"Hello Kirby,
I’ve been following your DE reviews and discussions with much interest. 1500+ pts lists being discussed all over the web, I’d like to have your opinion on a low-points one since it’s the style of games I play (not enough time to paint larger armies). I’ve tried to make it balanced enough for a 500 pts environment ^^. The idea is to play hide and seek at range thanks to the mobility and Defensive weaponry of the Venoms, and if need be to be able to focus fire on a single threat to overwhelm it under poisoned shots. The list relies on shooting at range but should also be able to handle close combat thanks to the FnP Incubi.
HQ: Haemonculus, Liquifier Gun (60 pts)
Selected because of overall low cost and the capacity to turn Wracks into low cost Troop units. It rides with the Incubi to give them FnP thanks to its pain token, and gets a Liquifier Gun not to be useless. My initial thought was to take an Archon, but it was too large a chunk of the army.
Troops 1: 3 Wracks (30 pts)
As the cheapest Troops choice, these guys serve as objective sitters. Drop an objective in your deployment zone in cover, and let them go to ground to defend it. 3+ cover save backed by FnP (free pain token) makes them quite resilient in a low points setting. They are a sort of reliable grots ^^
Troops 2: 3 Wracks; Venom with Splinter Canon upgrade (95 pts)
In objective-driven games, those guys will be used to grab control of an objective late in the game. Early, they are used as an infantry interdiction tool thanks to the 12 poisoned shots of the Venom. They can potentially finish off weakened GEQ units to gain a second pain token, though it’s marginally useful.
Elites 1: 4 Incubi, including a Klaivex; Venom with Splinter Canon upgrade (168 pts)
These guys give a ride to the Haemonculus to get its pain token. They’ll start by taking shots with their Venom, before charging weakened MEQ units to chop them to death at Initiative 5. They sadly can’t get Plasma grenades, so have issues handling combat in cover. If enemy objectives are in cover and protected, they stay close to the DE objectives to prevent the enemy from approaching it, and will wait for targets of opportunity should they arise thanks .
Elites 2: 3 Trueborn with Blasters; Venom with Splinter Canon upgrade (146 pts)
The only Dual-purpose unit of the list, and as such likely the key to success. 3 Blaster shots/turn should handle armor in 500 pts games, and the Venom can either shoot at infantry whose transport has been popped. If they don’t face armor, they’ll take care of elite infanty thanks to AP2.
Total : 499 pts, 3 blasters, 3 pain tokens, 6 Splinter Canons
I’d like to get more Blasters, but should then sacrifice the close combat ability, which may not be a wise think to do? An alternate list relying on MSU would be:
HQ: Haemonculus (50 pts)
Troops 1: 3 Wracks (30 pts)
Troops 2: 3 Wracks; Venom with Splinter Canon upgrade (95 pts)
Elites 1: 4 Trueborn with Blasters; Venom with Splinter Canon upgrade (173 pts)
Elites 2: 3 Trueborn with Blasters; Venom with Splinter Canon upgrade (146 pts)
Feedback is appreciated!"
The second list. It has redundency :P and although smaller point levels can become very rock-paper-scissors like, you've got a decent amount of anti-tank (but close ranged) and anti-infantry. I might change the Trueborns so they are both 3 strong and fill out the Wracks + add some Liquifiers (i.e. Haemon). A 5 man Wrack squad can act as a tarpit or a decently effective CC squad at 500 points with two pain tokens. You certainly have anti-infantry covered but may encounter issues with anti-tank since you've only got blasters in two squads and they are short-ranged. I know it's 500 points so you shouldn't see too much but you've got 3 vehicles yourself and the rest of your army cannot touch armor at all. Potentially trading the Wrack Venom for a Raider might be a good plan then. You lose a fair amount of anti-infantry but that extra lance could come in handy.
