Battle 1850 Shrike vs IG Tourney prep

Hi Gang Rancor709 here with a battle report from Monday night Gaming at Area 51 in Grapevine Texas. Getting prepped and tweaking my list for the upcoming Tourney on Nov 13th. So it was me vs Mike's Mech Guard with Execution tank 2xVendettas, and 1 two man Russ squadron and 1 single Vindicator with Tank ace and a bunch of Chimeras with and a hell hound. I was running my Shrike foot 10th company list with Shrike Termy Libby SS Null zone and Gate, 10 man TH/SS termies with 3lcs, 6 man sternguard with 2xMl and combimelta, 2x5man Scouts with Ccw Bp Srgts with PF, Combimeltas and meltabombs, 2x5man Sniper Scouts camo claoks ML, and Srgt with Sniper rilfes. 10 man Tacitcal squad with Lascannon and Flamer srgt with a combimelta. 2 landspeeder storms 1 with HF 1 with MM and a 10man assault squad with a Pw.

Okay so we roll up mission and its Annihilation and then deployment and its dawn of war. Mike wins the roll to go first. Mike deploys nothing allowing everything to roll on turn 1. I infiltrate my two sniper scout teams both in cover on in my back field on opposite sides of the table. 1 outflank shrike the two ccw scouts squads each in a storm, I deep strike the assault squad, Hold the tactical squad in reserve. My sternguard I have coming on turn 1

Turn1-m

Mike rolls on in a line across his back field. with his hellhound zipping forward on my right to eat my scouts squad. I really dislike hellhounds, but I play a lot of scouts. Thankfully It was really dark none of Mikes vehicles can see my scouts especially the hellhound. I have to say when he rolled low for his vision I was relieved.
Turn 1 J

My sternguard come on and run into a building so they can lay down missle fire next turn. My far left scouts try and see a chimera but can't the srgt was drinking again. My scouts on the far left roll to see the chimera they don't. The scouts on the right think they see a hellhound in the distance. They do but only 2 snipers and my Srgt can see the others didn't make out the hellhound in the early morning light. I roll and get 2 hits, I get a rend, and then I roll a 1 so I get a strength 10 hit on armor 12. So needless to say...
Turn2-M
With the dawn comes the voices of big guns. Mikes shooting was devastating the hellhound ate the right scouts. My sternguard sqaud eat the combined fire of all but 2 of his chimeras and and vanquisher cannon. My far left scouts squad lose 1 dude. It had truly been a red dawn.
Turn 2-J
I roll my reserves and get deepstriking assault squad and MM Storm with its surprise in side squad. The outflank on my left on his table side and I drop my Assault squad on the right . No misshap but I scattered 8 further back then I wanted. My scouts jump out of their ride ready to fight. Seeing the back armor of a chimera and a Vanquisher ace tank that didn't move last turn. And I screwed up, I knew it as soon as I did it too.
I shoot the storm at the rear of the vanquisher tank and fail to hit. I instead of trying to pop the chimera and then multicharging, go and shoot the vanquisher with the combimelta, and I blow the damn thing up. And lost a scout in the explosion. So they are hanging in the wind.

Turn3-M

mike Flys a Vendate over to blow up the storm. rearranges his forces to kill my assault squad and turns the chimera to eat the scouts behind them. His guns open up and my 10 man assault squad is magically reduced to my srgt and a lone assault marine. He fires into my snipers in the nest and kills all but the srgt who breaks. And he turns his vengeful guns on my scouts that blew up his tank ace and they die.

Turn 3J
I was feeling good about myself at this point I figured the rest of my army would come in and make up some ground. reserves Shrike comes in with his marry band of awesome, The other storm comes in the tactical squad seeing the bloodshed decide to hang back a turn. My lone sniper rallys and hangs out in terrain. I get to put shrike and friends where I want thanks to rolling a 6. They come in an inch away form his hellhound and the chimera on his right. My assault squad runs forward to attack his command chimera. My other band of scouts come in on the left. and I make another mistake, instead of remember this is a killpoints game I and going with my standard plan of kill transport and then eat squad inside with scouts which is what that unit is designed to do. I instead disembark my scouts run them and have them charge the executioner tank. they Promptly do nothing to the damn thing. Yup at that point I was not happy with myself. My assault squad stunned the chimera. and Shrike and friends killed the chimera and the hellhound in the insueing explosion shrike takes a wound and he loses 4 vets from his chimera but they stand firm.

Turn 4 M
Mike forgets to move his chimera that I assaulted. He moves his executioner away from the scouts he kills both storms this turn, He also kills my 5 ccw scout squad. he shoots at my termies killing a Th/ss.

Turn 4 J
I got overly fancy I detached shrike from the squad and set him up to charge the left over squad that was in the rhino, I run my conga line of doom toward s the chimera that was again was stunned by the assault squad again. I charge both the assault squad and the Libby with the termies into the chimera wrecking it. Shrike attacks his squad in the chimera crater and forces them to break and below half strength

Turn 5 M

I felt like the eyes of Texas were upon me...and so were all of mikes Guns. What seemed like two hundred shoots later. I had Shrike The libby and 2 Thunderhammer termies left. and my hanging out Sniper scout srgt in the building out of line of sight.

Turn 5 J

This turn I move shrike into another bit of cover. I assault with my libby and two remaining Thunderhammers his commander unit. I kill all but the commander who breaks and runs.

we roll to continue and I roll a 1 a common occurrence that night. In the finally tally. It was Mike with 7kp and me with 6kP. It was a great hard fought game that really showed I have to play flawlessly with this list which having played similar lists in the past I know. its doubly so against guard. Looking forward to the tourney and hopefully facing off with Mike again soon so I can him the business.

Adepticon Is booked

The 709 is heading to adepticon this April. Looking forward to my first adepticon planning on making it a casual style trip, with the focus on fellowship with the other members of the freebootaz forum. Taking in a class and doing 2 solid days of Combat Patrol as its my favorite brand of 40k. Quick dirty and fun. Hoping to see you all their.

The Table is smaller than it used to be...

Evening all, Rancor709 here with some deep thoughts on the game. The table has shrunk in 5th edition, the space between armies is smaller and the gaps can be closed more quickly. How has this happened, well the first and obvious choice is the mechanization of so many armies namely marines and the infamous imperial guard. The sutler shift has occurred through the deployments in the game itself and the run rule. Along with the ability of many units to outflank.

Run shrunk the game because for the first time infantry could move a total of 12" if dice are lucky without the aid of a vehicle. Combine run with a fleet unit and you have the potential for basic infantry to charge 18" jump infantry potential 24" charge. If you roll pitched battle and both you and your opponent line up on the 12" starting line you have a turn 1 charge.

Outflanking, the ability of a unit to come in along the short board edges out of reserves has really shrunk the game table. No longer is the battle field 48" wide the ability to outflank means anywhere along that edge I can bring my forces to bare on a unit. Outflanking units ably pressure and help force deployment of your opponent.

The board has shrunk so what does this mean, this means that 24" range is not a handy cap for many armies. The speed with which the gap can be closed means range won't always protect you. It also begs the questions in the meta, have we come to the point that infantry heavy is going to be the new counter for heavy mech forces, and forces tailored to crush mech. If you are vehicle heavy you simply don't have the points to be infantry heavy. More testing is needed but I am bringing a foot heavy Shrike list to the tourney we are having at Area 51 in Grapevine inviting the boys from Bell of Lost Souls up for a Texas, style challenge using modified NOVA format. I give you the list

1850 pts
Shrike
Libby Termy Armor Storm shield-Avenger and Null Zone
10-Assault termies 7Th/Ss 3xLCs
6Man Sternguard 2xMissile launcher srgt with Combimelta
10 Man Tactical Squad Lascannon Flamer and Srgt with combimelta
2x5man scout squads CCw&bps Srgts with PFs, Combimeltas and meltabombs
2x5man Scouts squads Sniper Rifles Missile Launchers and Srgts with Sniper Rifles
LandSpeeder storm Heavy Flamer
Landspeeder Storm Multimelta
10 Assault Squad with Jump packs Srgt with PW.

The Hive mind cometh

Hey gang, got a new army that I am starting up and after much deliberation I am coming to the call of the Hive mind. The nids as a concept both in modeling and in the lore of 40k have always caught my eye. Still my most lasting memory of 40k imagery is the picture in the old 4th edition Marine codex of Imperial fists standing before an overwhelming horde of Nids. And so I am joining the hive mind. The goal is have a fully functional and painted nid force of 2000pts for next years Wargames con.

Prepare for Hive Fleet Dendrobate

The color scheme I'm stealing from nature as the regular nid fleets don't appeal to me. Having my army which make use of toxin sacs quite a bit fit the poison dart theme well. More to come as the hive fleet propagates.

1850 Lists, lets talk

Okay gang Rancor here preparing for a major event going down in North Texas at Area 51 Games and Collectibles in Grapevine, Texas. The local 40k group is going to be running an 1850pt event and if I'm still in the area on November 13th. I'm going and I'm bring Codex Space Marines. The question is what list am I going to bring. Its using a modified Nova Format so it rewards armies that are compact on VP's, hard hitting and versatile. So what do I bring, I could go razorspam but I personally hate that army so no go. I could go with a varient of what I took to bolscon subtracting some points to get it to the necessary points. Or I could bring the Shrike style armies I've been playing around with. I could go with my Sicarius build, or I could go basic.

The Army

1850 Pts - Space Marines Roster

HQ: Space Marine Librarian
1 Space Marine Librarian (Unit Type: Infantry; ...in Power Armour;Psyker; Null Zone; Smite)
1 ...in Power Armour Bolt Pistol; Force Weapon)

Elite: Dreadnought
1 Dreadnought Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Dreadnought CCW; Multi-Melta; Storm Bolter)

Elite: Dreadnought
1 Dreadnought Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Extra Armor; Dreadnought CCW; Storm Bolter; Assault Cannon)

Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad
4 Sternguard Veteran Squad @ Bolter x2; Combi-Meltagun x2
1 SergeantBolt Pistol; Combi-Meltagun x1
1 Rhino

Troops: Tactical Squad (11#, 225 pts)
9 Tactical Squad Plasmagun; Missile Launcher
1 Sergeant Combi-Meltagun x1
1 Rhino

Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Squad Bolter x7; Flamer; Missile Launcher
1 Sergeant Bolt Pistol; Power Weapon x1Combat Tactics)
1 Rhino

Troops: Tactical Squad
9 Tactical Squad Meltagun; Lascannon;
1 Sergeant Bolt Pistol; Power Fist x1
1 Rhino

Troops: Scout Squad
7 Scout Squad Bolt Pistol x7; Combat Blade x7;
1 Sergeant Melta Bombs; Combi-Meltagun x1; Power Fist x1;

Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron
1 Land Speeder Squadron Heavy Bolter x1; Typhoon Missile Launcher x1;

Fast Attack: Assault Squad
9 Assault Squad jump Pack; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol x9; Chainsword x9; And T
1 Sergeant Jump Pack; Power Armour; Melta Bombs; Bolt Pistol; Power Fist x1;

Heavy Support: Predator (1#, )
1 Predator @ Autocannon; Heavy Bolter (each side))

Heavy Support: Predator (1#,)
1 Predator @ Autocannon; Heavy Bolter (each side))

Yes I know gasp in horror at the lack of Thunder Hammer Terminators Let me tell you some things about Thunderhammer terminators, their time is rapidly coming to close. I am personally board with the unit honestly and find that they simply scream kill my ride and don't worry about me. Which is why when I run them I tend to either gate them or some other tricky deployment method, shrike anyone?

List general concepts and ideas.

Essentially this is a mech list that while utilizes a counter assault unit and an outflanking unit. The sternguard are here because they are excellent all rounders and fun. The dreads are used as walking distractions and counter assault units for softer targets. This list utilizes combat squads and combat tactics. Each of the tactical squads has a dedicated roll that work in union with one another. Its a simple but tactically rich list. Again at this points its getting some play test atm, and I'm still leaning towards taking my Shrike list. More to come on that list build at 1850.

1500pts of Lysander fun

All right gang. Have a list I've been testing and having some fun with locally. The list is basically a combination of two of my favorite synergies in the game. Lysander and shooting Terminators combine with rapid moving Storm riding Scouts. The Theme is essentially learn from the master, up and coming scouts being used to lure the enemy into the arms of the First company.

The List

Lysander

7-Th/Ss Termies

10 Tactical Terminators 2xCML and 1xCF

5 Man Scout with Camo cloaks Ml and Sniper rifles

5 Man Scout with Camo Cloaks ML and Sniper Rifles

5 man scout squad with ccw&bp Srgt. With PF Combimelta and Meltabomb

5 man Scout Squad with ccw&bp Srgt with PF Combimelta and meltabomb

Landspeeder Storm with Heavy Flamer

Landspeeder Storm with Multimelta

The list Analysis

Lysander-King of the beasts in the Space marine codex, a Closecombat nightmare for most armies, highly survivable and giving rerolls to the stormbolters. He gives them some additional punch in combat and survivablity as well.

TH/SS Termies- In this list they function as a fire magent and provide the tactical termies a 4+ cover save as they advance up the board towards the enemy. If this unit doesn't die to man it will hit you and do something. This is a focus threat they'll take shoots as they advance but that's there job.

Tactical terminators- Let the nerd rage begin lol. There is nothing wrong with tactical terminators especially with lysander providing the rerolls. This unit takes a lot of damage, can be combat squaded depending on mission and opponent. Also Its 4 ML shots a turn. They provide a lot of wounds to get lysander into combat and so something all the way their.

Landspeeder Storms and Their Ccw scouts- These 2 units I have been using for the last year. They are amazing in terms of flexibility and are exercises in the power of rolling 4's. If you can roll 4's well and in numbers, play scouts. The key to this unit is the Srgt, they are built to open the tin cans so popular these days and have them and the scouts eat the contents. Typically best to work the two scouts unit in unison if possible. I will either outflank both units, or I will deploy them and scout move up so that a turn 1 charge is possible. Stranding your opponents death star before it gets of the line is priceless. This unit consistently earns its points and more.

Camo scouts- Yup some buddy has to daisy pick, 1 will hopefully get a 2+ save thanks to Lysanders bolster defenses. the other a 3 plus. they help bust open armor 12 and try and pin space wolves and monstrous creatures. Their scouts they do their job or they don't. either way you pray that your opponent doesn't have heavy flamers.

Overall: The list combines the speed and agility of the scouts with the staying power and threat of Terminators and Lysander. The Scouts in storms can eliminate or lessen the major threats to the termies after that you just roll. Its a very fun list to play. Try it out and comments concerns and drunkin ramblings welcome.

Scouts and why I love them.

I love scouts, I love the models and I love their rules. The units are capable of deploying ahead of your force, reserving and outflanking in to take advantage of your opponent. Not to mention the physchology of your enemy when he see's scouts is to take them less seriously. They talk about their reduced WS and their lower save oh and how much outflanking sucks. These are common arguments against scouts. Valid to a point till you start looking at the scout differently. Scouts work synergistic-ally that is to say in order to their job right they need help from other units in your list working together.


Advantages of the Scouts,

Scouts are fast. Lets look at them they have move thru cover so they can move rapidly while still getting a cover save. They for the most part are infantry and thus move 6" and can assault six. They can deploy via infiltrate or they can outflank and they get a full movement before the start of the game. Not to mention two excellent fast attack options in the Landspeeder storm and the scout bikers. The storm brings the scouts insane movement potential as the storm also has scout, and thus can deliver a turn 1 charge, or it can be held in reserve full of goodies that outflank in as well. Scout bikers can also be devastatingly fast as they can turbo-boost on their scout move and also turn 1 charge or outflank into the back field. Scout armies rely on this speed as a weapon to choose where and when we strike.

Scouts hit WS4 enemies just as hard as WS4 tactical marines in fact kitted properly they have more attacks base. This is where scouts are under utilized namely close combat. Scouts with bp and ccw get two attacks base and 3 attacks on the charge. This means a unit of 10 scouts on the charge is generating 32 attacks on the charge assuming the srgt has bp and ccw or PW. Compare to standard tact squad that can at most generate 22 attacks on the charge. You as the scout are still hitting your opponent on 4's and wounding him on 4's.



Scouts have access to poison weapons, i.e. the sniper rifle and the hellfire shell in the heavy bolters. Scouts can eat MC's better then most things. Add to this the ability to force pinning checks and you have a key weapon. Taking scouts also opens up Telion so you can pick off a sang priest or two. Combine these weapons with the power of the Camo cloak and you have a nice unit that hurt pretty much anything it fires at.