The humble origins

The Latest Iteration of the Untouchable list…

103 Shas’El-FK5 (Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Target Array, HWMT, HWTL
63 Shas’Vre-DR4 (TLMissile Pod, Target Array)
63 Shas’Vre-DR4 (TLMissile Pod, Target Array)

-The Shas’Vres are simply a way to get more Missile Pods in the list. They are 10pts more expensive than the ones found in the Elites section, but it’s worthwhile, as it means more Missiles downrange. The Shas’El gets a Plasma Rifle and Target Array to add to a single Missile Pod. That leaves him with a Missile Pod that is nearly as effective as the Deathrain 4s in the rest of the list (83% chance to hit, compared to 88% for the Deathrain 4s) but also gives him a BS5 Plasma Rifle to add to the damage at ranges under 24” and gives them something to use against Terminators and Obliterators.

103 Shas’El-FK5 (Plasma Rifle, Missile Pod, Target Array, HWMT, HWTL
63 Shas’Vre-DR4 (TLMissile Pod, Target Array)
63 Shas’Vre-DR4 (TLMissile Pod, Target Array)

-More of the same. Multiple Long-ranged units allow for a larger spread and thus better Jump-Shoot-Jump capability (since you can use terrain all over the battlefield instead of just one area) but still allows multiple units to concentrate their fire on a single target.

169 3xShas’Ui-DR4 (TLMissile Pod, Target Array)

-Even though the squad size is relatively large (a full 3-suit team) it still has a decent footprint (with no drones to make it overly large) and is fairly inexpensive due to the low cost of the Deathrain Suit. The low cost combined with the plan of fanning out to cover a wide area and operate semi-independently means that it will be difficult to pin these units down, and even if one _is_ cornered, it probably won’t be worth the points of the units sent after it. (In other words, if it takes 300pts worth of units several turns to chase down one of these squads, that is a good tradeoff for me, as it takes those units effectively out of the fight.)

169 3xShas’Ui-DR4 (TLMP, Target Array)
169 3xShas’Ui-DR4 (TLMP, Target Array)

80 5xShas’la, Shas’Ui w/Markerlight
70 10xKroot Carnivores

-Obviously 2 Troops are required in this list. Kroot as a sniper team hidden in the woods should work pretty well, and even if they can’t be in deep woods, Kroot with a good cover save aren’t usually worth shooting at. Basically, both of these units are supposed to hunker down in cover and snipe at long range, with the possibility of the Markerlight assisting a unit now and then. In this way, they will act as a bit of a Kauyon lure. (The ‘Patient hunter’ gambit, where the Tau use a lure to draw the enemy into a trap.) Since they are one of the few units in this list that will actually stay in place, they will be an obvious target for the enemy to home in on. As the enemy closes, they will duck down behind cover and attempt to slink away. (Or surprise the enemy by moving up to Rapid Fire if the unit heading toward them has been sufficiently damaged by the rest of my army.)

72 6xKor’Vesa (Gun Drones)
72 6xKor’Vesa (Gun Drones)

Rar!

-Gun Drones don’t do a lot of damage. On the other hand, they are inexpensive and highly mobile and have S5 weapons. They can also Jump-Shoot-Jump like the Battlesuits, but their main purpose in this list is to deepstrike (or maneuver) behind enemy vehicles and shoot at the vulnerable back armor. Most vehicles have but AV10 on back, which these will glance on a 5 or penetrate on a 6. These teams can also be used as sacrifice units to slow down fast assaulters. Plus, it’s fluffy to use these expendably so that the rest of the list can live. Note that this is a bit of a change in my thinking since my first article about this concept. Previously I had seen them as a second or third-tier choice, but this places them firmly in second. (Ie: First tier choices are those that are _must haves_ for the army to function. Second tier choices are what you take when you start running out of the First tier.)

240 3xSniper Drone Team

-With their Stealth Fields and long-range weapons, the Sniper Drone teams can be very effective at taking out Space Marines and their equivalents. They significantly increase the damage this list does in that vital portion of the spectrum. The various Crisis Suits add up to about 7.5 Dead Space Marines per turn beyond 24”, with that going up to 8.9 at 24 inch range (Due to the Plasma Rifles.) The 3 Sniper Drone teams add another 4 DSM to that, bringing the total to 11.5 beyond 24” and 12.9 at 24 inches or less. That’s a pretty serious jump in firepower for the list, but it would be useless if they didn’t have stealth fields. With their stealth fields and very long range, they are nearly untouchable for the first half or so of the game except by barrage weaponry.

1497pts

Goliath

This list does have one major flaw: AV14. Against anything short of AV14, my massive array of highly accurate S7 missiles should wreak havoc, but I just can’t touch AV14. The Gun Drones help make up for that since they can hit the back armor of vehicles. For that matter, since I’m planning on a fairly wide lateral spread of my Deathrain Crisis Suits, they should be able to target side armor pretty frequently. (An effective 42 inch range makes those side shots much more likely!) That means that Leman Russ Tanks, even Demolishers, aren’t safe, since I can hit their sides and rear and I’ve got the throw weight (missile payload) to take them down. On the other hand, Landraiders and Monoliths have AV14 on all sides. I won’t be able to touch them, period. Against this army, a Landraider or Monolith would be unstoppable.

That doesn’t mean it would be a guaranteed win, however. For starters, both models are pretty expensive (roughly 1/6 of the list at 1500pts, which is what this army is) which means that there’s a lot less of everything else for me to worry about. They are also not terribly common, unless you live in an area with lots of Necron players. (And if that’s the case, remember that veterans advise you to ignore the Monolith and concentrate on killing enough Necrons for Phase-Out to occur.) Finally, while I’m concentrating on the rest of the army, I can simply play the mission. Go for objectives and victory point denial while avoiding the big nasty thing that I can’t kill. (It wouldn’t be an easy game, but it wouldn’t be impossible, which is all I really want.)

I did consider giving the Shas’La (FireWarriors) EMP grenades. That would give them a chance to hurt AV14 vehicles. (Glance on a 4 or 5, Penetrate on a 6.) On the other hand, it’s not much of a chance, since they have to hit it first. If it’s a Landraider moving more than 6” per turn (which is likely, given that they usually have assault units inside) I’d need a 6 to hit it. Against the Monolith I’d always need a 6 (since it’s a skimmer.) That’s only 1 hit on average. That would leave me with a 1/3 chance of a Glancing hit or a 1/6 chance of a Penetrating hit. While those aren’t horrible odds against that kind of armor, I really don’t want to sacrifice my FireWarriors for those kind of results. In addition, they’d have a hard time getting close enough to do that, since they don’t have any special movement modes or a transport.

Other options against AV14 would basically be Railguns or Seeker Missiles. Both of those options have drawbacks. The main one being that most units using them have to be seen for them to work. Being seen in this list is tantamount to suicide, as almost nothing else will be visible to an entire army looking for payback for the damage you’ve already inflicted. Admittedly, Seeker Missiles can be fired without Line of Sight as long as there is a Markerlight hit on the target. This still means that a unit must be visible to do the Markerlighting, and right now I’ve only got 2 BS3 Markerlights in the list. I’d have to seriously rework the list to fit Makerlights in, and it would be a major change in how the list works. Ultimately, I don’t think that it’s worth it. If I were going to be playing a larger point game (above 1500pts) I might add in a couple of Stabilized Broadsides. I’d use them to snipe laterally (ie: across the board) so that they’d have Line of Sight blocked to them from anywhere that the enemy might have range to them. (Having 72” range means never having to say you are sorry!) At lower point levels, however, they would have to replace one of my other units, and the others are far more useful to me, I think.

The enemy lines

It’s interesting (to me, at least) how this list has changed my thinking. As a Tyranid player, I rated lists based on how long it would take me to get to the enemy lines. Fast Tyranid lists (Hormagaunts, Scuttling Gaunts, Scuttling Genestealers, Raveners and various flying units) can get across the board into the enemy lines by turn 2. Slower lists (Gaunts, Monstrous Creatures, regular Genestealers) get into the enemy lines by turn 3. Ponderous lists (All Monstrous Creatures and Rippers) usually take until turn 4. That meant that I could plan on most of the guns being silenced by turn 2 or 3 and very few shooting casualties after that. With a fast list, that means that all those enemy guns only get about 3 shots during the game. (And that is being optimistic for the gunners!) With this list, everything changes. There is no “enemy line” as the bulk of the list is made up of highly mobile Crisis Suits with extreme range weaponry. They simply hop around anywhere they want to and can still hit things due to their long range. I started looking at their effective shooting in terms of a full 6 turns, instead of only 2-3.

While they can be chased down or penned in, it looks like a difficult task. Let’s say that I am facing a Tyranid army consisting of lots of Hormagaunts with some Genestealers to back them up. I can start out across from them and move sideways and back. (Everybody going in the same direction.) I take down about 27 Hormagaunts and continue moving sideways. Now I’m 12” toward one flank and further away than I started while they scramble forward. Turn 2, I repeat the sequence, tearing up another 27 Hormagaunts from that side of the formation and moving further away as they move forward. Turn 3 sees me in one corner of my deployment zone and taking out another 27 Hormagaunts. (This in turn should take care of all the Hormagaunts, as most lists don’t have more than 81 of the little leapers.) Then I concentrate on the slower Genestealers. While it certainly wouldn’t be a guaranteed win, I think it’d be an uphill battle for the Tyranids.

Admittedly, things like a Flying Hive Tyrant would be ultra nasty, since I have little that can do real damage to them. On the other hand, it will take a few turns to catch one of my little squadrons, and the others will be spreading out, so it will take another couple of turns to catch the next one. If I don’t shoot at it at all, I will probably kill most of the rest of the army and it will only catch 2-3 of my teams. If I do shoot at it, I can definitely put a dent in it, especially with the plasma Weaponry of my Shas’Els.

So what does this all mean? I think I've got a lean, mean list that is more about dancing like a butterfly than stinging like a bee, but since it's hard to hit back, it should work pretty well. It has enough firepower to significantly damage almost any army, and it's got massive amounts of tactical mobility. In addition, it can spread out to avoid the enemy while still being able to concentrate on a single point from almost anywhere on the field of battle. Even against armies that it can't damage significantly (Deathwing comes to mind) it has enough scoring units and mobility to be able to handle almost any mission objective, so it always has the option of simply playing the mission and attempting to avoid the opposing army.

All that being said, will it be fun to play? The winning-est army in the world is no good if it isn't any fun to play. This is the problem my friend Nick ran into with his Armoured Company army. Against most armies, it was pretty much a sure win, but there wasn't any fun to it. It was just move up for good Line of Sight, roll some dice and watch the enemy army disappear. Not only that, but because people felt they didn't have a chance against it, some of them tried to pull a lot of shady moves to try to get a chance. No good. I think this army, on the other hand, will be a blast to play. It doesn't completely shred enemy armies (unless maybe they are made up of a lot of light vehicles!) It will also require me to bring up my tactical acumen. I'll have to move so that I can't be seen and spread out and try to get side shots on armor, while keeping the enemy at arm's length. I think it'll keep me on my toes and be a good break from my straightforward Tyranids!

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