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| Black Matt |
"Dear Kirby,
I've been reading your blog for a few weeks now, and I think you are doing a great job at giving people feedback on their lists. Since I'm slowly building up my first 1750 pts army for 40k, I would really appreciate your insight on it. The past 6 months I've played a lot of different lists using my friends models as proxies. The last few weeks I've been sticking to the same models a lot, and I feel I found a list that I really like. The main thing this list builds around is the 10 man strong tactical terminator squad, joined by Lysander and Cassius. I like the flexibility of this squad, as it can hurt everything with its shooting and still pose a decent threat in melee. Another thing that I wouldn't like to see go is a 10 man scout snipers scout led by Telion. I like how this scoring unit can pose quite a long range threat. With bolster defences from lysander and the clustermines from the scout bikes, the snipers are a really tough unit to kill. This is my list thus far:
HQ
200 Lysander
125 Cassius
TROOPS
200 10 X scouts(8 SN, 1 ML, Telion)
90 5 X scouts(combimelta, meltabomb, shotguns)
90 5 X scouts(combimelta, meltabomb, shotguns)
ELITES
465 10 X tactical terminators(2 Cyclone missile launchers, 1 chainfist)
FAST ATTACK
60 Landspeederstorm(Heavy flamer)
60 Landspeederstorm(Heavy flamer)
115 4 X scoutbikes(Cluster mines, combimelta, meltabomb)
HEAVY SUPPORT
130 Predator( LC sponsons, HK missile)
130 Predator(LC sponsons, HK missile)
85 Whirlwind
Best regards,
Danny de Kooter"
You've got a lot of points tied up in one unit and whilst it's good, it's not that great. Lysander is a nice beat-stick and he can help make the Tactical Terminators a lot scarier in both combat and shooting but at 200 points? That makes that unit over 600 points and it has no psychic defenses and still dies to fass firepower without FNP. Cassisus simply makes them a wee bit better in combat and jumps the unit price to near 800 points. If you want a unit like - go with Blood Angel Terminators who can at least get FNP and become a lot harder to remove.
So if you're not sold on Lysander, dropping him and Cassius for a Libby with Gate + Null Zone is a great way to save points but keep that unit solid. If you do want to keep a Special Character, Lysander does fit well with the Tactical Terminators despite being 200 points - just be prepared for some games for that rock to implode and take a good chunk of your army's effectiveness with it.
Beyond this though, we need to add to the list. Sniper scouts with Telion to hold an objective are nice but you don't need a full squad - 6 or 7 will do. The extra Scouts in Storms? Not needed - Scouts are pretty meh in combat regardless and whilst having a double melta team in a fast platform is nice, Tacticals in Rhinos + Land Speeders are a more durable and flexible option so I'd go for this. Grab two full 10x Tacticals with Missile Launchers, meltagun, combi-melta with rhinos and multiple Land Speeders with MM/HF (either 1x2 or 2x2) and you've kept your mobile melta whilst adding more vehicles to the table and scoring power (they can combat squad or not as you see fit).
The Scout Bikers are also pretty meh - dropping them in place of more Speeders or Attack Bikes with MMs to hide behind Rhinos and pop out and shoot as necessary are much better ways to access mobile and accurate melta. Predators are okay but they are quite static - with a bubble-wrap of Terminators to protect them this is okay but beware of mobility issues. Whirldwind is likewise okay but an inefficient choice - replacing this with a Dakka Preds gives you more duality against mech armies but you lose some anti-infantry potential without the large ordnance blast.
If you have any points left over at this point, I'd look to grab some Dreadnoughts to increase your firepower at range (you've got plenty of mobile melta at this stage) or some small Tacticals in LasPlas (same deal but adds scoring as well). This is taking the guts out of your army in terms of the Scouts and replacing them with Marine variants but it provides a lot more flexibility and durability to the list. If you're sold on the Scout theme, I'd keep them as backfield units and run normal Land Speeders for your mobile melta needs instead and grab some Dreadnoughts with the points saved.
