Despite his superior tactical insight borne of literally millenia of strategic vision and warfare...I went second 2 out of 3... in missions and setups where going first would have been a massive help!
I used the first list from here in all 3 games as it is the list that I am least convinced by, but want to be...
It was a Blog Wars list (so Special Character included) and 1750:
Bjorn - TLLascannon
Rifleman Dread
Rifleman Dread
Rifleman Dread
Grey Hunters x 5, Flamer, Plasmaback
Grey Hunters x 5, Flamer, Plasmaback
Grey Hunters x 5, Flamer, Plasmaback
Grey Hunters x 5, Flamer, Plasmaback
MM/HF Speeder
MM/HF Speeder
Long Fangs x 5, 4 ML
Long Fangs x 5, 4 ML
Long Fangs x 5, 4 ML
First 2 games were versus Kabalite (our new Sons' writer) and a Mech BA list consisting of:
Libbie - Shield and Fear
5 x 5 man RAS w. Melta in TLLC Razors
3 x Baal Pred w TLAC, Dozers
3 x Vindicators, Siege Shields
Quite tough with a wall of shielded AV13, not optimised but decent. Simple switches would have been from TLLC on Razors to LasPlas for added survivability and far superior offensive output. I'd personally change the Vindies for AutoLas Predssaving 60 points and getting a priest w combi melta for one squad to give a FNP bubble to the 5, 5 man squads..
Anyway. going second first game. KP's and Pitched. I hid the dreads and speeders and tried to use a central ruin to cover the razors. Fangs deployed in prime positions in cover with great LOS.
BA bombed straight forward with the wall of Av13 and pounded the Razors. Vindies scattered rather nicely and with half strength ordnance they exploded 2 razors and the follow up fire killed the troops inside, either directly or through falling back off board. Bjorn not close enough to engage Saga of Majesty.
So I lost 4 KP's in the first turn...but then the shooting phase happened for me and almost every offensive weapon in the BA army was silenced over the next 2 turns...so bottom of Turn 2 - Kabalite had no guns to shoot and only a few tanks to move. We called it at the end of 3.
Fantastic display of how the Bjorn army can shoot, but also a stern reminder of how weak the troops are in this list.. not something that is expected of a SWolf army..
Game two was very similar, same trends occuring.
Game 3 versus Bringer of Death and his Blog Wars GK list... I'll keep it quiet for now as he is still tweaking things.. it's nice though promise...
This was Spearhead and 3 objectives. These were spread throughout the middle of the board, nicely balanced. Went first and had spent some time on my deployment and it worked perfectly, slight movement lined up some beautiful shots without the benefit of Cover and stealth (shrouding...love it and hate it...) the firepower again was horrific and throughout the game Bringer just lost unit after unit and had very very little left to claim. The game ended with a draw after I had completely mucked up and forgot that there was a troop unit inside a certain transport that got back onto an objective, whilst the middle obj was contested and mine safe..so 1 each. Poor play from me as I has the opportunity to comfortably blow away said claiming unit before it moved back?
Dildo Ven.
So with those 3 games in the clear picture is prodigious shooting, need more troops!
So with some slight revision... I think I'd like to try out
Bjorn - Plasma (the Las did always hit, penetrated most of the time, but I can live without the one las in place of a super accurate plasma cannon)
Rifledread
Rifledread
Rifledread
Grey Hunters x 5, Flamer, Plasmaback
Grey Hunters x 5, Flamer, Plasmaback
Grey Hunters x 10, 2 Melta, Powerfist, Banner, Rhino
Grey Hunters x 10, 2 Melta, Powerfist, Banner, Rhino
Long Fangs x 5, 4 ML - Plasmabacks
Long Fangs x 5, 4 ML - Plasmabacks
So change to just 2 Long Fang units here but they gain transports that can put out some great firepower..
But the real change is in the Fast and Troop slot.. no Speeders. No blocking or fast melta but replaced with 2 very competent troop units..
Still have the same number of Razors, and some excellent troops...the big issue from the typical set up is there are no Wolf Guard for LD9, Bjorn and his Saga of Majesty needs to get stuck in here to compensate.
On a seperate last note, Bjorn never died as the assumption was with AV13, Cover and Venerable...there really was no point in shooting him! lol.. not sure thats true but certainly the new shiny struggle to kill him...especially when you have lost your Vindicare Assassin...
So what do you guys think of the changes?
that is certainly a more reliable list. i am not sure the speeders added much to that list, as they diluted what it was always about - more firepower.
ReplyDeletewith two units of ten GH's you can now actively contest midfield a lot more effectively and you dont have to sit in your deployment zone hiding until your shooting has done its job.
Really like the changes Ven - I think your giving the list a much more stable base at a very small loss of fire power (1 set of missiles - the speeders imo in this list are not as vital - and now with 4xMG in the midfield and 16xRapid Fire - you have much the same "effect" just losing the blocker - oh and 20 GH is much scarier). This is the sort of list that doesn't really need speeders either - its not like your suffering for AT/AI.
ReplyDeleteFang lasplas's are a nice addition - DoW fast deployment - they are more expendable for cover etc... so thats real nice.
Thanks for the comments boys, I've never really got that DoW deployment thing..I've never felt like I need to get the boys that far on to be deployed in decent spots and within their already impressive range... that said, it could simply be the case that whilst I've never felt the need to do more than move into cover and run, they could be even better performers this way...
ReplyDeleteI do think the army can hold the midfield alot better, though still not as tough as a 'normal' Wolf army in mid as there are not the 35-45 odd GH that would normally be floating about.. but that said, the shooting here is more impressive..
Yeah - in your previous set up those lasplas's were big targets for 2 reasons - fire platform and troops - so was easier to make those go away/suppress.
ReplyDelete