Opponent List -- A Problem

8/23/2017

Hello there! So I come to you all with a problem...Smite-Spam. I have come to the conclusion that there is only one way to be top-tier competitive and that is to have reliable psyker defense. Right now, our stratagem doesn't cut it. We cannot block more than one power per phase, which is not enough. So I have a simple question...how do we beat the following list?

Belakor
Changling
4x Malefic Lords
12x units Horrors
12x units Exalted
2x Quad Mortar Battery
146 points Summoning

9 Comments

Gerhard

8/24/2017 12:32:23 am

That is a mighty scary list... I'll be honest, the only thing I can think off is adding an allied Detachment with the sole purpose of Psyker defense and even then it'll be tough. With solely Black Templars and our one-per-turn-use Stratagem, I think we can't....

Marshal Hortensius

8/25/2017 08:41:00 am

I was thinking of doing some Imperial Fist Librarians in an allied detachment. Not the best option but it seemed the fluffiest to me.

Gerhard

8/25/2017 12:20:49 pm

That or Grey Knights. I am looking into those at the momen. It is mentioned very clearly in the lore that Black Templars would not ally with any Psykers except those from the Grey Knights as they consider it an honor to fight alongside them due to their background.

Imperial Fist also works I would say, especially with the most recent codex and what was written in there regarding Black Templar tolerance :-).

Marshal Hortensius

8/25/2017 02:30:14 pm

Yeah... you're correct about the Grey Knights, but ever since they released the Nemesis Dreadknight model I have had no desire to play or even look at that faction.

Marshal Tykon

8/27/2017 12:19:11 pm

I can't see anything but a Grey Knights army being able to counter the sheer amount of psychic juju going out every round, and even they might have issues with so many casts, I think. An allied detachment would be a Band-Aid only.

As an idea, since Smite requires that these units hit the nearest enemy, we could utilize really cheap bubble wrap wounds (Commissar with Conscripts?) to surround our more important models. The Horrors won't be smiting a lot every round with only a single wound even if they do manifest it, so that's something.

Marshal Laeroth (Admin)

8/28/2017 04:37:57 am

I think that Grey Knights could be a viable option...but it will ultimately take away from the essence of our army, which is being Black Templars. For us to get enough benefit to make this worthwhile, we'd have to take several units...which are already at a premium with our own codex. With price inflation for MEQ units in 8th, we need to be extremely strategic with how we spend those points. If we're taking a few GK units to counter smite-spam, wouldn't we be best just playing GK in the first place? I know the answer, but its worth mentioning.

I think there may be a couple alternatives. One being more viable than the other. First: horde lists. It occurred to me that even though smite-spam is vicious in its ability to put wounds onto the table, can it do it fast enough to kill off 100+ marines? Maybe. The average wounds caused by a smite-wielding unit is 1.87, assuming no denials. That means we'd need about 50 units casting smite to take game one assuming 100 wounds on the board. Well, we've got 12 units of horrors with one per turn, then 12 Exalted Sorcerers popping two per round...you see where this is going. So maybe two turns before you die. So not the best choice unless you can ensure you are outside of 18".

Second option I was looking at was taking Culexus Assassins. Not one, perhaps not even only two...

Aegir_einarsson

8/28/2017 02:03:53 pm

Many some inquisitor force. Cheaper than GK.
Hector rex And greyfax have 5 chances to denay a turn And some Nice buffs agains deamons.
+ culexus on the Table to give some - to smite rolls.

Or in the other hand 4 units of SoS. - 4 to smite rolls And also buff against psykers.

Marshal Tykon

8/29/2017 09:21:23 am

A few Culexus/Sisters of Silence units standing closer to the enemy than the rest of our army would certainly stave off the Smite spam for a round or so while our shooting could whittle away some of the units, though the Sisters might end up being less durable than the Assassins in the long run due to shooting from the Flamers.

I hesitate to make any significant leaps here because of how quick GW has been to remedy specific spam lists via FAQs, and I think this type of list will likely get a more significant nerf after the previous adjustment to Horrors proved to not be enough. Fingers crossed, anyways.

FuzzayD

10/7/2017 02:11:44 am

Unfortunately 8th edition rules pretty much grant psykers a no saves additional shooting phase. its not well balanced.

Opponent List -- A Problem

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