Everyone these days has a belief method and voodoo ritual on what makes a good list or how they go about army list construction. Some have radically different ideas or lists of elements every list should have and the list goes on. I play vanilla marines, it;s my favorite codex because it has a highly fluid and flexibly structure. What I mean by that is by the inclusion or exclusion of a unit the entire army plays and functions very differently. A fleeting Shrike Lists plays and should be built differently then a steadfast Lysander build, or an attack bubble Vote for Pedro list. This diversity and flexibility makes this dex the most fun for me to use and I still believe its got some good competitive style builds for a majority of units in it.
Well my personal philosophy of list construction is to build to the maximize the strengths of your selected army and units to maximize your advantage before you hit the table. What that means in English is,if you Take say Vulkan you should be making extensive use of Flamers and MM. I also contend that everything in a dex can be useful, but may be points prohibitive to be competitive. My favorite poster child is Vanguard. This poor unit is simply too expensive compared to what it does and requires help to make the unit really viable. Exceeding what another unit can do for less points. So what does this all mean basically build a list around the interactions of the units and create a solid force that can:
1.) Kill
2.) Take objectives
3.) Delay and Disrupt the enemy
4.)Threaten the enemy.
Kill
A solid list has the ability to deal damage to the opponent, all list need some ability to do damage to all foes in order to win the game this can be done differently in different armies my preferred method is to make sure I have enough units that can kill tanks, kill Montrous Creatures and kill infantry. Current metagame is mech so weapons that kill tanks should have a high importance in your list.
Take Objectives
In 5th ed, you have to have scoring units you need something to hold an objective or control objectives once you taken them from the enemy. Scoring units are key to 2/3 of the basic missions and required to win unless you table your opponent.
Delay and Disrupt your enemy
This is a high level concept that is built into all of my lists. I want to have units that provide me options to slow down or disrupt my enemy all together. This typically comes in the form of some element of outflanking, deepstriking or other high mobility units. Quite often this role is filled with the humble rhino used as a mobile piece of terrain to block LOS and movement. If your opponent is an eggs in one basket kinda guy you need the ability to shatter the basket. Disruption can often do more to win you a game then anything else.
Threaten the Enemy
This speaks to a concept called target saturation, you want to multiple threats in your army that will hurt your opponent. These threats need to be numerous and designed in such a way that all of them are not easily countered. You need something in your list that forces poor choices on your opponent. And once your opponent has chosen his path you need to utilize the other threats to exploit the weakness inherent in the choice they make. Again a little high level but all will be made clear with examples.
Lets Look at one of my Favorite Thousand point lists
Libby with Null Zone and Smite
5man Sternguard 2x Missile Launcher Srgt with CombiMelta in a rhino
Dreadnought Multimelta DCCW and Storm Bolter Extra Armor
Dreadnought Assault Cannon DCCW and Storm Bolter Extra Armor
10 Man tactical Squad Meltagun Missile Launcher Srgt with Combi Meltagun in a rhino
5man scout squad 3xSniper Rifles Missile Launcher Srgt. with Sniper Rifle
Predator Auto Cannon and Heavy Bolter
Predator Auto Cannon and Heavy Bolter
Quick Evaluation
Can it kill, yes I have weapons that by pass FNP and armor, I have the ability to hurt MC's heavy infantry and regular infantry. I have the ability to kill tanks.
Can It take objectives, yes I have 2 base troop choices with Combat tactics I can stretch it to 3. The troops in this list are an area of slight concern but the idea is at a 1000pts I should have enough troops to get the job done.
Can it Delay and Disrupt. This is precisely what my dreads are their for. They are my disruption force they have to dealt with or it can get a bit nasty. The libby's psychic hood and nullzone power are also usefully in the disruption of my enemy's pyschic phase and reliance on invul saves. I can also depending on the game and my mood utilize my scouts as an outflanking force. Not recommended but an option non the less.
Does it threaten my enemy? Yes I have 2 dreads and two shooty Preds along with Protected Sternguard launching missile attacks. This threat core threatens my enemy both at range and as they approach my army. Again is it perfect no but it gets the job done quite a bit. More on list design philosophy and tactics to come.
Remember if you can dream it you can do it.
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