Sunday, March 13, 2011

Reader Email: Tallarn Army Critique

by SandWyrm


Old School (Terminator?) is looking to get some feedback on his new Tallarn list. I'll snowmobile my comments into his email. :)
Sandwyrm,

Old School here from Dark Future Games and as you can see in this post http://darkfuturegaming.blogspot.com/2011/02/arabian-knights-tallarn-praetorian-old.html, I have come into the guard in a major way with an army that I am more than proud to show off - the Tallarn. While I am not above using any special character from the dex, I would like to try my hand at Al' Raheem just because I like the idea of it (all I have on guard experience as a player is an idea, lol) and I like the idea of controling so much of the board when the Desert Tiger and his boys swoop in.
I'm not a huge fan of Captn' Al at all. This post from earlier this year pretty much sums up my objections.
Here is the list at 2k right now. Everything is fairly self explanitory.

HQ- Company Command
Commander- Plasma Pistol
4x melta guns
Astropath
Officer of the Fleet
Chimera - multi laser, HB, Ex Armour
Well first off, every single Chimera in your army needs to have a hull heavy flamer. They're what we have instead of assault troops. They'll also kill more Orks in one round of firing than you will kill with that heavy bolter all game long. There's also the issue that you should be moving your tanks - always. So you'll only be firing one weapon per turn anyhow.

Extra Armor on everything is also a no-no. If I add up all the extra armor in this list I get 120 points. That's enough for a squadron of Scout Sentinels with Autocannons. For 10 points more you could get a Hellhound or Vendetta. So go with the option that gets you more bodies and firepower.

A plasma pistol on your commander is OK if you have some points to spare, but...


Vet Squad
Serg plasma pistol
3x plasma gun
Chimera - multi laser, HB, Ex Armour

Vet Squad
Serg plasma pistol
3x plasma gun
Chimera - multi laser, HB, Ex Armour

Vet Squad
Serg plasma pistol
3x meltagun
Chimera - multi laser, HB, Ex Armour
 ...putting them in every vet squad is a no-no. Adding up all the plasma pistols in this army gives you 30 points. So now we're up to 150 points of fat. That's enough for a Russ!

Infantry Platoon

Command - Al'Raheem
2x plasmagun
2x flamer
Chimera - multilaser, Hflamer, Heavy stubber, Ex Armour

Infantry Squad
Flamer
Chimera - multilaser, Hflamer, Heavy stubber, Ex Armour

Infantry Squad
Flamer
Chimera - multilaser, Hflamer, Heavy stubber, Ex Armour

Infantry Squad
Flamer
Chimera - multilaser, Hflamer, Heavy stubber, Ex Armour
If I was running Captn' Al, I'd do it as follows (regardless of point level):

Platoon Command Squad w/Al Rahem, 4 x Melta, Chimera (Hull Heavy Flamer)
+ Infantry Squad w/Melta, Power Weapon (Sgt.), Commissar (Power Weapon)
+ Infantry Squad w/Melta, Power Weapon (Sgt.)
+ Infantry Squad w/Melta, Power Weapon (Sgt.)

The idea is that you're outflanking a close-combat blob onto an enemy objective. That's what Al is made to do (just look at his orders). Of course, this assumed that your opponent is stupid enough to put an objective or other juicy target near the board edge after he sees that Al is in your list. Since Al can't do anything but outflank, you become tactically predictable. Which I consider to be a terrible downside.

Special Weapons Squad
2x meltaguns
1 demo charge

Special Weapons Squad
2x meltaguns
1 demo charge
I prefer Vets for this job. Since SWSs can't threaten an alpha-strike on the other player's tanks.

Vendetta

Vendatta
Cool.

Leman Russ Demolisher with lascannon
Lascannons are OK on Vanilla Russes (10% addition to the Russ's price for a 7% anti-tank gain). But Demolishers are meant to be up in mid-field. So heavy flamers are the way to go every time.
I am not entirely clear on the Special Weapons squads actually being able to deploy in the Vendettas per Al Raheem's rules.
I think that the platoon rules will override the Vendetta rules. But it's open for debate.
Also, I think that in some missions the outflanking and the master of the fleet would actually help the enemy in late turn scoring,
Yep. The forced-outlfanking more than the Officer of the Fleet.
but as I have little experience, I am totally unsure. I would like to know what you would do with Al' Raheem and how you would make it work at 2K and maybe even 1850 if you feel like it. Just let me know if I am out of my mind or if I am heading in the right direction.

Thank you for your time,
OST
Dark Future Games
You're going in an OK direction. But I think you'll get sick of Al pretty quickly. So leave your options open.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks man, I picked up these Tallarn on the SUPER cheap and just wanted to figure out how to use them. I have some very good Guard metors available locally, but wanted to see what kind of imput you had and this has been very eye opening. Thank you for your time, man.

    - as an aside, the damned HBs came glued to the Chimeras - but they wont be for long:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the idea of a mechanised force rushing around the table to come in on the flanks. Fluffwise it fits how I imagine a mechansied force working perfectly. Al brings the classic pincer attack and I've found it to be just as deadly as in real life.

    My loadout is different though, I have a stripped down platoon in Chimeras. Al's PCS has 2x meltas and 2x flamers for versatility. His 2x inf squads both pack a melta gun and they all ride in the standard HHF Chimeras.

    I've used this for quite a while now so I've gotten to see how it fares against a range of different armies aaaandd.. he's been golden. It's not that my opponents sucked or didn't appreciate the threat he posed, more that it's really difficult, maybe impossible to defend against it AND fight effectively against a mechguard force that's trying to tussle.

    ReplyDelete
  3. While I'll agree that Al'Rahem forces the outflank, and therefore is somewhat predictable, the addition of the Astropath is the key to any kind of success with this concept. Being able to re-roll your outflank die gives a wonderfully consistent level of choice as to which board edge you want. You can even choose the deep side of your own deployment zone, if those flanks look unappealing when your reserves arrive.

    And don't just outflank Al and Pals...outflank your WHOLE DAMN LIST. Build a list with Vendettas carrying Vets, Scout Sentinels, and even add in other special characters like Harker for infiltrating Vets on foot. Hell...even throw in Creed and choose to Outflank a whole squadron of Demolishers! (That’s still one unit for purposes of the reserve and outflank role) Anything with Scout or Infiltrate is viable here.

    If your opponent has enough models to cover BOTH board edges, and move on the OBJ he wants, you can still build an advantage of local fire superiority. Your key is to hit hard, in a place of your choosing, while your opponent waits to react until turn 3. You basically turn an “Alpha Strike” into a “Gamma Strike”…and pray on luck a lot. :)

    The advantage here is the reverse of "shoot first, shoot often." The ugly reality of the guard is that if you are on the board, you are ALSO prone to being shot to hell. Individual units can't absorb fire, unless we are talking blobs-o-mooks. Any given mech army facing another shooty army is in trouble for KP fights and even some OBJ holding, if you aren’t smart in placement.

    Not allowing YOURSELF to be shot is an advantage of its own in some cases.

    Plus...watch the consternation on your opponent's assaulty face when he has 2 turns of sitting around moving models with no clear idea of your intent. It can do amazing things, and let me tell you, they make errors when playing against a lot of nothing.

    Does this work all the time? Nope. Is it "competitive" ...I doubt it. It’s a two- or three-trick pony, but it’s fun to play.

    So, depending on the goal of the list, there is a lot of interesting fun to be had with a null-deploy IG force, based around Al and Pals.

    ReplyDelete

out dang bot!

Recent Favorites

All-Time Favorites