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So many options, so little time The Battle in Seattle is coming up soon. Last year, GW did not have a Grand Tournament in Seattle. Some of the more ambitious local geeks, feeling left out, decided to host a Grand Tournament of their own. They got support from a number of local stores and advertised it around town. They ended up with quite a turnout. Although I was taking part in a Taekwondo tournament, I got to see some of it and there seemed to be a good level of quality competition and good spirits. Even though GW had a Grand Tournament in Seattle this year, there will be another Battle in Seattle as well. There will be 50 slots for Fantasy and 50 for 40k. While I am starting a Fantasy army, it would be far too soon for my Orcs and Goblins, so I intend to participate on the 40k side. The point value is an odd one, 1950 pts. This is more than most of the armies that I have designed, and it puts me in a bit of a quandary. What should I play? Tyranids, Dark Eldar or Deathwing? 1950 is a lot of points. Most of my armies are built around 1500pt lists, the size of my standard games. This adds another 450pts beyond that. That may not seem like much, but at 1500pts, my Dark Eldar have already taken all 6 Troops Choices and can only add another couple of Warriors to those squads. In addition, that's also an additional 450pts to lug around and to play with. It may not seem like much at first, but with as many troops as I like to get for my points, it's a lot of bodies, both for packing and for playing with. It's hard not to slow the game down when 45 Warriors jump into close combat at the same time. In any case, each of my armies would need some real work to see them up to the 1950 point limit in any sort of fighting trim. Sure, I could just dump in a bunch of wargear and vehicle upgrades and things, but then I'd be essentially giving away about 400pts or so each game. I like to think I'm pretty good, but that's just being cocky. Tyranids. I think my Tyranids would require a fair amount of work to make them look good enough for a tournament. (My painting wasn't great, and they've since had a great deal of battle damage, both from being carried in a less than perfect box and as I loan them out for people to use as proxies.) I'd need to pick up some replacement scything talons and some additional Genestealers and Warriors or Lictors. I think I could have fun with them, but I'm not sure I could get all the work done in time. As to what I'd take, I expect that I'd go with what I've been using most recently with my Tyranids, a Genestealer-heavy force. Lictors lead the Genestealers to the enemy, with a Hive Tyrant (or two, with that many points) and some Venomfexes and or Zoanthropes to help reduce the enemy vehicles and hardpoints. So, that leaves a lot of options that I wouldn't take, read on to find out why. Why not gaunts? I don't really know. I think it may be that I've heard enough Tyranid players complain about Genestealers that I want to show them it can be done. It may also be that I'm finally starting to believe that cheaper gaunts really are better, but there's no force in this galaxy that could make me make that many more gaunts all with 6 scything talons for legs. (Okay, maybe, but I'd have to really figure out a faster, cheaper way of doing it.) Tyrant Guard? Nah, not my cup of meat. My Tyrants are winged monsters, so they don't have time to wait around for those slowpokes. Warriors? Probably not, they aren't quite fast enough or quite tough enough for me. I've toyed around with a list that included 12-15 Warriors at 1500pts, but I'd need to buy a lot of Warriors and a lot of Gaunts for that list, so no go. Rippers? They are pretty much useless unless they have Rending Claws, in which case they are so scary that everyone starts crying cheese. No thanks. Raveners? These are pretty fast, and they can do a number on enemy units, but they suffer the same problems as Warriors, not quite fast enough, not quite tough enough. They can't even get better than a 5+ save, so Bolters will always ventilate them. Gargoyles? These have more promise than most Gaunt-derivatives (a 15 point model for only 10 points, not too shabby!) On the other hand, I currently have zero, so I'd have to convert any that I was going to have, and since I'll already have to convert the Lictors and make a lot of repairs on my Monstrous Creatures and make some more Genestealers, that sounds like a bit much, thanks. Biovores? I've become more interested in these bioforms lately, but I still feel that they don't do enough damage to marines to be worthwhile. I know they've got that bioacid mine, but it is only strength 3, so even if you do get lucky and it scatters close to an enemy unit and you get lucky and it points the right way, it will only kill 1/3 of the marines under the template. Ehh, color me unimpressed. I know some people that swear by them. Me, I'm more likely to swear at them. Zoanthropes are a possibility. Warp Blast is the only option worthwhile, since I don't need a lot of Synapse with my Troops being Genestealers, and Psychic Scream is nearly useless under the Trial Assault Rules, since you can't run down enemy troops anymore, you just lock them in close combat. Warp Blast can be effective, but it is very short-ranged and is only BS3, so it's a bit iffy. I might take some of these, however, to vary my support choices a little and give the opponent a little more to think about. Possible list (each entry needs paint retouching and I'll indicate any that need additional work. They also all need to have their bases flocked, since I've been running them without flock.) Dark Eldar. My Dark Eldar are my most familiar force, and when I bring them out to play, it's like slipping on a well-worn glove. This army, too, would require some repairs (battle damage) as well as some upgrades (I need a few more Warriors and possibly some Wyches and Reavers, see my list below.) This army would be the easiest, tactically speaking for me to field, but I do have a concern about it's size. As I mentioned above, 45 Warriors jumping into close combat in one turn can bog the game down. I have more than 45 Warriors, and those aren't my only models, either. I need to work on speeding up my game, particularly in terms of moving units quickly. I've gotten a lot better about it, but I need to get more practice on planning my movements in the opponent's turn, so I can just do the mechanical stuff in my turn. Having my army laid out in squads will be beneficial, as it isn't always that way (I do loan these out to other players to use and they don't always go back in the right spot) though that would be fairly easy to fix for the tournament. What to take, what to take? I'm very pleased with my army at 1500pts. It's fast and furious and generally runs like a well-oiled machine. Even when my army is dying in droves, it still generates a lot of damage. I have to make sure that as I bring it up to the higher point level I don't louse up the clockwork precision I've got going now, keeping it in fighting trim, so to speak. First up, do I promote myself to an Archon? No, I've always been a Dracon, and I don't plan to change any time soon. Those Archons are all egotistical glory hounds and I don't need their petty backstabbing ways. I style myself a Dracon to keep them from thinking of me as a threat. Sure, I sit at the lower tables at big feasts and the like, but that's just fine by me. On the other hand, another Dracon, perhaps on a Reaver Jetbike, could come in handy. That might either be representative of a particularly powerful succubus, or perhaps a Dracon from a lesser Kabal, brought in as an ally. Although I'm typically against having 2 HQs, these are hardly monsters or massive squads, and the points limit is getting close to the recommended limit for an additional Force Organization chart, so I should expect the first chart to be fairly full. Elites. In the Elites section, there is really only one choice: Wyches. (Okay, Warp Beasts aren't bad, but I've never really used them much. I'll have to think about it.) Mandrakes have very limited utility. While they can do all sorts of sneaky stuff, they are slow in doing it and don't really increase the number of dead bodies on the other side of the board. Grotesques are nearly as bad. The only big thing they really had going for them before was their Fearsome Opponent ability, which, like Psychic Scream for Zoanthropes, is greatly toned down by the Trial assault rules. Grotesques are still tough, however, and if I was going to play a webway portal army, I'd probably use them as the sacrifice squad to keep a Haemonculus alive long enough to open the portal to pain. Wyches, on the other hand, are terrors in close combat (particularly against opposing HQs, with those invulnerable saves!) and have access to Raiders and Blasters, great things by themselves. I've already got 2 small units of Wyches in Raiders in my 1500 point list. I might consider adding a third (requiring more models and another Raider,) but I'll most likely just bulk both of them out a little. Troops I've already got full up, so I'll probably just bring all the squads up to 9. I know I can get 10, but then where would I ride? Having each squad at 9 also lets me leave my options open for where to place myself, so I can just be with the most advantageous one when it comes time to place my HQ during deployment. Fast Attack. This has always been my least favorite part of the Dark Eldar list. The choices used to be quite weak, at least in comparison with the rest of the army, which is pretty much oriented to fast attack anyway. After the recent upgrades, however, both options are a bit more useful. Hellions have a bit more utility now, but I still think they are vastly overpriced, considering how little damage they do. On the other hand, the changes to the Reavers have made them much more effective for their point cost. I have run a small squad or two of Reavers before, primarily arming them with a couple of Blasters to do some tank-hunting and take down small squads of heavily armored types. I haven't had much success with them in hand to hand yet, but I believe that's primarily due to my fielding such small units that they are easily overwhelmed. I've been looking into Reavers, however, and I do have a few uses for them. The first is a distraction. When they turbo-boost, they may not shoot or assault, but they get to move 24" and they get a 4+ invulnerable save. If I shove them up at short range against an enemy Heavy Support squad or an expensive vehicle, the enemy will have to deal with them. Ideally, this will distract the opponent's Heavy Weapon team and they will soak up a bunch of Lascannon type fire. If powerful weapons with just a few shots target them, they should actually do fairly well. On the other hand, if they are targeted by lots of basic guns, they'll go down like a lead balloon. If they do go down, however, that's more shots not being taken at my Raiders, and if they don't, that's another couple of Blasters to kill the enemy with and possibly some nasty close combat characters to take on the enemy squads with. In addition, I am considering a Reaver Dracon, which would add considerable punch to these. I'd have to pick up another boxed set or two, since I only have 6 (three unassembled, the others need work) and possibly convert a Dracon, but that should be doable. Heavy Support. There are some interesting choices here. I'm unlikely to use Scourges. 12" move models with heavy weapons are just wrong, and Splinter Cannons aren't really that impressive. I have considered getting a small squad with Splinter Cannons and a Sybarite with an Agonizer and pistol, but they are about as expensive as a Raider squad, while being less flexible and more fragile. How about a Ravager? I don't know, the last time I used any Ravagers was a long time ago, and it was tantamount to suicide. My tactics have improved since then, but I'm still not sure how much mileage I'd get out of them. Thinking about it, however, they would be additional targets that the opponent would have to shoot at. Something with 3 Dark Lances or 3 Disintegrators is not something to be taken lightly, and it's considerably cheaper than my Raider squads, but still effective. Hmm... I'll think about this one some more. I'd have to get another Raider platform or two and do some conversions, but that's certainly doable. Finally, we come to the Talos. I already have 1 Talos in my 1500-point list, and it performs relatively well. It rarely reaches the enemy lines, but that just means there are less shots going at my Raiders. It's a tough model that makes a good fire magnet, which I like. If it gets into close combat, that's mostly just gravy. I might take a second one, but my army currently features no Haemonculi, so that seems a bit unfluffy. I'm not sure that 2 Talos models would be worth it anyway, so I'll likely scratch that, unless I need to make up points at the last minute. Possible list (again, with work needed to finish. Most of my squads are not based and many of my Warriors need touching up, though the painting is okay.) Deathwing. Ah, the newest of my armies, also the smallest of my armies. Due to their newness, I'm the least tactically sure about this army. Deathwing is difficult to use in general, and it is very different from either of my other two armies, which means that it is harder for me to just jump in and play them effectively. On the other hand, it's such a small army that I can fairly easily make changes (convert figures or add models) since there are so few of them to do. This army is painted to a higher standard than my others, but with the low model count, it won't take long to add new ones. On the other hand, I don't expect I'll be able to do the full conversions that I originally planned (The Fab Four, The Yellow Submarine, etc.) in time for the tournament, so I'd likely just be running them as Deathwing. (Rather, the Doom Eagles Veteran Shock Corps.) I've been running them as primarily a mounted force. (3 squads, 3 LandRaiders, no questions.) While I'll keep that focus, I don't plan on adding another Landraider, so I'll end up with a squad on foot. I'd want to make that squad a bit larger, as more is better, particularly in the case of Terminators. (My Hive Tyrant is usually happy to see a squad of 5 Terminators, since he knows he can take them out by himself: 2 die the first turn, 2 or 3 more the second turn. If we're using the Trial Assault rules he'll take some hits, but it shouldn't kill him off.) I would also want to add the Apothecary I have to that squad, so one of the other squads will have to be a command squad. Finally, I'd want to have another character. (At 1500 points, I generally use Paul, the Master of the Deathwing, so I'll now be adding John, the Interrogator-Chaplain, to the force.) That may not sound like much, but at 47 points per basic Terminator, they add up quickly. As an alternative, I may decide to drop one Landraider in favor of having more bodies on the ground. I might then give them some upgrades such as Heavy Flamers or Assault Cannons. Having 6 Twin-Linked Lascannons is good for my shooting, but having the extra 5 or 6 Terminators is handy both for the extra stormbolters and for the extra powerfists. If time and points allow, I may also sprinkle in some Thunder Hammer/Storm Shield Terminators for times when I fight Big Nasties (like a certain Great Unclean One, right Mike?) Likewise, John and Paul may both be getting Twin Lightning claws to take advantage of their higher initiative and attempt to take out enemy characters or those foes with power weapons that are the bane of my regular terminators. I'll also have to pick up another squad or so of regular Terminators, as I have more special weapons than I need and not enough basic Terminators. Now, most of these changes won't be too hard and this is the smallest of my armies, so they'll be the easiest to do if I pick them. On the other hand, this is also the weakest of my armies, so I'm less likely to do well on the battle score. Sure, I'll enjoy myself whether or not I win, but it is nice to win. In the painting competition I should score a little higher with them than the others, though, so that should help. Possible list So, there you have it, my thoughts on what to take for the Battle in Seattle. What do you think? Which one should I take? Email me and let me know what you think I should take. Whichever way I decide, you can be sure I'll post my list and plans so you can hear all about it. My Tyranids will take the most work and will probably get a pretty good appearance score (due to conversions rather than painting) and a pretty good battle score. My Dark Eldar will be more likely to have a really good battle score, but only decent on appearance. My Deathwing will be more likely to have a decent to poor battle score, but a pretty good appearance score. If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know |