1750 Centurion List. Ft. A Crash of Rhinos.

No really, that's what it's called. Alright, so, this is a possible (one of 3) centurion list I'm bringing. Reason it's up here is it showcases the advantages of rhinos in a competitive army. So, of course it's a 1750 point Blood Angels army, leaning heavily on mech, with some scary short range firepower (not as scary as IG) and some good down the field firepower (not as good as Space Wolves). Where it takes names however is, of course, in assault (better than IG and SW ;]).

Now, before we get properly into this, I want to clear up something. In my last article, everybody got their feathers ruffled because they thought I was saying Rhinos were better than Razors. No, they're both options, hell, they're both good options. The Rhino tends to get ignored these days (mistake) and I was just trying to show why it's a good unit. I do believe however, putting your troops in a rhino is better then having it in a Flamerback though. Just cause you don't have to disembark. Think of them as razorbacks with melta guns.



Ok, so, the list. I'll give you that first then talk about it.

Mephiston
5 Honour Guard w/2 Melta Guns + 2 Flamers in a Rhino
Sanguinary Priest w/Lightning Claw
5 Assault Marines w/Melta Gun, Infernus Pistol + Lightning Claw in a Rhino
5 Assault Marines w/Melta Gun in a Rhino (sangpriest here)
3x5 Assault Marines w/Melta Gun + Infernus Pistol in Rhinos
3x5 Devastators w/3 Missile Launchers in Razorbacks w/Twin Linked Heavy Flamers
1750

9 Tanks
46 Infantry
1 "Monstrous Creature" (well, he takes more firepower to bring down than any tank in this list)

Ok so, the premise of the list. Well you have 15 Devastators flinging missiles down the field, to shake threats (and destroy them, eventually), but the most obvious element is the 9 rhino chassis racing down the field towards you. How they work is, versus a mechanised opponent, the Flamerbacks get in front (they can shoot them if they want, doubt it'll make much difference) to screen and the whole shebang goes flying forwards turn one. Then you have 31 FnP marines in your face, as well as 12 meltas, all in transports. That's hard. There's also Mephiston.

Now, those Assault Marines stay in their transports and don't come out without fighting tooth and nail to stay in. They just roll about controlling movement (enemy can't come within 18" of one with a tank safely) and microwaving vehicles. When they are disembarked, they'll most likely have FnP, and are still holding that pair of melta guns. In addition they have Furious charge. All this bungled together means they're actually an assault threat, especially as they can shoot whatever they charge with a pair of meltaguns first.

The Honour Guard and Sanguinary Priest bring FNP/FC bubbles to my army (pretty cheaply) as well as an extra chassis and 2 more templates, and 3 meltas. They also fire out of the top of their rhino (which is nice) as well as pose a half decent combat threat (the HG are just an assault squad really, but the SP has a Lightning Claw!). Of course, they're the units that enable the combat threat, so don't want to disembark readily. While there are a pair of lightning claws scattered through the list, they're plan B. They enable 2 units to hack up tactical squads, rather than be an actual assault unit.

The Devastators are my counter-fire. They take out enemy ranged fire (even if it is temporary). Now, the reason I picked devastators is two-fold. One, they allow me to take the extra 3 razors, which provides my army with a real anti-infantry punch, as well as extra transports I can get my marines in. Second, they're actually pretty survivable against most "down the field" firepower. Most of that is stuff like Vendettas (i'm in cover, enjoy killing 1 marine), Rifledreads (same), Tyrannofexes? See my point? Devastators in cover are actually pretty survivable. Their rides roll up with the main bulk of the army and burn stuff that gets de-meched. Or ram tanks. S8 rams are hysterical at times, especially if you T-Bone a chimera. (:

Mephiston. He's probably my wild card. Without him all I'd have would be an extra assault squad. So why do I have him? Because he's really really good, and adds an assault element to an otherwise mediocre in melee army that I can't get otherwise without including a Land Raider. In addition, he means I autowin against some opponents (Tyranids come to mind, also Necrons) and he gives others an absolute nightmare (I think he'll be good vs Tau, as long as the tau don't explode his cover, just wreck it). Basically he is the counterpunch. You come too near the large group of rhinos, you have him to deal with. He can also tank hunt (6 S10 attacks isn't a laughing matter). And has the sole remaining plasma pistol in 5th edition. ;]

Ok, so, that's the army.You can see why the rhinos are good here, they're my short range anti tank, that I can use without exposing my (pretty vulnerable) troops. The list still has anti infantry. And the sky isn't falling. The only thing I'm thinking about changing in the army is dropping a Lightning Claw or two, and putting in some Dozer Blades. I'm pretty crazy when it comes to moving through terrain, but a lot of people (I've noticed) just don't do it with tanks, at all. I do, and I do it a lot. But the reason I'm thinking of it is with this army I'd really like to deploy in/behind terrain if I'm going second, and that could help, a lot.

Well guys, hope you enjoyed the article.