Saturday 26 November 2011

Outflanking Al for Blog Wars Tournament?

Outflankin' Al' rolls on after the battle...as standard..
The next tournament is coming up next week for the Sons.. Ven (me), Atreides, Kabalite, newcomer Bradimus Prime (new to the Sons anyway, a UK tournament 'mainstay' for at least 18months) and friend of the Sons - Bringer of Death will all be attending.

A strong team presence.

Bringer has had a tough year regarding tournaments..he started the year by taking his beloved MechDar and either drawing or losing to superior firepower at the start of the year. Grey Knights came out and he has polished off all his old models and embraced them..

But he has still not enjoyed the kind of success he is looking for.


You see, Bringer can't roll dice.

Really.

He is shit! Bringer needs to roll about a million dice before he actually approaches statistical average!

So, with that in mind, he has dusted off his Imperial Guard and combined them with my own Guard army. The two armies combined can pick pretty much anything..

Bringer would like to use Al'Raheim for his Special Character mandatory choice for Blog Wars (the tournie requires the use of at least one special character in your army)...

 Here is what he is thinking of taking, he'd love your feedback.....

CCS - 4 Melta, Chimera
PBS - 8 man, 7 Psykers, Chimera
PCS - Al'Raheim, 4 Plasmaguns, Chimera
2 x 10 Infantry Squad,Meltagun, Chimera
Veterans Autocannon, Chimera
Veterans 3 x meltaguns
Vendetta
Vendetta
Hellhound
2 x Hydra
Medusa
Manticore

So, for me...a few thoughts.
I'd like more options. The Vets with Melta have no ride, no choice but to jump in a Vendetta. I'd like to see them in their own Chimera, with an Autocannon.
This gives them several things - mobile firepower, the added firepower and utility of the chimera, extra range on an alpha strike due to the larger base of the Autocannon team, a bit of duality in the unit in terms of range.

I'd like to keep the Manticore, but I think changing down to another single Hydra would provide some great anti transport firepower, but also free up points to make the above change I discuss.

By doing this, Bringer will get more Av12 hulls on the table, increasing survivability through saturation.

Talking of survivability, how about splitting the squadron of Hydra's down to a single Hydra..
So the heavy support choices might look like:
1 x Hydra
1 x Hydra
1 x Manticore

In fast we have 2 Vendettas which are basically still awesome.. the transport capacity though is an OPTION, not a requirement...I personally don't think it should be used all the time just because it can be..I think it should only be used in very specific circumstances.. especially considering the Vets do not have Demolitions so no meltabombs.
The CCS can jump in, but they will not always want to, so they need a ride too..

I LOVE HELLHOUNDS. It's a personal thing, but they have so many uses.. Hellions, Scarabs, Necron Warriors, Nids, Orks, Guard blobs from a safe range, marine scouts, Dark Eldar avoiding FNP, GK
Warrior Acolytespam.. even for rear armour of transports and for packed in Dark Eldar vehicles..

Yeah, so that can stay.

So I think Bringer should take something like this.. bear in mind that Outflankin' Al' is staying no matter what...
CCS - 4 Melta, Chimera
PBS - 8 man, 7 Psykers, Chimera
PCS - Al'Raheim, 4 Plasmaguns, Chimera
2 x 10 Infantry Squad,Meltagun, Chimera
Veterans 3 x meltaguns, Autocannon, Chimera
Veterans 3 x meltaguns, Autocannon, Chimera
Vendetta
Vendetta
Hellhound
Hydra
Hydra
Manticore

What I would really like to do is bring in an Astropath.
Adding +1 to reserve rolls helps Bringer to apply pressure to the enemy as early as possible. I dislike having large elements of the army off the table as it just allows the enemy to bring all their weapons to bear on what is on board, out gunning and out manouevring the IG.. so we want Outflankin' Al' on board asap to redirect some of the enemy fire and we want him in the right place...the Astropath allows us to reroll the side on which we arrive..

Just need to find 30 points.

What about you guys? Any experiences with Al? I know some guys run him quite successfully despite the hate he often gets...remember, a SC must be picked, so don't hate too heavily!

13 comments:

  1. Astropath = one PBS and one Plasmagun from the overly expensive PCS.

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  2. Knowing very little about guard I'll have to refrain from commenting, sorry!!

    However, I've got a problem of my own that I'd like some feedback on here: http://fromthefang.blogspot.com/2011/11/blog-wars-2-rules-query-reponses-needed.html

    Any thoughts gratefully received!

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  3. I think you got that wrong I am amazing it's just that I cant roll for shit : )
    I like the large amount of blasts and the high strength of them of the first list
    But I do see the need for the astropath

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  4. I was considering "Al" until I read mission 3, along with Straken, Harker, and Marbo, in my catachan themed army But I've gone with SW).

    IMO Big "Al" is seriously underrated since its a single reserve and outflank roll for the whole platoon and you can seriously but some serious pain on the flank.

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  5. @Bringer...that's what I'm saying man...you just can't roll dice for shit!! lol.

    I've just text you with a list that has both Astro and the blasts you love..

    @Mc TicTac.. c'mon bro, who actually reads the scenarios,lol!!
    I think he is underrated too... plus love this quote "...you can seriously but some serious pain on the flank..." - what? seriously?

    How come you went with Wolves then and not IG?

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  6. I just don't get single hydras or Hellhounds! D: Fun list I guess :) Good luck :D! Shall be seeing you all down there, wish I could join in but have lots of Playtesting to do :(

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  7. Don't get single Hydra's but the offensive output of a rifledread is ok... ;)

    Fun list is right really bro..

    Catch you down there, peace x

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  8. @ Ven, do you want to search through 6/8000 points of packed up IG from moving house (and that's just infantry!!)!?! :p

    Plus I had the SW list already written.

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  9. I mean, why not take them in sets of 2? They are probably the best unit in the book, so why only take 2?

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  10. If I get the IG out for any future tournaments then I might get the Hellhounds out if Scarab spam proves popular - St6 Template, insta kills and ignores cover :D

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  11. And doubles unsaved wounds due to swarm rule. Each instant death wound becomes two...

    @Alex, bringer wanted blasts..and alraheim and psykers... and didn't want to be "that guy" that just took tournament ig with marbo squeezed in... lol

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  12. Don't worry Ven Alex can't help himself. He can't play the game unless his list is ripped from warseer and involves severe spamming of several hundred units. He's a special boy.

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