Tuesday, January 17, 2012

WarpCon 2012

Long time no post. Will have the Moo4 and Gaelcon reports up soon but first I will be dealing with what I am bringing to WarpCon 2012.

So with WarpCon around the corner I have begun to build a Hybrid BA list which consists of Jumpers + Preds for those not in the loop of the Ol' 40K Lingo.

The list I am going to be bringing is as follows:

Librarian w/ Jump Pack, Unleash Rage, Shield [125]
Sanguinary Priest w/ Jump Pack, Power Weapon [90]
Sanguinary Priest w/ Jump Pack [75]
Sanguinary Guard w/ Chapter Banner, 2 Infernus Pistols, Power Fist [260]
10 Assault Marines w/ 2 Meltaguns, Power Fist [235]
10 Assault Marines w/ 2 Meltaguns, Power Fist [235]
5 Assault Marines w/ Meltagun [110]
Baal Predator w/ Twin-Linked Assault Cannons, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Dozer Blade [150]
Baal Predator w/ Twin-Linked Assault Cannons, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Dozer Blade [150]
Baal Predator w/ Twin-Linked Assault Cannons, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Dozer Blade [150]
Predator w/ Lascannon Sponsons [135]
Predator w/ Lascannon Sponsons [135]

So this list. It's A LOT more different to my usual "50-50" Ravens that I am so famous for playing :P . It requires much more thought as to what the units can and will do and the need to know where those units will end up in the next few turns. It's a big change for me as I'm so used to forcing the Ravens down my opponents throat and hoping for the best.

So far the list has suffered a Loss against Infantry Guard (No idea how to play against the list), Draw against Grey Knights, Win against Grey Knights and a Loss to Vanilla Marines. Mistakes were made and lessons learned throughout these games though which has really helped shape the list and myself into what it is now.

Now to the units and they're functions/performance.

First up the Sanguinary Guard. At first I was skeptical about using these guys as I knew from my 2 years BA laying experience that they were a fragile CC unit and one which requires Precision movements and assaults. For me they act as a clean up unit and tend to go after a unit which was previously assaulted by a block of Assault Marines. They are also great for taking out other small elite units like Grey Knights for example. I put the Power Weapon equipped priest with them so that when they charge and thanks to the banner they have 16 Master Crafter Power Weapon attacks at Strength 5 and Initiative 5 and another 5 Power Weapon attacks from the priest at Strength 5, Initiative 5 and Weapon Skill 5.  If that Isn't enough to eliminate their target their is a Power Fist with 4 attacks waiting to swing. This unit can also kill every vehicle in the game as they are equipped with Infernus Pistols : Str 8 AP1, Melta Range 6" Pistols. They are one of my favourite units in the list and really help my deal with Terminators as they statistically kill 3-4 Storm Shield equipped Terminators or 5-6 Regular Terminators.

Now to the Assault Marines. These 25 guys are the core of the army. One squad of 10 will almost always contain the Librarian and the Sanguinary Priest with no Power weapon. The two 10 man squads are typically the units which are the backbone of my assaults and will almost always be advancing up behind or near the Baal predators. The Librarians Unleash Rage combined with Furious Charge from the Priest makes a 10 man Assault Squad hit like a ton of bricks and at a higher Initiative step than most enemies in the game (I5). They are also very survivable with a 3+ Armour save followed by a 4++ Feel no Pain from the priest and a 5++ cover save from the Librarian if needed. The 5 man squad of Assault Marines will typically be the suicide squad that tries to take out a critical unit like a Land Raider or else they are my backyard objective holders that hide behind the Auto-Las Predators.

The Baal Predators. My absolute favourite unit of the army (this is without my own personal love for Jump Marines). They are an absolutely astounding unit in my eyes. With "Fast" and the "Scout" Universal Special Rules they are easily able to get great side armour shots on enemy armour if need. They are also pretty reliable at taking out armour as they are all fitted out with Twin-Linked Assault Cannons spitting out 4 strength 6 Rending shots each. This is along with th 6 Heavy bolter shots at strength 5 that they are alos putting out. These tanks are also capable of outflanking which can be great for hitting side armour of vehicles like the Imperial Guard Chimera or even the Manticore. The Baals are also kitted out with dozer blades so they are typically very reliable at crossing terrain without getting immobilized. Even when the Baals are missing their main guns as they have a very powerful ram attack that Ivan Sheehan wasn't very fond of at the weekend when I was playing his Grey Knights with 2 Baals wrecking a Psyfleman Dread and blowing an arm off of a second dread.

Onto the Auto-Las Predators. These are a fantastic tank for annihilating other Armour. At 135 points they are a cheap buy as they also come with "Fast" as standard allowing them to move 6" and still fire all of their guns to full effect unlike the equivalent Wolves/Templars/Vanilla Marines predators which have to stay stationary to fire all of their weaponry. These predators are typically at the back of the board firing away at the enemy while protecting an objective at the same time. And as they are always moving 6" at the very least makes them that bit harder to hit in Close Combat.

So, that ends my breakdown of my list for WarpCon 2012. Thoughts?

2 comments:

  1. As long as you stick with it and get a few more practice games with it you'll do well.

    As for the Sang Guard, I'm surprised at the hitting power increase that Banner gives them and on top of the army-wide buff that the grunts get (re-rolling Pinning test is savage) it looks to be paying for itself in most of the games you've run.

    I take it you don't miss the Draw Game Scouts?

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  2. Nah don't miss the draw game scouts at all. Sure we'll see how the list does against your wolves tomorrow.

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