Monday, February 22, 2010

COMPetitive Play? Part II

by SandWyrm and Farmpunk

 

SandWyrm here. So, having already covered the details of the BMG Comp system from the tourney this past weekend, here's how easily a new codex like the IG can get around such systems. (More...)

To quickly recap the rules we were given:
3 Points: No Unique Characters
3 Points: At least 35% of your points are in troops.
2 Points: No more than 35% of your points spent in any one non-troop category.
1 Point  - No more than 1 of any non-troop unit choice.

1 Point - No more than 3 of the same unit choice.
These points (along with painting and sportsmanship scores) were added to the results of each round. Up to the maximum number of available battle points (50).

These sorts of restrictions may have made sense just before 5th Edition came out, but they're ridiculously easy for any of the 5 newest army books (Orks, Marines, IG, Wolves, and Nids) to get around. The issue being that the new books have so many unit choices available that any player with the models available can just swap options around to comply with the restrictions without really hurting their competitiveness at all. Case in point, my Mech IG.

This was the list I was originally going to take to the tourney, before the Comp rules were given to us early last week. I've posted it a couple of times already:
    HQ 
175    Company Command Squad w/4 x Melta, Astropath, Chimera (Hull Heavy Flamer)
   
    Troops
155    Veteran Squad w/3 x Melta, Chimera (Hull Heavy Flamer)
155    Veteran Squad w/3 x Melta, Chimera (Hull Heavy Flamer)
170    Veteran Squad w/3 x Plasma, Chimera (Hull Heavy Flamer)
115    Veteran Squad w/Shotguns, 3 x Flamer, Demolitions
115    Veteran Squad w/Shotguns, 3 x Flamer, Demolitions

    Fast Attack
130    Vendetta Gunship (Demo Vet Ride)
130    Vendetta Gunship (Demo Vet Ride)
120    3 Scout Sentinels w/Autocannons
   
    Heavy Support
165    Leman Russ Demolisher w/Hull Heavy Flamer
160    Leman Russ Eradicator w/Hull Heavy Flamer
160    Leman Russ Eradicator w/Hull Heavy Flamer

Total: 1750
And here's what I ended up taking instead:
    HQ
175    Company Command Squad w/4 x Melta, Astropath, Chimera (Hull Heavy Flamer)
   
    Troops
155    Veteran Squad w/3 x Melta, Chimera (Hull Heavy Flamer)
155    Veteran Squad w/3 x Melta, Chimera (Hull Heavy Flamer)
155    Veteran Squad w/3 x Melta, Chimera (Hull Heavy Flamer)
170    Veteran Squad w/3 x Plasma, Chimera (Hull Heavy Flamer)
55    5 Inquisitorial Stormtroopers w/Flamer
   
    Fast Attack
130    Vendetta Gunship
120    3 Scout Sentinels w/Autocannons
145    Hellhound w/Hull Multi-Melta
   
    Heavy Support
165    Leman Russ Demolisher w/Hull H-Flamer
160    Leman Russ Eradicator w/Hull H-Flamer
165    Leman Russ Exterminator w/Hull Lascannon
   
Total: 1750
Same roles, different choices. An anti-tank Vendetta became an anti-tank Exterminator instead. A cover-denying Leman Russ Eradicator became a Hellhound instead. I lost the Flamer/Demo vets, but not because of the comp. It was because I didn't have those models fully painted. So I subbed in some cheap Inquisi-Stormies to keep the Vendetta scoring and added in another Chimelta to compensate. The plasma-Vets are a standard choice of mine, so no problems there. Three of one troop choice and one of another. If I'd really wanted to screw the system I could have given the 4th Vet Sergeant a bolt pistol or something silly to make them different.

And if I'd wanted to preserve the first-turn melta-bomb rush potential of the Flamer/Demo vets? Why I would have (If they'd been painted) kept one unit of F/D vets and swapped the other for melta Stormtroopers in a Chimera. Having scout, melta Stormies can put 2 penetration dice per melta all the way up to your opponent's 4" line. So again, the rush capability could have been preserved if I'd really wanted to.

Now I'll hand things over to Farmpunk to explain how he did his 3-Codex mashup.


farmpunk's turn:

I was pretty cranky about having to rummage through my collection to see what I had at least table top standard painted (for me, 3 colors and a wash).

I was originally going to take:
HQ:
     201     St. Celestine
 Elite:
     155     5Celestians w/2 meltaguns, immolator (E. Armor)
     155     5Celestians w/2 meltaguns, immolator (E. Armor)
 Troops:
     173     11 Sisters of Battle Hflamer/Melta, VSS w/bolter and BoSL
     173     11 Sisters of Battle Hflamer/Melta, VSS w/bolter and BoSL
     206     9  Sisters of Battle Hflamer/Melta, VSS w/bolter and BoSL, Rhino (E. Armor)
      60      Platoon Command Squad 3 Melta, 1Lasgun, Pl. Commander w/CCW, Laspistol
      65     Platoon Squad Autocannon, Grenade Launcher, Sgt. w/ccw, laspistol
      55     Chimera (Hflamer, Multilaser)
      65     Platoon Squad Autocannon, Grenade Launcher, Sgt. w/ccw, laspistol
      55     Chimera (Hflamer, Multilaser)
      35     Commissar (attached to the combined platoon squads)
Heavy Support:
     140    Exorcist (E. Armor)
     140    Exorcist (E. Armor)
      70     Immolator (E. Armor)

The idea was to have the 2 big SoB squads ride in Chimera borrowed from the inducted IG platoon, and have the PCS ride in the Immolator. If I'd had a third chimera built, I would have had all 3 SoB squads ride in Chimera. The PCS was probably only going to get to fire if they got blown out of their transport, so a fast moving, Immo would do fine for them.
I typically put 1 Celestian, and 1 SoB squad together in two groups, for support. Then in the third weaker group, the PCS Immo, and SoB's in rhino.
The Exorcists work in Tandem, with both sighting the primary target, and one of the two with a shot at the secondary priority target. If the first destroys (or handicaps) the primary, the other Exorcist then fires on the secondary target. The Platoon follows up the two exorcists, by hitting the secondary priority, or a tertiary priority.

This list uses all of the Rhino Chassis (2 rhino, 4 Immo, and 1Exorcist) and Chimeras I own. I do have one Immo I can use as an  Exorcist, and I usually do. I like Long range fire support. I was going to have to paint one Immo for this, but a sick 11mo old wasn't going to let that happen.

This is what I took in the end:
HQ:
     132     Cannoness, Mantle, Cloak, Jump Pack, Frags, Blessed Weapon, Bolt Pistol
     162     DH Inquisitor Lord, Psycannon, Psychic Hood, Emperor's Tarot
                   2 Mystics, 2 Meltagun Veterans
Elites:
     120     Callidus Asassin
     155     5 Celestians w/2Meltaguns, Immolator (E. Armor)
Troops:
     206     9 Sisters of Battle, Hflamer/Melta, VSS w/BoSL, bolter, Rhino (E. Armor)
     202     9 Sisters of Battle, Hflamer/flamer, VSS w/BoSL, Bolter, Rhino (E. Armor)
      50     Platoon Command Squad 2 Melta, 2Lasgun, Pl. Commander w/CCW, Laspistol
      55     Chimera (Hflamer, Multilaser)
      65     Platoon Squad Autocannon, Grenade Launcher, Sgt. w/ccw, laspistol
      65     Platoon Squad Autocannon, Grenade Launcher, Sgt. w/ccw, laspistol
      55     Chimera (Hflamer, Multilaser)
      35     Commissar (attached to the combined platoon squads)
      65     Special Weapon Squad 3 Melta, 3lasgun
Fast Attack:
     173     4 Dominion 2Meltagun, VSS w/bolter, Immolator (E. Armor, Smoke, Searchlight)
Heavy Support:
     140     Exorcist (E.Armor)
      70      Immolator (E. Armor)

I ended up with this list because my 4 Meltagun Sisters I had on order came in the night before the tourney, and a sick 11mo. old wasn't going to let me paint much. I was already sleep deprived from the night before. The same goes for the extra Immolator I have unpainted.
Here, The SWS and the PCS ride in Chimera, and the Inq. Lord rides in the spare Immo. I should have put the Inq. In a chimera rather than the PCS. This force was a little less thought out than the first one, but has some mean tricks to it. 
     Since I wasn't going to necessarily get to rely on 2 Exorcists to get my long range support job done, I was going to need to make the most of the shots I could get, and going first helps me to hit my opponent's Long range firepower first, and disrupt it. The Tarot Helped with that. 
     The asassin would come in and help me to clear objectives, or Heavy weapon squads. 
     The dominion squad was another way to get a Celestian squad that wasn't a Celestian squad.
     The Cannoness rather than the Saint is I feel, is a more cost-effective killing machine jumping up to the front lines shielded from LoS by the mobile terrain (rhinos). I like the lone jumping 2+ skipping across the board between 2 rhinos in a 'V' formation. Noone can see her, and she charges ahead to eat Terminators. "Yum yum yum yum! Delicioso!"
     The Inquisitor I almost took as a WH Inq, but I wanted the Inq. to be my priciest HQ. I liked the DH build better than the WH one. I would have had to take Scourging as a psychic power to shoot, and not had anti-Deep Strike capability, or had a Tarot. So a DH it is.


     There's not as much Long range light AT fire support as I like, but it will do. As with the previous list, I try to keep the two Book of St. Lucius units near the units with no book if they get charged.

I'm still much happier with the first list, but the second list had more anti-psyker and anti-Deep Strike to it. It also snagged me a perfect Comp score ;p

I don't recommend the second list as a 'good, balanced' list for anyone to use. It's a hodge-podge. I probably should have just re-done the first list by dropping the Saint, adding a Jumpy Cannoness, and giving the SoB squads eviscerators. But I'd have had to convert those, and didn't have time.
    

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