"Hey Kirby,
Found your articles to be a good read, especially the ones that stress that one should always be thinking a turn or two ahead. But I thought you could provide some input onto a list I've put on the playtesting block..
I'm not too sure about the psychic powers for the librarians (though obviously it is going to be Shield + x, Shield + x!) at the moment. The Guard are in there to provide CC back up and, if needed, can drop down near enemy heavy units (along with a priest) and draw some fire. I feel it's a bit lacking on scoring units, though 30 FnP/Shielded marines won't be easy (for the most part) to blow away. You're probably raising an eyebrow at the plasma cannon Devastator unit, but I think it could sync effectively with the army - DoA enemy transports, nuke the contents and help me deal with Terminators and the like. Plasma cannons may be more deadly than missile launchers in a way (though less utility). The missile launchers are there to crack Rhinos and such, as well as provide a general strength 8 fist. Priests will be split up, either 2 with the assault squads and 1 with the devs, or 1 with the Guard, 1 with the ASM and 1 with the devs. I was thinking with the extra points to maybe pimp the priests a little bit.. Or drop the sixth Dev in the plasma cannon squad, chop the cannon allocation down to 2 and jam in a 5 man scout squad (though If I can find another ten points I could give them a missile launcher..).
HQ:
Librarian (125)
Shield, Unleash Rage, Jump Pack
Librarian (125)
Shield, Lance, Jump Pack
ELITES:
Sanguinary Guard (240)
Five Marines, power fist, banner of +1 attack
Sanguinary Priests (200)
3 priests, 2x jump packs
TROOPS:
Assault Squad (235)
10 Marines, 2 meltas, Fist
Assault Squad (235)
10 Marines, 2 meltas, Fist
Assault Squad (235)
10 Marines, 2 meltas, Fist
HEAVY SUPPORT:
Devastator squad (130)
4 Missile Launchers
Devastator squad (130)
4 Missile Launchers
Devastator Squad (166)
4 Plasma Cannons, 6 marines
1821
Cheers,
Paul "
Paul everything looks pretty solid here. You're right, I'm not a huge fan of the Plasma Dev squad but if you feel you need extra punch against infantry outside of combat and particularly AP2, it's not a bad unit though you do lose quite a bit of ranged punch against mech and MCs (one less ML Devastator squad).
What I'd aim to do with the list however is get a 2nd Sanguinary Guard squad. You need the extra combat punch to be able to deal with things decisively in combat. Mass S5/I5 attacks from ASM and several power fists is a great basis for combat army but it's not going to reliably kill things which other units like HOnor Guard, Sanguinary Guard and Vanguard Vets do. SG are generally the cheapest of these and you've already got one squad so I'd be aiming to get two of these and that's going to be really tight on points.
What we need to do to make this viable is drop one of the Librarians. One is enough and two is very expensive as you are getting limited returns on the 2nd Librarian compared to the first. You are obviously less reliable in casting Blood Lance and Shield with only one cast each (and yes, go Lance for destroying parking lots) but you are still gaining maximum efficiency from the Libby and saving quite a few points. You then need to make one of the large ASM squads a 5-man squad. 25 FNP MEQ is still pretty solid scoring at 1850 and at 2000 I would raise this squad back to full strength. You'll then have the points to take another SG squad and fill out the Priests with some combat weapons and leaves you with the following:
Libby
2x Priest w/JP, LClaw, Priest
2x SG w/2 infernous pistols, PFist
2x10x ASM w/2 meltas, PFist, hand-flamer
5x ASM w/melta, infernous pistol, hand-flamer
2x5x Devs w/4x Missiles
5x Devs w/4x PC
Totals: 1850
