Force Dynamics 10/18

"Turtling Up since October 2010!"

This Thursday, Six-Deucer and I are going to face off at Olympic Cards and Comics (OCC) for our first 1500 point game. This should prove a fun night of gaming for the both of us- and I have to build four Rhino chassis vehicles today and tomorrow in preparation for this Thursday's Throwdown! Our last engagement put a few things in perspective for me. First and foremost- redundancy. I've seen it mentioned and extrapolated on Yes The Truth Hurts (YTTH), Fritz 40K, Bald and Screaming, and Kirby's blog "3++ is the New Black". Looking at the lists I've created and fielded against Six, I can say that most (if not all) lack redundancy. As an example, here is the 1250 list that I used to play against Six last week:

• HQ  Librarian: Power Armor, Sanguine Sword, and Blood Lance
• Elite Two Sanguinary Priest(s): 2 Power Swords, 2 Combi-Meltas',
• Troops Assault Squad (10 Man): 2 Melta Guns', Power Fist and Melta Bomb (Sgt.), Razorback Transport with Lascannon and TL Plasma Gun, H/K Missile
• Troops Assault Squad (5 Man): 1 Melta Gun, Power Fist and Melta Bomb (Sgt.), Razorback Transport with Lascannon and TL Plasma Gun, H/K Missile
• Fast Attack Land Speeder: 2 Multi Meltas'
• Heavy Predator Tank: TL Lascannon, Lascannon Sponsons', H/K Missile
  
• Heavy Storm Raven: TL Multi-Melta, TL Lascannon, Extra Armor

 Looking at it now, I can see that this list is lacking synergy. It's primary function is intended to neutralize armor, or MEQ, but it is far from optimized. This list relied on assault to neutralize massed infantry, unfortunately, Six countered that by placing his infantry in a bunker and deep into cover. I was left with two transport vehicles equipped with (LG/TLPG), a Predator (Pred) tank with a TL LC and LC Sponsons, and a Storm Raven with M.Melta and TL-LC. When I lost one of my "heavy" troop choices, it left me little in the way of countering against Six's Vendettas'. With only two transports firing regular LCs', I incurred quite a few misses. I think dropping the Storm Raven (it was fun, but, not worth the points in this particular list) in favor of another Predator would have been a step in the right direction. Then I would drop my 10-man assault squad to a five man, nix one of the priests, then pick up two Baal Predators with heavy flamer sponsons. My Librarian would drop SS in favor of Shield of Sanguinius (SoS), each of my assault sergeants would replace their infernus pistols with hand flamers', and that would leave me approximately 50- 60 points to play with. Of course, I could dump the Razorbacks (RZR) in favor of Rhinos. Pick up a second Priest with a combi-melta, and turn my Rhinos into shooting platforms...

I have to admit that my propensity for "turtling up" my troops is matched by my overwhelming desire to field "cool" units. You know, like a Storm Raven filled with jump-pack troops, or Death Squad, or a Land Raider with Terminators. However, I'm not sure that these overwhelming unit types- these "death stars" have a function at this point in my army. At my current level of knowledge and understanding of the game, I'm having difficulty building a list that can effectively field one of these death star units while remaining competitive. Again, I have very little experience, so perhaps in time I will discover ways of successfully deploying "death stars'" against my opponents, while at the same time maintaining a competitive edge for my style of play...wait a minute, what is my style of play? That is a question I'm considering as I familiarize myself with the game.

Six stated last week that he is itching to pit his Kriegs' against a Land Raider. In response to that desire, I furiously assembled my Land Raider Crusader/Redeemer kit- the only thing left for me to do is magnetize the weapon set(s). I developed a list around the Land Raider, and my knee-jerk reaction was to fill it with a Terminator Assault Squad. Then I looked at the functionality of that particular squad against a mechanized IG list that I anticipate Six will field against me- That assault squad will be sitting ducks when their Land Raider is wrecked, and there aren't any more troops in range of their ferocious assault. That forced me to lean toward a regular terminator squad with assault cannon- one that could effectively shoot at troops and transports, while soaking up return fire with their invulnerable saves. In fact, I even attached a Libby (Blood Lance and SoS), and a Chaplain in termie armor. The chaplain's provision of re-rolls to attack, I think, would go a long way in helping land hits on their intended target(s). However, that is approximately 600+ points, or 1/3 of my 1500 point force allotment- is that a justified amount of points to dump into a "death star" unit?
Comments are most welcome. In the mean time, I've finished magnetizing and assembling an honor guard, now I'm off to labor over two transport vehicles, a Baal Predator, and a regular Predator!