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Translating Lists I first came across the idea of translating a list when I was looking at The Fabulous Orcboy's Primus Cult of the Alpha Being. You can find the list and explanation here. In his description of it, he talks about it being essentially a Tyranid list, just done with Chaos instead. That phrase bounced around in my head a while and gave me an idea: translating lists from one army to another, to emulate or better understand an effective army. There is, however, another way to use a translated list. You can use the translation to understand it better and thus defeat it! I actually used this technique a long time ago when I was having troubles with my Dark Eldar against Mike's Nurgle marines. I made a list of the things in his list that did the most damage to me (I remember that his Daemon Prince and Dreadnaught topped the list.) I then thought carefully about the options my army had to neutralize or wipe out those particular threats, and took several things to ensure that they had short life spans. The strategy worked pretty well, turning around a brief losing streak I'd been having. Now, with some history behind it, let's take a look at how we do it. The idea of translating a list involves looking at what each unit MEANS, not what it is. ex. those aren't Tyranid Warriors with Leaping and Rending Claws, they are Assault specialists with good movement. Other Assault Specialists with good movement that you might consider substituting could be Assault Marines, DE Wyches, Chaos Raptors and Genestealers, among others. Be aware, however, that most of these units will handle slightly differently than the original. Assault Marines, for example, would be slightly faster (12" move vs 12" assault means better flexibility) and they have better armor (3+ vs 4+) on the other talon, they don't have Rending Claws, so unless someone has a Powerfist, they won't be as effective against high Toughness targets or vehicles. In addition, be concious of how they fit into the list. Sometimes good players will use units in unusual ways to take advantage of certain aspects of that unit. An example of this would be how I used to use Lictors in my Genestealer army. Instead of considering them an area denial or surprise attack unit, I used them as a fire magnet (shooting fodder, above.) In this manner they were far more effective than 240 points of Hormogaunts would have been, even though they were used for something other than their typical mission. If the list you are translating has any notes, make sure you read through them first, they will typically tell you about unusual uses for units or which units get more emphasis than others. (One example might be a mixed shooting and assault list. One player might use it with an emphasis on the shooting, just using the assault units for counter-assault missions. Another player might use shooting only to soften up enemy units that might hurt the assault elements. Both are viable uses, but each might be specialized slightly differently.) Here is a list of elements that can be used to make up a list. Not all elements will be in every list, and this isn't necessarily exhaustive. Note: These terms are borrowed from New Paintbrush's 40k Strategies and Tactics website, found here. High Toughness Creatures / Vehicles
Example list: Now, for the original list that gave me the idea, I'll take a page from Orcboy's book and translate it back to the original Tyranid list.
Primus Cult of the Alpha Being
My Genestealer List Some lists don't translate well. This may be because the armies don't have close equivalents (An example here might be an Imperial Guard list with lots of squad heavy weapons and a Tyranid army, which has no squad weapons!) Another reason a list might not translate well is due to extreme specialization or army-specific rules. (An example here would be an Undivided Chaos army that takes 3 Havoc squads, then 3 more with the Mark of Slaanesh, making them Elites and giving lots more heavy weapons to the army than would normally be possible.) I'll end with a call to action. Get out there and find some particularly nasty or fun lists, or even just the list your regular opponent used last time. Won't he be surprised to find his list staring right back at him when you next play? Translated, of course, into your particular army. Even if you don't care to emulate the lists of others, taking the time to translate those lists into a more general language might make it easier to understand and pull apart the armies. If you enjoyed this, email me and let me know |