In term of the army, Nick plays a Fatecrusher list with a typical core and some atypical filler, but at NOVA he was able to beat the odds (or at least the internet’s odds) and win the majority of his games, edging yours truly out of a spot in the championships by 0.01 points! In fact, Daemons performed well across the board, with at least two (or three?) of three players going 3-1. Obviously insignificant from a statistical standpoint, it remains anecdotally interesting in the most mech-dominated tournament atmosphere I’ve ever seen.

Oh, and did I mention that he, like Tony Kopach, is only 16? You’d never know it from looking at him though (I thought for sure he was in college). That just makes his success here all the more extraordinary.

Nick’s Chaos Daemons:

Nick Nanavati – Chaos Daemons – 2000 points

333	Fateweaver
270	Bloodthirster – Unholy might
280	6 Bloodcrushers – Icon, instrument, fury
280	6 Bloodcrushers – Icon, instrument, fury
180	6 Fiends
100	5 Horrors – Changeling, bolt of Tzeentch
95	5 Horrors – Bolt of Tzeentch
95	5 Horrors – Bolt of Tzeentch
95	5 Horrors – Bolt of Tzeentch
128	8 Bloodletters
48	3 Screamers
48	3 Screamers
48	3 Screamers

Chumbalaya’s list is noteworthy because, in conjunction with the other Space Wolves lists posted, it showcases the wide variety of build types open to the codex for competitive play. Even the better army books only feature two or three competitive army types, however the Space Wolves can pump out just about any variation of mech, semi-mech, or full infantry and retain the potential to crush face. This army demonstrates the last of those variants and doesn’t contain a single vehicle, instead relying on in-your-face threats such as Thunderwolf Cavalry and Lone Wolfs to dictate target priority backed up by an assload (scientifically accurate term) of BS4 krak and frag missiles.

Frodo’s doom squad went a little something like this:

J. Chamblee – Space Wolves – 2000 points

275	Logan Grimnar
120	Rune Priest – Living Lightning, Tempest’s Wrath, chooser of the slain, saga of the beastslayer
85	Lone Wolf – Terminator armor, chainfist, storm shield
85	Lone Wolf – Terminator armor, thunder hammer, storm shield
285	10 Wolf Guard – Terminator armor x2, cyclone missile launcher x2, storm shield x1
150	5 Wolf Guard – Terminator armor x1, cyclone missile launcher x1, chainfist x1
150	5 Wolf Guard – Terminator armor x1, cyclone missile launcher x1, chainfist x1
150	5 Wolf Guard – Terminator armor x1, cyclone missile launcher x1, chainfist x1
105	1 Thunderwolf Cavalry – Powerfist, storm shield
105	1 Thunderwolf Cavalry – Powerfist, storm shield
105	1 Thunderwolf Cavalry – Powerfist, storm shield
155	6 Long Fangs – Lascannon x2, heavy bolter x3
115	5 Long Fangs – Missile launcher x4
115	5 Long Fangs – Missile launcher x4

Note that Dash takes an unconventional build here, opting for more Battlewagons over what have become modern staples of successful Ork armies, such as Killa Kans and massed Warbuggies. Perhaps the most unconventional element is the huge mob of (15) Burna Boyz in a Battlewagon. Because Battlewagons are open-topped the template can be placed touching any part of the vehicle when fired…and multipled by 15 since there’s no limit to the number of models firing out. If you let that unit survive you can kiss a full unit goodbye every turn – nothing short of Plague Marines survive 80-100 S4 AP5 hits.

Lastly, I learned one more nuance to this list in the brief dealings I had with Justin over the weekend. Initially I thought that Ghazghkull would ride with one of the Boyz squads (the one without the Big Mek) to diffuse the threat levels more evenly across the 3 wagons, however Dash told me that he puts him with the Burnas because it’s more valuable to have a powerklaw in each vehicle to make use of the boarding planks.

And the last of the Tournament Ace lists is as follows:

Justin Hilderbrandt – Orks – 2000 points

225	Ghazghkull Thraka
85	Big Mek – Kustom force field, powerklaw
~325	7 Nobs – Cybork body x7 + wound shenanigans
140	Battlewagon – Deffrolla, boarding plank, grabbin’ klaw, armor plates, grot riggers, big shoota
112	12 Slugga Boyz – Nob with powerklaw + bosspole
35	Trukk
136	16 Slugga Boyz – Nob with powerklaw + bosspole
40	10 Gretchin – Runtherder
225	15 Burna Boyz
75	5 Lootas
75	5 Lootas
105	3 Warbuggies – Twin-linked rokkits x3
70	1 Deffkopta – Twin-linked rokkits, buzzsaw
70	1 Deffkopta – Twin-linked rokkits, buzzsaw
140	Battlewagon – Deffrolla, boarding plank, grabbin’ klaw, armor plates, grot riggers, big shoota
140	Battlewagon – Deffrolla, boarding plank, grabbin’ klaw, armor plates, grot riggers, big shoota

Like Tony Kopach’s winning list, this one features Njal at the helm, but with less emphasis on Troops and heavy reliance on large packs of Thunderwolf Cavalry. But perhaps the most striking thing about this army is the complete absence of Long Fangs.

And the full army list:

Samuel Penson – Space Wolves – 2000 points

245	Njal Stormcaller
102	4 Wolf Guard – Combi-flamer x2, power weapon x2, meltabombs x1
125	5 Wolf Scouts – Meltagun, power weapon
125	5 Wolf Scouts – Meltagun, power weapon
105	7 Grey Hunters – Flamer
35	Rhino
75	5 Grey Hunters – Flamer
40	Razorback – Twin-linked heavy bolter
75	5 Grey Hunters – Flamer
40	Razorback – Twin-linked heavy bolter
280	5 Thunderwolf Cavalry – Thunderhammer x1
275	5 Thunderwolf Cavalry – Powerfist x1
210	3 Land Speeders – Multi-melta x3, heavy flamer x3
130	Predator – Twin-linked lascannon, heavy bolter sponsons
130	Predator – Twin-linked lascannon, heavy bolter sponsons

I have to admit that after reading Stelek’s list I was left scratching my head as what makes it tick, but seeing it function made things clear. This list is extremely balanced and is a veritable Swiss army knife of 40k resourcefulness – it’s got everything it needs to deal with any situation that can be thrown at it. Unsurprisingly, this wholeheartedly supports Stelek’s assertion that take-all-comers armies are the ones that win tournaments in 5th edition.

On to the list:

Andrew Sutton – Space Wolves – 2000 points

175	Wolf Guard Battle Leader – Combi-melta, wolf claw, thunderwolf, saga of the beastslayer, Fenrisian Wolf x2
0	Wolf Guard (split off into other units)
75	Razorback – Lascannon, twin-linked plasmagun
118	5 Wolf Scouts – Meltagun x1, Wolf Guard Leader with combi-melta + power weapon
118	5 Wolf Scouts – Meltagun x1, Wolf Guard Leader with combi-melta + power weapon
113	5 Grey Hunters – Meltagun x1, Wolf Guard Leader with combi-melta + PW
35	Rhino
113	5 Grey Hunters – Meltagun x1, Wolf Guard Leader with combi-melta + PW
35	Rhino
113	5 Grey Hunters – Meltagun x1, Wolf Guard Leader with combi-melta + PW
35	Rhino
113	5 Grey Hunters – Meltagun x1, Wolf Guard Leader with combi-melta + PW
35	Rhino
70	5 Inquisitorial Storm Troopers – Plasmagun x2
70	5 Inquisitorial Storm Troopers – Plasmagun x2
70	Land Speeder – Multi-melta, heavy flamer
70	Land Speeder – Multi-melta, heavy flamer
70	Thunderwulf Cavalry – Wolf claw
115	5 Long Fangs – Missile launcher x4
75	Razorback – Lascannon, twin-linked plasmagun
115	5 Long Fangs – Missile launcher x4
75	Razorback – Lascannon, twin-linked plasmagun
115	5 Long Fangs – Missile launcher x4
75	Razorback – Lascannon, twin-linked plasmagun

Also worth of note, Mark managed to best Dashofpepper’s Ork’s in the closest and most exciting game I’ve ever witnessed, which ultimately came down to a single die roll to decide which table quarter Mephiston would claim as he straddled the line at the end of turn 7.

Mark Ferek – Blood Angels – 2000 points

250	Mephiston
100	Librarian – Shield of Sanguinius, Fear of the Darkness
145	5 Honor Guard – Meltagun x2, flamer x2
50	Rhino
145	5 Honor Guard – Meltagun x2, flamer x2
50	Rhino
140	5 Assault Marines – Remove jump packs, meltagun, infernus pistol, power weapon
16	Rhino – Searchlight
140	5 Assault Marines – Remove jump packs, meltagun, infernus pistol, power weapon
16	Rhino – Searchlight
140	5 Assault Marines – Remove jump packs, meltagun, infernus pistol, power weapon
16	Rhino – Searchlight
140	5 Assault Marines – Remove jump packs, meltagun, infernus pistol, power weapon
16	Rhino – Searchlight
115	Baal Predator – Assault cannon
115	Baal Predator – Assault cannon
135	Predator – Autocannon turret, lascannon sponsons
135	Predator – Autocannon turret, lascannon sponsons
135	Predator – Autocannon turret, lascannon sponsons

Tony Kopach – Space Wolves – 2000 points

245	Njal Stormcaller
265	Wolf Lord – Runic armor, power fist, storm shield, saga of the bear, wolf tooth necklace, thunderwolf
110	Rune Priest – Chooser of the slain, living lightning, jaws of the world wolf
129	3 Wolf Guard – Combi-melta x3, powerfist x3
85	5 Wolf Scouts – Meltagun
150	8 Grey Hunters – Meltagun, mark of the Wulfen, wolf standard
35	Rhino
135	7 Grey Hunters – Meltagun, mark of the Wulfen, wolf standard
35	Rhino
135	7 Grey Hunters – Meltagun, mark of the Wulfen, wolf standard
35	Rhino
75	5 Grey Hunters – Flamer
75	Razorback – Twin-linked lascannon
75	5 Grey Hunters – Flamer
75	Razorback – Twin-linked lascannon
64	8 Fenrisian Wolves
140	6 Long Fangs – Missile launcher x5
140	6 Long Fangs – Missile launcher x5

Not that I expected to have a serious shot at either, but getting the Renaissance Man award really came out of left field for me. Honestly, no one was more surprised by the result than I was. Hell, the only reason I was even paying attention was because I expected Jawaballs, Nick Nanavati, or Hulksmash to win it. I almost didn’t bother taking my army back out for paint judging because at no point did I think I was in contention for anything other than Tournament Ace (going 4-0 in the first day).

Having gone 3-1 on Saturday, the clincher for me was my sportsmanship scores. I tied the guy who was awarded Best Sportsman with a near perfect score (three of four opponents awarded us favorite opponent, and the other awarded us second favorite) and I guess my army looked fairly decent (you be the judge). Also, while I didn’t dominate my games, all of my wins were via the primary objective, so that might also have given me a boost relative to the other competitors who might have had to fall back on secondary and tertiary tie-breakers.

Anyways, my list was nothing special – just standard mechanized Veterans with Vendettas and Manticores:

Dan Matulich – Imperial Guard – 2000 points

120	Company Command Squad – Astropath, meltagun x4
55	Chimera – Heavy flamer
80	Psyker Battle Squad – Overseer, Psyker x6
55	Chimera – Heavy flamer
35	Ordo Malleus Inquisitor – Emperor’s Tarot
12	2 Mystics
40	2 Warriors – Meltagun x2
105	Veterans – Meltagun x2, flamer x1, autocannon x1
55	Chimera – Heavy flamer
105	Veterans – Meltagun x2, flamer x1, autocannon x1
55	Chimera – Heavy flamer
100	Veterans – Meltagun x3
55	Chimera – Heavy flamer
100	Veterans – Meltagun x3
55	Chimera – Heavy flamer
100	Veterans – Demolitions
55	Chimera – Heavy flamer
140	Vendetta – Heavy bolter x2
140	Vendetta – Heavy bolter x2
140	Vendetta – Heavy bolter x2
160	Manticore – Heavy flamer
160	Manticore – Heavy flamer
75	Hydra – Heavy bolter

Event Awards

Renaissance Man (Best Overall) – Dan Matulich (aka Danny Internets)
(Click here for army list)

Heart of Gold (Best Sportsman) – S. Chase (tied with Dan Matulich)

Greater Than the Sum (Best Army Appearance) – E. Furman

Well Beyond the Crayon (Best Single Miniature) – T. Williamson (aka Old Shatter Hands)

A Miniature Frankenstein (Best Converted Miniature) – D. Brown

Renaissance Man? More like Renaissance Dan. No one in the room was more surprised than me to hear my name called for that one. Winning my ticket to the Las Vegas invitational tournament by means of an award that I typically deride as a nonsensical measuring stick for competitive events made the irony almost palpable. As Chumbalaya and Dashofpepper later told me, I’ll probably never hear the end of it.

On an unrelated note, the Eldar army that won for Greater Than the Sum was unbelievable. Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to check out the other appearance winners.

Tournament Awards

Tournament Champion (Best General) – Tony Kopach
(Click here for army list)

Tournament Finalist – Mark Ferek
(Click here for army list)

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Tournament Ace (Undefeated on Day 1) – Mark Ferek
(Click here for army list)

Tournament Ace (Undefeated on Day 1) – Andrew Sutton (aka Stelek)
(Click here for army list)

Tournament Ace (Undefeated on Day 1) – Tony Kopach
(Click here for army list)

Tournament Ace (Undefeated on Day 1) – Sam Penson
(Click here for army list)

Tournament Ace (Undefeated on Day 1) – Justin Hilderbrant (aka Dashofpepper)
(Click here for army list)

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Top 3-1 Seed – J. Trueblood
(Click here for army list)

Top 3-1 Seed – J. Chamblee (aka Chumbalaya)
(Click here for army list)

Top 3-1 Seed – Nick Nanavati
(Click here for army list)

It can be definitively said that every single one of the top 8 who made it through to day 2 of the NOVA Open were extraordinary players. Mark Ferek whooped my ass at the end of day 1 to knock me out of contention and he also managed to best Dashofpepper’s Orks to make it to the finals. But Tony Kopach, the 16 year old Warhammer prodigy, was able to take both him and Stelek out to go undefeated with six consecutive wins. Winning the most competitive 40k event that has ever been at that age, at ANY age, is a huge accomplishment. It might not get him chicks, but he just earned at least a few years of bragging rights.

Also, it was awesome to see Nick advance to the second day. I met Nick back during the ‘Ard Boyz preliminaries this year where I was able to best his Tyranids, but he’d scored so high in his previous games that he was able to hold on to 3rd and earn his ticket to the semi-finals. Nick is another great guy who can not only paint, but play, and at, like Tony Kopach, at only 16 years old. Don’t be surprised if you see Nick winning GTs in the near future.

Lastly, it’s worth looking at the army representation amongst the 88 participants of the tournament. Mike released this data on Dakka earlier today and according to Whiskey40k there’s a lot more on the way:

Army Representation

Space Marines:	14	(16%)
Blood Angels:	14	(16%)
Space Wolves:	11	(13%)
Imperial Guard:	10	(11%)
Chaos Space Marines:	8	(9%)
Orks:	7	(8%)
Eldar:	6	(7%)
Tyranids:	4	(5%)
Tau:	4	(5%)
Chaos Daemons:	3	(3%)
Dark Angels:	2	(2%)
Witch Hunters:	2	(2%)
Black Templars:	1	(1%)
Daemon Hunters:	1	(1%)
Necrons:	1	(1%)
Dark Eldar:	0	(0%)

Source

Interesting to see that none of the Imperial Guard players managed to stay undefeated going into the second day. I can’t wait until the full results are released to do some real data mining.

(Army list links will be updated as the lists are posted individually today and tomorrow.)

It’s something I’ve always had a hard time trying to quantify.  I’ve been making lists for a long time, and it’s become sort of instinctive for me: this element needs fire support, this one needs melee protection.  It’s always better, however, to know the logic behind your thoughts.  Knowing your thought processes and yourself is essential to growing as a 40k player.  (Not to mention as a person!)

To understand what makes a unit good in a given list we need to understand two things: what strategy is, and what a force multiplier is.

Strategy contrasts with the similar concept of tactics.  Quite simply, a strategy is the overall battleplan, while tactics is the movement of individual units.  The general idea of refusing the flank and concentrating your forces on one side of the board to roll up the enemies flank and take their initial objective while contesting the midfield ones is a strategy.  It doesn’t account for the minutia of movement and engagement on anything but the broadest scale.  The actual movements of models in that game is tactics.

A force multiplieris a strategic concept.  Basically, the idea is that a unit contributes more than its nominal value.  This is most easily seen when you have two units that help each other.  For instance, a Psyker Battle Squad is normally an okay unit, it has decent offensive power, but it really starts to shine when coupled with other units.  A PBS and an artillery unit can easily pin enemy units, which can be much more valuable than killing a few with soulstorm.  A PBS can be used with infantry, lowering moral and making dangerous enemy melee units retreat from a few casualties instead of murdering your forces, and allowing those same forces to bring their increased offensive power to bear.  The whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Alright, so what units fit what list?  Here’s where it gets complicated, so lets break it down.

You have three kinds of units in any list:

1. Key units.  These are troops in objective games, or (typically) your most offensively powerful units in annihilation.  They are the units that NEED to be able to do their thing, or you cannot win.
2. Offensive units.  You need to be able to kill the enemy, and that is what these units do.  Without offensive power you can’t push the enemy around, and you can’t win.
3. Support units.  These units are there to help other units perform better.

It’s easy to build a list with a lot of key units (just bring a lot of troops) and with a lot of offensive units.  What’s difficult is figuring out what support units are required, and how much of each type of unit to bring.

This is where our strategy comes in.  Remember in 40k, only one thing matters: the mission, the mission, the mission.  So when you build your list,  start with that concept in mind: what am I going to be doing on the battlefield?  Am I building a fast attack force that is made to throw the enemy off balance and keep them there?  Am I building an aggressive “rock” list that brings hard close-range units that cannot be ignored, while the rest of my army accomplishes objectives?  Am I building a ranged list that relies on heavy firepower and movement blocking to eliminate the enemy?  Each of these lists has very different demands, and gets very different utility out of units.

So to start, we need good core units.  If we can’t achieve the win conditions, what good is anything else?  When we look at core units, we want three things: they need to be resilient, they need to be mobile and they need to be capable of handling general threats.  Resiliency can mean several things.  It could be that the squad has a good armor save, in the case of space marines, or that they can remain out of combat until they are needed to score, like many eldar units.  The point is that they need to survive.  Mobility is simple as well: transports are your friend.  Scoring is of no use if the squad is stranded away from an objective!  Finally, the squad does need some kind of output: if they can’t fight anything, then they don’t contribute to the army much as a whole, and they can be easily tied up/wiped out by enemy forces, though some cheap and quick squads can get away without this.  Which core units we choose is very much dependant on the strategy of our list: fast lists demand very fast core units, defensive list demand very resilient core units, assault lists demand a mix of cheap backfield scoring and hard assault core units.

Next we have offensive units.  If you can’t push your enemy around, you can’t fight a war.  Offensive units do one thing very well: damage in large, quick doses.  Artillery, heavy tanks, and especially elite assault units all excel at this role.  These units have the opposite mission of your core units: instead of trying to stay alive to claim objectives, they are there to control the battlespace.  It doesn’t matter if an offensive unit dies if it means that you control the tempo of battle and your opponent is thrown off balance.  Which offensive units you want also depend on army strategy: a gunline army should invest in tanks, a fast attack army should invest in hard melee units.  The most important thing to consider when taking offensive units is this: when I engage with this unit, how close will the rest of my army be?  If the answer is “not at all”, you probably want to skip that unit.  One land raider rushing forward while the rest of the marine army sits and shoots is not an offense, it’s a joke.

Finally, we have our support units.

Generally, you can eliminate any unit that doesn’t fit your armies overall theme.  For instance, if you are a fast attack army, don’t take slow units.  Duh.  What isn’t so obvious is what support units you need to bring, and how they may differ from the standard units you are already bringing.  For instance, a Space Marine bike army benefits greatly from the presence of a Bike Command squad kitted out for melee combat.  Initially, that’s a little weird: a hard melee unit in what is otherwise a very fast and ranged army.  It’s better than it appears, however, because it gives the army the ability to deal with something it previously couldn’t: enemy melee units.  Instead of simply giving up a squad every time they get charged by one of these units, they can now be saved.  The Bike Command Squad is an excellent support unit, because it allows the rest of the army to function more efficiently by covering a major weakness.

An even more obvious example is any unit with an autocannon.  Autocannons are not good for killing infantry, they are not good for killing tanks.  They only excel at one area, and that’s killing transports.  They don’t score or murder armies, but they demechanize the enemy, allowing for the offensive units to prey on the squads inside and your core units to escape and maneuver with their now superior mobility.

This also ties nicely into last weeks topic: distraction units are excellent support units.  By messing with the enemies ability to react, your own battle plan will go much smoother, even if those units aren’t actually killing anything.

The easiest way to find the good support units you need, I have found, is to approach the list without point values in mind.  This will enable you to find the areas you want to cover, and then substitute cost-appropriate units in to fill the role.  For instance, lets say I am making a space marine “counterattack” army, that is primarily ranged based and built for a rapid forward rush during the last few turns.  Call the point value 2000-2500, but I’ll ignore that for now, it’s just a baseline.  I want tactical squads in razorbacks, (with heavy weapons sitting outside) heavy damage units of some kind (probably vindicators in this list) heavy weapons to bust transports and stun heavy tanks (Devestators) and an HQ that will assist in the counterattack.  (default HQ for marines should be librarian.)  Hmm, it would be great, however, if I could have something that could reliably kill hidden artillery and entrenched infantry with heavy weapons.  Assault squads are great at that, so lets assume that too.

Now, we can look at point values.  Tactical squads have to be there, so good.  Vindicators can take ‘em or leave ‘em, but they’re pretty cheap and we only need 2 if it comes down to it.  Uh oh, but devastators are very expensive for heavy weapons, and we don’t really have heavy support slots to spare.  Luckily, there’s another option in our ‘dex: Sternguard can take 2 heavy weapons in a five man squad at very reasonable prices, and are elites to boot.  Since we’re now taking Sternguard in significant numbers, Pedro is a pretty good HQ choice, and his +1 attack aura is extremely valuable when we charge the squads we weakened with firing during our counterattack.  Finally, we have assault marines.  They’re terribly expensive, but we can sub reasonably with Land Speeders.  We won’t be as good against entrenched infantry, but hopefully we can hurt them a bit, and we pay less for a broader range of utility.

Now, we have something that looks a bit more like a competitive army.  It may be a bit lacking in the strategy department (it relies on an opponent that will come towards you) but at least what it does it will do very well.  This is how good players find good units: by not taking the obvious choices and looking for units that will fill the same role for less points than their traditional counterparts.  After a lot of list building, and a lot of trial and error, a few units rise to the top time and time again as the really good buys.  Some units are just too good to pass up.  (Lookin’ at you, Long Fangs!)

The thing to watch out for, when building and playing like this, is that you avoid falling into a pattern.  If you find the “best” units in your codex and only play those, you miss out on a lot of opportunities and ultimately weaken your game.  Remember, synergy is more important than simple point cost.  Units that aren’t great in some lists really shine in others, because they fulfil a distinct niche.  Nob Bikers weren’t found because a bunch of people pored over the rulebook, found them and declared them great, and then everyone used them.  No, they exploded out of nowhere because some guy gave them a shot, figured them out and then blitzed a bunch of tournaments.  Now people are used to them and they aren’t really a threat.  Same deal with the “Leaf Blower” guard list.  It’s good, but it’s common knowledge now, played against by almost everyone constantly, and is now average.

It turns out that the best units in a codex will only carry you so far, and that taking an army with good synergy is superior to taking one made up of only the best units.  There are many units which are suboptimal in many players traditional experience, yet shine when given the right circumstances.  You can’t find all these units and combos by looking at online lists and knowledge, you have to go play!  If you only follow the knowledge of the net, you end up one step behind what is actually happening.  By taking new units and exploring new strategies you broaden the way you play, and trip across effective, and unknown, combos.

That’s what really makes a unit good.  When it wins you games.  It doesn’t matter if it’s expensive if you won.  It doesn’t matter if it’s traditionally thought of as “bad” if you won.  Nothing else matters, except for the mission, the mission, the mission.  So look at your units, find the ones you need to build a winning strategy, and streamline it.  You’ll be building brutal lists in no time.

Company Command Squad – Astropath, Melta x4
Chimera – Heavy flamer

Psyker Battle Squad – Overseer, Psyker x8
Chimera – Heavy flamer

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor – Emperor’s Tarot
2 Mystics
2 Warriors – Melta x2

10 Veterans – Melta x3
Chimera – Heavy flamer

10 Veterans – Melta x3, Lascannon x1
Chimera – Heavy flamer

10 Veterans – Melta x2, Flamer x1, Lascannon x1
Chimera – Heavy flamer

10 Veterans – Melta x2, Flamer x1, Lascannon, x1
Chimera – Heavy flamer

10 Veterans – Demolitions, Flamer x2

2 Vendetta Gunships – Heavy bolter x4
2 Vendetta Gunships – Heavy bolter x4
2 Vendetta Gunships – Heavy bolter x2

Manticore – Heavy flamer
Manticore – Heavy flamer
2 Hydras – Heavy bolter x2

I generated about a dozen lists, some with minor variations and others with radically different configurations, but all of them built around the same core of at least 5 Vendettas. I have this core for four reasons: (1) I own 3 Vendettas and had access to 3 more from a friend, (2) I don’t own any Sentinels, (3) many competitive players still don’t know how to protect themselves against the alpha strike, and (4) Vendettas are the best deal in 40k. Now, just because they are singularly good doesn’t mean it’s necessary wise to overload on them; concentrating your long-range firepower into 3 fragile units is generally not a good idea no matter how many guns you can shove in there. You still need guns elsewhere in your list otherwise you’re only disabling a maximum of 3 units a turn.

I take Vendettas foremost because they represent such an immense threat that my opponent has no choice but to target them until they are eliminated. Being in control of what your opponent does is one of the most powerful advantages you can have in 40k, but only if you have the resources to exploit this lack of control. I believe this is where mechanized Veterans become important for their synergy.

I like to play aggressively. Having my fragile troops in mobile armored transports allows me to advance into a position where I can unload a crushing amount of firepower; forcing my opponent to ignore the Chimeras until they are on top of him ensures that the full force of my guns will be brought to bear when they are needed (when the Vendettas are mostly incapacitated, typically by turn 3). These two parts constitute a one-two punch–a haymaker to be exact. If the punch lands, I’ve knocked your lights out and the game is over. If I fail to connect then the enemy has me completely off balance. A pivotal turn arrives where either my Chimera wall completely crushes my opponent or he endures and the remnants pick apart the rest of my army from the inside.

As usual, my caveat is that I don’t pretend for a moment that this is the best IG list possible. I’ve made several compromises due to the availability of models because I refuse to buy a truckload of crap that I’ll only use once a year, if that. Given the missions, I think several of Stelek’s IG lists are far superior, particularly the Punisher army.

Hi Dan,

I was really intrigued by your Salamanders 1750 point list and how it works, I’ve been looking for a nice competitive list at the 1750 point level because I’m tired of spending money on mistakes…my first and most glaring was a 2k point Deathwing army.

I was interested in maybe adopting this list because I like the idea of a close range shooting army with a fast delivery system on top of putting that crucial sliver of psychological doubt in the opponent in the second turn. I also have always loved the lore of the Salamanders and so before I saw this list I knew I wanted to use Vulkan for a new project in some way already.

My question is how do you use the Vindicators when the rest of the army is engaging in close range actions, isn’t there risk of wandering template syndrome? Or do you use them as out flankers to take care of isolated units?

Additionally, do you include Vulkan in one of the drop pods to ensure he comes in on the first turn? And if so do you worry about him getting destroyed with the tac squads?

Any info on this would be great!

Thanks

Why did I choose IG? Obviously it’s not for the models. The old school WW1 army men theme is fun, but not particularly interesting. Mostly it has to do with fielding lots of tanks and artillery. But that’s not the only reason.

When the IG book was released there was lots of rabble about how overpowered the army is, which is typical for any codex release, and then there were the contrarians who point out that everyone overestimates the potential of new armies which inevitably end up being balanced. I usually find myself arguing in defense of the latter, however I firmly believe that the IG codex is hard. Not just hard, not even just rock hard, but fucking titanium hard. This is one army that I don’t think is going to sink to the level of mediocrity. And it takes the mech metagame to a whole new level by scaling twice as well as any other army thanks to the copious vehicle squadron options.

My first attempt at the army was as follows:

HQ
175 – Company Command Squad (Astropath, meltagun x4, Chimera w/ HF)

TROOPS
155 – 10 Veterans (meltagun x3, Chimera w/ HF)
155 – 10 Veterans (meltagun x3, Chimera w/ HF)
135 – 10 Veterans (grenade launcher x2, Chimera w/ HF)
70 – 5 Inquisitorial Storm Troopers (meltagun x2)
70 – 5 Inquisitorial Storm Troopers (meltagun x2)

FAST ATTACK
130 – Vendetta Gunship
130 – Vendetta Gunship
130 – Vendetta Gunship

HEAVY SUPPORT
160 – Manticore
140 – Colossus
300 – 2 Leman Russ Battle Tanks

Total: 1750

From the very start I knew that the core of my army would be Veterans in Chimeras. The first draft had 4 units, but I nixed one in favor of IST after stealing borrowing the idea from Edwin’s list posted on Yes the Truth Hurts. The potential to use the Vendetta 24″ scout move to get an alpha strike against Land Raiders with IST meltaguns is just too good to pass up. Also, the obvious alternative was to use Hellhounds/Devil Dogs, however this would result in an army far too similar to my LS-heavy Vulkan marines and for the sake of diversity I chose to pass.

Unfortunately, my experience with IG so far has not conformed to my expectations. However, in my defense, I’ve only been able to get a scant handful of games in since assembling the list a month and a half ago. I have no qualms about retreating from a position in the face of contrary evidence and reasoning, but it’s not time to throw in the towel just yet. I’ve confidently been able to attribute each and every poor outcome to either mistakes in strategy or list building, both of which are correctable.

A brief run-down of my games thus far:

Game 1: IG versus Kris’s Salamanders

I expected this one to be a fairly even match because Kris is a very savvy player and he has an optimized list which can hold its own against IG, but it turned out that I was my own worst enemy. We randomly decided on Capture and Control with Spearhead deployment.

I won the initial roll-off and, given that it was an objective mission, opted to take second turn out of habit. This was a mistake that was subsequently compounded by electing to deploy my entire army on the board, rather than hold in reserve and take advantage of my Astropath.

The game opened with Kris using his pair of dakka predators to go 4/4 with penetrating hits from their autocannons on my Valkyries, crippling my return firepower. We managed to pummel each other until I was left with a just couple of IST’s to contest my own objective. Fortunately, I had also killed most of Kris’s Troops, so I barely managed to eek out a draw.

Lesson learned: Take first turn.

Game 2: IG versus Charlie’s Nob Bikers

Charlie’s Ork army has traditionally given my Salamanders a lot of trouble because of my reliance of Drop Pods, however I was able to turn the metatable on him this time around with my mech IG list. As predicted, my army completely stomped his Orks even with the unfavorable Dawn of War deployment.

The game was more or less over before it began. Charlie deployed his two Nob units and a Warboss while I held everything off the board, and he used his first turn to turbo-boost toward my board edge in order to limit the amount of shooting I’d be able to do before facing multi-charges. I brought in everything on the first turn and repeatedly tank shocked one Nob unit with Chimeras until it finally failed its Ld test. The other unit was subjected to two battlecannons, a Manticore, 9 twin-linked lascannons, and 10 meltaguns.

With Charlie’s core completely dismantled on the first turn, he threw in the towel.

Lesson learned: Mech IG > Orks.

Game 3: IG versus Bob’s Ultramarines

This match taught me more about the dynamics of my army’s tactics as opposed to general strategy (despite some truly abysmal rolling). For reference, it was an Annihilation mission with Pitched Battle deployment.

Bob’s army is led by Cassius and relies heavily on Tactical Squads in Rhinos (and one in a Drop Pod). It also features a melta Dread in a second Drop Pod and some bikes. I think Bob reads this so perhaps he can chime in with the exact list.

In any event, I again relied on habits developed by years of playing Space Marines and was overly aggressive with my infantry. Instead of listening to my own advice and staying put in my transports I got out on several occasions to maximize firepower and extend my melta range. In each and every case this turned out to be a mistake, and Bob was smart to charge even lone tactical marines into full units of Veterans, each time winning, breaking, and killing my units in the sweeping advance. Without any counter-attack option, I was at his mercy. I ended up losing by about three points.

Lesson learned: Stay in the damn tanks.

Also: Not having counter-attack is bad.

Following my match with Bob I decided to alter my list, albeit slightly.

The decision was made to trade my Astropath for a Master of the Fleet since I generally want to be taking first turn. If I will the roll-off I’ll go first, and my opponents will likely give me the first turn in objective-based missions if they win. I imagine many enemies will attempt to mitigate the damage received by my opening volley by holding their units in reserve, the act of which is severely punished by my MotF.

By applying a -1 modifier to reserve rolls, the Master increases the likelihood of enemy reserves arriving piecemeal, which I should have no problem dealing with in most situations (see a forthcoming battle report against James’s Crimson Fists for an example). While I think the Astropath is excellent (in larger games I would take both), the MotF fits my build better.

Game 4: IG versus Matt’s Chaos (dual lash)

Full battle report in the works. Stay tuned.

Game 5: IG versus Fareed’s Space Marines (Crimson Fists)

Fareed plays a a Drop Pod army that wasn’t really optimized for tournament play until more recently. There are still some tweaks to be made, but this list was much stronger than its previous incarnation. It features Kantor leading 2 full  Sternguard units loaded with meltas and combi-meltas, 3 Tactical Squads, and an Ironclad in pods. For some mobile firepower it also includes 3 Attack Bikes with (MM x2, HB x1).

The mission was Seize Ground with Pitched Battle deployment. I won the roll-off and gave Fareed first turn while keeping my army in reserve in order to avoid losing half of my vehicles to meltaguns on the first turn (both Sternguard units were to be separated into combat squads). My reserve rolls without the Astropath were poor, however I’m not sure it was a bad strategy. 12 point-blank meltaguns would have been bad news on turn 1.

I managed to kill almost all of Fareed’s army, however he managed to hide a tac squad behind a large terrain feature and squat on an objective. I managed to secure my own, and a third was contested by a handful of surviving marines and my Imperial Storm Troopers who had just been shot out of their airplane. Result: Tie game.

I made some mistakes, but in general I was forced to play cautiously because my lack of any assault troops to mop up units and intimidate basic infantry from throwing grenades at my tanks and charging headlong into my puny guys.

Lesson learned: Even Imperial Guard needs assault units.

Next up: battle report for my game against Matt’s dual lash Chaos army, giving my IG some close combat punchiness, and laying the smackdown on James and his Crimson Fists.

In case you don’t, check out the following links: Locations | Rules | Scenarios

Last year I did fairly well in the tournament, taking 1st place out of 40 in the preliminaries with a very balanced Space Marine + Grey Knights allies army. I spent a lot of time running practice games and preparing…which led to complete 40k burnout. I didn’t play again until the second round and I ended up making a lot of foolish mistakes which I chalk up to being rusty (one of which cost me a win in game #2).

All in all, I had a blast. I love playing big games and I didn’t run across a single jerkoff at either location.

This year, I’ve decided to try something new. I’m currently building a mechanized Imperial Guard army, so there’s really no leftover spending cash for tailoring my Salamanders for 2500 points. Instead, I’ve decided to use my Chaos monstrous creature list and fill out the Troop selections to make up the difference from the 1750 level. It’s not a powerful list by any means, but it’s a lot of fun to play (except against IG/Tau).

Despite the conscious decision to bring a non-competitive build to ‘Ard Boyz, I’m having a lot of trouble crafting a list with which I am satisfied. I have fun regardless of whether I run a competitive list or an uncoordinated mish-mash of units, so I at least want to bring an army that isn’t guaranteed to tank (being likely to tank is another story). Not having ANY long-range firepower is going to be rough.

Originally I had planned to take dual Daemon Princes with either lash or warptime and a Greater Daemon, however scenario 2 brutally sodomizes armies with suicide HQs, and fast alpha strike T5 MCs don’t last long at 2500 points. This has forced me to compromise the theme of the list, cutting the big badass targets from 9 to 6. Further tweaking brings it down to 5.

The list I’m currently considering is as follows:

Chaos Sorcerer – Slaanesh, lash

Chaos Sorcerer – Slaanesh, lash

Chaos Dreadnought – Multi-melta, heavy flamer, extra armor

Chaos Dreadnought – Multi-melta, heavy flamer, extra armor

10 Chaos Space Marines – Chaos glory, meltagun x2, Rhino

10 Chaos Space Marines – Chaos glory, meltagun x2, Rhino

5 Plague Marines – Meltagun x2, Rhino

5 Plague Marines – Meltagun x2, Rhino

10 Khorne Berserkers – Skull champion, power weapon, Rhino

10 Khorne Berserkers – Skull champion, power weapon, Rhino

3 Chaos Bikers – Meltagun x2

3 Chaos Bikers – Meltagun x2

Defiler – Close combat weapons

Defiler – Close combat weapons

Defiler – Close combat weapons

As you can see, I’ve maxed out on my Troop choices. I’m planning on using the wall of Rhinos to corral enemies while simultaneously tank shocking them. If I position correctly, any failed tests will result in the destruction of the unit due to the double-back restrictions. Savvy use of the Rhinos will be the real strength of this list. When fully deployed and disembarked, my army takes up a crapton of space. With the set game length of 6 turns, I plan to use this to my advantage in order to box out enemy units from getting within 3″ of objectives.

I’ll hemorrhage kill points against substantial long-range firepower, so I’m praying that I don’t get matched up against Tau or Imperial Guard. Hopefully the Defilers will be able to shake Vendettas to limit the amount of incoming lascannon fire against my AV 11/12. I have little else that can do damage at range, and for that reason I’m really not looking forward to Dawn of War deployment in mission 2.

At least I will be able to benefit from the Night Fight special rules in the first two scenarios.

Now I just need to remember to pop smoke.

At some point during 4th edition I modified the list and made it fully mechanized because, hey, tanks are cool. Fully mechanized marines were garbage in 4th edition, so it became my non-competitive, “fun” army. Of course, that didn’t stop people from crying cheese the moment they saw me plunk 3 Vindicators down on the table. And yet no one ever complained about the retardedly overpowered combos I had in my Alpha Legion tournament list. Go figure.

I eventually took a long hiatus from Warhammer and returned after the new Chaos codex had been released and completely raped my favorite army. I didn’t find playing Lash all that interesting, so I made the conscious decision to make my Salamanders a competitive army, and to continue with the “in your face” play style.

5th edition came along and my already mechanized army got a huge boost, but I got a taste for using Drop Pods in the ‘Ard Boys semi-finals and decided to stick with them at the 1750 point level. I really liked the tactical advantage of being able to accurately drop pretty much anywhere I wanted and not having to rely on AV11 Rhinos to get across the board. That, and I liked the models (still do).

Here’s what I currently use as my all-comers (and tournament) list:

HQ
190 – Vulkan He’stan

ELITES
240 – 6 Assault Terminators (Thunder hammer + storm shield)

TROOPS
255 – 10 Tactical Space Marines (Drop Pod w/ locater beacon, power fist, meltagun, combi-melta, missile launcher)
255 – 10 Tactical Space Marines (Drop Pod w/ locater beacon, power fist, meltagun, combi-melta, missile launcher)
230 – 10 Tactical Space Marines (Drop Pod w/ locater beacon, meltagun, combi-melta, missile launcher)

FAST ATTACK
140 – 2 Land Speeders (Multi-melta, heavy flamer)
140 – 2 Land Speeders (Multi-melta, heavy flamer)
70 – 1 Land Speeder (Multi-melta, heavy flamer)

HEAVY SUPPORT
115 – Vindicator
115 – Vindicator

Crafting an effective Salamanders list

With Vulkan leading my army it’s difficult to pass up on MM/HF Land Speeders. For only 70 points, this vehicle provides the biggest bang for your buck in a Salamanders list by far. With their heavy flamer re-rolls they simply annihilate anything not in power armor, and the multi-melta is the best anti-tank weapon around. Their mobility not only allows you to position weapons for maximum effect, but also to block enemy movement. Sure, they can still charge you, but if you did it right your opponent will need 6’s to hit. The skimmer wall is the single best way to protect infantry, hands-down. This tactic works especially well with squadrons. These models are game-winners, pure and simple.

Assault Terminators also get a massive boost from Vulkan due to the master-crafted bonus. Many people question taking these guys without a Land Raider, but they honestly don’t need it. I’ll get to that in a minute.

I realize that Drop Pods are not the optimal delivery method for Tactical Squads, but I’ve decided to build my list around them knowing this. This army plays extremely aggressively and has performed very well (top 3) for me locally in a number (8) of large (40-person) tournaments over the past year.

That being said, this is not a power list. It does, however, stomp most people who fail to understand how it works.

How it works

Since I’m forced to send two of my pods in first turn, I always choose to go second when given the opportunity. Smart opponents will start in reserve, which sucks for me, but some armies can’t afford to. I deep strike aggressively to maximize damage (especially with Vulkan’s heavy flamer) and to draw the enemy in.

Most people see 20 Tactical Marines unsupported in the middle of their army and think, “Hey, free Troop kills!” and proceed to throw the kitchen sink at them. Have fun. Shooty armies get in rapid fire range while assault troops move in to charge, which is exactly what I want you to do. If you can kill 20 Tactical Marines that’s fine because that leaves you right by my Drop Pods.

With their locater beacons, the Drop Pods are the linchpins of the army. These beacons act as force multipliers, allowing me to deep strike precisely with 5 Land Speeders and 6 Assault Terminators, maximizing the amount of damage they can cause. You might have killed 2/3 of my scoring units (if you’re lucky), but now you’re going to take a much more brutal counter-attack. If you haven’t escaped the kill zone by now, you probably won’t.

This strategy is enhanced in objective-based missions because my opponent will be forced to split his army, allowing the bulk of my offensive to concentrate on a fraction of his units, crushing them. My offensive units are then quick enough to engage the remaining enemy units on the other side of the board on later turns. The Vindicators straddle the No Man’s Land area in between, hanging back far enough to mount a solid defense.

My third Drop Pod is what I use to take objectives. I’ll either drop the unit on top of a mid-field objective and combat squad or simply walk on from the board edge and drop the pod to contest. My first wave is essentially an expendable decoy, despite its heavy price tag. They form the anchor for my reserves, which are there to hit the enemy when most vulnerable and then to contest objectives in later turns.

That’s about it. It has weaknesses and is certainly not unbeatable, but it works.