Space Wolves List 2:
Rune Priest w/Tempest, Storm Caller
2x Lone Wolves, Terminator Armor, Thunder Hammer, Storm Shield
3x Wolf Guard, Arjac, combi-meltagun, Powerfist, Land Raider Crusader w/MM, EA
2x10x Grey Hunters w/2x meltagun, Mark of the Wulfen, Wolf Standard, Bolterback
3x5x Grey Hunters w/flamer, LasPlas Razorbak
5x Grey Hunters w/flamer, Bolterback
6x Long Fangs, 5x Missile Launchers, LasPlas Razorback
6x Long Fangs, 3x Missile Launchers, 2x Plasma Cannons, LasPlas Razorback
Land Raider Redeemer w/MM, EA
DMS: 44.34
DMCC: 20.65
DRPG: 83.77
DLRPG: 27.48
So looking at the metrics they aren't too bad with shooting against Marines very high compared to the 2000 lists. A fair amount of meltaguns but not massive amounts but with lots of ranged dakka and some combat ability against tanks. The DMCC seems a bit low for space Marines and with only two Long Fang packs, the DRPG is pretty low as well. It's not terrible low and with lots of ability to spread that fire, it shouldn't be an issue. This list also has quite a bit of survivability in terms of two Land Raiders though at 2500 there is more firpeower which can damage them at range. I'd say the lack of Wolf Guard for Grey Hunters and 3rd Fang squads are the weaknesses of this list. It isn't bad but it's not fantastic either.
Space Wolves List 1:
Rune Priest, Living Lightning, Jaws
Wolf Lord, TWC, necklace, Storm Shield, Wolf Claw, Warrior Born
Wolf Lord, TWC, necklace, Storm Shield, Frost Weapon, Majesty
2x5x Wolf Scouts, meltagun, meltabombs
4x5x Grey Hunters, meltagun, Rhino
3x4x TWC, TH/SS, SS, melta-bomb
2x5x Long Fangs, 4x Missile Launchers
6x Long Fangs, 5x Missile Launchers
DMS: 17.11
DMCC: 30.11
DRPG: 65.57
DLRPG: 23.32
So lower numbers here without the increased number of Razorbacks. This list is all about the TWC in combat and I think it's much worse. Combat ability is higher, but not significantly so with the smaller Grey Hunters and lack of Lone Wolves. The shooting is much worse and this is a pretty big issue against light Mech, particularly when armies at 2500 can field 15+ tanks easily. The combat ability of the TWC will obviously help against the Rhinos which isn't included in the calculations, all those rending and S10 attacks will do something but the list revolves around those units. At 2500 armies can drop 14 T5/W2/3+ models relatively easily and we can see the effect of taking large rock units on the Metrics.
Chaos Space Marines List:
2x Daemon Prince, Wings, Mark of Slaanesh, Lash of Submission
2x8x Plague Marines, 2x meltaguns, personal icon, Champ w/PFist, Rhino, combi-melta
2x8x Plague Marines, 2x meltaguns, Champ w/PFist, Rhino, combi-melta
10x Bezerkers, Personal Icon, Champ w/PFist, Rhino w/combi-melta
17x Lesser Daemons
Vindicator w/Daermonic Possession
2x3x Obliterators
DMS: 27.78
DMCC: 31.08
DRPG: 74.47
DLRPG: 23.67
So the numbers are pretty good, for a 2000 list and this is what we expect from a halfway decent Chaos list. Since everything is overpriced and they have limited good choices, when we compare to good armies from 5th edition, their numbers should be lower. If we tack on more points to Chaos we should get comparable numbers with lower pointed 5th edition armies and this is true here. Whilst the Chaos list could use some improvement (no Vindicator, more Oblits, no lesser daemons, use Elites, etc.) it does have a solid scoring and shooting base. The problem, as ever with Chaos, is the only effective ranged shooting is the Oblits which jack up the Rhino and Marine shooting damage. Everything else is much shorter-ranged (i.e. meltaguns).
Black Templars List:
EC w/Abhor the Witch
2x5x Terminators w/2x CML, Tank Hunters
Venerable Dread w/TLLC, Missile Launcher, Tank Hunters
2x2x Land Speeder Typhoons
Land Speeder Typhoon
4x5x Initiates w/meltagun, MM, Rhino
2x5x Initiates w/plasma gun, lascannon, Rhino
3x AC/LC Predators
DMS: 28.49
DMCC: 20.93
DRPG: 103.35
DLRPG: 23.11
Much better numbers across the board. The ability to damage Marines in combat and shooting is a bit lot but expected with lots of small squads. The ability to pop Rhinos is necessarily high with all those missiles and lascannons which is good to see and the Land Raider ability is high enough with all the S9 and double melta units. The list itself is very solid though I'd change the Predators to Dakka (increasing DMS, reducing DRPG) and change the Dreadnought for another Terminator CML unit (increasing DMS, increasing DPRG). The issue is at 2500 points 15 Terminators can suffer a lot of wounds quickly - same with 5 Typhoons so a lot of this firepower can be neutralised with quick shooting. Part and parcel of MSU though, there are lots of other targets after this. Best list we've seen so far and whilst there is a nice improvement, it's not as massive as we might have expected compared to the Metrics from 2000 point lists.
Imperial Guard List:
CCS w/Straken, 4x meltaguns, Officer of Ordnance, Officer of Fleet, Chimera
2x7x PBS w/Chimera
3x10x Veterans w/Demolitions, 3x meltaguns
PCS w/4x meltaguns, Power Fist, Chimera
3x Infantry Squads w/meltagun, Autocannon, Power Weapon, Chimera
HWT w/Autocannons
HWT w/Lascannons
3x Vendettas
2x Hydras
2x Medusa w/Bastion Breacher Shells
DMS: 36.2
DMCC: 13.22
DRPG: 134.38
DLRPG: 52.34
And here we have a Leafblower list. Not great by Imperial Guard standards, as we know Leafblower is not, but the metrics are very high for this list which we might expect for Imperial Guard. Combat is obviously terrible but with lots of higher strength ranged firepower and mobile meltaguns, Rhinos and Land Raiders alike simply die. The issue of course with this list is when things start to die, it goes down hill quickly. There are lots of ways to improve the list (remove combat weapons, add more Veterans in Chimera, make Straken support those Veterans, etc.) but the list is all about opening tanks quickly and then throwing lots of blasts at the infantry inside.
Conclusion
What's interesting about these numbers is I would call the BT list the best yet its numbers are much lower than the Imperial Guards. Perhaps this is part and parcel of 4th edition versus 5th edition but I also think Imperial Guard is one of the best 2500 armies around. The ability to squadron and effectively scale up lists from 2000 points gives them unparalleled ability and flexiblity at 2500 points. Other armies have often maxed their FoC, or are very close to, at 2000 points and thus have limited ability to add to their armies beyond this. Perhaps this is why the metrics weren't as high as we expected for 2500 lists compared to 2000 lists and why Imperial Guard appears so dominating based on the numbers alone.
Thanks to Mark for these numbers and now you have a baseline to compare your 2500 lists to. I'd mainly be looking at the Black Templars and Imperial Guard one as a rough baseline.
