Scaling & Higher Point Games

This idea has been bouncing around for a while  and it’s been touched on quite a bit in relation to ‘ard Boyz. This is the lovely concept of scaling and different point values. Dethtron wrote a nice little article (what pun...) in relation to smaller point values but what this article will really look at is taking an army and scaling up from smaller to more acceptable point values.

For most armies and point values (assuming we are dealing with at least 1500 here), adding on similarly styled units isn’t too big a stretch of the imagination. In particular, playing 1750, 1850 or 2000pts don’t require a list to be taken back to ground level and built back up again. However, once you hit larger point games such as 2500 or if you’re using an outdated codex (I.e. WH w/o allied IG, Dark Eldar, etc.) you cannot keep the same theme without compromising yourself against other lists designed for that specific points value. Let’s look at it in reverse. Double termis at 2000 pts is a decently balanced list with 2 rocks units. Drop it down to 1500 pts and it’s all about the rock with minimal support outside of scoring units. This is not an army designed for 1500.

The same can be said in reverse. A Marine list w/3 Dreads/Preds/Speeders has all of it’s FoCs filled up at 2k. You can’t take this list to 2500 as you only have Troops and an HQ slot to play with where as other lists have more options in this regard (I.e. Russ squadrons). Older armies which don’t scale well are another prime example. DE DL spam is a very potent list at 1500. Whilst it still works very well at 2000, other armies are much more capable of adding to their lists in those extra 500 pts than DE can.

So how do you take your 1750 or 2000 pt army and make it a viable contender @ 2250+? It’s not the simple addition of more points, you have to look at what you are adding to your list. The 3 Dread/Pred/Speeder list would only be able to add more Tacticals/Scouts/an HQ which aren’t the pinnacle of efficiency. Instead, the army needs to re-design itself. A quick example here would be changing to a Fast’N’Slow list w/potential Command Squad Bikers. Note how this is now an entirely different construct which works at 2500 but wouldn’t at 2000 (you just don’t have the points). Another quick example would be adding in 2x Terminator squads and making the list have a rock unit. Both of these lists play significantly different to the original Mech list.

This means when you’re attempting to take your lower point list up you have to look at what FoC availability you have. Can you squadron up into single slots? (I.e. Russes/Fexes/Speeders, etc.) or do you have lots of availability in FoC slots? This isn’t about taking more expensive (and thus inefficient units), it’s about maximising your efficiency. Whilst taking 3x Russes in a squad might not be viable at 2000 points due to survivability issues, at 2500 where you can take them without hurting the rest of your army balance makes them potentially viable. If you cannot fit more into your original FoC slots or have available FoC slots, chances are the list style isn’t going to scale up well. Whether it’s due to old codex design such as Dark Eldar or an inappropriate list style such as the Best Of Marines, these type of lists either don’t work at higher point values or need to have their style changed. For armies like DE they simply have to push through if they want to be used whilst books that are capable of scaling to 2500 need to change the list style (I.e. the Marine examples above).

What this is all trying to say is it’s important to consider what your army is all about whilst at the same time doing it as efficiently as possible. The ‘Best Of’ Marines list could certainly add 3 speeders and a Tac squad and be nearly at 2500 points but changing it for 2x Terminator squads in Raiders is a vast improvement as they have utilised those 500 points better (although dropping of some units in this example is obviously required). When scaling your lists up to higher point values where FoC slots start to max out, it is not just about adding in extra points of whatever. You may need to go back to your army list and redesign the way it works to get the most out of your extra available points.