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| For Holy Terra |
So 1500 tournament this weekend (yes I still play 40k despite the WM bat reps of late!) and it's time to take BA to the tournament scene (happy? no GK *mutter*). As far as I am aware, BRB missions are being used and as we should all know, 1500 is a different kettle of fish from 1750 or 2000. Running with 16+ KP isn't going to do me any good in the KP missions unless I'm against a like army. As we remember as well from our recent experiences with the aggressive BA I'm using, Rifledreads are not up to par against AV12+ even though we have melta. If that melta gets delayed... This is heightened with the increase in AV12 out there with more Dreads and Necrons shoring up your ever loved Imperial Guard.
So enter ACLC Preds instead. In terms of efficiency they are about the same though the nod is given to the Rifledreads. They are more prone to crappy dice without re-rolls and cannot tarpit/move up ruins. Their LOS can also be a huge issue with sponsons. However, they have S9 and AP2 options, can never be engaged in combat and are fast. Trade-offs and I'll take that S9 thank you.
At 1500 two of these will do nicely. We then want our forward and scoring force. Since we're playing with aggressive Assault Marine units we'll want a backfield scorer. We'll go with our trusty Scout squad with Cloaks and an ML for 100 points. We want our forward push to be semi-significant but at 1500 we don't need six of the same. We'll take four small ASM squads with Flamerbacks, meltaguns, infernous pistols and dozer blades for 600 points. This gives us some double melta units and a decent amount of T4/3+ bodies we can augment with FNP/FC. Chuck in 4x twin-linked templates and we have some nice anti-infantry too.
That's 960 points so we have some options left. We would like to try and add some Priests for improved durability but improving our firepower or combat punch wouldn't go amiss either but getting all of that into 540 points is a steep ask.
We'll start with combat since w're playing aggressively and what better option than Mephistion. It's 250 points of a wrecking ball and whilst he can't go toe to toe with everything, he's going to trump a lot of things thrown at him and ASM can support against hordier foes (though T6/2+ is pretty good anyway...). This leaves us with only 290 points however and if we want firepower support and Priests we might be cutting that a bit thin. Adding HKM to the RBacks would give us some S8 firepower in a pinch but would also encourage moving slower Turn 1 - we don't want anymore of that thank you! Typhoons & Attack Bikes are always going to be good options and can keep up with the main force but we want to use our vehicle hulls to protect our infantry as much as possible. So let's whip out the Baals.
At 145 points with sponsons they aren't cheap but do provide a lot of anti-infantry firepower which can suppress tanks in a pinch. It's also adding more AV13 to the table with some scouting/outflanking options as necessary. Importantly though it's two more hulls the ASM + Meph can use. However, AV13 is going to be mitigated a lot for these guys with sponsons and pushing up with the Flamerbacks. Two of them also leaves us with no points for Priests which is fine but something we need to remember for our ASM. The end result looks like:
HQ -
Mephiston
Troops -
5x Assault Marines w/meltagun, infernous pistol, Razorback w/Heavy Flamer, Dozerblade
5x Assault Marines w/meltagun, infernous pistol, Razorback w/Heavy Flamer, Dozerblade
5x Assault Marines w/meltagun, infernous pistol, Razorback w/Heavy Flamer, Dozerblade
5x Assault Marines w/meltagun, infernous pistol, Razorback w/Heavy Flamer, Dozerblade
5x Scouts w/Missile Launcher, Camo Cloaks
Fast Attack -
Baal Predator w/heavy bolter sponsons
Baal Predator w/heavy bolter sponsons
Heavy Support -
Predator w/Lascannon sponsons
Predator w/Lascannon sponsons
Totals: 1500 points
26 infantry
8 vehicles
14 KP
Still a bit high on the KP count for 1500 points but not too high. The army is still lacking in a bit of ranged punch with only the ACLC Preds but has more oomph up front with Mephiston. The Baals provide some midfield suppression ability and the meltaguns can take care of the rest as long as the army keeps moving forward (when necessary, which is generally often).
Fire away - thoughts on where to spend those extra points if not Baals?
