Tyranids at 1500 Points

You may have heard before the 40k is a completely different game at different point levels, I have no choice but to agree with this statement as I've been playing for a LONG time now.

You may say: "But you're just getting more options with the bigger points games"

While in theory this is true, in truth it is not. You still have all the same options, but you just need to plan better.

This is part of what I call the Metagame.

Some people will tell you that there is no Meta-Game, but i have to disagree with this. Meta-Game is not a reaction to what is going on around you, but a reaction to the twists and turns of the game itself.


Why is the game different?

Well, let's take armies of 1500 points:

You still need to fufill the FOC requirements so 2 troops and 1 HQ are required.

You fill those and you're looking at 1,000 points (roughly) of points to spend on the rest of your army.

2 Land Raiders? there goes half of the rest of your army. Now the termies to go in them, and you're left with all of 200 points to spend on everything else.

Not much right.

So, you drop the 2x termie/LR squads and start again.

This is what I mean by Metagame.

at 2,000 and 2,500 points you have a lot more leeway with what you can and can not put in your army and still make it cohesive.

So how do Tyranids work at 1500 points?

Well, first off to get the most bang for your buck, the Hive Tyrant goes away as an option.
Why? well, let's see....
170 gives you the base tyrant, Tac on another 120 for his extra wounds (2 Tyrant Guard) and make him more useful than just get shot to death as I run across the board for another 25 Points (Heavy Venom Cannon)
and you're up to 315 Points. Before you go to your 2 required troops choices. that is more than 1/5 of your army for your single required HQ choice.

This leaves you with only a few options for an HQ choice.

Tervigon (very useful as a troop, and also very useful as an HQ choice at 1500 point games. Take him with Catalyst for 175 points and you've got yourself a very resilient and potent HQ choice.)

Parasite of Mortrex (fun, but only useful in certain army builds)

Alpha Warrior (Nice Cheap choice, but if you're not wanting to run a Warrior Squad then he's out.)


So there you go. Take a Tervigon and you're good to go. less than 1/3 of the cost of the Hive Tyrant and at this point level, I think It's more powerful.

So I have an HQ.

Now on to Elites, Here it is a tossup between Hive Guard and Zoanthropes.

I chose zoans every time. Personal Choice, but you can take either. I'll take 3 squads of 2.

Troops:
Need more Tervigons. I love monsterous creatures. So I add their 50 point tax and take 2.

4 Troops taken

Now, Personally I am very less than impressed by the Tyranid Heavy Support choices, don't get me wrong, there are some monsters there, but I'd rather take the Fast Attack MC's before the HS choices.

So I'll take 3 Harpies, with Heavy Venom cannons. (see I get better HVCs from the FA slot than the HQ slot)

This gives me an army resting at 1495 points.

For good measure I'll add 1 Termagaunt and fill out my 1500 point army.

It looks like this:

Tervigon
- Catalyst, Cluster Spines

Zoanthrope x2
Zoanthrope x2
Zoanthrope x2

Termagaunts x11
Termagaunts x10
Tervigon
 - Catalyst, Cluster Spines
Tervigon
 - Catalyst, Cluster Spines

Harpy
 - Twin Linked Heavy Venom Cannon, Cluster Spines
Harpy
 - Twin Linked Heavy Venom Cannon, Cluster Spines
Harpy
 - Twin Linked Heavy Venom Cannon, Cluster Spines

This gives me 9 Anti-Tank Shots per turn, plus quite a bit of other fire power. and 6 Monsterous Creatures that can take a lickin and keep on ticking.

This is how my brain works.


Don't forget to sign up for the LE Apothecary Giveaway. I'll be picking a winner on monday morning.

Building an Army List: Tournament Style

Ok today's discussion will hopefully be about Building a Tournament Army List.

Remember these lists are usually NOT for a casual pick-up game as they are built for a single purpose. TO WIN. So that being said, Here we go.

Step 1.
Choose your Type of list. Some would say that your first step is to choose the army that you want to play, but I disagree. If you choose the army TYPE that you want to play that will exponentially help your choosing of the ARMY you want to play.

So for the purposes of this article, we'll say we want to play a super shooty army.

Step 2. Choose Your Army.
Since we've chosen to play a shooty army, we have a few options now.
Eldar,
Dark Eldar (though usually classified as a hybrid combat/shooty army)
Tau
Space Marines
Imperial Guard

Ok, since we're being horrible, we'll choose Tau.

Step 3 READ YOUR RULES OF THE TOURNAMENT.
This is very important. Ok so for the purposes of this article we'll assume we've read the rules and come out with the following information:
- Standard Force Org Chart
- 2,000 Point Limit


Ok now we're starting to get somewhere. we've got a theme, an army and a limit.

Step 4. Choose your "Core"

We've chosen tau, so we know we need 1 Fire Warrior Unit. We will also need a Pathfinder unit so we can remove cover saves, and we need that Commander.

So, since we're going shooty, we give the Commander a Multi-Tracker, a Missile Pod and a Plasma Rifle. on top of that we can increase his efficacy by giving him a targeting array.

So,

Commander 'El - HW Multi-Tracker, Missile Pod, Plasma Rifle, Targeting Array.
but what about protection? Give him a shield drone (only 1. Seriously)

So he's 112 Points. Should we go with bodyguard? I think not. Since that would be 2 KP for the squad.

We'll Move on to a companion unit.

3 Crisis Suits w/ Multi-Tracker and MP/PR
186 Points

Now we've got a very nice unit that can and will eat all transports and all infantry
(that is 12 shots at 24" and 16 at 12") that can jump back to the safety of behind cover after they shoot. Everything will wound most infantry on 2's and well, kill a lot of stuff.

So, We've got a basis:

Commander - 112
Crisis Suit Team - 186
Fire Warrior Squad x6 - Pulse Rifles - 60
Pathfinder Squad x4 (Devilfish the Fire Warriors will be jumping in has the bare minimum) - 128

Now, we have a total of 1514 points to spend, but we'll need at least 2 more troop units. So let's add in some cheap ones.

2 units of Kroot x10 with 5x Kroot hounds. gives you the counter attack melee you will need, a scoring unit, and 10 rapid fire rifles.

100 Points Each.

Now we need to add our super shoot elements.

So we go to the Heavy supports for tau. we have 1314 Points to spend. Most people's first reaction is to buy Railheads (Hammerhead with Railgun) this is in truth a sub-par choice. Why? because you get 1 shot. That is it. It will become THE fire magnet of your army.

Instead go with ablative wounds.

3 Squads of 3 Broadsides. Ruthless and horrible, but well, TL and you're pumping out 9 Railgun shots per round.

Each squad will be setup like:

Team Leader - 2 Shield Drones, Bonding Knife, Advanced Stabilization System.
2 Broadsides, Advanced Stabilization System. - 275 Points

So, we've got

Commander - (We need to give him a bonding knife) 117
Crisis Suit Squad -186
Fire Warriors - 60
Kroot & Hounds - 100
Kroot & Hounts - 100
Pathfinders - 128
Broadside Team - 275
Broadside Team - 275
Broadside Team - 275
Ok, we're up to 1516 Points

Leaving us 484 Points to spend.

Well, let's give ourselves another firebase

Commander the same and Crisis the same.

303 Down.

181 Left.

Well, now we need what kroot lack. The ability to control where your opponent can go.
how do we do that? With Piranhas.

So we need 2 Squads - Piranha, Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array, Disruption Pods, and a Flechette Discharger. - 85 Points. Two of those costs 170 Points.

We have 11 points left. Where to use them? well, lets put disruption pods on our devilfish, and give both of our BS5 Guys the ability to shoot really well in a night fight situation (Blacksun Filters) Costs us 11 points.

And We're Done.

We come out of this with the following:

2x Commander Shas'El - MP/PR, HW Drone (Shieldx1), Bonding Knife, Targeting Array, Blacksun Filter, Multi-Tracker

2x Crisis Squads - MP/PR/Multi-Tracker

2x Kroot Squad w/ 5 Hounds

Fire Warrior Squad

Pathfinder Squad (used to reduce their cover save)

2x Piranhas - Fusion Blaster, Targeting Array, Flechette Dischargers, Disruption Pods

3x Broadside Squads - 2x Shield Drones, Advanced Stabilization Systems

That is a lot of Shooty, and is very survivable.

This is basically my method of building an army. Thoughts?

Adeptus Mechanicus - Space Marines

Ok so a while ago I put up an Ad Mech list about lots of techmarines.

Here is how it would work:

To repeat, the list was:

Master of the Forge - Servo Harness 100
2 Plasma Cannon Servitors - 85

Master of the Forge - Servo Harness 100
2 Plasma Cannon Servitors - 85

Tech Marine - Servo Harness - 85
2 Plasma Cannon Servitors - 85

Tech Marine - Servo Harness - 85
2 Plasma Cannon Servitors - 85

Tech Marine - Servo Harness - 85
2 Plasma Cannon Servitors - 85

Tactical Squad - 185
Plasma Gun - Plasma Cannon

Tactical Squad - 180
Melta Gun - Plasma Cannon

Tactical Squad - 210
Rhino, Melta Gun

Tactical Squad - 210
Rhino, Melta Gun

Tactical Squad - 210
Rhino, Melta Gun

Tactical Squad - 205
Flamer, Drop Pod

Thunderfire Cannon - 100
1 Plasma Cannon Servitors - 40

Thunderfire Cannon - 100
1 Plasma Cannon Servitors - 40

Thunderfire Cannon - 100
1 Plasma Cannon Servitors - 40

2500 Points

With this army built to 2500 points you are simply torrenting of fire the crap out of everything.

The rhinos act as your forward guard, while everything else blows everything up.

You are pumping out (Per Turn mind you)
15 S7 AP2 Blasts,
and 12 Variable Blasts that can do much, (make people barely move, ignore cover or just cause damage.)
Plus you've got 3 vanguard melta guns to sit in their mobile bunkers and pop tanks or whatever else.

It just gets nasty at that point.

You've got enough techmarines to keep all the servitors in line for the entire game and in the end all you really have to worry about is your lack of mobility. though when you consider that all you have to do is shake your opponents vehicles to keep them from shooting for a turn, you have plenty of power to do just that.

Getting into CC should not be a problem since your techmarines just have to survive to their I level and they can kill just about anything, and with 3 squads of marines sitting back they should have no problem doing just that.

Stir, Drink and Enjoy!

Salamanders Drop Pod Army

Ok, well it's still in the works but here are some recent pictures of my progress:

Power Builds, And how to defeat them

Ok, since I am a great Pro-Ponent of Competitive Gaming, I thought I'd post something about the ability to build and how to beat Power Builds. Lets Start with an amazingly tough nut to crack from the Space Marines codex:

(From Yes The Truth Hurts)

Captain on Bike w/Relic Blade

2 2xTL Autocannon Dreads

10 Thunder Shield Terminators (in Combat Squads)

5 Bikers w/2 Meltaguns, Power Sword on Sarge)

3 Bikers w/Attack Bike w/Multimelta (Combat Squad)

4 Bikers w/Attack Bike w/Multimelta

2 HB/AC Predators

2 LRC w/Multimelta and EA

Why is this list a bitch? because of the fact that it makes marines VERY mobile, plus has 2 Land Raider Crusaders full of thundershield terminators there to kick your ass. Very ugly, but very effective.

Now why build like this, 1st it tells your opponent that you've put the research in to know what will work, not what should. 2nd it puts a lot of in your face where it needs to be.

Now how do you crack this nut? well it gets hard at this point because a lot depends on how your opponent deploys, when they deploy as follows:

they are going to be in your face no matter where you go, so to deal with it you have 2 options: Tarpiting (sending in small units to tie up your opponent for a single turn) and torrenting them to death with massed fire, or 2. bombing the crap out of them and running.

I would start with (shocker) the land raiders. those termies are lethal to everything, but if you blow their land raiders (with melta duh) they are stuck foot slogging it for the rest of the game. SM on bikes can be annoying, but once you put down enough fire, they die just like other Space Marines.

The termies are the real threat. knock out the 2 Land Raiders and this army can be cripled because the Bike squads are small. Take out enough in each squad to force the tests that are needed to make them run. One turn of running puts them out of charge range and well, even if they get into combat you're likely to at least put a few more down. Yes they have T5, but still you're likely wounding on 5's and with enough attacks that can equal out to enough failed saves.

He's only got 24 infantry on the board (bikes included) the rest can be dealt with in time.

You're biggest worry though are the Dreads and Preds. That is a lot of autocannon fire that can and will rip you out of your transports. Don't make the mistake of thinking that he can not.

Remember that in a tournament you should ALWAYS revies your opponent's army list closely. form a plan before you start the game and STICK TO IT. know what is the biggest threat to YOUR army and take care of them in order. Shaking a Vehicle is as good as killing it for a turn. once you've made it unable to fire, move on.

Take out the troops in Objective games.

I think the biggest problem people run into is their desire to actually KILL tanks. It's not necessessary. once you shake it you can focus the rest of your fire on other things. if it can not fire, it is neutralized for the next turn. (except Land Raiders and their PotMS)

Think carefully and don't get too caught up in destroying everything.

Vulkan's Drop Pod Detachment

So in my endeavors to create a brutal yet fun and functional Drop Pod Salamanders Army I've read and Re-Read the codex and tried to glean as much as possible on how to construct this army in a way that is both Fluffy and Tournament Legal AND effective....

The results are the following:

HQ's:

First I wanted Vulkan, not only for his abilities, but to make it a true Salamander's army.

1 Slot Filled.

The Second slot took a while to fill, but in the end I decided on a Master of the Forge. It's very fluffy and for the build that I decided to go with, Extremely Functional. But what to equip him with? My first thought was to give long range support to the army by giving him a conversion beamer, after about 2 days of thinking on this though i decided that it really would not work for 2 reasons. 1 Why buy him if you're just going to sit him on a bike (not fluffy) or put him with a squad on my side of the board (counter-intuitive to the army build) so i scrapped that idea and tried another - Thunder Hammer and Combi-Flamer. I had almost settled into this idea for the purpose of if i put him with a squad i'd be able to drop 3 twin linked flamer templates on a squad before i charged another squad, but then i'd run into the fact that i'd be wasting the point of the flamers with dropping 3 on a single squad at one time. especially if i'm 6 inches away and the flamer template is only 8 inches long. so i'd be spending 10 points to cover 3 models at most with a template that re-rolls wounds. then it hit me, The master of the forge is Ballistic Skill 5. Let's do a Combi-Melta. it's now twin linked because of Vulkan so I'm hitting on a 2+.... With a Re-Roll. now i had something. along with the fact that now he is able to do VERY much and be quite successful at it. So i can drop 2 templates from the squad..... 1 flamer and the MoF's Flamer, and shoot his Twin Linked Plasma Pistol (yay for 1 dead model) into a squad then charge. while in combat he will always strike at Initiative of 1, but with some work this is not a problem as he has a 2+ save and when i charge i can usually avoid that power weapon in the squad. Now I've dropped (hopefully) 2 guys with him before the charge, I'm in combat and I have 4 S8 attacks. 1 master crafted re-roll to hit. WS 4 so I'll be hitting on 4's against everything but an Avatar or Bloodthirster. Awesome. then that last bit of briliance hit me. I'll be hitting roughly 3 of those attacks per turn, and then i'll be wounding on 2's against almost everything. with a power weapon. one last insurance policy...... Digital Weapons. 10 points gives me that last re-Roll to wound that can make or break a unit.

2 Slots filled.

Elites:
These guys were actually really easy to pick out.
Drop Dreads
I'll take 2. Dreadnought, Multi-Melta, DCCW, Heavy Flamer, Drop Pod (Storm Bolter)

Troops:
These were not quite as easy as you may think.
I tried 4 tac squads with Flamer/Multi-Melta. It worked, but only until i found the secret of the Drop Pod (See Prior Post) so then it became a useless upgrade to take the multi-Melta (24" range was sub-par for this) so...... The Missile Launcher solved my problem. yeah 48" range really can help you out with a well placed krak missile or two.

So, 2 Tac Squads with Flamer and Multi-Melta and Power Fist
2 Tac Squads with Flamer and Missile Launcher

Fast Attack:
I've read that the Salamanders use Land Speeders Sparingly, and while this is the one option in my army that may seem "Un-Fluffy" nowhere does it state that they DO NOT use them. so i took 2 with a multi-melta and a heavy flamer each, but to stay true to fluff i did not take them in squadrons.

Heavy Support:
Back to the Master of the forge.....
Drop Dreads again, I'll Take 2. 1 the way above, and one that is slightly different.
Twin Linked Heavy Flamer (it's free from the Multi-Melta) and a Heavy Flamer (twin linked by Vulkan) this lets me do exactly what you'd think... Thin Hordes.

Great fun and an Amazingly well performing army for 1850 Points.

Now the Extension of the SM Analasys.....

now you may not agree with my analysis of the SM dex below, but to expand upon it, here are some thoughts...


Pedro Kantor - Depends on your Build but usually Fail
Darnath Lysander - Same as Pedro.
Kayvaan Shrike - Win
Vulkan He'Stan - UBER WIN
Korsorro Khan - Win

Chapter Master - Win
Chapter Captain - Win
Command Squad - See Pedro Kantor.
Librarian - PURE WIN
Master of the Forge - Depends on your Build, Has much potential, Middle of the Road.

Tac Squad - Middle of the Road
Scout Squad - WIN!
Sergent Telion - PURE WIN!!!!

Rhino- Win
Razorback - WIN
Drop Pod - FAIL unless taken in large numbers or only 1 per army.

Terminator Assault Squad - PURE WIN with TH/SS Combo
Sternguard - See Pedro Kantor
Venerable Dreadnought - Middle of the Road
Dreadnought - WIN
Techmarine/Servitors - See Master of the Forge

Vanguard Veterans - Can be WIN in few occasions but overall FAIL
Land Speeder Squadron - PURE WIN
Land Speeder Storm - Middle of the Road
Bike Squad- As Fast Attack FAIL, As Troops WIN

Thunderfire Cannon - See Master of the Forge
Land Raider - WIN
Land Raider Crusader - PURE WIN
Land Raider Redeemer - The Best of the LR options with a TH/SS Termie Assault Squad. PURE WIN!
Predator - WIN

The above squads are worth their salt,

Now to explain...

PEDRO KANTOR
This guy has some utility, but usually only in larger games because all of your marines lose their hit and run ability (I.E. Choose to fail their morale check in CC, run away (can't be sweeping advanced because of ATSKNF) then next turn auto-Rally and rapid fire the squad that was assaulting them. Great for a fun surprise. and thus lose some utility.

HOWEVER, when you take a Kantor army with Kantor, Lysander, 3 Squads of Sternguard, 6 squads of tac marines, and 3 Autocannon/Heavy Bolter Predators, he becomes a MONSTER.

yes folks that's 9 Scoring units.

And when you throw Lysander in a Drop Pod with 10 Sternguard Vets, they become the best utility unit available to a Space Marine army.

Bolter drill lets them all re-roll fail rolls to hit. so you drop pod them in, rapid fire a squad with helfire rounds and you've got (on average)16 wounds on a squad. sure they get saves, but it's so worth it. 16 wounds on any squad/Monsterous Creature will make it think twice about living.

Add to that the fact that you've got all of that in an army with 9 scoring units and you can cause some serious damage to your opponent.


MASTER OF THE FORGE

This guy can bring great utility to an army and lets you do some crazy things to make a "Counts As" Adeptus Mechanicum force.

Imagine:

2 Masters of the Forge
4 Plasma Cannon Servitors

3 Tech Marines
6 Plasma Cannon Servitors

4 Tac Squads in Rhinos

No Fast Attack (Land Speeders if you must)

3 Thunderfire Cannons
6 Plasma Cannon Servitors

Now that is Template Death.

Will expand this more later.