Wednesday 10 August 2011

Mo’ playtests, Mo’ problems

May as well be a SW...
S’Right. I’ve been playing with myself again. Sorry.
Can’t help it.

OK, a load more extensive playtesting over the last week. I’ve mainly been hammering GK vs Wolves vs BA. I’ve only beaten the Coteaz spam lists with Wolves. The wolf list from last week (here) was good, but wasn’t quite right. This seems closer and has beaten the Coteaz spam going first, second and across a range of missions. But it’s lost too so hey ho.. I like it:

The Big Dog –290 TWM, TH/SS, Runic Armour, WTN, 2 x Pups, Saga of Bear
Rune Priest Fafnir– Chooser, LL, Jaws 110
Wolf Guard x 5, 1 x TDA/CML/PW/Combi Plasma, 4 x Combi Weapons, 4 x PW 200
Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Rhino, HKM – 125 points RunePriest joins here
Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback –TLHB,HKM – 130 points WG w Combi Melta/PW
Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback –TLHB, HKM – 130 points WG w Combi Melta/PW
Grey Hunters x 5, Meltagun, Razorback –TLHB, HKM – 130 points WG w Combi Melta/PW
Grey Hunters x 5, Plasmagun, Razorback –TLHB, HKM – 135 points WG w Combi Plasma/PW
Grey Hunters x 5, Plasmagun 85 points WG w. Terminator, PW, CPlas, CML
Long Fangs x 6 – 5 Missile Launchers – 140 points
Long Fangs x 6 – 5 Missile Launchers – 140 points
Long Fangs x 6 – 5 Missile Launchers– 140 points

A very decent initial volley with 22 missiles and D6 S7 from LL.
Plus I am still moving into position and firing.
From T2 onwards I am down from my previous missile total (from previous tournament of 20 ML shots per turn) to just 17 per turn
I now get the Rune Priest back in to 4+ “No” Grey Knights, making suppression actually semi-useful again and closing down Hammerhand etc. on occasion.
Plenty of melta.
Plenty of plasma.
Power Weapons in every GH pack.
Big Dog running around acting all crazy and drawing fire.
And learning from previous tournament mistakes, I have a cheap scoring unit that can hold home objectives, provide good ranged support and can put the hurt on units coming towards it using plasma and power weapon.
From T2 onwards I will have 4 TLHB putting out anti infantry fire into small MSU units so common at tournaments, plus they are able to harass backfield units with decent range such as mirror Long Fangs. Vs Dark Eldar they are useful for anti-skimmer work, vs Nids they help put wounds on MC’s, but generally just eat Genestealers etc.

I have to be honest, I really like this list, but I am just not sold on S5 HB’s. I’ve alyways thought the Heavy Bolter was a crap weapon, only with Psybolts have I been loving it as I can spam S6 easily (my Coteaz list has 8 of them).

S5 just doesn’t really cut it for me. Although it is useful vs infantry for wounding easily and forcing saves.

Its costing me 5 points per unit of GH to run a Razor instead of a Rhino. I am losing my top hatch though, so the unit becomes vulnerable and foot. However, I am pretty adept these days at protecting my units from counter assaults using the rhino hulls, a skill honed from running the Immospam BA a while back. So this is a negligible down side. I was finding I’d be driving 12” anyway a lot of the time to get into 6” melta range for that killer blow.

At least I can shoot and harass units with a TLHB.
I will admit that I don’t like the HB sans Psybolts. But in playtesting, I’ve actually found it very useful.

Thoughts please guys? I’m going back to painting Neverborn Malifaux models and organising ‘special treatment’ at the lappers for the stag this weekend..

8 comments:

  1. Defo liking the route of this list.

    I'd love to hear how the big dog has been getting on, it really appeals to me. Does he take sort of a Mephiston like role?

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  2. someone reads too much ytth ;)

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  3. Venerable Brother's stitched up bollock10 August 2011 at 14:55

    @Bully - very similar in that the Big Dog is a hard hitting and fast, vast threat range, tough to kill and most importantly - irrelevant..he is not my psychic defence, nor is he my only tool for certain jobs. His mobility cannot be closed down either.
    On the negative, he is just as easy to kill as Mephiston to concentrated fire that forces him to use his invulnerable over his Runic armour.

    @Killswitch. Yes, yes I do ;)....same list for me, just changed the rides over and added HKM.. minimal change, maximal benefits..

    He copied me briefly with his 2 maxed out WG packs lol!

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  4. LOL! I personally think the HB backs are a stupid idea. Wolves should be moving towards mid-field early on, otherwise you will get bogged down close to your own deployment zone if your moving 6 inches a turn. More so with Melta weapons inside, you would much prefer the open hatch if your vehicles make it close, or if your playing a bum rush army like BW orks.

    I still like a couple of las/plas, and have been considering going back to my single Thunder wolves as I really miss their killing power (2 TW's with wolf claws are just great for killing MSU units).

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  5. Venerable Brothers calmed sea10 August 2011 at 15:26

    I do have that exact same feeling, but am willing to bear it out for a dozen or so games..see what's what.
    I do 100% agree on the moving forward 12", get into position/midfield with SW point. 100%. This causes me the greatest concern with this force as I would only be moving 6" and firing a missile salvo, which to its credit is strong (22 missiles is not to be sniffed at, I know from tournament and friendly experience) but is not ideal, as more than likely fully HALF the packs will end up getting demeched and stuck out of position.
    But as I say, I'll give it a go..
    LasPlas was going to be the upgrade for 2 of them in the planning stages, but I opted for the 5th Missile Launcher Fang in each pack instead.
    Those guys do excel at killing little MSU units, but not the MSU types that hit you first and have S5 power weapons..I think there are too many GK lists out there with far too many Halberds for those boys to have a definate place.. a Lord of Battle Leader with a 3++ and Wolf Claw? Definately. Lone dudes not so much in my opinion now..

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  6. i am actually finding my GK's quite boring to play annoyingly, so I might have to have a fiddle around with something like this.

    Other thought is a BT or BA list involving terminators which I am thinking about ...

    Though it is becoming quite likely the Deathwing get brought out for Brighton again ... maybe with a tweak or two ...

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  7. Your previous list was so much better Ven, Heavy Bolter Razorbacks really? Let a certain person from a certain blog play those silly games trying to keep up with the Grey Knight Pysbacks.

    Alex hit the nail on the head.

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  8. Haha, fair enough! Both you and Alex have highlighted my fears!! Ill see how some test games go... the HKM and Razors only add up to 60 points...not a lot really...

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