'Ard Boyz - A Users Guide

So, Ard boyz will be here in a little over a month.

Some things I've noticed with people around the Webz that seems to be a trend is that they are planning on bringing a scaled up version of their normal list.

For some this COULD work, but for the majority of people, it simply will end in failure.

Why? well, there are a couple of reasons for my opinion of this:

1. Most people play at the 1500-1850 point level, adding to your army from that point will likely change the entire way that your army plays.

2. Survivability. At that above point level, a tactical squad will likely survive more than a single turn of fire. at 2500, simply put, it won't.

3. Mechanized forces - This one is a bit more in depth, but to put is in a simple fasion, 6 land raiders is a viable list at 2500 points. Does your scaled up army have the ability to both destroy the land raiders and deal with the 3 squads of terminators inside? Most armies can not.

4. Fire Output. Look at the army that won last year, Alpha Strike from hell, and while he got lucky in the fact that he got to go first for all 3 of his final games, the list itself is really quite a bitch to deal with if you're un-prepared.

So, how is this meant to help you? well, I'm going to TRY to go into some things that I THINK may help you get to where you want to be....

First up is the Points difference and the fact that most armies do not scale properly. 

I would recommend that you start your list from scratch. If you plan on going, know that you WILL face some of the cheesiest lists out there. That is what this tournament is for. Bring the most broken combos you can and smash face.

You will likely see:
Pedro/Lysander and 9 Scoring units.
Doom of Malantai and 6 Squads of Aura of Despair Genestealers (protected by a bunch of Zoanthropes and perhaps a Venomthrope for good measure)
The Leafblower Alpha Strike
9 Vendettas with all sorts of nasty
5-6 Land Raider Spam
The List goes on and on, Can you be prepared?

So, Build your list from scratch.

Start with your focus. Say you want to try that "Subpar Internet Codex" (Tau) which in truth is one of the nastiest out there when built properly.

Take 9 Broadsides all with Team Leaders w/ Knife, DC (2 Gun Drones), all with ASS.
Throw in 5 Squads of 10 Kroot with 5 Kroot Hounds (the most deadliest of Tau CC Counter attack available)
2 Squads of 2 Piranha (simply put the best movement blockers in the game.)
10 Crisis Suits with Missiles and Plasma with Multi-Trackers.

Or Orks...
Take 3 Squads of Nob Bikers, 2 Full Squads of Lootas, 3 Squads of 2 Deffkoptas (TL ML and 1 Buzzsaw) and 3 Battlewagons full of 20 Boyz (yes you need the Deffrolla)

Up next we have survivability

With the points level pushing the limits of Apoc, you Know you will be facing a LOT of serious fire power. So, how will you survive it? First off you need to know that you will lose a lot of things over the course of each game. nothing in the game is invincible, and any unit can die. so plan for that and make yourself the least vulnerable as possible. For all armies (save NIDS) that means buying transports. Take razorbacks, Rhinos, Chimeras, Land Raiders, Raiders, Whatever you think will serve your needs best, but just take them.

You will thank me when it takes your opponent's 3 turns to kill a squad instead of 1 turn.

Also, remember to read and re-read the cover rules. Cover will come into play a lot in this tournament as with the sheer number of models on the board you will NEED to have things in cover at all times.

Several armies can affect cover like the Ork's Big Mek KFF, or the Tau Disruption Pods. use that to your advantage. Other armies can ignore cover like a Heavy Flamer heavy Vulkan Hestan list. Know that it will come up.

Mech is still king and with all the hoopla about the "Deffrolla kills mech" comments circling the web, don't get confused. you shoot that things av12 side and immobilize it and it cant kill mech. period.

Templating Death will be another thing to look out for. people will bring lists such as the AD MECH list I posted up quite a while ago. That thing pumps out 40+ templates per turn. 16 of which are PLASMA (S7 AP2) that will kill a lot of what you have in very short order. Be Prepared.

FIRE OUTPUT
Speaking of fire output, can you keep up with the Imperial Guard? I'm guessing no. But you can do your best. Dark eldar can bring more bright lances than anyone wants to see in a 2500 point list. Off hand calculation on this is 24 Dark Lances, plus another 9+ Blasters, oh, and it is all in fast skimmers. Yeah, that is a real pain to deal with. 3 ork loota squads can put out anywhere from 45-135 S7 AP4 shots per turn.

You need to be able to put out a lot of firepower each turn, sorry, 3 Railgun shots is simply not enough (looking at you 3 hammerhead players)

Get melta, get las cannons, get whatever you need. Just make sure that you get it.


All of the Ard Boyz games I've played have been modified missions. bear that in mind. You need to read the missions thouroughly. Kill Points AND objectives come into play in almost all of the games. Know what you have and read your opponent's list VERY CAREFULLY.

Best of luck to you.