Monday 20 December 2010

Mech BA Spear + Frag Cannon = WIN?

I'm working on the 5th installment of the Deployment in Action series and moving on to looking at a Mechanised Spear for Blood Angels...I've revisited my old list for BA and stripped out a few things...when I did, I found I could fit in my 'anti-Long Fang' unit...in this case a Frag Cannon Furioso in a pod.

Can't be damaged if the opponent is going first, gets the chance to drop in accurately, without rolling on Turn 1 and can fire 2 S6 Rending Templates into a squad of camped out Long Fangs or equivalent...a camping objective holder like Pathfinders or Camo cloak commisar blobs etc...



If no such units exist, can use 2 S6 rending and a Meltagun on side armour of a vital tank...

Is still Av13 so fits with the Baals, Preds and Vindicator (speaking of which, is only really in there cos I have a soft spot for Demolisher Cannons...especially fast ones)

So the list at 1500 is this;

Libbie - Shield, Fear
RAS - Meltagun, LasPlas Razorback
RAS - Flamer,  LasPlas Razorback
RAS - Flamer, LasPlas Razorback
Furioso - Pod, Frag Cannon, Fist, Melta
Baal  - Ass Cannon (TL)
Baal  - Ass Cannon
Baal - Ass Cannon
Pred - Auto Las, HKM
Pred Auto HB's, HKM
Vindicator

Bang on 1500.

Is this suitable then as a DiA Series list? Representative of the competitive Blood Angels lists out there? I think it is.
7 AV13, 3 Av11
3 LasPlasBack troops
Highly mobile
10 long range anti tank/MC attack vectors
more up close...goes up to 12 with Meltaguns from RAS
Not brilliant anti-horde, but has the speed and can tank shock and flame etc.
Relies on S10, S9, 2 x Melta, DCCW and Rending x 4 to get through av14.

I'll playtest later, think it works though. Feedback? Thoughts? I'll hold off till Weds for next Deployment in Action...give time for criticism and feedback. 

Also, how are you guys building your frag cannons from a modelling POV? 

10 comments:

  1. just wait till feb when the new furioso model comes out for frag cannons ;)

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  2. If it comes out!! Fingers crossed ...

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  3. One thing to consider: Long Fangs and other fire support units often hang out near board edges (because they can afford to do so thanks to their long ranges.) The Drop Pod special rules stop you from mishapping when scattering into models or terrain, but not if you scatter off the board, so you'll have to be very careful.

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  4. I opted for a blunderbus style frag cannon, converted from an assault cannon arm. You can see the pics here:
    http://picasaweb.google.com/Gaoramon/MiscModellingPics

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  5. @ Puppy...damn good point and certainly with board huggers it'd be a very risky prospect...could just bomb down in front of them about 6 - 7" away and hope for reasonable scatter...But certainly risky then...
    With Fangs etc just in cover deep in opponents half it'd be fine..

    Thanks for pointing it out.

    @Gaoramon - nice and simple, cheers for the idea dude..

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  6. Venerable I was thinking about this the other day when I was chatting to someone about the dreads - he was harping on about x2 CCW vs Blood Talons and I mentioned that Frag cannon is well worth a look - especially for something like you mention.

    Like Puppy says - there is a risk involved, I do like the idea of it- same with Talon dreads - I really want to use one but running mech (or anything really) I cant find plausible ways to play it apart from running it and hoping for the best.

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  7. Talon Death Company Dreads are just plain scary...especially when deployed from a Storm Raven as part of a crzy DC mash up...see above 'Storm of Death' list...that said, in a real, competitive list I haven't been able to fit dreads in properly...this is the first real attempt.

    I did try and use Libbie Dreads as part of an Av13 spam list, worked but I just think there is too much anti-psyker around these days.

    So its podding...and with av13 front armour..that's probably about as survivable as its going to be, when combined with a properly constructed list, the target priority issue leads to diluted fire and perhaps, perhaps it'll survive!

    We'll see...

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  8. Frag Cannon + Blood Fist is a very nice setup for podding in, although it's hard to really call it "competitive." I still like it, though. Talon pairs are neat, but honestly, I find them to often be overkill, as wiping out a whole squad (or enough to make them break and run) in one turn just gets you shot to pieces. With AV13 on the front, Furiosos rarely have to worry about dying in combat.

    I also like the tri-template setup (Fist with Heavy Flamer, Frag Cannon) as an option to take out hordes in cover. The Meltagun adds some versatility, but you still have the option to smash things with S10 melee, so it's less valuable.

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  9. I think I'd prefer to take the Heavy Flamer...just lose a HKM from one of the Preds...reduces the effectiveness of one of the long range units, but increases the other...I guess it just depends how much you hate long fangs n lootas!

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  10. An idea I like. I don't think I ever bothered to post a similar list in my abortive Codex Review...hrmm. *That's* what I'll do today! lol
    Cheers!

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