Looking Ahead
Well, the Constrictor Swarm is more or less completed. There are still some touchups to do and some adjustments to be made, but I've got the building and painting part done. I will continue using it for a while, tweaking and fiddling with it to get it to work right. However, I'm never satisfied with one army, and I'm looking forward to trying something different. I'm looking forward to playing around with a totally different army, and I'll be taking a look at what I want below.

What do I want?
Well, I've been assembling, painting and playing with a very large army (the Constrictor Swarm) and I'd really like to do a much smaller army. I've also been interested in stretching my painting skills a bit, which is easier when you are doing 40 models than when you are doing 140. I've been playing Tyranids for a long time, and I like the variety available, but I'd like to try my hand at something other than Tyranids for a bit, too. Finally, I tend to play "smashmouth" armies. That is, armies that play very simply and brutally. (Line up on one side and just smash the other army straight in the mouth.) I think that if I play a list that can't rely as much on straight up brutality and resilience, it'll improve my tactics a bit and make me a better general overall.

So, what have we got? Low model count. Non-Tyranid. Mobility (or something) rather than resilience. While a Space Marine or equivalent army would fit the bill, I actually want an even lower model count than most of them entail. Deathwing might work, but I've already got a Deathwing army. (Though I haven't used them in a while.) Iyanden Eldar might work, but they are pretty resilient and (I think) harder to use in a "finesse" manner. In addition, the codex is getting revamped soon, so starting an army in the near future would probably not be a good idea. Ravenwing also fits my concepts here, but I'm not sure I want more Dark Angels. I'll give it consideration. Suit-heavy Tau might work, but I've seen it done recently. I won't reject it out of hand, but I'll put it on the "maybe" list. Armored Company certainly has few models, but it's too smashmouth for me. Most of the big Chaos lists are too smashmouth for me as well, but there are a couple that have caught my eye. Thousand Sons is one of those. Definitely small model count, and it's regarded as an underpowered army (not in my criteria, but I tend to like trying to get underused stuff to perform well.) Another Chaos variant that I have my eye on is the Elite Veterans list. This is something I came up with a while back, and I'll explain in more detail below. Suffice to say that it will have a very low model count and good mobility and take a bit more finesse to play than my usual armies. I'll start by explaining the Elite Veterans list, and I'll explore some of the others in future updates.

What's the big idea?
The original concept came to me when I realized that Space Marine squads could take Veteran skills. Originally, Veteran skills were part of the Chaos codex and were explained by the Chaos Marines having survived millennia of warfare, and thus improving their skills in specialized areas. Now, regular space Marine Veterans and Elites (who have only lived a few hundred years!) can get them as well. That kind of annoyed me, as it seemed to downplay the fluff behind the Chaos Marine's Veteran Skills. As I thought about it more, an idea formed in my head. If Space Marines that have been around a few hundred years can get a Veteran skill, how many skills would a Chaos Marine that had been around for a few THOUSAND years? What about one that has been around since the siege on Terra? If you've managed to survive 10,000 years of warfare, you've probably learned a thing or two, and you've probably also picked up some cool equipment and weapons. Thus, the basic idea was born: A small number of very Elite, well equipped Chaos Marines with lots of Veteran Skills and other upgrades to make them far more effective individually than normal.

Brainstorming
After that initial idea, I just sort of threw together every idea I could about them, then went through and tried to decide which ones to keep and which ones to toss. One idea that I've wanted to do for a while is to design a very flexible force. The concept is that against an army that has more shooting, they can run across the board and smash stuff in hand to hand. Against an army that is more Close Combat oriented, they can plant their feet and shoot. Squads would be large to be able to take casualties and would have both shooting and close combat upgrades. Eventually I decided that completely incorporating this idea would be too expensive and ineffective if I kept my other ideas about Veteran Skills and the like. However, I do plan on having most of the army be able to be a threat to different kinds of targets, so that each squad can handle almost anything that comes it's way. I thought about using Daemons in the army, figuring that the Daemons would flock to them and the carnage they left in their wake. Thinking about it further, I decided that the Veterans might not want to rely on Daemons (since they don't generally stick around and aren't necessarily reliable.) In addition, since Daemons cannot take Veteran skills, it would limit the army in terms of the fluff that created it. Ultimately, I won't totally rule out Daemons, but I'll put them in the "unlikely" column. I considered using a heavily upgraded group of Chosen to represent the Elite Veterans, but they are very expensive and you can't give them a lot of Veteran Skills, so they are mostly out. I also considered using a powerful Chaos Lord leading the charge from a Land Raider (possibly with the Chosen) but I rejected this as too smashmouth. Finally, I looked at all the variant Chaos lists and checked out Nightlords. They aren't commonly played and have serious limitations. They also have a great Veteran skill available only to them and their fluff story fits the idea of a small group using special tactics to achieve lopsided victories.

So What Would it Look Like?
Well, I've gone through the various options and picked out what I felt were the most essential things. I then applied army list efficiency to each of the selected possibilities to find the best ones. I want almost every squad to be able to handle both armor and heavy infantry, so a Melta Gun seemed like a good idea. It is short-ranged, but it's an assault weapon, so if I've got decent mobility and deployment, I should be able to make use of it. One in every squad allows me a variety of options to shoot at any given target. Similarly, a Powerfist in the squads will let me take on armor and heavy infantry as well. Raptors and a flying Lieutenant will give me good mobility and let me concentrate force quickly even when I can't Infiltrate. I considered vehicles, but that cuts down on my numbers a bit too much. In addition, having a force of fairly mobile heavy infantry with good cover saves and no vehicles gives me an advantage over a mixed army, as enemy antivehicle stuff doesn't have nearly as much use.

A minimum squad of 5 Raptors with Stealth Adept, Skilled Rider and Infiltrate, 3 Meltas and an Aspiring Champion with a powerfist runs 233pts. Without the fist and the Champ it's only 205, but that extra 28pts makes the squad much more of a threat. Skilled Rider means I can basically ignore difficult terrain tests with these guys, which gives me much more flexibility about their placement. I would consider frag grenades, but the Powerfist is what will be doing the most damage, and it'll strike last regardless.

The Lieutenant with Flight, Wind of Chaos and Dark Blade will similarly be a big threat that moves fast, and Infiltrate will let me place him exactly where I need him to inflict the most carnage!

Basic squads of Chaos Space Marines will also be armed with Meltas and an Aspiring Champion with a Powerfist. Even though they won't be able to move as fast, they won't be too slowed by terrain (Move through Cover and Infiltrate) and their Stealth Adept will keep them safer than most while in it.

Nightlords get but a single Heavy Support Choice, and I don't want vehicles, so Havocs it is. An Infiltrating squad of 6 with Stealth Adept and Tank Hunter and 4 Autocannons runs 206pts. They'll be able to get a good vantage point, be hard to root out and should be able to wax any tank in the game (8 shots that are effectively S8 is nothing to sneeze at!)

Finally, for some additional flexibility, I'll throw in a group of Obliterators. They don't get to have Veteran skills, but they've got Heavy Weapons and Powerfists and can move and shoot.

Other Options
Currently my Raptors have 3 Meltas in each squad and my Chaos Marines have 2 Meltas in each squad. Replacing some of these with Plasmas would give me more range, and replacing some with Flamers would give me more punch against hordes. Sometimes having more than one Melta in a squad will be overkill, but other times I'll need it. Right now my gut tells me to stick with the Meltas. Unlike the Plasmas, they are assault weapons, which means I can move, shoot and assault, making the most of the guns and the powerfists. Unlike the flamers, they are useful against vehicles. I could put Lascannons in my regular squads, but that'd mean they'd have to choose between shooting and moving. I want these guys on the move almost constantly (otherwise those Powerfists are wasted points.) I did consider getting a Defiler for some Ordnance, but a) it's a vehicle and b) considering my plan of forward deployment, those pie plates are likely to end up too close to my troops.

Here's the temporary list...
141 LT with DarkBlade and Pistol, demonic flight, Sorceror, Wind of Chaos (Stealth Adept, Infiltrate)

210 3xObliterator

210 8xCSM: (Stealth Adept, Move Through Cover, Infiltrate) Asp. w/Fist/Pistol/Mutation, 2xMelta 5xBolter
210 8xCSM: (Stealth Adept, Move Through Cover, Infiltrate) Asp. w/Fist/Pistol/Mutation, 2xMelta 5xBolter
172 6xCSM: (Stealth Adept, Move Through Cover, Infiltrate) Asp. w/Fist/Pistol/Mutation, 2xMelta 3xBolter

233 5xRaptor (Stealth Adept, Skilled Rider, Infiltrate) Asp. w/Fist+pistol, 3xMeltagun
233 5xRaptor (Stealth Adept, Skilled Rider, Infiltrate) Asp. w/Fist+pistol, 3xMeltagun
233 5xRaptor (Stealth Adept, Skilled Rider, Infiltrate) Asp. w/Fist+pistol, 3xMeltagun

206 6xHavoc (Stealth Adept, Tank Hunters, Infiltrate) 4xAutocannon
1848pts

47 models. No vehicles. Everyone is under power armor and all but the Obliterators have a bonus to cover saves. If Infiltrate is allowed, almost everything will use it, allowing me to potentially "outmaneuver" an opponent during deployment. I should be able to set up the Havocs so they have some good line of sight with those tank-breaking autocannons. I should also be able to weight my deployment to one side or the other, giving my squads an immediate local superiority.

The reliance on Meltas in most of my units lets me threaten armor and heavy infantry and still charge, thus getting full benefit out of the Powerfists in each squad. 3 squads of Raptors and a flying Lieutenant give me the option of quickly redeploying my force to counter movement by the opponent. In addition, the heavy firepower and the maneuverability of the Raptors gives me a good chance to nuke chunks of the enemy force immediately. (Okay, your hive Tyrant takes 8 Melta shots...) This in turn should keep my forces alive a little longer, since they should be wiping out their targets without much chance of retribution.

So, How Do I Work This?
The basic idea is to use Infiltration to make sure that my small force has a heavy presence on one part of the battlefield, letting me pit most of my army against less than a third of the enemy army. Even without Infiltration (such as in an Alpha Mission) the Raptors and Lieutenant can quickly redeploy, leaving part of the enemy army high and dry while I concentrate my units in one location. Not only will the basic squads be able to handle almost any threat, the Raptors can quickly reinforce them or all jump to an area to absolutely slag anything that's a threat. There will be two keys to this army doing well. The first will be to make sure that I completely annihilate whatever it is that I'm shooting or assaulting. (That way there's less to hit back.) The second will be to make sure that my squads either get into close combat after shooting, or that they only have line of sight to one target, then slag it. This will still leave me open to retribution from units that can move and shoot, but hopefully I can take care of them first. Having improved cover saves on top of my power armor saves means that each individual is pretty resilient, even though there aren't many of them. Giving most of them Move through Cover means they can take advantage of those saves without having to worry about being slowed much.

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