Tuesday 6 November 2012

Massing the troops

Thanks for the comments. So now I am thinking about the specific role for each of my units. A few years back I took a Dark Angel army to a one day tournament 'Conflict London'.  There were 131 players in the 40k section. There were 3 games in the day. Myself and a guy called Andrew Isherwood (with a Tyranid army) scored maximum points for Generalship. We each had 3 massacres and on that day the Dark Angels were really on form.

My tactics for day were honed over several months (I took a lot of beatings and learned lessons galore) and were fairly basic. Play to your strengths. I ruled the centre of the board with a devastator squad. It was a static firebase. Its purpose clear and super effective.

So what might this mean in todays terms?


I think I would plump for Missile launchers with a single Lascannon. This gives me options frag v krak.  Good range at 48".  Its expensive at 185 pts. Also I am thinking that a five man squad would not have a lot of staying power. An extra 5 models costs another 75 points but at least when the first hail of bullets arrives I would not be losing the heavy weapons.

I have just compared this to the Predator (with twin linked lascannon, pintle-mounted storm bolter and 2 heavy bolters)  at 135 points.



Maybe those Devastators would be worth the points after all.

5 comments:

  1. I haven't played 40K for a long while. So take this advice with caution. The tank would give you mobility but I imagine could get knocked out in one go.

    The infantry would also benefit from cover saves I'd imagine if it hasn't changed that much.

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    1. The tank has 3 hullpoints so would require a lucky pen hit or three glancing hits to die.

      The infantry also gets snapshots against incoming assaults, the tank does not (if I remember correctly, it may be just stunned tanks, don't have my book with me).

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    2. I agree about the cover. This should add to the expected life span.

      &

      I had forgotten about the snap shots. That actually makes quite a difference. 4 heavy weapons, and 6 bolters that is 16 shots. You would expect 2/3 to make it and there is a good chance that one might be from a heavy weapon.

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    3. "I agree about the cover. This should add to the expected life span."

      You'd think wouldn't you… mwhahaha (rubs hands eagerly)

      ;)

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  2. I remember you wiping a White Scars bike army off the table at that tournament!

    The other question to consider is, should you lose the Dev squad, what is your backup plan – do you have an alternative? – so that all your eggs are not in the one basket.

    In the old days I would take duplicates – 4 Predators in my Iron Warriors army, multiple units of Obliterators, etc – so that if I lost one or two (or three) I would not suffer too much.

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