think the Chapter Master is a better choice.


White Scars chapter Tactics

Chapter Master (250)
Shield Eternal - thunder hammer - bike - artificer armour

Always a great choice and a staple unit for White Scar biker armies.

Captain (170)
Relic blade - storm shield - bike - artificer armour (Brit)

I'd rather have a power first or the Burning Brand for AP2 over the relic blade.

Command Squad (320)
Bikes - Apothecary - 4x stormshield - 4x meltaguns - 3x power fists - lightning claw

Solid unit built for shooting and melee. Great combo with your HQ.


Terminator assault squad (485)
Land raider crusader w. multi-melta

I'm torn on this unit... Potentially quite lethal but might not synergize well with the rest of the army. If land raider is popped early the terms will be foot slogging. I'm assuming the Inquisitor joins this unit. If it's working for you that's what really counts and AV14 is really strong now.

Bike squad (160)
5x bikes - 2x grav-guns - lightning claw

Bike squad (135)
5x bikes - 2x meltaguns - combi-melta

You could use some meltabombs on the sergeants... They wreck shit dead.

Tactical squad (125)
5x Marine - meltagun - combi-melta
Drop pod

Stormtalon Gunship (125)
Skyhammer missiles

These are both solid choices including the bikes.

Overall looks like a good list.

Objective Secured Troops - How Many Are Enough (updated 7-27-14)

So far it's looking like the major events will still be using objectives from the Eternal War missions so objective secured (OS) is a big deal. The Maelstrom missions with tactical objectives seems promising but a lot of tournament players have said it needs some work for competitive play such as eliminating cards that can't be scored. There are also tactical objectives you can score in theory but probably won't ever happen. I played my first game (2 vs. 2) using the Maelstrom mission this weekend—my team scored the vast majority of our victory points the first two turns racking up a big lead then slowly fell behind and couldn't close the gap. My team's armies weren't all that well designed for Maelstrom though while our opponents' were much better suited for it (Space Marines vs. Tyranids). Also I was more focused on eliminating enemy units I deemed the highest threats opposed to scoring tactical objectives and as the game progressed it became nigh impossible to secure objectives in the enemy deployment zone (e.g., Tervigons spawning gants to gain positional dominance).

I realized this type of format really helps armies not deemed top tier become more competitive—it's really good for the Hive Mind and they are very good at adapting to change. I do think with a lot of the big events featuring multiple primary goals there is definitely a place for the Maestrom missions and it will make games more fun to play as opposed to what we are used to traditionally playing. For example I personally like how Reecius has incorporated this into his BAO mission format.


Objective Secured
Now that the vast majority of units score the question is how many OS are needed? Is it possible to get by with only two OS units with dedicated transports (i.e., four total)? If this is a reliable number (or even three) it will open up some new possibilities for designing our army lists.

From a Space Marine perspective I think drop pod armies are going to be very competitive and we will start to see more of them. A lot of armies struggle to eliminate four or more drop pod units over the course of a game—assuming of course they are not all dropped right at the enemy door step. Mixing in bikes with drop pods gives the army mobility which it needs to deal with fast enemy armies.

Here are two OS units I have found competitive for this type of army:

Tactical Squad
5x Marine - special weapon
Sergeant - combi weapon - meltabombs
Drop Pod

This squad is roughly 150 points. You can select the special weapon and combi weapon based upon what works best with your overall army.

Bike Squad
5x Biker - 2x grav gun
Attack Bike - multi-melta
Sergeant - combi grav - meltabombs

This squad is roughly 200 points. The grav guns and multi-melta provides anti tank so you can take plasma weapons for your tactical squads. Obviously a bike mounted Chapter Master is your first choice for an HQ so the bike squads count as troops. The HQ, two tactical squads and two bike squads totals around 950 points providing the core for your army.

You can exchange one tactical squad for a Sternguard Veteran squad. A five man squad with four combi meltas, heavy flamer, meltabombs and a drop pod is 210 points which is a great deal for what you get and brings the core cost up to around 1000 points—so there are still a lot of points left over - you could easily work in a Centurion Devastator squad, Thunderfire cannons, Stormtalons, etc... There is a lot of flexibility here for higher point games.

So while these examples are based upon Space Marines the same type of philosophy can be applied to other armies. There is a need for durable scoring units that can get to where they need to be plus some overall mobility. I do find this to be somewhat of a challenge for pure Tau armies unless they use the Farsight Enclave supplement (i.e., Crisis Suits as troops) or field some Devilfish. Eldar should have no problem on the other hand.


Conclusion
The game has changed more than some first thought with the release of seventh edition and players are still adjusting. The Maelstrom missions has breathed some new life into the game so we must adapt. The game is more dynamic now with the focus on destroying high threat enemy units on the decline. A well designed tactical army should be able to compete with the old deathstars that for so long have dominated the game.

New Sisters of Battle Review (Link Fixed)

THE LINK BELOW WAS BROKEN BUT HAS BEEN FIXED SO YOU CAN VIEW IT NOW - MY APOLOGY !!

Here is a review I've posted over on the 40k Wrecking Crew forums:

http://fortykwc.ipbhost.com/index.php?/topic/1733-sisters-of-battle/#entry19017

I'll be updating the review as more information becomes available. Overall at a first glance it sounds pretty good. The new Sisters of Battle will definitely put a hurt on Psyker heavy armies such as ScreamerStar.

2250 point Black Legion army list

I have seen a lot of negative criticism already directed towards the new supplement. My philosophy is be thankful for small favors... They are better than nothing! Here is a list I quickly put together using the new supplement with daemons as an ally:

Kharn (The Man)

6x Chosen (Troop)
2x flamer, plasma pistol, power axe
Champion - power fist, lightning claw, boltgun
Mark of Khorne, Icon of Wrath, VotLW

The new supplement converts Chosen to troops. They work very well as a retinue for Kharn since he makes them Fearless and they benefit from his Hatred. Dual flamers are the bane of T3 squishy units like Tau and eldar... They will rightly fear this unit.

Chaos Land Raider
Dozer Blade, Dirge Caster

7x Berserker
Champion - Spineshiver Blade (30)
Icon of Wrath, VotLW

This is the new Artefact that is a daemon weapon - +1I, S: User, AP3

This turns the champion into a real meat grinder - he will be striking first versus most enemy units plus the daemon weapon grants d6 extra attacks. It's only 30 points... Only 5 more points than a power fist. The champion actually has a higher damage output than Kharn versus most enemy units. This saves a lot of points that don't have to go into another HQ choice. Of course if you roll a one for the daemon mastery test his goose is cooked but if you're really worried about it then keep the champion armed with a chain axe so you have the option not to use Spineshiver. Another big bonus is WS5 so most often you'll be hitting on a 3+ in melee. Finally you have the built in S5 on the charge due to Furious Assault. Very powerful and lots of strong synergy!

Chaos Land Raider
Dozer Blade, Dirge Caster

7x Berserker
Champion - Power Sword
Icon of Wrath, VotLW

Chaos Land Raider
Dozer Blade, Dirge Caster

Heldrake
Bale Flamer

Heldrake
Bale Flamer

Herald of Khorne
Juggernaught, Axe of Khorne

12x Flesh Hound

10x Plaguebearer

Personally I hate the new Bloodletters so I took the ever reliable Plaguebearers for my daemonic troop choice. The Herald attached to Flesh Hounds is a well proven unit.

What I have found is that three land raiders are the breaking point for most armies in the current meta. They can stop one fairly reliable but the third one hits the saturation point. By turn two for Dawn of War or Vanguard Strike deployments you should be well into charge range. The two Heldrakes will force the enemy not to be able to focus fire on the land raiders... It's really dirty. The Herald attached to the daemons move up behind the land raiders for solid cover. Plaguebearers sit back on a home turf objective marker... Most armies won't be able to shoot them much with three land raiders barreling straight up into their grill and two Heldrakes barbecuing them three ways to Sunday.

I just have to build the Flesh Hounds and I can start testing this list. Really looking forward to playing it.

The Beta Strike - How To Instructions

This is a tactical article explaining how to execute a Beta Strike. First though I will discuss the Alpha Strike as it is commonly referred to in 40k - the Alpha Strike mostly consists of going first and shooting as much as possible at your opponent's army to quickly cripple them during the first turn of the game. It's just that simple too unfortunately or not.

Mitigating the Alpha Strike
The Alpha Strike sounds good in theory and commonly encourages the use of static gun line armies. There are some fairly mobile armies that can also Alpha Strike as well but typically most units shoot to their full effect if they do not move plus you are paying more points for that movement which can drastically cut down the amount of shooting you can generate the first turn.

Back in the days of the Ard Boys tournament the penultimate Alpha Strike army was an Imperial Guard build referred to as the Leaf Blower created by Nick Rose (aka Darkwynn) from Bells of the Lost Souls. Nick went first each and every game (nine total games - three each in the first round, semi-finals and lastly the finals at the Chicago Battle Bunker) tabling just about everyone and handily winning the title that year. Each turn consisted mostly of the IG player rolling lots and lots of dice to shoot one enemy unit (i.e., Torrent of Fire) after another while the opponent simply rolled dice in turn for any possible saves they had available plus removing lots and lots of their own models from the table. Very boring but it was also very effective obviously. If you the opponent opted to hold any units in reserve IG could use a character in their command squad for -1 to your reserve rolls while the rest of your army bore the full brunt of the enemy IG shooting plus Sly Marbo popping up chucking a demo charge on your best unit to p0wn them all as early as turn two. This was back when IG was at its most potent strength and they had access to an allied Inquisitor from the previous Daemon Hunters codex that had an ability similar to Coteaz's special rule We've Been Expecting You... Seriously broken at the time!

Now though a shrewd opponent can utilize many tactics to neutralize an Alpha Strike. Note that if you find yourself typically playing on tables that have little terrain or its all placed along the table edges you're doing something wrong. GW encourages an ample amount of terrain and it should be placed all around the table.

Some means to negate an Alpha Strike are holding your key units in reserve and placing your other units behind LOS blocking terrain. Of course there might still be some barrage weapons across the table so you'll need a way to quickly nix them.

Cover Saves
There are all kinds of crazy cover saves available now such as the Telepathy psychic power Invisibility which grants both Stealth and Shrouded to the friendly target unit (i.e., Blessing). You can also Go to Ground (GtG) in area terrain for a 2+ cover save... Combine that with a jink if possible and you've got a 2+ or 3+ cover save depending on the type of terrain. You can also GtG behind an Aegis Defense Line for a 2+ cover save... IG can issue an order to their units gone to ground to get back into the fight. It's kind of crazy now - maybe even the case of too much of a good thing.

Mobility
You might be asking why is mobility useful versus an Alpha Strike and it is a good question. Remember that most often there is at best a fifty percent chance your opponent will go first. Of course there are some characters like Vect and Immotekh that can seize the initiative on a 4+ but that's only two races. Going first versus an Alpha Strike army is often very useful so you can either/or jink units, cast the right blessings and move them into better positions for cover saves. Alpha Strike armies typically don't have much in the way of melee dedicated units so you want to move forward as well to close the gap across Dead Man's Land to later launch your assaults.

Placing Objectives
I see players often make the same mistake time after time when placing objectives versus an Alpha Strike army. You should place them in the mid zone (i.e., ead Man's Land). As noted in the previous section Alpha Strike armies are often weak in the assault phase which also tends to make them not so good at taking and holding objectives. Forcing your opponent to move some of their units forward to grab objectives plays against their main strength and can also net you some easy kill points as well.

On the other hand placing objectives deep in your own deployment zone plays right to the strength of an Alpha Strike army. You must dedicate some units to hold them which in turn weakens your opportunities to control the mid zone of the table. I know a lot of players will say you should place at least one objective marker in your own deployment zone behind LoS blocking terrain and camp a cheap scoring unit on it. This strategy seems sound but based upon my experience in the current edition and meta it's almost always better to place objective markers forward... Not so close such that your opponent can reach them the first turn but far enough away from their deployment zone so that they'll need two turns to reach them. It can take a few games to master so practice, practice practice... You'll eventually get it down pat. Use the terrain in the mid zone instead of terrain in your own deployment zone. Even if it is working for you just fine so far I recommend you give a go and see what happens... You might just end up liking it.

The worst thing you can do is place markers in your opponent's deployment zone. Sometimes the mission rules will force you to do so - if this is the case then simply place them along the outer boundary and a good distance from the side table edges. You want the bulk of your army to be able to reach them without splitting up your army.

Of course the overall placement of terrain has a big impact on the optimal locations for objective markers but just as I said above if there's not much on the table you're fundamentally doing something wrong.


BETA STRIKE
So now finally we come to the main point of this article! Let us first define what is a Beta Strike. A Beta Strike is similar to the Alpha Strike - the main difference being you will start with most of your shooting no sooner than the second turn. If properly executed you'll bare the brunt of your total shooting starting on the beginning of your third turn. This might seem counter intuitive at the first glance... I simply ask you to bare with me a bit longer. Beta Strike armies as opposed to Alpha Strike armies should be highly mobile and as such are designed to scoot and shoot. 24" is the optimal range for most of your guns in this type of army and many infantry units are limited to this as their maximum range plus 6" give or take a few inches for their movement. Heavy weapons still have a place since you can either snap fire them or hold those models still while the rest of its unit surges forward.

So you can see immediately this style of army is diametrically opposed to the the Alpha Strike. You place objectives in the mid zone of the table and then move forward towards them to control, shoot and possibly later launch assaults. Reserves can work well with this type of army - more especially so if you have any units that can Outflank. You are boxing in your opponent and quickly controlling objectives, forcing your opponent to move their own units towards you while blasting away all the while with your mighty plethora of mid ranged guns.

This is inherently an aggressive style of play and not for the many squeamish players who want to keep the enemy at arm's length. Remember the closer you move towards the enemy the more you can shoot so this directly works in favor of units with assault and rapid fire weapons.

Obviously it requires more patience to play a Beta Strike army since often you won't be able to shoot the bulk of your guns the first or even possibly the second turn. It is okay though... Trust me. Heh ! Of course your opponent has the potential to outshoot you the first two turns so go back and reread what I said about how to mitigate the Alpha Strike... It most certainly applies to other shooty armies as well.

If you read some of my batreps that will provide in-game examples how a Beta Strike army optimally performs.

A Sample Army
My current tournament army is the combination of Necrons (primary detachment) along with some Grey Knights (allied detachment). You can find the exact list here on this blog if you're really interested. Recently I switched out a full Purifier squad for five Paladins... The two psycannons can always fire four shots each at full ballistic skill unless of course their firing on Overwatch. Those four extra S7 rending shots can and does make a huge difference.


Conclusion
First I defined what is an Alpha Strike army and how to mitigate it. I then defined what is a Beta Strike army. They both shoot a lot (optimally) but the latter type of army first moves into a solid position to control the mid zone then later starts to shoot as much as possible. You might lose a unit or two on the way in but as the game proceeds you should be able to proverbially turn the table and end up outshooting your opponent over the remaining course of a game. You'll need the right army build to pull it off so it will probably require some practice on your part. Don't be afraid to try new things - both the game and meta have changed a lot since the advent of sixth edition... You can do it in time if you're willing to spend some time practicing.

2250 point local RTT results - Necrons with Grey Knight allies

Hi everyone !! Your friendly neighborhood Blowfly here to brighten your day again with a local 40k RTT report. This tournament was three rounds - 2250 points with double FOC and allies but no Forge World. Some buddies and I drove down leaving early in the morning since it's over an hour away. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at McDees via the drive through. This is one of the local FLGS that likes to run larger events and I always try to make these ones since I love big games.

Sorry but no pictures this week. I am in the process of buying a new digital camera so hopefully I will have some nice pix for the next batrep.

Here is my abbreviated army list:

Necrons - Primary Detachment
Destroyer Lord - mindshackle scarabs, 2+ armor (attached to Wraiths)
4x Canoptek Wraith - whip coils

Overlord - warscythe, mindshackle scarabs, phase shifter - Catacomb Command Barge

6x Immortal - Tesla carbines - Night Scythe

5x Warrior
5x Warrior
5x Warrior

Doom Scythe
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge

8x Canoptek Scarab

Grey Knights - Allied Detachment
Level 3 Librarian - master crafted warding stave (attached to Paladins)
5x Paladin - 2x psycannon, 4x daemonhammer, master crafted warding stave - psybolt ammo

10x Grey Knight - 2x psycannon - psybolt ammo


Army List Analysis
If you follow my articles on this army you'll know that in the past I used Coteaz attached to a full squad of Purifiers with lots of neat toys for my deathstar unit. I have been wanting to test out Paladins over Purifiers and at this point level I could also take a Librarian in place of the Inquisitor... So I was very interested to see how overall the army would perform with these changes.

I recently played in an 1850 point GT over in Orlando - the army list here is much the same noting the changes above plus the addition of the Canoptek Wraiths to form a retinue for my Destroyer Lord. I did well at the GT and was the only undefeated player going into the final sixth round so I know this army is well tested and has always performed quite well. Ironically I narrowly lost in the final round to the only other Necron-Grey Knight army in an epic low scoring match that knocked us both out of contention for an award. Oh well at least it felt great going into the final round.

I have designed this army to be as completely balanced as possible. It has lots of shooting, plenty of speed plus lots of very strong dedicated melee units. To be competitive in sixth edition it's all about building very balanced armies that excel in all three phases. The Necrons tend to do most of the heavy lifting while the Grey Knights are a razor sharp scalpel. They work very well together and don't have to lend much support to each other except for overlapping focused fire. I don't use any fortifications as I typically move most of my units around the entire game. I also tend to place objective markers in the middle of the table to force opponents to have to come out of their deployment zones to get them.


Mission Summaries

1st Round vs. Blood Angels
The mission had five objectives with DoW deployment.

The Blood Angels army had two land raiders (Crusader & Redeemer) plus two Storm Ravens. There were two full assault squads with jump packs and one had a Priest. The Crusader had a squad of Death Company lead by a Chaplain. The Redeemer had a full assault squad (sans jump packs) lead by a Captain and another Priest.

I felt confident going into this match knowing that Necrons have lots of answers to AV14 plus the barges are really good versus flyers in general.

Highlights
•Anni barges shot down both Stormravens
•Scarabs and Destroyer Lord cracked open both land raiders

Only one Death Company Marine was left at the end for a full massacre (18 points). I ended up only needing to hold one objective.

2nd Round vs. Ork Horde
The mission was Big Guns Never Tire with Hammer and Anvil deployment. There were three objective markers.

My opponent had well over 150 greenskins including Ghaz with a big Nob squad, two battlewagons, looted wagon, some killakanz and Lootaz. I was able to pop all four enemy HS units (destroyed both battlewagons my first turn... Scarabs and Gauss FTW). This game I pulled 16 out of a possible 18 battle points for the win. Ghaz never made it into melee so I couldn't get Slay the Warlord and I needed the Immortals to late game grab one of the uncontested objectives so no Line Breaker either.

3rd Round vs. Tyranids
The mission was The Relic with Vanguard Strike for deployment.

Another horde army with over 200 models - not the typical Internet meta list we see all the time now but this was definitely my toughest game. My opponent had over six scoring units - including two big broods of devilgaunts, two big broods of hormagants, some genestealers and two small Warrior broods. He had a walking Tyrant and the winged jump infantry character for his HQ. There was also some Zoies, Raveners and a Trygon Prime. Definitely a target rich environment !!

There was a big turn out so there were quite a few undefeated players going into the last round. I knew I would need a big win to come out on top. It just seemed like it would very hard to control the Relic versus all those large scoring units and it wouldn't be easy to score any bonus points either.

I got to go first but my opponent seized the initiative - sheet ! This actually worked out to my advantage though since a squad of hiding Warriors popped out to grab the Relic at the end of the last turn. The Tyranid player's dice were smoking hot and mine were below average most of the time but I still managed to pull out the win with 17 battle points out of a possible 18 (he got First Blood because one gaunt in a 20 man brood managed to live taking the full brunt of almost my army's entire shooting - he cast Endurance on them and Denied the Witch when I cast the Misfortune malediction on them).

It wasn't an easy game to say the least... Destroyer Lord with Wraiths and Librarian leading the Paladins were definitely the MVPs this game. The Destroyer Lord and his Canoptek friends took out the Tyrant (MSS FTW) then held off an entire brood of hormagants to prevent them from swamping the area around the objective. My Librarian got Prescience and the Divination psychic power that lets the unit shoot at full BS on Overwatch which allowed them to totally annihilate a big brood of charging Raveners. It was a tight game but everything came together in the end.


Post Tourney Analysis
It was very interesting to play two really large horde armies and the last two games only made it to a third turn... What can you do ? I don't think either of these opponents intentionally slow played but they just didn't seem to manage their time wisely which ended up hurting them a lot more than me... Heh heh . The squad of Immortals in the Night Scythe was a big advantage for late game objective grabs and Line Breaker. So knowing you probably won't be able to get in a full game ahead of time you have to adjust your strategy accordingly. In the past I've gotten frustrated but I was well prepared this time. ; )

I definitely prefer the Paladins over Purifiers... Eight psycannon shots every time with Prescience and sometimes Misfortune and/or Ignore Cover is very powerful (I got all three of these versus the Blood Angels by the way). I found the level 3 Librarian a bit stronger than Coteaz, mostly due to the extra psychic power but I'd only use him over the Inquisitor in games at 2000 points and above.... It's also nice to have the option to deep strike them.

So I ended up in a tie with one other player for first place and we split the store prize support. One of my buddies who down came with me ended up losing to the fellow I tied with for first place in the last round. It was a great day and I liked all my opponents... No problems whatsoever. I used the prize support to get some paints and weathering dust for my World Eaters army I will bring to WarGamesCon for the Heresy campaign.

Part 1. Why my Grey Knights-Necron army works

Hello everyone !! This evening I'd like to talk about my current 6th edition army which is Grey Knights  (GK) with a Necron allied detachment.

Warning - This subject is quite troubling and stirring to some as there are those that do not particularly like this combination.

As an aside I had a 2000 point game today versus an Ork army using the double force organization (FOC) - it was optimized featuring four dakkajets, one Mekk Boy and two Warpheads. I thought it was a very fitting army for the Ork background and well designed. I was talking with my opponent while we unpacked our armies and brought up the subject of my 30k army I am working on now. I was a bit surprised to hear him say that Forgeworld isn't ready for prime time in local tournaments knowing that he won an RTT last weekend using the same double FOC list. I thought it was kind of funny that he is okay with the double FOC but not Forgeworld. I am more open now to the new things that have come along which should be obvious to you here that follow my blog.

Army List

Here is my current GK-Necron 2000 point list:

Castellan Crowe

Inquisitor Coteaz (Warlord)

Purifier Squad #1 (psybolt ammo)

Keeper of the Flame - Master Crafted Nemesis Warding Stave

Nemesis Daemonhammer

6x Nemesis Force Sword

2x Psycannon

Purifier Squad #2

Keeper of the Flame - Nemesis Halberd

2x Nemesis Force Sword

2x Psycannon

- Rhino/ Searchlight, Psybolt Ammo

Purifier Squad #2

Keeper of the Flame - Nemesis Halberd

2x Nemesis Force Sword

2x Psycannon

- Rhino/ Searchlight, Psybolt Ammo

Land Raider Crusader/ Psybolt Ammo, Multi-Melta

Stormraven/ Searchlight, Psybolt Ammo, Twin-linked Assault Cannon, Twin-linked Multi-Melta, Hurricane Sponsons

Destroyer Lord - War Scythe, Seminternal Weave, Mind Shackle Scarabs

5x Immortal - Tesla Carbines

Night Scythe

Doom Scythe

The army as it stands now is an expansion on the 1500 point core list I developed over the summer to play in a GT held in Los Angeles (Komikaze run by Reecius and his crew from Team Zero Comp). The main additions are Coteaz, 10 man Purifier squad and the Land Raider Crusader.

As you may notice the army does not feature any long range fire power except for the Mind Strike Missiles. This is offset though by the three flyers which have the ability to get where they need to be quickly and get the job done. In case you are wondering I typically deploy Crowe in the Stormraven, Coteaz and the 10 man squad of Purifiers in the Land Raider Crusader... the Destroyer Lord joins the Immortals in their Night Scythe.

The army is a mix of MSU, flyers plus the brick of ten Purifiers in the Land Raider Crusader. The Purifiers are sheer death when it comes to any hordes... Cleansing Flame will invariably torch them if they reach combat. Most of the army is composed of ground forces along with what I feel is the right mix at this point level for an air force. I have done very well versus the new Chaos Space Marines handily beating them every time so far.

Here is how I break down the army into its individual components:

Ground Force

Coteaz - Purifier Squad #1 - Land Raider Crusader (Melee + Short Range Fire Support)

Purifier Squads #2 & #3 (MSU)

Air Force

Destroyer Lord - Immortals - Night Scythe (Melee, MSU + Long Range Fire Support)

Crowe + Stormraven (Melee + Long Range Fire Support)

Doom Scythe (Long Range Fire Support)

My three most heavy hitting melee units are Crowe, 10 man Purifier squad and the Destroyer Lord (Shiva). Shiva is the most potent in melee as they are not many units (such as MSU) that cannot deal with him... Shiva will invariably tie down an enemy unit and quickly grind right through them. Many say that Crowe is impotent but I have found he is another beast that excels in melee - You just have to go after the right targets.

Purifiers are in my opinion the best generalist unit now as they excel at both shooting and melee.

Inquisitorial Grey Knight Army Review

Somebody asked me does the following 2000 point Grey Knight army pass the litmus test:

HQ

Inquisitor Coteaz (100)

ELITES

Purifier Squad #1 (231)
Knight of the Flame - Nemesis Daemonhammer
2x Purifier - Psycannon
3x Purifier - Nemesis Force Halberds
Razorback - Dozer Blades, Psybolt Ammo & Searchlight

Purifier Squad #2 (231)
Knight of the Flame - Nemesis Daemonhammer
2x Purifier - Psycannon
3x Purifier - Nemesis Force Halberds
Razorback - Dozer Blades, Psybolt Ammo & Searchlight

Purifier Squad #3 (231)
Knight of the Flame - Nemesis Daemonhammer
2x Purifier - Psycannon
3x Purifier - Nemesis Force Halberds
Razorback - Dozer Blades, Psybolt Ammo & Searchlight

TROOPS

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #1 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #2 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #3 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #4 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #5 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband #6 (133)
3x Warrior Acolyte - Melta Bombs, Chainswords & Meltaguns
6x Warrior Acolyte - Chainswords & Bolters
Rhino - Dozer Blades & Searchlight

HEAVY SUPPORT

Dreadnought (136)
Psybolt Ammo, 2x Twin-Linked Autocannon & Searchlight

Dreadnought (136)
Psybolt Ammo, 2x Twin-Linked Autocannon & Searchlight

Dreadnought (136)
Psybolt Ammo, 2x Twin-Linked Autocannon & Searchlight

Tyranid Army Analysis • The Counter Punch

I played in a local tournament today. Due to an irritating quirk in Army Builder I ended up playing an 1805 point army instead of 1850 - it didn't affect my final results but damn it's really annoying. I was planning to play my Draigowing but someone showed up without an army so I let him borrow my Grey Knights and I played my Tyranids instead.


Here is my army list:

HQ
Alpha Warrior - bone sword & lash whip, scything talons, adrenal glands (attached to the Hormoguants)

Heavy Support
Tyrgon Prime

Elites
Doom - mycetic spore

10x Yrmgal genestealer

2x Zoanthrope - mycetic spore

Troops
3x Warrior - bone swords & lash whips, 2x deathspitter, barbed strangler, adrenal glands - mycetic spore

10x Hormogaunt - adrenal glands & toxin sacs

20x termagant - devourer - mycetic spore

18x genestealer + Broodlord - scything talons + toxin sacs


The addition of the lash whips are used as a counter versus the Grey Knights psychic power Sanctuary.


We were using the BeakyCon mission format - killpoints, Seize Ground (4 objective markers each round) and Capture & Control. All three objectives are equally weighted. If the game ends in a draw then the winner is decided by victory points. There were three rounds and each used one of the three deployments from the rulebook.

The first game was versus a Blood Angels DoA list. Deployment was Spearhead. I ended up winning with max points. My opponent was a bit sloppy selecting his landing points when deep striking and I overran his army be sheer weight of numbers.

The second game was versus Grey Knights (not my army; Pitched Battle for deployment). I got ahead of myself during the beginning of the game and forgot to use Null Deployment for placing objectives plus the Doom and Warriors both mishapped due to Warp Quake - I ended up losing... My first loss with Tyranids in a long time. It happens and served as a mental reinforcement how my army should be played. A couple of mistakes and|or some bad luck is very hard hard to overcome versus a top tier army... I would have loved to see how the game could have played out if either the Doom or Warriors had not both been lost to mishaps... Warp Quake is a true bitch. I also lost eight genestealers during one dangerous terrain test due to the Grey Knight psychic power Sanctuary - that hurt a lot and I just couldn't recover. My opponent pretty much played a perfect game. All of the objective markers were placed close together which is a really big no no versus Grey Knights... I played right into their hands. Oh well like I said it was a lesson and that's very important.

The third and and final match was versus a shooty Ork horde list... Shooty Orks can lay down a metric ton of firepower ! The Doom was a beast coming down the second turn and slaughtering the green tide right and left but I got behind on killpoints early and could never make up the deficit. Ork horde can soak up lots of damage and win melee solely by sheer of weight of numbers. It wasn't looking good at all but finally the last turn my genestealers came through like the champs they are and I ended up winning by a margin of 2 to 1 on objectives (Seize Ground plus Capture & Control). I got a great consolidation roll (6) after finishing off a remnant squad of Boyz taking both Seize Ground plus Capture & Control - if it had gone to victory points I would have lost. That said a big brood of genestealers lead by a Broodlord is one heck of an awesome melee unit !!

I ended up in fourth place overall only two points overall behind third place. The Grey Knight player I lost to took third place and the player who borrowed my Draigowing took second place. Mech eldar took first place beating out the Grey Knight player I lost to in the second round.

Something interesting I've noticed about my Tyranid army is they tend to win by coming back late in the game - the opponent takes heavy losses over the course of the game then what is left of my army is still strong enough to finish them off taking enough objectives for the win. It's usually either the genestealers or Alpha Warrior attached to the Hormogaunts who win it for me. It's funny how the wins seem to always play out - I take lots of losses over the course of the game, bleeding killpoints but in return my army slowly whittles down the opponent - finally what they are left with isn't enough to win.

I'm still working on my batrep from my game last weekend versus another Blood Angels army... Lots of pictures. It was a true nail biter so keep an eye out.