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| Dakka |
Okay, back to the Crowe list series...which hasn't been touched in a long while. By now most people think Crowe MSU lists are the most broken thing ever and can't beat them wah wah wah. I'd really say it's a bit below what Grey Knights can really put out and whilst a solid list, has certain issues such as reliance on average dice to drop tanks, reliance on Purifiers as your only infantry to score, kill, maim, burn, hammer, shoot, slash and just about anything else you could think of. Whilst they are the ultimate generalists, they are very expensive because of this and you don't end up having a ton of them to throw at the enemy. When they do get thrown at the enemy because they aren't that bad at combat, you lose a bunch of anti-tank and anti-infantry firepower and depending upon how many Purifiers you lose, that firepower is gone forever. Not to mention you're paying 150 points for a character who cannot join squads *angry face.*
That being said, those units are Marines so pretty tough and do have great firepower and can seem terrifying to certain units in combat one on one. Add in the always efficient Psybacks and Psyfledreads and you can see why the list is good but not OMGWTFBBQCHEESE broken the Internet would like you to think. Now back when the codex first came out, I had to make a Purifier list because...well Purifiers were boss in terms of fluff. The problem of course was each list had some Purifiers and then some Dreads and then...well then what? This started me down the whole Psycoteaz path with large-ish Purifiers as Elites and then Henchmen as Troops to get that ever needed AP1 and overall army balance in. This was more to make a competitive list and it does quite well considering it's dropping those points into Purifiers.
So the idea of my good but fun-based Purifier list languished on the side-lines without really any thought until the recent e-mail I replied to regarding a Crowe and Coteaz list. Now this idea isn't exactly new but in terms of what I wanted for my Purifier based list (lots of Purifiers but not all Purifiers + Dreads) as a 'more fun' list, it was pretty much spot on. So what does Coteaz bring for us? Henchmen. And what do henchmen bring for us? Specifically ranged firepower (and when scoring can sit on objectives and thus relieve Purifiers of some pressures) and AP1 guns to help cover those days when Psycannons can't do diddly squat. It seems almost too simple to be true...
With that in mind let's make the list. We'll start with Crowe who is an annoying annoying man. He isn't that bad in combat and has some decent uses with the special stances but is annoying to actually get into combat without stealing someone's ride. We'll then add Coteaz and we have both the Henchmen and Purifier unlocks. Now a lot of people will say here that Coteaz seems like overkill and 250 points on HQ's isn't exactly negligible, particularly when they both unlock a new Troop choice who will thus be competing for spots. In this vein this is why running a Coteaz list with Purifiers in Elites is going to be more competitive but let's roll with this for now. Coteaz by himself is well worth the 100 points you pay for him - screw the henchmen Troops. Remember he makes your seizing chances better, drastically reduces your opponent's seizing chances, provides sanctuary and another hammerhand, has a hammer and gets free shooting against reserves coming on near him. In this regard we're not really forking out extra points for something we're only half using and since we will ultimately have more Purifier squads than Henchmen (and more than the three our Elites would normally allow), Crowe is okay as well. That's 250 points gone then.
Crowe
Coteaz
We'll then jump to our Heavy Support and get the obligatory Psyfledreads out of the way. We're not utilising Purgation squads here or Land Raiders so there really is no reason why we shouldn't take three. At 135 points a pop, they really are under-priced bastards of goodness. Three please for 405 points to provide us with hard to suppress, long-ranged fire support.
Dreadnought w/2x Twin-linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
Dreadnought w/2x Twin-linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
Dreadnought w/2x Twin-linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
655 all used up now so time to look to our Purifiers. To make Crowe useful we need to run at least four Purifiers. Other FoC moving characters can get away with less but Crowe really is the 'tax' in this case so we want to make sure we maximising his abilities whilst not over whelming ourselves with Purifiers. Plus I want Purifiers for this list so ya, more Purifiers. We'll go with the eight strong squad of super all-rounder. Two psycannons, one hammer and five halberds (plus six stormbolters). This allows the unit to take a few hits and still be scary in combat and deal with both infantry and tanks in combat or shooting. We'll add in a Rhino to get them places and allow them to shoot from the top which comes in at 267 points per unit. Four please!
8x Purifiers w/2x Psycannons, Daemon Hammer, 5x Halberds, Rhino
8x Purifiers w/2x Psycannons, Daemon Hammer, 5x Halberds, Rhino
8x Purifiers w/2x Psycannons, Daemon Hammer, 5x Halberds, Rhino
8x Purifiers w/2x Psycannons, Daemon Hammer, 5x Halberds, Rhino
That's 1723 points all gone so time to provide our two Henchmen units. We really want to take the scoring burden off the Purifiers and since they are very midfield oriented, backfield units are a good choice here. Whilst one could run with melta-acolytes to bring meltaguns to bear on the opponent more aggressively, they are best taken in multitudes to cover for their poor durability and BS3. For this reason we'll go with Jokaeros who can provide the melta-weaponry but also the ranged factor. We want two squads obviously and have 277 points to spend total or 138.5 per squad. We'll therefore start with two Jokaeros and a Psyback for 120 points. This gives us four ranged lascannons or multi-meltas, insurance we don't get the dud roll on the Jokaero's special table and two extra tank hulls which also help out our anti-infantry (and give Crowe a ride). We also have 18 points left per squad to buy cheap ablative wounds for the monkeys - in this case four Acolytes for each squad taking the squad total to 136 and leaves the whole army with five points.
2x Jokaero, 4x Warrior Acolyte, Razorback w/Psybolt Ammunition
2x Jokaero, 4x Warrior Acolyte, Razorback w/Psybolt Ammunition
And this leaves us bang on 1995 points. Let's look at the list as a whole:
Crowe
Coteaz
8x Purifiers w/2x Psycannons, Daemon Hammer, 5x Halberds, Rhino
8x Purifiers w/2x Psycannons, Daemon Hammer, 5x Halberds, Rhino
8x Purifiers w/2x Psycannons, Daemon Hammer, 5x Halberds, Rhino
8x Purifiers w/2x Psycannons, Daemon Hammer, 5x Halberds, Rhino
2x Jokaero, 4x Warrior Acolyte, Razorback w/Psybolt Ammunition
2x Jokaero, 4x Warrior Acolyte, Razorback w/Psybolt Ammunition
Dreadnought w/2x Twin-linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
Dreadnought w/2x Twin-linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
Dreadnought w/2x Twin-linked Autocannons, Psybolt Ammunition
Totals: 1995 points
46 infantry
9 vehicles
It's certainly lacking in some respects - the Purifiers are still carrying the load and can be overwhelmed (that's what you get when you try to run them like this in multiple squads) but Coteaz helps make them scarier in midfield (assault me through Sanctuary, go on) and the Henchmen take some of the scoring burden off of them and can provide some AP1 at range (four extra Lascannons or Multi-meltas is a nice addition as well of course) whilst also providing more vehicle hulls which add to the firepower of the army.
Again not super competitive but decent and certainly satisfying for my Purifier love :).
