Game On!

6/20/2017

By now, everyone has their hands on the 8th Edition stuff. This is great news! Means we're all moving forward in life at the same time and exploring this new world "together". With that being said, "Wow"! There is a ton of new stuff to go over and learn. After spending the weekend digesting the new army rules, I spent the rest of my time looking at possible armies. While I will go over my overall analysis at a later time, I will start posting up lists to show everyone my mind set at the moment. Here is the first one (I am fairly confident points limits will be 2k with the increases in cost)!

~ Battalion Detachment ~

HQ:
* High Marshal Helbrecht. [170]
* Chaplain w/ Bolt Pistol and Jump Pack. [90]

ELITES:
* Vanguard Veteran squad (1x Sword Brethren and 9x Initiates) w/ 10 Plasma Pistols, 1 Thunder Hammer, 9 Chainswords, and Jump Packs. [270]

TROOPS:
* Crusader squad (1x Sword Brethren, 9x Initiates and 5x Neophytes) w/ 1 Pair of Lightning Claws, 1Power Axe, 1 Plasma gun, and 12 Chainswords/Combat Knives. [216]
* Crusader squad (1x Sword Brethren and 4x Initiates) w/ 1 Thunder Hammer, 1 Power Axe and 3 Chainswords. [90]
* Crusader squad (1x Sword Brethren and 4x Initiates) w/ 1 Thunder Hammer, 1 Power Axe and 3 Chainswords. [90]
* Crusader squad (1x Sword Brethren and 4x Initiates) w/ 1 Thunder Hammer, 1 Power Axe and 3 Chainswords. [90]

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS:
* Razorback w/ Twin-Linked Lascannons. [115]
* Razorback w/ Twin-Linked Lascannons. [115]
* Razorback w/ Twin-Linked Lascannons. [115]

HEAVY SUPPORT:
* Land Raider Crusader w/ Multi-Melta. [314]
* Vindicator w/ Storm Bolter. [162]
* Vindicator w/ Storm Bolter. [162]

Total Points: [1999]

The current list is has its faults. I am not 100% sure that it'll be enough to secure objectives effectively, so I'll have to keep an eye on that. It also strongly favors advancing, with little that will defend the backfield if needed. However, with that being said, we have some long range weaponry and enough that can easily drop some tougher models out there. I am going to playtest a bit with this list to see how it works and will make adjustments as needed. :)

EDIT: Oops. I forgot one of the Crusader squads in the original post. Fixed now.

10 Comments

Nikephoros

6/21/2017 09:03:40 am

I love plasma pistols in this edition especially paired in a squad with Helbrecht. I think you are bettwr off with 7 assault terminators one with TH than that veteran squad. A bit fewer points and a bit more killy.

I might try replacing the two 5 man troops with shooter versions since you already have two more than decent cc units.

Gerhard

6/23/2017 02:21:13 am

Awesome, updates. I've been looking forward to them! List looks good. I am assuming you are intending to board everything in the LRC / Mechs? In one of the first games I played I tried footslogging and suffice to say.... that was a true disaster.

Out of interest: what is the purpose of the Vanguard squad in this list? I tend to use them as "I want to kill something in turn 1 - squad" and thus generally only use five but then much more equipped with Thunderhammers / LC's. I'm curious how you use them.

Marshal Laeroth (Admin)

6/23/2017 03:02:04 am

I made a snafu on the original list by leaving out a Crusader squad. I should have had 3, not 2. Oh well. Fixed now.

Nikephoros: I love the flexibility the Vanguard give me with those plasma pistols, plus their large amount of attacks in close combat, give me options in the battlefield. Its a huge distraction unit; not as durable as the terminators you are requesting, but that unit is far more expensive than the Vanguard. I tried getting in some Assault Terminators, believe me...

Gerhard: Yes! They are going to start flowing now. ;) As far as the Crusader squads, yes. They are riding their transports until its time to jump out and unleashing hell with their weaponry. The Vanguard Vet squad is pretty close to what you called it...my turn 1 alpha strike. However, I felt that I needed another unit to compliment them or they risk complete annihilation. So the list evolved!

~ Battalion Detachment ~

HQ:
* High Marshal Helbrecht. [170]
* Chaplain w/ Bolt Pistol and Jump Pack. [90]

ELITES:
* Vanguard Veteran squad (1x Sword Brethren and 9x Initiates) w/ 10 Plasma Pistols, 1 Power Axe, 9 Chainswords, and Jump Packs. [255]
* Terminator Squad (1x Sergeant and 4x Initiates) w/ 1 Assault Cannon and 2 Chainfists. [247]
* Apothecary. [55]

TROOPS:
* Crusader squad (1x Sword Brethren, 8x Initiates and 4x Neophytes) w/ 1 Pair of Lightning Claws, 1 Power Axe, 1 Plasma gun, and 12 Chainswords/Combat Knives. [192]
* Crusader squad (1x Sword Brethren and 4x Initiates) w/ 1 Grav Cannon, 1 Plasma gun and 3 Chainswords. [110]
* Crusader squad (1x Sword Brethren and 4x Initiates) w/ 1 Grav Cannon, 1 Plasma gun and 3 Chainswords. [110]
* Crusader squad (1x Sword Brethren and 4x Initiates) w/ 1 Grav Cannon, 1 Plasma gun and 3 Chainswords. [110]

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS:
* Razorback w/ Twin-Linked Lascannons. [115]
* Razorback w/ Twin-Linked Lascannons. [115]
* Razorback w/ Twin-Linked Lascannons. [115]

HEAVY SUPPORT:
* Land Raider Crusader w/ Multi-Melta. [314]

Total Points: [1998]

6/23/2017 04:13:03 am

That makes sense. Saw a few battlereports and Vindicators don't appear that strong. Terminators add some nice extra beef. I noticed you're also using the power axe on your initiates. I'm curious to know why as I've so far favoured using a hidden Powerfist on the normal initiates.

Grav cannon is the default choice or when playing against other SM armies? My meta is a lot of Necrons / Orcs / Tyranids so I prefer to just have a Thunderhammer on the SB.

6/23/2017 06:05:47 am

Grav cannons mathhammers out to be the best all around weapon for all-comers. But I still prefer to have some 48" range firepower in even if its less efficient simply because 48".

6/24/2017 04:39:42 pm

The power axe is on the initiates for the same reason I chose the grav cannon...on average, it does the best overall against the widest variety of enemies. Thunderhammer is also good, but I needed the extra 15 points. I try to build all-comers list whenever possible.

The longer range options are good, just like in 5th edition, but I am concerned about the long term viability of that squad on the board against opponent's long range options against us. Through my playtesting, it seems the grav-cannon is more of a threat and it seems to back it up a bit more, despite the lack of range.

6/26/2017 02:54:17 am

Cool, I have Sword Brethren in the making with both the Thunderhammer and the Poweraxe so I can swap out a little in my upcoming squads. As for Grav... I'll give that a shot. Never had any marines with Grav-weapons on the board so that'll be an interesting experiment.

Stefan

7/9/2017 02:26:05 am

I played a list a little bit similar but on 1250 points, so no LR and only 2 RB with AC. I had Helbrecht along with Tac Terminators with 1 AC and several PF. Instead of the Vanguards I had to take a "regular" Assault squad with JP but had a priest along with them.
I played against a Ravenguard List including a LRC and a Stormraven.He also fielded an Eversor..
I lost the game due to 1 missing Missionpoint. But the fighting was brutal and bloody.
The Razorbacks did an outstanding job and their AC managed to kill quite a few Marines. They also helped a lot to down this Stormraven...final kill for the SR came from a Scout with ML...
The heavily armed small Crusader Squads did some damage, but unfortunately died also easily. One was annihilated in 2 rds by the Eversor in cc. Only the Swordbrother survived with 1 wound but died by shooting from anotherRG unit.
The RB were quite sturdy and my opponent was astonished about their durability in 8.
The most successful unit was a 6 Man Scout Team with 5 Sniperguns and a ML ,sitting high in a ruin they were a thread for many enemies, in particular for the character models. They were the ones almist killing the eversor..so he had to fall back with 1 wound left.

They Assault Squad was successfully wiping out 2 ravenguard squads of 5 each with shooting, flamer and cc, thanks to rerolls from the priest. But eventually, all of them, except the Swordbrother and the priest, died in a hail of Bolter, AC and MM shots from the RG's LRC.

8/2/2017 10:09:23 am

A question about Vanguard Vets.

You mention kitting them like that. Would you consider adding a few Stormshields to them and potentially a TH/Axe or two more? I'm toying with the idea to kit a 10 man squad with 4x Chain sword + SS, 3x TH & Plasma, and 2x Chain sword + Plasma.

Reason why is that I've had a few nasty overwatches on AP-3 and would like the option for the squad to survive somewhat longer.

What would you do? 4 shields? 2 shields? None?

Curious to hear your advice as I'm literally in the progress of kitting a unit as we speak haha.

8/2/2017 12:14:38 pm

And also a followup question... would you still kit Vanguard Veterans as you have in this list if you also have the option to take Reivers? Sure it's a little less AP on the ranged shots but survivability wise they outshine the Vanguards and their melee / deepstrike is the same.

Basically I'm looking for a way to kit them properly and now that Reivers are there, kitting Vanguards similarly just feels a bit of a waste. Then I'd rather stack them with TH/LC and use them for a heavy-support buster or something.

Game On!

Leave a Reply.

Laeroth's Blog

Archives