So lately I have been trying some new things out with my ork army. I have kitted out my bikers, made them all nob bikers and given them a painboy, and FNP. all this for a huge 650 points. I have been told by multiple people that this is waaaaaaayyyyyy too much to be doing. Although a few have been inquisitive and asked how it works. So here it goes. The point sink. pros and cons.
pros:
1. a nigh unstoppable unit, specializing in lots of different things. From killing tanks, or eliminating a unit, then another unit, and then another.
2. depending on the unit you point sink into, you can dish out a lot of killy through firepower.
3. played correctly, can force an opponent to spend 3 turns focusing all of their attacks on them.
cons:
1. huge point sink, when you could be spending more on other things.
2. if you lose this unit in turn 1 or 2, its lost you a major amount of firepower and such.
3. if you do not play this squad accordingly or not in the way it should be played, you lose out on its sheer killyness.
4. a big fat, "COME HERE AND KILL US!" stamp.
A lot of you may be going, wow, I just don't see the point. I really think it comes down to how good of a general you are. If you are just gonna throw a unit out there and charge blindly forward, then you will lose your points worth. Choose your targets carefully, and make sure you know the strengths and weaknesses of your unit. For example, I hate multi-meltas. They suck against nob bikers, so do I just charge blindly forward? NO! lol. I generally stay back and shoot the meltas, if they are getting near me, I will provide supporting fire.
If you also spend the entire game trying to keep said unit alive, well it will just waste your time. Of a total of 8 games, Ive lost 2. And during which time I have let my point sink unit die gloriously 6 of those 8 times. Why some may say? While you are throwing everything onto them, I move in from behind and unleash my other 2/3 of my army on your units.
In closing: If used properly and not blindly, a point sink can do a lot for an army, and cause a lot of fun and stories to tell in games.
thoughts, ideas, sharing?
I think the real question with point sink units is "what would I rather be spending the points on?"
ReplyDeleteIf there's no other place to put the points then a point sink or deathstar unit isn't a terrible idea. However codices such as Guard, space marines, tyranids, BA/SW, are given many other options of units that can produce the same results through cheap multiples of squads.
Playing against the nob bikers the first game they made me really rally for a win, the second game I went into it with a plan and they didn't do too much damage. Point being deathstar units often catch people off guard. Everyone talks about them, but few people grow a pair and play them and when they do play them their opponents don't know how to fend them off until it's too late.
Hmm, my experience with a nob biker squad half that size and supported by a warboss on a bike has yielded a great level of deathstar killyness without having to sink so many points into it. Five models, and I've had an entire 1500 point guard army stay still and pump their only turn of fire into it, leaving the strength ten powerclaw alive to reach the lines and wreck some face.
ReplyDeleteHaving a tough 5(6) model to soak up the hits that would otherwise be instant death really helps survivability, which means the squad doesn't have to be as big to do the same job, and leaving more like 3/4 of your army to come in behind them, instead of 2/3. Of course, you could tack a warboss onto a 650 point nob squad too I guess, then you REALLY have a death star unit, over half your points at 1500. I'd b curious to see how that list works out. You CAN do two warbosses and two nob biker squads as your entire army after all. The downside of a smaller unit is that you have to watch carefully what your opponent can do to them in response. It only takes one mistake to doom any unit, but the size of the mistake grows smaller the fewer bodies it has.
I agree with Rionnay. Deathstar units can be great if used correctly, and people don't know what to do with them or are suprised at how difficult to deal with they are. This is the same reasoning behind bloodcrushers and fateweaver. Either they look at the crushers as only 4 bloodcrushers, "it shouldn't be too hard to kill those 4 models", which is of course is a huge mistake, or "they get too scared and shoot everything at them with little results."
ReplyDeleteI think it depends on the person playing, as you say, but also on the opponent (both in skill and army).
ReplyDeleteSome armies have the tools to deal with enemy deathstars efficiently, some less so. If I can reliably deal with the unit early, then it does cost you quite a bit. If I can't... well then. There you go.
My Deathstar as Rionnay so elagantly put it is amazing in points sink. 10 Wolf Guard (180) all with power weapons (another 90, I'll show why in a minute.), Logan Grimnar (275) because Wolves love to have preferred enemy, Ragnar Blackmane (240) because I love Furious Charge, as you are the dead before you get to go, Arjac Rockfist (170) and then the Land Raider Crusader (260) with a Multi-Melta. So on a special day, I'm sinking 1215 in this squad. Now that seems like an amazing points sink, but this squad just eats units. It does nothing else but this, there isn't alot of shooting from the squad unless there is a Transport that I have to crack first.
ReplyDeleteI've played this Unit well over a dozen times, and to be perfectly honest, it has always preformed admirably. I've had it do it's job every single time, with great effect, and without reason to doubt it, I will every now and then pull it out and knock the dust off of them, just to do it one more time. But that is neither here nor there. The main point, out of the probably 20 games I've played this hammer, it has ALWAYS ended up on the dead side of the field, and killed at least 1K worth of stuff before it fell.