Some list reflections and bits.

I meant to post this earlier but I forgot and then Christmas and drinking etc..



The other week I was up in Wicklow at the Hobby Shack for Shack Attack! It was a 1 Day 3 game event at 1850 points and it gave me a chance to try out my Guard and Wolves list a bit more.

I just wanted to say that the shop is great and the whole event was cracking, if you are ever in that neck
of the woods pop in and say hi, also they are doing Online ordering too, with free shipping in Ireland.

Now onto the thoughts, I took the following list:
HQ
CCS w/ Astropath

Troops 1
Platoon Command Sq

Infantry Squad
1 Lascannon
Flamer
Commissar

Infantry Squad
1 Lascannon
Flamer

Infantry Squad
1 Lascannon
Flamer

Infantry Squad
1 Lascannon
Flamer

Infantry Squad
1 Lascannon
Flamer

Troops 2
Veteran Squad
2 Melta @10

Fast Attack 1

Vendetta
Heavy Bolters

Fast Attack 2
Vendetta
Heavy Bolters

Fast Attack 3
Vendetta
Heavy Bolters

Heavy Support 1
Colossus Mortar

Heavy Support 2
Colossus Mortar

Heavy Support 3
Medusa

Fortification
Aegis Line

HQ
Rune Priest (Bolter)
Jaws, Living Lightning

HQ
Rune Priest (Bolt pistol)
Hurricane, Wolf Spirits

Troops
7 Grey Hunters
Meltagun
Wolf Banner
Drop Pod

The list itself seems solid enough, it was expanding on the Gaelcon Blob but with Artillery instead of
Orks, the Priests were there to buff the blob and provide Prescience where it was needed, the Grey
Hunters and the Pod for First Blooding.

Because it was only 3 games I didn't really get the chance to try it out against a huge variety of armies
but I got a good taste of how it performs, I ended up playing against Dark Angels & Eldar, Tyranids and
Chaos (Marines and Daemons).

I want to look at each unit and how it did in the games I played, and see what can be changed about the
current list and what needs to be added.

Company Command Squad.
Game 1: Orders were given, successfully, the reserves arrived but then they got charged and failed a
Leadership check on -1 and broke.
Game 2: They hid in a ruin and gave some orders, not much else to report.
Game 3: they got gunned down and are particularly squishy out in the open, they were lacking
something to pack a punch really.

Infantry Platoon
Game 1: They were split for deployment and the non stubborn 20 man Blob was meleed and ran whilst
the others held their ground.
Game 2: The whole platoon held firm and shot, loads.
Game 3: the 30 man blob was seized on and lost 10 men in turn 1, they held a unit up in combat for ages
but didn’t do as much as they should, the other two 10 man squads held on but were overwhelmed,
that was because my whole force was.

Veterans
Game 1: They Grav Chuted in and managed to grab an objective on the last turn.
Game 2: They Chuted in again and Melta’d/distracted some Hive Guard, but then got smashed.
Game 3: No chutes list time, they went to a last ditch draw attempt but didn't have quite enough
fire-power.

Vendettas * I talked about Scout/Outflanking with these lads here.
Game 1: 2 Survived, 1 was vector locked @ 36” and had to leave on the last turn.
Game 2: they chewed up some Tervigon and 1 made it out alive.
Game 3: they all survived and did some damage but it was too late.

Colossus(eseseseses)
Game 1: With Terminators and TH/SS they couldn't really smush anything that well but they caused
wounds.
Game 2: Plenty of wounds onto piles of gaunts, giving them no cover as well was excellent.
Game 3: Splatted some marines and generally made a nuisance of themselves but T6 Infantry is a bit
more annoying, as is FnP.

Medusa
Game 1: It died turn 2 after getting Shaken turn 1, had it lived I’m sure it would have been good.
Game 2: it failed to really deliver in terms of damage, the lack of indirect fire wasn’t great.
Game 3: Short range meant that it wasn't really capable of doing much unless it exposed itself.

Rune Priests
Games 1&2: They cast spells and were generally good.
Game 3: The Shaky Stick came in Handy nullifying psychic powers.

Grey Hunters
Game 1: There weren't any juicy targets but they tied up some shooting.
Game 2: They drew a lot of fire and focused movement.
Game 3: They secured first blood and tied up a unit or 2.

So what didn't really do very well? The Medusa was lacklustre and doesn't really fit the gunline due to
it being range and sight restricted with no real option to reposition without giving up the 4+ Aegis save.
Grey Hunters did will but invariably died each time. Other than that everything seemed to perform fairly
well. One thing that I really noticed was lack of any real melee ability. The tarpits of a blob is nice to hold
up an enemy unit and be a pain, eventually they will wipe something out due to weight of numbers or
suffer. A lack of stubborn when splitting the blobs really makes a difference as well.

So what do I need to change?
Well I think I need to bring in some sort of Melee, now I've heard about rough riders but they just seem
a little poor and they are competing for a Vendetta spot, so they aren't going to be joining. Ogryns are
S5 T5 but lack any power weaponry and are 43 points each with a 5+ save. Power weapons are 10pts
a pop but you still have S3 unless you take a Maul or Axe and then you loose the AP 3 or striking at
initiative, I suppose the Axes are okay when they are snuck in there, might be something to consider.
One thing that was touched on was some Thunder Wolves, being part of the Fast Attack slot in the
Wolves codex this makes them scoring in the scouring, they are also pretty nasty in general, although
they do cost in at 50pts per basic model.

If I drop the Grey Hunters down to 5 and make them a Melta delivery system (no banner), to grab first
blood where appropriate, I can pick up 45 Points. With the Medusa gone I can get another 135. Taking
2 Rune priests is nice but if I opt in for 1 blob I can perhaps afford to lose one, giving me another 100 to
play with. So there’s a solid 280 Points going spare.

TWC are 150 for the basic 3 scrubs, 30pts for a Storm Shield up the front and maybe a 20pt Wolf Claw
in there for some AP 3 and rerolls then 1 standard guy. This puts them at 200 points all told, I could in
theory splurge 60 more on another SS a Thunder Hammer and another Claw which would eat my 80
points but I think that might be better spent elsewhere.

80 points could buy me any of the following:

Marbo a power weapon and a flamer – Cos well Marbo.
5 power weapons and a Melta + Lascannon for the CCS – More Melee potential but also shooting
A Griffon and a flamer – I am tempted to try the Griffon, as prescience on a Colossus was good.
Office of the Fleet, Lascannon for the CCS, 3 power weapons – I like the idea of messing with reserves
more and having 1 more cannon.
Maintain the Grey hunters and grab a Lascannon, power weapon and a Flamer – I don’t think the Grey
Hunters are worth it at 7, reckon it needs to be 10 with 2 Melta/Plasma.