//The Descent to Dusk// Vyper's RG Plog and BatRep Journal

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

You make good points. Who says that fictional miniature missile launchers fired by posthuman guardians need an ejection port aligned with the barrel?

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

Played another game this weekend - took my same list as before, but made some slight adjustments

 

2000 Points, 10CP (-1CP for an extra Relic, -3CP for Chapter Master Upgrade)

 

RG Battalion (897 Pts)

 

Captain - Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield (Chapter Master Upgrade)

LT - Power Maul, Storm Bolter

 

Scouts - 5 Bolters

Scouts - 5 Bolters

Intercessors - 5 Bolt Rifles

 

Hellblasters - 9 Plasma incinerator

Contemptor Mortis Dreadnought - 2x Twin Lascannon

 

RG Vanguard (623 Pts)

 

Captain - Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

 

Aggressors - 6 Boltstorm/Grenade variety

Dreadnought - 2x Twin Autocannon

Dreadnought - 2x Twin Autocannon

 

Adeptus Custodes Supreme Command Detachment (480 Pts)

 

Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike - Hurricane Bolter, Auric Aquilis, - WARLORD (Superior Creation)

Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike - Hurricane Bolter, Eagle's Eye

Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike - Hurricane Bolter

 

My opponents list:

 

Necron Battalion (Sautekh Code)

 

Lord

Cryptek - Chronometron

 

Immortals - 5 Tesla 

Warriors - 10

Warriors - 10

 

Ghost Ark

Ghost Ark

 

C'tan Shard - Generic one - mortal wound spamming

 

Outrider Detachment

 

Imotekh, the Storm Lord

 

Tomb Blades - 4 Twin Gauss Blasters, +1 Sv, 5+ Invul

6 x Destroyers

6 x Destroyers

 

I wish I could report this was an advanced game of cat and mouse, with a bulk of tactical thought, but it came to an absolute slugfest in murdertown.

 

I deployed the bulk of my army just right of my center (near the Center LOS blocking terrain).

He deployed the bulk of his troops/arks in the middle as well (with a unit of Destroyers flanking the core)

 

We played the standard (roll of a 1 on the table) maelstrom mission.

 

I lost the roll to see who goes first.

 

I placed my Hellblasters on my left flank in a high-rise building on the top floor, in cover.

I placed my Aggressors and Chapter Master further up the field near the center behind the LOS blocking terrain.

 

He started off by advancing his entire army to his left (my right) to match my strength/deployment, with the exception of one unit of Destroyers advanced up my left flank at the Hellblasters. The C'tan did his mortal wound targetting shtick on my Contemptor, which went off, did 3 Mortal Wounds, and then "bounced" to my LT, both dreads, and 2 of the Shield Captains (they were all deployed in a cluster) - Dealing like 8 Mortal wounds spread around those boys...(bad start)

 

He then proceeded up to open up with the Arks/Warriors on my Aggressors, of which he could only see two. I didn't realize the Sautekh code applied to his vehicles (silly me thinking its Infantry only like Astartes Chapter Tactics, derp). This allowed him to shoot at the Aggressors. However, them being assault (instead of Rapid fire) really reduced the firepower, and he only managed to kill one, and wound another. He burned the Destroyer Stratagem (reroll hits and wounds) on my Hellblasters, and wiped them completely (cue sad Trombone music) 

 

End of his turn, he scored 1 card and First Bloood

 

Necrons 2, Raven Guard 0

 

On my turn I just decided to commit to the meat grinder and see what would happen.

 

All of my stuff shifted right to meet his advance. My dread trio advanced directly into the heart of the assault.

 

I opened up with the Aggressors, all 3 Shield Captain Hurricane Bolters, the Contemptor, and one Autocannon dread on the two arks, popping them both. The remaining dread shot into the unit of Destroyers behind this cluster, and knocked two, wounding a third.

 

In my assault phase, I committed everything. Each Shield Captain took a unit of warriors. My two Thunder Hammer Captains, and my Warlord ripped into the C'tan. 9 Dead Warriors (5 and 4 respectively), and a C'tan, and the center had been cleared. My opponent at at this point has the 12 destroyers, 4 Tomb Blades, 3 HQs, and the 5 Man unit of Immortals camping an objective in LOS blocking terrain. I figured at this point the game is over and I dealt him a crippling blow - oh how wrong I was

 

I scored 1 card and completed half a defend card - making it 2-1 in favor of the undead shiny bois

 

On his turn two both Destroyer units zipped over with the character support to reinforce the carnage that had just taken place on the right flank. Both warrior units fell back, and half of the bastards I killed got back up. 

 

I now had presented my opponent a field of Characters staring down 12 Destroyers, all with a slack jawed look on their faces.  With the new Character Targetting FAQ in place, he basically had his pick of the litter to rip apart who he wanted. He burned the Destroyer stratagem again, and one Shield Captain was toast (the weakest of the 3), another was left bleeding out on two wounds, and I lost all of my Aggressors. (36 Str6, -3AP, D3 Damage shots have a tendency to ruin your day). He also burned Imotekh's AC/DC thunderstruck routine to help in this endeavor.

 

End of his turn he didn't score anything as he drew a bad bunch of cards, and I scored my "Defend" objective that scouts were parked on.

 

2-3 in favor of the sneaky bois

 

My turn two comprised of my committing all-in. I drew Kingslayer, so I committed both of my Captains with Hammers to go after Imotekh. He was cramped into the destroyers, so I had the genius idea to charge within an inch, then pile into the destroyers to tie them up (both units. (more on this later).

 

My two remaining shield captains went after the two leftover units of Warriors to clean them up.

 

My scouts on the center objective stepped out into the sunlight, as did my Intercessors, to have both units open up on the Tomb blades on the left flank, having both units in Rapid Fire range. I rolled very well, and my opponent rolled poorly, and 3 of the bikes fell, the last one running on one wound.

 

My dreads continued to advance up the center/right.

 

Shooting phase saw my dreads take one unit of destroyers down to one model (I rolled very poorly, and him very well, I should have easily deleted a unit).

 

My two captains punked Imotek's bitch as and sent him packing. My two shield captains cleaned up in assault what was left after the Hurricane Bolters opened up.

 

I scored 2 of my cards and had another Defend card that I half-completed

 

This put me up 2-6 or something like that (warlord, Kingslayer, etc)

 

On his turn the Destroyers fell back (they have fly, my master strategy fails again (Watching this take place made me feel incredibly stupid). The other destroyer unit had 3 get back up (now back up to 4).

 

None of the tomb blades got up. The remainder fled back into his deployment zone.

 

The retaliating fire saw one of captains die (not the CM), and my Shield Captain on 2 wounds bit the dust. In addition the Contemptor hit the dirt.

 

Now the tables feel oddly turned against me. He has: Cryptek, Lord, one unit of 4 Destroyers, another unit of 5, and 5 Tesla Immortals. I have my Warlord (with 1 wound taken), my JP/Thunder Hammer Chapter Master, both autocannon Dreads (with a smattering of wounds on each), my LT (wounded), and my scouts/intercessors.

 

He scored his cards and I scored the other half of my defend (again). This made the score 5-8

 

On my turn 3

 

My Warlord places himself in between both units of destroyers to charge either.

Hurricane bolters drop a wounded Destroyer from the unit of 4

Dreads kill the other three - that unit gets wiped!

 

My Chapter Master jumps into the LOS blocking terrain with the immortals. Pops one with a krak grenade, runs in hammer swinging and drops the other 4 - objective secured!

 

Shield Captain charges the Destroyers, killing two of them. Takes a wound in return.

 

I drew more cards I could score, in addition to another defend card.

 

Raven Guard up 5-10

 

His turn, the unit of Destroyers (now 3 left) falls back. Re-animation rolls - all 3 get back up (sonofabitch). He blows the Destroyer stratagem again, splits his fire, and kills my remaining Shield Captain and one dread. I did NOT expect my shield captain to get punked so easily, which meant my LT was now exposed (he was between both dreads), and he died two both Staff of Lights.

 

He now has 6 Destroyers and 2 Characters, and I have 2 units of scouts, 1 unit of Intercessors, my Chapter Master, and one autocannon dread barely hanging on for life.

 

He scores one card, and I score my defend card, Raven Guard leading, 6-12

 

I drew ANOTHER defend card (ironically the objective I had just taken in his deployment zone with my Chapter Master), and two other cards I could score.

 

At this point I was faced with a decision - play aggressively and attempt to table him, or play conservatively, and hunker down behind LOS blocking terrain. At this point I had 5 units, it was turn 5, and it would become very difficult for him to kill more than one unit a turn, given LOS/what he had left. I chose to play the conservative route, but we decided to play both outcomes to see if it would make a difference.

 

It didn't.

 

Conservative play had me hunker down, score my cards, and the game ended at the end of Turn 5, with Raven Guard winning 8-16.

 

Reckless play had me charge out with the Chapter Master/Dread, step out of LOS blocking terrain with my remaining troops, and open up. I killed 4 Destroyers in the ensuing fire/assault (I even charged in my dread).

 

On his turn, the 2 Destroyers fell back, 2 got up. Those 4 killed the Chapter Master and finished the dread. My troops all fell back, and he didn't have the firepower to wipe them.

 

That outcome ended 9-17 in favor of the Raven Guard as well, on T6.

 

Thoughts/Criticisms.

 

The list:

 

I liked the changes I made overall. The Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield captains performed very well, and overall were much more deadly than Shrike (in addition to being cheaper).

 

I actually preferred the Hurricane loadout on the Shield Captains to the Salvo Launcher - it was 15PPM cheaper and overall I think did more damage than my previous two outings. I did not miss the Misericordias either, so that's good.

 

I was pretty stoked to run the Contemptor, but overall he was sort of a disappointment. While he did well hitting/wounding, my first round most of his damage was negated by Quantum Shielding. In the following two rounds it managed to pick off a handful of destroyers, which was nice.

 

My issue with lascannons is how depressing they feel when you roll a one for their damage result (which happened many times). I feel like they should be D3+2 or something like that.

 

If my list had a few more troops, I think I would feel pretty good about my ability to have the staying power and go the distance. I might consider swapping to a double RG battalion and then the Supreme Command shield captain trio.

 

I think for the next couple weeks I am going to focus on mono-Raven Guard (or give the CP farming IG detachment a spin)

[Dracos]

Sounds like a great game. Only real thing I see is what I normally see when people have problem with Necrons ... Shoot shoot shoot and then shoot them again until every last bugger in a unit is dead. It’s the one army you can be forgiven for overkill.

 

I’ve see decade old veteran player do the math in their head (toss me in that group) and then feel gimped when the dice didn’t roll average. I try to always go 20-25% over average. It hurts ignoring those other threats but damn if I don’t see armies make 5+ rolls for whatever like nothing when it’s going to hurt me the worst.

 

I like the double battalion idea. I’d like it more if my Intercessors has SIA. ;)

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

Played another game yesterday, this time Raven Guard versus Blood Angels 2,000 points

 

We played Contact Lost (1 at the start, then draw one for every objective you control)

In my past experience, Contact Lost is probably the one Maelstrom Mission that I find favors Raven Guard/Mobility the most - this game would prove no exception

 

I played the same list I have been playing, sans a few minor tweaks:

 

2000 Points, 10CP (-1CP for an extra Relic,)

 

RG Battalion (897 Pts)

 

Captain - Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

LT - Power Maul, Storm Bolter

 

Scouts - 5 Bolters

Scouts - 5 Bolters

Intercessors - 5 Bolt Rifles

 

Hellblasters - 9 Plasma incinerator

Contemptor Mortis Dreadnought - 2x Twin Lascannon

 

RG Vanguard (623 Pts)

 

Captain - Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

 

Aggressors - 6 Boltstorm/Grenade variety

Dreadnought - 2x Twin Autocannon

Dreadnought - 2x Twin Autocannon

 

Adeptus Custodes Supreme Command Detachment (480 Pts)

 

Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike - Hurricane Bolter, Auric Aquilis, - WARLORD (Superior Creation)

Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike - Hurricane Bolter, Eagle's Eye

Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike - Hurricane Bolter

 

My opponent

 

Blood Angels 2000 Points 10CP

 

Battalion

 

Mephiston

Librarian - Jump Pack

Captain - Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield

 

3x 5-Man Scout Squad (Sniper Rifles and Camo Cloaks)

 

Vanguard

 

Dante

 

Death Company Dread

10x Sanguinary Guard

Sanguinary Ancient

 

Spearhead

 

Sanguinary Priest - Jump Pack

 

3x 6 Man Devastator Squad (4x Heavy Bolter in Each)

 

I won't go into depth for this report because frankly it was a slaughter. This was my opponents first time playing Blood Angels (he has experience playing multiple other Space Marine variants though)

 

We had the same drop count (14), however he got to go first, meaning he would get the +1

However, he rolled low and I beat him, and he failed to sieze

 

My objective this game was to try a slightly different style, and not SFTS my two Captains, but rather, deploy them normally in an attempt to use them (and the Shield Captains) to occupy more board space/control due to the nature of the objective

 

My opponent placed the Sang Guard, Sang Ancient, and Librarian in Deep Strike

I placed the Hellblasters and Aggressors in SFTS and the rest of the board. I exited the deployment phase with 7CP to his 10CP.

 

He placed one unit of Devs and Scouts in his deployment zone, in ruins, on an objective, and then did the exact same thing on his other objective/ruin in his deployment zone (we both had 2 objectives in our respective zones, with 2 midfield). He began deployment by dumping stuff into Deep Strike, I however did the exact opposite and deployed both units of scouts first, spread out in a screen to occupy maximum table space on both midfield objectives. He placed his captain with his scouts/devs on his right flank. He had two clusters of units in/on cover, and one unit of devs in the open center field.

 

I put my Intercessors on one of my zone objectives, hidden, and my two Captains were on the other.

Shield Captains center board, and my right flank was anchored with the 3 dreads and LT staring straight across from Mephiston and the Death Company dread.

 

I then dumped my Aggressors in his deployment zone being as close as possible to Mephiston (he left his left flank exposed)

I then dropped the Hellblasters in his ruins on his right flank, right behind his Scouts/Devs/Captain.

 

Raven Guard - Turn 1

 

I drew my one card - Lightning Strike (very fluffy!)

 

I moved my aggressors deep into his terrain to get close to that objective to contest. All 3 Shield Captains zipped straight up the board to start down the center field exposed devs. Both RG Captains jumped out in the middle of the board to give more board control/restrict his ability to deep strike.

 

In my shooting phase, two of the Shield Captains wiped the Center field devs off the table. My Hellblasters split their fire (perfectly) and killed the full unit of devastators and also killed 3 of the 5 scouts.

 

The aggressors opened up on Mephiston, first round of shooting did 1 wound, second round did two wounds (leaving him on 2 wounds remaining).

 

My Quad Las Mortis Contemptor opened up on the DC dread taking it to 3 wounds remaining (I rolled very poor damage rolls, 1, 2, 3), of which he ignored one with Black Rage. My autocannon dreads both took turns shooting at him, and only managed to knock off two wounds, leaving him at 1 remaining. 

 

Lastly the 3rd Shield Captain managed to knock one Bolter Devastator off the ramparts of the left-flank ruins.

 

At this point I opted to go for the hail mary charge with my Aggressors on the wounded Mephiston - which I proceeded to make.

 

Why do I keep finding myself in this situation? I guess I am a ruthless savage at heart.

 

13 Power first attacks, 6 Hits. 3 Wounds. He saves 1. I roll my D3 damage: 2, and a 1. He rolls and ignores 2 of the 3 wounds, leaving Mephiston on 1 wound left. (Tough old bastard). He swings back and kills two aggressors.

 

I score my one card, moving up 1-0

 

Blood Angels - Turn 1

 

He drew secure objective 5. This was a midfield objective that Mephiston and the Death Company Dread were staring down, which my 5 Scouts were sitting on in the open.

 

He jumped out Dante into the loner Shield Captain.

His Captain jumped out to go after the Hellblasters in his deployment zone.

Mephiston stayed engaged with the Hellblasters.

The Death Company Dread moved out a couple inches from the Scouts, and popped smoke.

He opted NOT to bring in his reserves (I believe this to be a massive mistake, he should had dropped them in in his LZ and ensured he dealt with the Aggressors).

 

On his psychic phase, Mephiston rolled up Quickening - failed. He then cast Smite and killed an Aggresor.

 

In his shooting phase his scouts fired at my Captain, hitting with 4 of 5 (Even with a -1 to Hit), and then rolled 3 6's to wound. I failed one armor save, took 4 wounds, and dropped to one wound.

The remaining Heavy Bolter devs opened up on one of my Twin Autocannon dreads, doing 2 wounds

Dante cracked off a shot at the Shield Captain with his Inferno Pistol - I made my invul save.

 

The DC dread charged the scouts, the Captain charged the Hellblasters (taking 2 wounds on Overwatch). Dante Charged the Shield Captain.

 

DC dread went after the scouts first, hitting 5 times, wounding 4 times. He rerolled his 1, and got another 1! He only cause 4 wounds, and he was equipped with Blood Talons, meaning I got a save throw of 6+. I managed to make one of those as well, leaving two scouts surviving.

 

I then used my Stratagem to interrupt his combat and go after Mephy. 7 Attacks, 4 Hits, 3 wounds. He failed 2 saves. 5 Damage - Dead Vampire Witch Dude.

 

We then moved on to Dante and the Shield Captain (a truly epic fight). He popped the Red Rage stratagem giving Dante +D3 attacks, gaining +2. 8 Attacks. 8 Hits. 3 Wounds. Re-roll for Axe Mortalis and fighting a Character. 5 Wounds. I rolled my saves and failed 3. He rolled his damage, doing 6 Damage. 1 Wound left.

 

The Captain attacked the Hellblasters, killing two. The Hellblasters did a wound back in return.

 

The Shield Captain attacked Dante, Hit 5. Wound 5. My opponent failed 4 of the 5 Saves (Ouch). I rolled up my damage: 2, 2, 3, 3 (10). So much for the oldest living Space Marine. My opponent blue Only In Death Does Duty End stratagem, and Dante attacked again - easily finishing the Shield Captain

 

My opponent did not score Obj 5 because my Scouts held

 

Raven Guard - Turn 2 

 

I drew my cards - Supremacy, Domination, and Control 3 (Where my Intercessors were parked).

 

Hellblasters fell back from the Captain.

My Left flank Captain moved right up into those same ruins to charge the two scouts left from before (who were holding that Objective).

My two scouts engaged with the DC Dread fell back far enough to get out of close combat but still hold Objective 5.

My right flank Captain (on one wound) moved up to contest the other objective being held in the ruin on the right flank.

The two shield captains on my Left flank swung right to get into double tap range of the bodies occupying the ruins.

 

My shooting phase the Contemptor dispatched the DC Dread easily.

My 3 remaining Aggressors double tapped the Devs on the roof killing a couple more

My two Autocannon Dreads shot at the scouts controlling the right objective, killed 3 of 5.

The two shield captains opened up on the devs on the roof as well, knocking them down to 1 guy.

 

My left flank captain charged the two scouts on the left, and my right flank captain (on one wound) charged the two scouts left in the ruin holding that objective.

Both succeeded, clearing out the respective scouts and grabbing both objectives, giving me control of all 6 and leaving my opponent with nothing but a Captain on 2 wounds and 1 Devastator marine on the roof who proceeded to run.

 

I rolled up my D3 and my D3+3 VP at the end of my turn, and got a 2 and 3 respectively, scoring 9 points in total, bringing me up to 10

 

Raven Guard 10 - Blood Angels 0

 

Blood Angels - Turn 2

 

My opponent drew 0 cards because he didn't control anything.

He dropped the Golden Boys right in the middle of his deployment zone along with all 3 characters in support (Librarian, Ancient, and Priest)

 

His Librarian attempted to cast Unleash Rage on the Sang Guard - and failed. He then cast the 5+ Invul on the Guard and that succeeded.

 

He opened up with the Angelus boltguns and did 2 wounds to my warlord once the dust settled.

 

He charged the 10-Man Sang squad first, using the stratagem to make the 9" charge (easily). He then rolled his Priest, Ancient, and Librarian, and failed all 3 charges (including using a re-roll). He daisy chained the unit to still keep his buffs in case he failed any of these charges

 

The captain on two wounds charged the Hellblasters - taking another wound to overwatch and dropping to one wound.

 

The captain swung in hand to hand dispatching another 3 Hellblasters, reducing the unit to 5.

 

The Sang Guard ended up with 8 of their 10 models engaged using the daisy-chain-for-buffs placement. They split their attacks so there were 4 on each Shield Captain. Between the T6 and the Guard only being equipped with swords (No Power Fists), and poor rolling, my opponent only did 3-4 wounds on each captain respectively. Both captains attacked back and killed 2 and 3 respectively, reducing the squad to 5.

 

To add insult to injury the Hellblasters managed to kill the Captain in the ruin, taking his last wound with their 11 attacks.

 

At this point my opponent opted to concede.

 

Thoughts/Criticisms

 

As far as my opponent goes, I think he made a few glaring mistakes that led to this being a very lopsided game.

 

1) Little to no High-Strength attacks in his list to deal with armor/golden bois. (He has the DC dread, a Thunder Hammer Captain, and Mephiston? And that's it)

2) His decision to keep over 1/3 of his army in Deep Strike reserve instead of securing his deployment zone and eliminating the Aggressors was an oversight.

3) Failing to use his scouts in a manner to screen and control objectives. He opted for a very stringent firebase style deployment that greatly limited his options. I suspect that since it was his first time playing Sniper/Cloak Scouts, he wanted to see their damage output (and was disappointed).

 

Also, not really a criticism, but over the course of the game his rolling was quite poor. Seeing Dante get put down like a dog versus the Shield Captain was sad (My first love was Blood Angels, I was eager to see my Shield Captain get put in the ground like a bitch, if I'm being honest, lol.)

 

On my side of things, I did want to push this list in new directions.

 

Some of my objectives were as follows:

 

1) To get out and get active with the Captains, and not rely on them as simply buff bots. I figured against an opponent like Blood Angels, this is the type of matchup where I would want to leverage their threat in CC rather than simply using them to trade better at range. I would say that overall this worked, but I still probably would have been better suited to just SFTS them both, get my re-rolls, and Alpha harder.

 

2) The dreads continue to be a very strong force that I am quite pleased with. I had been debating on Dreads v Flyers in my list, and I think I will start modelling/purchasing up more Dreads to flesh out this concept.

 

3) The shield captains are so strong, so fast, and so points-efficient. I think for my next few games I am going to force myself to swap to that double battalion RG list, and go back to mono RG. I fear continuing to play the Shield Captain Supreme Command Detachment will start to get stale.

[smbarne]

Great writeup as usual!  Misc thoughts:

 

 - I'm really liking your list.  I enjoy CC style gameplay but the Space Marine Codex keeps pushing us into shooting.  Seeing captains start to become popular beast sticks ( plus..... borrowing 500 points from Custodes ) looks fun.  I'm seeing Supreme Command Detachments of 3 BA Captains become popular as well for all of their extra attack stratagems.

 - I would agree the SftS on the Captains seems like an obvious choice.  Without some of the BA stuff, the main benefit to taking a RG Captain is SftS and Raven's Fury

 - Do you pop Wisdom of the Ancients any on your Dreads?  Or keep the Hellbasters back near them for the -1 to hit and reroll 1's from Wisdom?

 - Are you considering StormTalons vs the Dreads?  Your milage may vary, but I've been a bit disapointed with my Dreads.  *But* I'm not usually running them with the 2x autocannon loadout which is optimal.  Having tried Talons recently, I found them good but not great for their points.

 

Looking forward to the next report! :)

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

Great writeup as usual!  Misc thoughts:

 

 - I'm really liking your list.  I enjoy CC style gameplay but the Space Marine Codex keeps pushing us into shooting.  Seeing captains start to become popular beast sticks ( plus..... borrowing 500 points from Custodes ) looks fun.  I'm seeing Supreme Command Detachments of 3 BA Captains become popular as well for all of their extra attack stratagems.

 - I would agree the SftS on the Captains seems like an obvious choice.  Without some of the BA stuff, the main benefit to taking a RG Captain is SftS and Raven's Fury

 - Do you pop Wisdom of the Ancients any on your Dreads?  Or keep the Hellbasters back near them for the -1 to hit and reroll 1's from Wisdom?

 - Are you considering StormTalons vs the Dreads?  Your milage may vary, but I've been a bit disapointed with my Dreads.  *But* I'm not usually running them with the 2x autocannon loadout which is optimal.  Having tried Talons recently, I found them good but not great for their points.

 

Looking forward to the next report!

 

 

Thanks! I totally agree on the Captains-as-beat-sticks comment. 

 I'm seeing Supreme Command Detachments of 3 BA Captains become popular as well for all of their extra attack stratagems.

 - I would agree the SftS on the Captains seems like an obvious choice.  Without some of the BA stuff, the main benefit to taking a RG Captain is SftS and Raven's Fury

 

 

Yea, the 3 BA Captains detachment fulfills a similar role, albeit a few subtle differences.

 

1) The Shield Captains are tougher/faster

2) The Shield Captains are better at clearing chaff (Hurricane Bolters that hit on 2s do great work)

3) The BA Captains take down monsters/vehicles much more efficiently.

4) The BA Captains are cheaper (387pts vs 480)

 

   Do you pop Wisdom of the Ancients any on your Dreads?  Or keep the Hellbasters back near them for the -1 to hit and reroll 1's from Wisdom?

 

I do. It depends on the context of the turn, but I find myself making use of this Stratagem on a pretty regular basis, and I would say I average 1-3 uses of it a game.

 

Typically the Hellblasters end up midfield forming an anchor point closer to my Aggressors to act in support. But I have on occasion dropped them next to the Dreads for the stratagem. It is also not uncommon to SFTS only one Captain (the one that goes with the Aggressors), and have the other deploy directly right behind where I expect to drop the Hellblasters, allowing me to move him up on my Turn 1, and save the CP.

 

Are you considering StormTalons vs the Dreads?  Your milage may vary, but I've been a bit disapointed with my Dreads.  *But* I'm not usually running them with the 2x autocannon loadout which is optimal.  Having tried Talons recently, I found them good but not great for their points.

 

 

I am considering a couple things as options, in replacement of the Dreads:

 

Stormhawks - With the increasing strength of Fly in the meta, I am starting to think Stormhawks equipped with maybe the Las-talon and 2xAC/2xHB might be a strong choice - and slightly more expensive

 

2x Relic Leviathans with Storm Cannons - This would require more list tooling, as one of these is more expensive than my two regular Dreads. In addition to finding room for points, I would also have to find room for two Heavy Support slots due to the Relic rules. Probably two min sized Dev squads with 2x Heavy Bolters, or something of that nature.

 

In my current list, I rely on my Dread trio to pop transports and take out the tougher units (Monsters, Tanks, etc). The issue with Stormtalons that I see is they don't have a weapon option that can perform this task to that level.

 

That being said, I have a very small/select meta, so my list in general has gaps that preclude it from being considered a TAC list, I think.

 

Just as an aside: When I first came back to the game at the beginning of 2017, I played 2 Stormtalons in almost every list I ran. I enjoyed them quite a bit, and they were great at clearing Infantry off objectives. At the end of the day I cut them for two reasons:

 

1) I found myself getting in close with them most games to challenge objectives, along with the AC inherently being a shorter range weapon. What this led to was taking a pretty painful chunk of small arms fire pretty consistently, which ultimately led to them being whittled down, slowly, every game. TL;DR: I became disenfranchised with their staying power.

 

2) Aggressors came out, and they perform the Infantry killing task better, for less cost. This is at the cost of Mobility.

[smbarne]

I don't get a chance to play games too often these days since the little one game around, and the last thing I need are more arms to paint for my Dreads.  But darn though quad autocannon Dreads seem so good from your reports and their profiles.  I ordered three of these yesterday >_< https://puppetswar.eu/product.php?id_product=55

 

---

 

I find it amusing you bring up StormHawks.  I have two StormHawks I've used a lot since 8th edition began.  In *my* meta, they've fallen in value as the number of things with <FLY> has seemingly decreased.  And the armies I struggle against such as AM don't have any.  Some of the things I've found with them:

 

 - T7 rerolling 1's and -1 to hit to save make them somewhat tanky but never when you need it.  Those enemy Lascannons make it through on the regular still...

 - I ended up on the Lastalon / Heavy Bolter loadout as well.  The SkyHammer AP is so bad when shooting most things with <FLY>.

 - Their speed and lack of Hover make them very difficult to keep near rerolls.  Keeping them on the board can be a challenge as well.  Not impossible, but it makes it difficult because you can't always target what you need past turn 2.

 - The Lastalon hitting ground targets on 4's ( and many things on 5's due to -1 to hit being prevalent ) is not great.  Coupled with the D6 damage and it is *very* spiky.  Things such as the autocannon dreads, Hellblasters, etc really help you ensure something dies.  Stormhawks can blow something away one turn and then wiff everything the next. ( For example, I was unable to destroy a single Dunecrawler with two Stormhawks with chapter master rerolls once ).

 

---

 

Lastly, the 2x Relic Leviathan Dreads do seem to be the rage.  They're pretty great all around too.  I fear they'll get the nerf hammer come next CA.

Edited June 15, 2018 by smbarne

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

Had a 4 day weekend this weekend. My current assembled stuff is as follows:

 

3 Centurions, fully magnetized:

 

6 Aggressors

10 Tacticals with Suppressed Bolters

5 Scouts with Suppressed Bolters

5 Scouts with Sniper Rifle

1 Test Intercessor

 

The above Centurions took 48 Magnets to get fully magnetized for every option

 

I managed to get everything primed Saturday night, gave everything 36 hours to cure, and I got the Black base layer on everything today.

 

Going to start brushwork on the weeknights this week.

[duz_]

I was gonna ask how hard it was to magnetise them but 48 magnets seems to answer my question ...

 

Nice work though! :tu:

[thewarriorhunter]

I didn't realize centurions could take las cannons. I've never been a fan of the models so I've never read their entry. Knowing they can take that though makes me consider adding them for some AT potential.

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

I didn't realize centurions could take las cannons. I've never been a fan of the models so I've never read their entry. Knowing they can take that though makes me consider adding them for some AT potential.

 

My hope is that they get a huge points reduction in the next Chapter Approved. As it stands right now they are 100% hot garbage. 

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

Moar pics! (They are all cellphone pics taken in my basement so :cussty lighting and blur abound, woohoo!)

Group Shot (in my DIY painting hood)

Silky smooth, much dakka, custom shoulder pad

Big and strong (+ Blurry)

My Supreme Command Detachment on my new flying stand jig for painting

Guns, guns, and more guns

Closeup of the shapeways bolter suppressors

[Race Bannon]

:woot:

 

Man, I've been taking pics withcell phone in a basement for the past 1.5 years :P. Whatever works is better than nothing ^_^

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

So some further thoughts/notes on the shapeways stuff

 

It looks pretty good when painted, however, some of the pieces still are a little rough. When I was doing my prep, I used dish soap and warm water, along with a soft tooth brush to clean the pieces. In most cases this seemed to "smooth" out the surface a bit, some better than others.

 

My question to you folks is: What is your method? These are the UHD Frosted plastic.

 

I feel like I need a stiffer brush to get the surface more smooth. The pieces are so small I can't really sand them. At a distance I don't expect it will be a major problem, but I feel like I could be doing more to get a smoother finish.

 

@ Race: The phone does a serviceable job, but when you have an excellent DSLR camera and light box, any picture I take with my phone just feels shoddy and saddening :( Just too much work to set up for progress shots imo

[thewarriorhunter]

That's my biggest fear with 3D printed parts on something so small. The layers lend themselves to those lines/rough surface.

 

I believe resin printers to a much better job on smaller pieces like that but they are not cheap. You might try a dremel on really low speed but I don't think anyone has a steady enough hand to make that work.

[Spaz]

My experience with shapeway products are a little limited, but what I've done to help with roughness is either use a very fine grit sand paper/ jewelers polishing paper or in some cases use watered down plastic putty to fill it in. Unfortunately both methods can be tedious.

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

Decided that I needed to get in on the Knight-hype and build a Superheavy detachment to run alongside my boys in black.

 

I'm opting for a cheaper Detachment of Knight Gallant and 2x Armiger Warglaive. I'll be doing my own household and using Hawkshroud rules, I think. To get me started, I decided I would use the Paragon Gauntlet as my relic, and I set out on a mission to build a clawed Thunderstrike Gauntlet to be a pseudo Lightning Claw.

 

Here's what I came up with, would love your feedback!

 

 

 

[WAR]

Wicked and Awesome looking

[duz_]

Looks good! Now get some paint on it! ;)

 

Im assuming that's the relic claw?

If I was to run a knight detachment as support I'd probably run something similar :tu:

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

Looks good! Now get some paint on it!

 

Im assuming that's the relic claw?

If I was to run a knight detachment as support I'd probably run something similar

 

Yea, its going to be my Paragon Gauntlet stand in. Its a pretty solid choice for a Gallant (The melee knight)

 

The idea is to run him and both Warglaives right up the enemy throat and use Full Tilt to get off T1 charges. Im interested to see how having that sort of distraction will draw heat off my Aggressors and Captains :) 

[Dracos]

I e had the same thought. Though not quite as Aggressive. I want them to shoot my Knights T1. He should die but that gives me opportunity to use the Armigers and Aggressors at will. That’s four units that should be causing havoc right off the bat ... and who knows maybe the Warden lives.

 

Love the Gauntlet look I prefer the Endless Fury in my ally list but h’ll switch to the Gauntlet when the Crusader leads the Knight army. I bed to find some bits to give them both a relic look. Thumbs up on the Claw

 

 

Edit: with your fighting style, why not House Terryn or Krast?

Edited August 7, 2018 by Inquisitor Dracos

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The Thunderstrike gauntlet-turned-lighning claws look intimidating as hell. Will you name them "Krueger's Claws"? "Nightmare Talons"? "Dream Daemon's Doom"?

[Race Bannon]

 

 

[thewarriorhunter]

That looks awesome, what bits did you use for the claws?

 

I was thinking of something similar, I've got two unbuilt knights and two armigers now and I was thinking of making a super heavy detachment to help me fill out points for larger games since that seems to be the meta in my area. Eventually I want to be able to run my own knight army.

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

That looks incredibly savage, great work!