Raven Guard vs Death Guard advice

[tentagil]

Have started a crusade campaign with several friends, one of whom is playing Death Guard. Played a game last weekend where he tabled me, but thanks to it being Relic, and my getting it early and holding onto it I ended up pulling off a tie in the game overall. Need some advice on tactics and what sort of things to add to my force to better counter the sheer staying power of these guys. 

 

My current force is mostly Phobos, made up of two Shadowspear boxes, minus the Suppressors who I haven't built yet. I also added in a unit of plasma Inceptors and a 5 man Vanguard Vet squad with a mix of claws and hammers. I love the Eliminator models, but they haven't been doing much for me in general. I also do have one 3 man Aggressor squad available at the moment.

[L30n1d4s]

Believe it or not, the good old 5 man Assault Centurion squad (especially with MCed weapon on the Sergeant, for Dmg4 Assault Drills), deep striking in with the RG unique Strat, might be one of your best bets.

 

Meltas dont really care about T5 or Disgustingly Resilient, Hurricane Bolters are quite solid against Poxwalker hordes, and when they get into close combat, 4 X S10 AP-4 Dmg3 per model, all hitting with no penalties to WS, are very dangerous (against Characters, with Super Doctrine for +1 to hit/wound, they are even better... even Mortarion is vulnerable against 21 X Dmg3 attacks that hit on 2s and wound on 2s, especially if you already softened him up with 10 melts shots in the Shooting Phase).

 

A JP Chief Librarian with Veil of Time (lets Centurions fight first and reroll charges out of Deep Strike), Null Zone (no Invuls mean dead Blightlords/Deathshrouds), and Psychic Fortress to up their durability (that's T5 4W each with 2+/5++) can be quite a potent little force multiplier for them.

 

One last thing, if most of your army is Phobos, then Assault Centurions give you a great "distraction Carnifex" to keep his army's attention while the rest of your force shoots, maneuvers, grabs Objectives, etc.

Edited July 7, 2021 by L30n1d4s

[XeonDragon]

I've found assault hellblasters very effective against DG. High volume of S6 high AP shots a D1 are just about the perfect way to deal with them. Sterngaurd offer a cheaper and virtually identical performance (in terms of points efficiency) if they are in rapid fire range. 5 sterngaurd with combi-plasma are 125 points vs 165 for 5 assault hellblasters. If you want them to last longer, company veterans with combi plasma and storm shields are 34 points each, only 1 more point than hellblasters and with a 4++. If you have captain, 1 squad of 5 won't take up a slot.

 

Otherwise VGV are good - but stick to d1 weapons (lightning claws). Aggressors, thanks to the volume of shooting, are also good - if you can keep them alive. A librarian to give the 5++ can help. Otherwise I'd go relic terminators with lightning claws. I've found a whirlwind useful for the fight-last strat. 

Edited July 7, 2021 by XeonDragon

[War of the Eagle]

Obligatory Redemptor Dread plug. Plenty of D1 shots and a fist that can flatten DG. And none overheated plasma works well like others have said.

[tentagil]

My Inceptors do some work, but in the small games so far their firepower has been too random. So the Assault Hellblasters looks like a decent option. And I have thought about Aggressors as well, though they definitely got a bit of a nerf since 8th ed. I've also got 1 Invictor Warsuit right now, I probably need at least 1 more so its not just instantly shot off the board. So that might be an option for me as well rather than looking at Redemptors. 

[Tokugawa]

Assault hellblasters and inceptors are both very good against DG. Since DG have few ap-4 weapons, lack of isv is not a disadvantage of centurions in this matchup.

 

Don't try the turn1 charge plan, that just don't work against DG. Use your mobility, spread your units on objectives.