So, I'm off to a nearby town to play in a little 400 point skirmish tournament using Adepticon rules. Yes, this is about 5th Edition, but the theory will fit into 6th, and IMO be a testbed for the new Allies rules. Especially if, as I fully expect, NOVA 2012 ends up jumping to 6th at what is really the last minute for a 6thish-NOVA-FUBAR Edition tournament. Anyway, back to the list design. Only requirement is one Troop and then you can use up to one of any slot, including another Troop.
Hmmm. Okay, I have plenty of BT, but the rules say nothing greater than AV12 unless a DT, so there go my dreams of a LRC with a squad inside. How about my Necrons? At 400 points?! You must be joking, especially since not only do you need 90 points just to field the Royal Court models that make the army work, but a Necron Overlord is illegal because he has three wounds... Wait, what about my Witchhunter inducted Guard platoon? That actually might work...
Hmmm. Okay, I have plenty of BT, but the rules say nothing greater than AV12 unless a DT, so there go my dreams of a LRC with a squad inside. How about my Necrons? At 400 points?! You must be joking, especially since not only do you need 90 points just to field the Royal Court models that make the army work, but a Necron Overlord is illegal because he has three wounds... Wait, what about my Witchhunter inducted Guard platoon? That actually might work...
Yes, even though GW has crapdexed the Sisters badly, a long time ago I wanted a SIsters army badly and learned to play 40k using proxied Sisters. In the end, my list was triple Immolators (full of Celestians and a Canoness), triple Chimeras (full of Battle Sisters), a pair of Exorcists and a platoon of Guard with 4-5 heavy weapons teams. The Guard squads (all with autocannons) cover the Mortar teams while the Sisters drive forward. A bare bones Canoness with BoSL stayed with the Guard to provide Stubborn Ld10 for better tarpitting and with a 10 or less roll to activate the old AoF, she could be a nasty surprise in her own right. So, I've got the basis for a decent skirmish list.
Platoon Command Squad in Chimera
2x Infantry Squads in Chimeras
That gets me up to 295 points and now comes the troubles. Choices, choices, choices. An Enginseer plus four servitors would cost 105, fit into the Chimera with the Command squad and provide some PW plus five PF attacks (servo arms). One the charge I could probably smash anything I run into, although it would probably cost me my Guardsmen. My definition of a CC threat for a gunline. However, I'm here to be a mobile gunline, so I should be able to forgo the assault stuff at this points level.
I could also put a lot of toys into the squads to make them nastier, plasmaguns especially, but their major purpose in life is to hold objectives and provide a mobile threat. Heck, their really just here to allow the Chimeras. Also, the worst I'll be facing is AV12 and only in DTs so three multi-lasers and some autocannons ought to do the trick. Given I want mobility, the Chimeras ought to carry Heavy Stubbers (S4 AP6 36") which gives me a "defensive weapon" that I can fire after moving 6". Leaving me 75 points, which invests back into a HWT. They all could have autocannons, but mortars have some serious usefulness. All mortars would be best, but I comprise on two autocannons and a mortar, then throw a grenade launcher into one of the squads.
How did it go? Pretty good. Even with the addition of fighting on a deathworld so we got these wonderful random tables. S3 lasguns vs T4 (and T5) pretty much sucketh, but it does the job. First game vs Demons (two small squads of T3 shooters with one AT "bolt" and 8-10 Bloodletters). I got lucky and only one squad of shooters came in on turn one. I also got unlucky and lost all three of my HWTs in three player turns to lightning strikes. Ended up wiping the demons, not so much with the Chimera fire, but with lasguns. Torrent of fire to the max.
Next were DE, with a Ravager, Raider, some tiny shooty foot squad, and a Homonculus with Wyches riding. Each vehicle had their dark lance, with the gunship having some S5 thing with three shots and the transport couldn't afford its flicker field. Lots of fun, with immobilizing and taking the lance off the gunship and popping the transport. Objective game and I didn't get the wipe, though I came close managing to contest the enemy objective.
Third were Space Wolves (2x five Blood Claw squads, TW cav model, Lone Wolf with two pups and three Long Fangs with a pair of MLs). I lost this one, I actually didn't turtle hard enough, probably getting too cocky and spreading out just a bit. I did come within a hair of tying the "kill the commander" objective, but mainly by accident. I took out both MLs, a couple of Claws, the TW cav and the Lone Wolf, but a clean loss.
Next were some Plague Marines, a squad of 7-8 of them with 3 Terminators (also T5 for something).. Flip flop game. These guys were pure hell to wound and then they got FNP to keep them standing. The randomness of the deathworld rules showed up here. Lightning strikes hammered my Chimeras, while a last minute meteor strike and failed saves brought my opponent down to one Terminator left. Then some horrid shoot and wound rolls left the last Terminator with one 2+ AS, which he promptly failed. That would have probably meant us tying on objectives and my opponent getting a clear win on KPs, but a wipe covers a multitude of sins...
Finally, a buddy from my FLGS with his 1K Sons, a short squad in a Rhino with a pair of Oblits playing for quarters. He reserved everything and it all waited until turn four to drop so we got in basically two turns of playing. I scraped out a win on quarters and tie on KP (which had to have been wounded by a scoring unit to count).
All in all, lots of fun, an example of building a list for a mission with specific emphasis on firepower and mobility. Now, what does this have to do with us on the eve of 6th? Well, if the Allies rules sound anything like the consensus rumors, then I can see shoving Templars into Chimeras while having some variety of killing power in LR AT. To cover the HQ + Troop requirement would mean 400 points (BN Command Squad + Chimera). To add a heavy stubber (S4 AP6 36" Heavy 3) to each Chimera as a defensive weapon looks fairly mandatory to me if you want to stay mobile. So with one basic mortar team or adding some squad HWTs plus maybe a goodie or two we are looking at (assuming the FAQ doesn't change much on costs) around 500 points to buy four transports, some heavy weapons and warm bodies to hold home are objectives and play bumpers for the heavy weapons. Not too bad a deal I think.
Platoon Command Squad in Chimera
2x Infantry Squads in Chimeras
That gets me up to 295 points and now comes the troubles. Choices, choices, choices. An Enginseer plus four servitors would cost 105, fit into the Chimera with the Command squad and provide some PW plus five PF attacks (servo arms). One the charge I could probably smash anything I run into, although it would probably cost me my Guardsmen. My definition of a CC threat for a gunline. However, I'm here to be a mobile gunline, so I should be able to forgo the assault stuff at this points level.
I could also put a lot of toys into the squads to make them nastier, plasmaguns especially, but their major purpose in life is to hold objectives and provide a mobile threat. Heck, their really just here to allow the Chimeras. Also, the worst I'll be facing is AV12 and only in DTs so three multi-lasers and some autocannons ought to do the trick. Given I want mobility, the Chimeras ought to carry Heavy Stubbers (S4 AP6 36") which gives me a "defensive weapon" that I can fire after moving 6". Leaving me 75 points, which invests back into a HWT. They all could have autocannons, but mortars have some serious usefulness. All mortars would be best, but I comprise on two autocannons and a mortar, then throw a grenade launcher into one of the squads.
How did it go? Pretty good. Even with the addition of fighting on a deathworld so we got these wonderful random tables. S3 lasguns vs T4 (and T5) pretty much sucketh, but it does the job. First game vs Demons (two small squads of T3 shooters with one AT "bolt" and 8-10 Bloodletters). I got lucky and only one squad of shooters came in on turn one. I also got unlucky and lost all three of my HWTs in three player turns to lightning strikes. Ended up wiping the demons, not so much with the Chimera fire, but with lasguns. Torrent of fire to the max.
Next were DE, with a Ravager, Raider, some tiny shooty foot squad, and a Homonculus with Wyches riding. Each vehicle had their dark lance, with the gunship having some S5 thing with three shots and the transport couldn't afford its flicker field. Lots of fun, with immobilizing and taking the lance off the gunship and popping the transport. Objective game and I didn't get the wipe, though I came close managing to contest the enemy objective.
Third were Space Wolves (2x five Blood Claw squads, TW cav model, Lone Wolf with two pups and three Long Fangs with a pair of MLs). I lost this one, I actually didn't turtle hard enough, probably getting too cocky and spreading out just a bit. I did come within a hair of tying the "kill the commander" objective, but mainly by accident. I took out both MLs, a couple of Claws, the TW cav and the Lone Wolf, but a clean loss.
Next were some Plague Marines, a squad of 7-8 of them with 3 Terminators (also T5 for something).. Flip flop game. These guys were pure hell to wound and then they got FNP to keep them standing. The randomness of the deathworld rules showed up here. Lightning strikes hammered my Chimeras, while a last minute meteor strike and failed saves brought my opponent down to one Terminator left. Then some horrid shoot and wound rolls left the last Terminator with one 2+ AS, which he promptly failed. That would have probably meant us tying on objectives and my opponent getting a clear win on KPs, but a wipe covers a multitude of sins...
Finally, a buddy from my FLGS with his 1K Sons, a short squad in a Rhino with a pair of Oblits playing for quarters. He reserved everything and it all waited until turn four to drop so we got in basically two turns of playing. I scraped out a win on quarters and tie on KP (which had to have been wounded by a scoring unit to count).
All in all, lots of fun, an example of building a list for a mission with specific emphasis on firepower and mobility. Now, what does this have to do with us on the eve of 6th? Well, if the Allies rules sound anything like the consensus rumors, then I can see shoving Templars into Chimeras while having some variety of killing power in LR AT. To cover the HQ + Troop requirement would mean 400 points (BN Command Squad + Chimera). To add a heavy stubber (S4 AP6 36" Heavy 3) to each Chimera as a defensive weapon looks fairly mandatory to me if you want to stay mobile. So with one basic mortar team or adding some squad HWTs plus maybe a goodie or two we are looking at (assuming the FAQ doesn't change much on costs) around 500 points to buy four transports, some heavy weapons and warm bodies to hold home are objectives and play bumpers for the heavy weapons. Not too bad a deal I think.
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