About 7 months ago, MVB put out the results for Nova Open and showed the army breakdowns for the participants. What I saw shocked me. There was only ONE Black Templars player that went to Nova! That is unacceptable and was ultimately what forced me to decide to go with the Black Templars at the Nova Open 2011.
Anyway, the Black Templar player went 1-3 on Day One, leaving him eliminated from Day Two games. As I'm a curious sorta guy, I wanted to know the list that person brought to the table for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to see if the list was competitive or not. Second, I wanted to know if it was one of my lists running around in. And third, I simply wanted to get a feel for what people felt was tournament-worthy unit choices for the Black Templars. MVB was kind enough to get me that person's list, so without further adieu, here it is:
Anyway, the Black Templar player went 1-3 on Day One, leaving him eliminated from Day Two games. As I'm a curious sorta guy, I wanted to know the list that person brought to the table for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to see if the list was competitive or not. Second, I wanted to know if it was one of my lists running around in. And third, I simply wanted to get a feel for what people felt was tournament-worthy unit choices for the Black Templars. MVB was kind enough to get me that person's list, so without further adieu, here it is:
HQ
Emperor's Champion - Crusader Seals, Frag, Bolt Pistol, Black Sword, Accept Any Challenge, IC, Slayer of Champions
Black Templar's Reclusiarch Chaplain - Crusader Seals, Rosarius, Holy Orb of Antioch, Terminator Armor, Crozius Arcanum, Storm Bolter, Accept Any Challenge
Commander, Marshal - Crusader Seals, Holy Orb of Antioch, Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon, Accept Any Challenge
Elite
5 x Sword Brethren Terminator Assault Squad w/ Lightning Claws - Furious Charge, Accept Any Challenge
Venerable Dreadnought - Venerable, Dreadnought CCW, Twin-Linked Lascannon, Accept Any Challenge
Dreadnought - Dreadnought CCW, Twin-Linked Lascannon, Accept Any Challenge
Troop
10 Model Crusader Squad - 5 Initiates with Bolt Pistol and CCW, 1 Initiate with Meltagun, 1 Initiate with Bolt Pistol and Power Weapon, 3 Neophytes with Bolt Pistol and CCW
+Rhino w/ Extra Armor
10 Model Crusader Squad - 5 Initiates with Bolt Pistol and CCW, 1 Initiate with Meltagun, 1 Initiate with Bolt Pistol and Power Weapon, 3 Neophytes with Bolt Pistol and CCW
+Rhino with Extra Armor
9 Model Crusader Squad - 7 Initiates with Bolters, 1 Initiate with Meltagun, 1 Initiate with Bolt Pistol and Power Weapon
+Drop Pod
Heavy Support
Land Raider Crusader - Extra Armor, Frag Assault Launchers, Multi-Melta, Blessed Hull, Searchlight
Predator Annihilator - Twin-Linked Lascannon, 2 x Lascannons
So there it is. It is what I would call a casual list, at best. Not suited for tournament play. But that's okay. This website is here to show you why I make such claims, and how to better arm yourself against the tournament field. Let's get to it then.
We need to first take a look at the army composition: 3 HQs, 3 Elites, 3 Troops, and 2 Heavy Support. In 2000 points, this shows that the army is severely front-loaded towards the "elitist" mindset. That means tooled up HQs and maxed Elite slots, while maintaining bare minimum Troops, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support options. In other words, not a very balanced all-comers list. But hey, sometimes rock lists work. In this case, I don't believe it does.
We'll take a look at the HQs first. Obviously, the EC is kitted out correctly for the style of list this player is going for. What gets me, is the other HQ choices. The first one uses the amazing Terminator Chaplain model. But is it any good in tournament play? No. At least, not how this player is using it. Not only that, but the selection of the Holy Orb of Antioch makes the unit illegal, as you can't put the Orb on a model with Terminator Armor. As you can tell from the list, the Chappy shacks up with the Assault Terminator squad in the Land Raider Crusader. Creating a massively expensive death-trap that is easy to neutralize by proper application of melta or rhino-blocking.
The other HQ choice is at least legal, albeit, still not very effective on the table. Marshals are beneficial as a force multiplier for the Black Templars due to their Rites of Battle rule, but they have to be able to DO something when fielded. A power sword and plasma pistol doesn't exactly lend a hand in this effect. You lose the pure combat prowess the lightning claws give you, but you're not gaining anything useful like a storm shield for more durability. While you can possibly take pot shots at vehicles with the plasma pistol, remember that doing so would prevent the squad from charging something more beneficial like an infantry unit. And really, a single plasma shot into an infantry unit at very close range is a pretty poor use of those points.
The elite slot is next. Normally I'd not moan and groan about these guys, as they are simply walking death. However, he has Fritz Syndrome and doesn't have any Thunderhammers in the squad. This means that a dreadnought would be able to ruin this squad's game. If you do the math, with Preferred Enemy, 3 Lightning Claw Terminators will kill almost every unit it charges. If you toss in 2 TH/SS, you gain the ability to deal with high toughness models and walkers such as dreads. You also gain improved invulnerable saves (at the time, it was a 4++), which means added durability. Throwing in a Chaplain isn't going to help you kill things that are already dead to begin with.
In addition, while the list doesn't actually use the slots, the LRC is not a dedicated transport so it should have been taken as an upgrade to the terminators. The Dreadnoughts that he took in this list aren't bad, but its my preference that if you're not going to go with Missile Launchers opposite the TL-Lascannon, give them a Heavy Flamer so they can deal with mob infantry.
The troops actually aren't that bad. But I do think they are a bit on the low-end of numbers for 2k point games. By putting a single troop unit in a pod, you give your opponent the ability to neutralize the first two without having to worry about the last one until later. In addition, because that final troops unit is geared towards CC, they'll have to sit there after they drop in and eat a turn of fire before they are able to get in the thick of things, which may result in a seriously diminished unit at this points level. I don't necessarily thing that taking power weapons is a bad option, but the power fist is the safer choice.
Finally, we have the LRC that should have been taken as a dedicated transport (even though it doesn't count as one). We also have a single Predator Annihilator. While I agree that the Tri-Las Preds are better at killing armor than the AC/Las Preds, they are much more expensive for what they do. Plus this player only took one of them, so it was likely targeted early in every game and neutralized.
So to conclude: Target saturation is not evident in this list at all. There are no duplicates of anything in the list at all (besides two troops squads), which makes targeting extremely easy for your opponent. There is quite a bit of points put into HQs that don't really add anything to the list. If you take a HQ outside of the Emperor's Champion, you really would like him to give your army some sort of force multiplier. In this case, both simply do not do that effectively.
Other than being too top heavy, the other main issue with the list is the limited number of troops units on the board. I'm assuming that this player podded in the third crusader squad in all of their games, which meant there were only two rhinos on the board to soak up incoming fire. And only four total vehicles! That is asking for your entire army to be blown up on turn one. :(
Lastly, I felt very sad when I didn't see any Land Speeders in this list. Unless you have a dedicated gunline list, you need lots of melta. Right now, there is only 3 meltaguns and 1 multi-melta. That isn't going to cut it in a competitive environment. MM/HF Land Speeders would have added a great deal to this list I think.
While I think I've shown why this list wouldn't do well in a tournament like Nova Open, it doesn't mean the list is totally bad. It certainly might be effective in casual games. Unfortunately, it simply is not optimized and efficient enough to win consistently in national tournaments.
We need to first take a look at the army composition: 3 HQs, 3 Elites, 3 Troops, and 2 Heavy Support. In 2000 points, this shows that the army is severely front-loaded towards the "elitist" mindset. That means tooled up HQs and maxed Elite slots, while maintaining bare minimum Troops, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support options. In other words, not a very balanced all-comers list. But hey, sometimes rock lists work. In this case, I don't believe it does.
We'll take a look at the HQs first. Obviously, the EC is kitted out correctly for the style of list this player is going for. What gets me, is the other HQ choices. The first one uses the amazing Terminator Chaplain model. But is it any good in tournament play? No. At least, not how this player is using it. Not only that, but the selection of the Holy Orb of Antioch makes the unit illegal, as you can't put the Orb on a model with Terminator Armor. As you can tell from the list, the Chappy shacks up with the Assault Terminator squad in the Land Raider Crusader. Creating a massively expensive death-trap that is easy to neutralize by proper application of melta or rhino-blocking.
The other HQ choice is at least legal, albeit, still not very effective on the table. Marshals are beneficial as a force multiplier for the Black Templars due to their Rites of Battle rule, but they have to be able to DO something when fielded. A power sword and plasma pistol doesn't exactly lend a hand in this effect. You lose the pure combat prowess the lightning claws give you, but you're not gaining anything useful like a storm shield for more durability. While you can possibly take pot shots at vehicles with the plasma pistol, remember that doing so would prevent the squad from charging something more beneficial like an infantry unit. And really, a single plasma shot into an infantry unit at very close range is a pretty poor use of those points.
The elite slot is next. Normally I'd not moan and groan about these guys, as they are simply walking death. However, he has Fritz Syndrome and doesn't have any Thunderhammers in the squad. This means that a dreadnought would be able to ruin this squad's game. If you do the math, with Preferred Enemy, 3 Lightning Claw Terminators will kill almost every unit it charges. If you toss in 2 TH/SS, you gain the ability to deal with high toughness models and walkers such as dreads. You also gain improved invulnerable saves (at the time, it was a 4++), which means added durability. Throwing in a Chaplain isn't going to help you kill things that are already dead to begin with.
In addition, while the list doesn't actually use the slots, the LRC is not a dedicated transport so it should have been taken as an upgrade to the terminators. The Dreadnoughts that he took in this list aren't bad, but its my preference that if you're not going to go with Missile Launchers opposite the TL-Lascannon, give them a Heavy Flamer so they can deal with mob infantry.
The troops actually aren't that bad. But I do think they are a bit on the low-end of numbers for 2k point games. By putting a single troop unit in a pod, you give your opponent the ability to neutralize the first two without having to worry about the last one until later. In addition, because that final troops unit is geared towards CC, they'll have to sit there after they drop in and eat a turn of fire before they are able to get in the thick of things, which may result in a seriously diminished unit at this points level. I don't necessarily thing that taking power weapons is a bad option, but the power fist is the safer choice.
Finally, we have the LRC that should have been taken as a dedicated transport (even though it doesn't count as one). We also have a single Predator Annihilator. While I agree that the Tri-Las Preds are better at killing armor than the AC/Las Preds, they are much more expensive for what they do. Plus this player only took one of them, so it was likely targeted early in every game and neutralized.
So to conclude: Target saturation is not evident in this list at all. There are no duplicates of anything in the list at all (besides two troops squads), which makes targeting extremely easy for your opponent. There is quite a bit of points put into HQs that don't really add anything to the list. If you take a HQ outside of the Emperor's Champion, you really would like him to give your army some sort of force multiplier. In this case, both simply do not do that effectively.
Other than being too top heavy, the other main issue with the list is the limited number of troops units on the board. I'm assuming that this player podded in the third crusader squad in all of their games, which meant there were only two rhinos on the board to soak up incoming fire. And only four total vehicles! That is asking for your entire army to be blown up on turn one. :(
Lastly, I felt very sad when I didn't see any Land Speeders in this list. Unless you have a dedicated gunline list, you need lots of melta. Right now, there is only 3 meltaguns and 1 multi-melta. That isn't going to cut it in a competitive environment. MM/HF Land Speeders would have added a great deal to this list I think.
While I think I've shown why this list wouldn't do well in a tournament like Nova Open, it doesn't mean the list is totally bad. It certainly might be effective in casual games. Unfortunately, it simply is not optimized and efficient enough to win consistently in national tournaments.
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