In July, I will be attending the Grand Tournament Heat at Warhammer World. This is my first time visiting Warhammer World, so I will be looking forward to the trip. I was hoping to actually get a ticket for one of the later heats so that I could practice with my army more, but by the time I remembered that the tickets were on sale, Heat 1 was all that was left.
My original plan was to take a Deathwatch army to the event. However, after reading the missions pack, I realised that we would be using the Eternal War mission. I love the Deathwatch and the new codex, but the army still has a problem with staying power and lasting till the end of the game. As a result, I've been experimenting with some Astra Militarum allies to boost my numbers, as well as providing some useful anti-tank firepower for my army.
After playing a few games with the Deathwatch alone and one with some AM allies, here is a list I am thinking of taking along.
Battalion Detachment (Deathwatch)
Watch Master- Guardian Spear
Watch Captain- Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield
10 Veterans- 10 Storm Bolters, 2 Storm Shields, 8 Chainswords
10 Intercessors- Bolt Rifles, Bolt Pistols, Auxiliary Grenade Launcher
5 Veterans- 2 Frag Cannons, Storm Shield, 3 Shotguns, 2 Chainswords
Rhino- 2 Storm Bolters
5 Veterans- 3 Combi-Meltas, 2 Bolters, Storm Shield, 4 Chainswords
5 Vanguard Veterans- Chainswords, 5 Bolt Pistols, Storm Shield
Razorback- Twin Lascannons, Storm Bolter
Battalion Detachment (Astra Militarum, Cadian)
Company Commander- Plasma Pistol, Power Sword, Grand Strategist Warlord Trait, Kurov's Aquila
Company Commander- Laspistol, Chainsword
Infantry Squad- Lascannon, Grenade Launcher
Infantry Squad- Lascannon, Grenade Launcher
Infantry Squad- Lascannon
30 Conscripts- Lasguns
Auxiliary Detachment (Assassins)
Culexus Assassin
12 Command Points
As you can see, a very different army to what I usually field. I normally like to only field a single faction in most games, but at 1750 pts, I would have very few bodies on the table if I only took Deathwatch.
The Guard serve to bulk out the force, as well as provide me with some strong anti-tank firepower in the form of three Infantry squads with Lascannons. As they are Cadian, if they are ordered to Take Aim!, I get full re-rolls to hit if the squad did not move. This should help provide some strong accuracy for the Lascannon fire.
The Company Commander will be my warlord. The warlord trait and Kurov's Aquila are simply too good for regenerating command points, giving you a command point back on a 5+ for each command point I use or each stratagem my opponent uses. He will also be on the table from the start, allowing me to roll from the very beginning. The Watch Master will be in the Teleportarium, so will not be able to roll until he is deployed on the table.
The conscripts are there to act as a blocking unit for my army, soaking up smites. They will go after the enemy army or grab an objective, hopefully using their superior numbers to take a lot of damage. I can use the stratagem to pass their morale test automatically, or the D3 morale tests that Guard can access.
The Assassin is also a new addition. He may not be useful in many games, but most of my harshest defeats at tournaments have been to psyker-heavy armies, so hopefully he can do some damage and block enemy psykers during the game.
The Deathwatch are the mobile, hard hitting portion of the army. I imagine that the Watch Master, Watch Captain, Storm Bolter Kill Team, Intercessors and Vanguard Veterans will go in reserve in most of my games. Obviously, it will depend on each game, but bringing them in later in the game for grabbing objectives might be a good call. The Vanguard Veterans will be part of a Kill Team with one of the 5-man squads, giving them access to objective secured.
The other Kill Teams will go in the transports to move up on objectives or the enemy army. I gave the Veterans in the Frag Cannon Kill Team shotguns, allowing them to advance and still fire if the whole squad advances. The other Team has combi-Meltas for more tank-hunting power.
Knights may be popular at the event, so I wanted a lot of anti-tank firepower. With 5 Lascannon shots, the Combi-Meltas and even the Frag Cannons, I should be able to put a dent in most enemy vehicles.
Unfortunately, I haven't had too much chance to practice with the army, and certainly not the Eternal War missions (feels like ages since I played these on their own!). I would prefer to play maelstrom missions, but we fight the battles we need to.
Can't believe you've never been to Warhammer World, really surprised. Hopefully you'll have a good tournament. Not sure I can comment on your list, you know my success rate is poor. Part of me feels you need something tougher in there though. The conscripts will soak up some and they worked in the DT3 game 3 I played, except there were 2 or 3 blobs so we had to address them otherwise they'd have filled the board but one blob can be potentially overlooked and you need something tough to soak up fire.
ReplyDeleteIt does lack that big central unit to be targeted. The Corvus Blackstar would normally fulfil this role, but I find it a bit lacklustre, to be honest.
DeleteI've only played one game with a similar list. It did ok, hopefully I can just play the mission and get a few wins in that way.
Having played against your list, it certainly works! Fits your objective focused style, and the extra CP is certainly worth it.
ReplyDeleteMy only worry for you is the number of knights that almost certainly will be out in force. While the DW are great, they do not deal with armour very well...
I am hoping that the Lascannons and Meltaguns will give me enough power to take out a Knight or two if they come up. We'll need to see how popular they are at the tournament.
DeleteYeah, I'm much more an objective player than trying to smash my opponent's list. It works well in maelstrom games, but I may struggle against Eternal War missions.
Something you might consider is the combination of the following:
ReplyDelete-3 x Cadian Heavy Weapons Squads with 3 x Lascannons
-Saber Weapons Battery with 3 Sabre Defense Platforms/3 Searchlights (FW
Opton for Astra Militarum)
That gives you 9 Lascannon shots a turn at BS4+. However, if the Sabre Battery Spotlights "spot" for them you bring them up to BS3+.. then, if you can manage at least one wound on the unit you are trying to bring down, you
can use the "Overlapping Fields of Fire" Stratagem to improve their shooting further, up to BS2+... finally, add in the "free" re-rolls that Cadians get
for standing still and you have a 97% hit rate for those 9 Lascannons...with basic Math Hammer, that averages 13-14 Unsaved Wounds against a T8
Imperial Knight, or two turns of shooting to kill one outright. Alternately, this inflicts an average of 15-16 unsaved wounds on a T7/3+ Save vehicle, so
enough to kill any of the primary transports/battle tanks in the game in a single Shooting Phase.
While this might be a bit more expensive points-wise that you were looking at originally, it makes for a very solid anti-tank firebase for your army that you can easily "tack on" to your existing army via a Spearhead
dectachment.
That's a good shout, but I don't have access to any weapons batteries.
DeleteI'd drop the plasma pistol, and power sword on the guard commander. Not worth it, he'll never do anything in combat. Use the points to get a commissar, to help with morale.
ReplyDeleteThe Plasma Pistol and Power Sword were taken to make the model I use for my Commander WYSWIG, and less for tactical benefit.
DeleteI actually don't find the Commissar of much use since the rules changed. They were way to powerful before, but are now next to useless in the list. I find they don't make much difference on morale for the conscripts.
Yeah, but they look cool.
DeleteRecently added a guard blob to my Grey Knights for a game and didn't regret it. While I didn't win, it wasn't due to the Guard allies. :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the tournament!
I find the Guard blob gives me a lot of bodies on the table and a threat that my opponent has to deal with, else they tie up his gunline with masses of conscripts.
DeleteAny updates since you played in the tournament? I have recently started playing with a DeathWatch army and learned - painfully - the need to have an AM/ inquisition detachment to provide anti-armor and screens.
ReplyDeleteYeah, all the battle reports from the tournament are now on the blog if you want to check them out.
DeleteI'll also be putting together a review of the army for later this week.