Well, let's just say that my list didn't come out the way it went in. But that isn't always a bad thing. We shall have to take a look see, now won't we? First, the original DDP v2.2 list that I was using before to great success.
HQ:
* Castellan w/ Power Weapon and Combi-Melta; 3 Command Squad Initiates w/ 2 Meltaguns & 1 Bolter; 1 Apothecary w/ Bolter and Narthecium; 1 Command Squad Sergeant w/ Bolter. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [240]
* Castellan w/ Power Weapon and Combi-Melta; 3 Command Squad Initiates w/ 2 Meltaguns & 1 Bolter; 1 Apothecary w/ Bolter and Narthecium; 1 Command Squad Sergeant w/ Bolter. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [240]
* Emperor's Champion w/ Black Sword, Bolt Pistol, Armor of Faith, Frag Grenades, and the Vow: "Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Odds." [140]
Elites:
* Dreadnought w/ Assault Cannon, Heavy Flamer, and Extra Armor. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [150]
* Dreadnought w/ Assault Cannon, Heavy Flamer, and Extra Armor. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [150]
* Dreadnought w/ Assault Cannon, Heavy Flamer, and Extra Armor. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [150]
Troops:
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 4 Bolters & 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [120]
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 4 Bolters & 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [120]
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 4 Bolters & 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [120]
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 4 Bolters & 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [120]
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 4 Bolters & 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [120]
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 4 Bolters & 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [120]
Fast Attack:
* Land Speeder Squadron: 1 Land Speeder w/ Heavy Bolter and Typhoon Missile Launchers. [70]
* Land Speeder Squadron: 1 Land Speeder w/ Heavy Bolter and Typhoon Missile Launchers. [70]
* Land Speeder Squadron: 1 Land Speeder w/ Heavy Bolter and Typhoon Missile Launchers. [70]
Total Points: [2000]
Pretty effective list. As noted in my "How To" article, this army relies heavily on its ability to manipulate the board with MSU. It is incredibly difficult to beat if you're playing an objective or table quarter game. Even Annihilation missions are not out of the question, but if there is a weakness in the list, that is it. However, that is the main reason I decided to tweak the list. Nova Open showed me that every unit needs to be effective in their role, even if they present very little overall "threat" to my opponent. I need to be able to kill things, especially vehicles, as that is the best source of Kill Points and furthers my board manipulation agenda.
Now, this isn't to say that my list didn't kill things before, because it most certainly did. But I can make it a little better without changing the core of the list. I also want to correct some inefficient things in the list, as they really didn't help the army out all that much. Lastly, I wanted to see if I could build in a little bit more "durability" via unit choices, weaponry, and/or my Vow.
The first thing I needed to do was address my dreadnoughts. In my previous version of the list, I had changed them to Assault Cannons from the previously established Multi-Meltas because I didn't think I needed them in my list. After playing some games, that normally was the case, but it forced me to put my Crusader squads into the line of fire so they could use their meltaguns. The Assault Cannon simply did not kill vehicles as well as I was hoping, although, they did do wonders against AV10 Open-Topped vehicles (i.e. Dark Eldar). They also excelled against infantry, but I digress. With a kill chance of only 14.4% against AV11, I needed more punch from my distraction units. The goal was to pin my opponent in their deployment zone and prevent them from advancing. Assault Cannons didn't do that for me. So I need that MM back. Plus, I'd still have reasonable anti-infantry available via my Heavy Flamers and charging.
But where was I going to get the points? Easy. I simply needed to change my vow to "Abhor the Witch." My list used "Accept Any Challenge" primarily as a deterrent against enemy charges, but it really didn't do a good job of that because of the lack of power weapons. Even on the Command Squad, the Castellan only killed 1 MEQ on average on the charge. Not exactly efficient. I'd much rather have the defensive nature of the "Abhor" helping to protect my units, especially with the huge numbers of offensive psykers out there nowadays.
The list remains fairly unchanged so far. But we're not done yet. Prompted by long email discussions with Devjon, I explored the option of putting heavy weapons in my Crusader Squads. We tossed around the various possible upgrades, with Heavy Bolters being the first on the list to add in due to their low cost. Ultimately, we discarded that idea because they didn't add much kill power to the list. We also explored Plasma Cannons and Lascannons, but also decided against those options because of their expensive nature. That left us with Missile Launchers and Multi-Meltas. Initially, both of us leaned on the Missile Launcher due to its decently dualistic nature. However, after playtesting, we found that the combo really left much to be desired. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't particularly good at either role either. But what about the Multi-Meltas?
Now, previously, I have been a critic of the heavy weapons in drop pods. The fact that you could not fire the turn you dropped was a huge turn off. Plus, because you never knew when you'd be coming down, you may never even get to fire the weapon. That was a problem for me. Adversely, it allowed your squads to put some distance between them and the enemy, which helped increase their survivability. It also gave options to those squads who dropped particularly far away, likely on your home objectives, rather than just sitting there all game with nothing to do. The MM also gave me even more ability to kill vehicles, making sure that there would be absolutely no reason why I couldn't be able to take the majority of my opponent's stuff down.
However, even with the cons, I wasn't adverse to trying it for 10 points. The loss of the bolter in each squad really doesn't hurt me, so adding a heavy weapon should only be a boon, provided I could find the 60 points to buy them. As it turns out, finding the points wasn't too difficult. Because we had dropped AAC as our vow, we no longer needed the power weapon on the Castellan. Saves us 30 points. I also didn't need the combi-melta on those characters, it was just an insurance policy. With those simple changes, I had enough to arm all of my troops with MMs. Unfortunately, it left my Castellan naked.
Try as I might, I played around with points and upgrades for several hours trying to squeeze points from something to allow me to arm my Castellans with weaponry, but I was coming up dry. The Apothecaries were pretty much essential for the Command Squads, as it gives the squad FNP and helps them fulfill their role as a distraction unit. For 15 points, taking an Apothecary is a no-brainer. Nor could I drop the meltaguns in the unit. The dreadnoughts where how I liked them: MM and HF. Hypothetically, I could drop the Extra Armor on them, but then that would drastically reduce their effectiveness when receiving incoming fire (which they will). Not being able to charge when you want hurts. Nor could I drop the HF, as it was as one of the reliable AI options I have in the list. Then you have to add in the fact that I'm semi-OCD on certain things. One such thing is the fact that I don't like units with differing wargear and weaponry. For example, I can't have two Dreadnoughts with Extra Armor and one without. It would simply bug me to no end. There has to be symmetry in my units. Its much more aesthetically pleasing for me.
That left the Crusader squads. Devjon had opted to change his special weapons to plasmaguns so he'd have more range on his units. It also gave him better options against MEQ units, while still being reasonably effective against light armor. I, however, couldn't bring myself to make that change. If my reserve rolls were not favorable, I needed to be able to bring my Crusader Squads up close and be able to kill something the turn they dropped. The only way I could have a high chance of that occuring is if I left the meltaguns on the squads. This gives me the ability to make tactical choices. Not to mention, bringing vehicles into range of double-melta is a scary prospect. So the Castellan is going to just stay naked. Whatever weapon I would give to him wouldn't really add much to the battle anyway. The unit is designed for act as a durable distraction that is packing dual-melta. The Castellans are only really there to unlock the Command Squads and I really don't need bolters on those characters to make the CS's more effective in their role. For what I'd have to lose to find points, it'd be more of a detriment to the list than what I would gain.
HQ:
* Castellan w/ No weapons; 3 Command Squad Initiates w/ 2 Meltaguns & 1 Bolter; 1 Apothecary w/ Bolter and Narthecium; 1 Command Squad Sergeant w/ Bolter. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [210]
* Castellan w/ No weapons; 3 Command Squad Initiates w/ 2 Meltaguns & 1 Bolter; 1 Apothecary w/ Bolter and Narthecium; 1 Command Squad Sergeant w/ Bolter. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [210]
* Emperor's Champion w/ Black Sword, Bolt Pistol, Armor of Faith, Frag Grenades, and the Vow: "Abhor the Witch, Destroy the Witch." [110]
Elites:
* Dreadnought w/ Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer, and Extra Armor. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [160]
* Dreadnought w/ Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer, and Extra Armor. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [160]
* Dreadnought w/ Multi-Melta, Heavy Flamer, and Extra Armor. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [160]
Troops:
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 3 Bolters, 1 Multi-Melta, and 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [130]
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 3 Bolters, 1 Multi-Melta, and 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [130]
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 3 Bolters, 1 Multi-Melta, and 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [130]
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 3 Bolters, 1 Multi-Melta, and 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [130]
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 3 Bolters, 1 Multi-Melta, and 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [130]
* Crusader Squad: 5 Initiates w/ 3 Bolters, 1 Multi-Melta, and 1 Meltagun. Mounted in a Drop Pod. [130]
Fast Attack:
* Land Speeder Squadron: 1 Land Speeder w/ Heavy Bolter and Typhoon Missile Launchers. [70]
* Land Speeder Squadron: 1 Land Speeder w/ Heavy Bolter and Typhoon Missile Launchers. [70]
* Land Speeder Squadron: 1 Land Speeder w/ Heavy Bolter and Typhoon Missile Launchers. [70]
Total Points: [2000]
This army is sporting 9 Multi-Meltas, 10 Meltaguns, 6 Missile Launchers, 3 Heavy Bolters, and 3 Heavy Flamers. All the while, we're maintaining extreme MSU and the defensive nature of the list. Enjoy! :D