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| Dakka |
I've been reading your blog for a few months now, and I really appreciate your attitude toward user submitted questions. Out of all the 40k blog personalities, you are by far the most approachable. Are you flattered? No, well then what if I promise to paint my future nipplewing army pink in your honor?
I'm still fairly new to this hobby, so I don't have the funds necessary to build (nor the time necessary to play) 2000 point armies, but I'm ready to graduate from 500 point skirmishes to something with a little more meat on the bone. With this in mind, I'd like to take my bland grey plastic marines and make something with flavor, something with style, something like a Blood Angels DoA army. Since I'm looking to play at the 1000 point level I started with your 2k BA JP list and cut it in half. Then I traded the powerfists for more melta - a dash of meltagun in the HG, a sprinkling of infernus pistols all over, and just a pinch of melta bombs on the sergeants. Man, what is up with the food metaphor?
In the end here's what I'm thinking:
HQ
125 Librarian + jp (lance and shield)
205 honor guard + 4x meltagun
Elite
90 Priest + jp + infernus
Troop
230 ASM x10 + 2x meltagun + infernus + melta bomb
130 ASM x5 + 1x meltagun + infernus + melta bomb
Fast
220 Vanguard x5 + jp + glaive & SS, + LC & SS
That brings me to 1k right on the nose. This list has 27 highly mobile MEQ bodies with 11 short ranged anti-tank shots (7 melta, 3 infernus, and libby's lance), 2 FC/FnP auras covering 4/5 squads, and the capability to send 3 small tank busting teams forward while the VV pull away bubble wrap and an optional backfield combat squad does... um, wahtever a backfield squad is supposed to do. Maybe I can use those 5 guys to help the VV if the enemy doesn't bring alot of power weapons. Sounds good right? Are you sold?
My real concerns revolve around the changes I've made from your list, specifically, dropping the power fists. As I see it, a PF allows me to punch a tank (though not as well as a melta bomb) and instant death multi-would models in CC. At only 1k points, I don't think I'm going to run into many multi-would models, so infernus + melta bombs seem just as good for busting tanks and brining down 2+ infantry and FnP squads while saving me just enough points to buy guess what... more melta! Can you ever have too much melta? No, that wasn't rhetorical, I'm seriously wondering if there's some upper limit or diminishing returns. I just can't think of a time when I've thought to myself, if only I had brought something less killy than this meltagun.
If there is such a thing as too much melta, I still don't think I would want the PFs back. Instead I could swap the infernus pistols for power weapons/lightning claws to be just a little more killy in CC. What do you think? 3 PFs = 4 PWs + 3 bombs. I'm just not sure that PFs offer much return for their cost in a low point game where the only ID target is likely to be the enemies single HQ. Am I being short sighted? Is there something I don't understand about the usefulness of PFs?
Thanks for taking the time to read all of this and for running a very helpful/informative site.
Best Regards,
Douglas"
The overall list looks solid though I'd consider trading the VVets for ML Devs just to avoid more match-up issues.
In regards to PFists and PWeapons/LClaws, you really need one of them on the large squads (big squads and Priests aren't necessary). PFists are generally chosen because without them, an MC can ruin the day of your big squads - as can a Dreadnought. Power Weapons and LClaws are fine choices but if you don't deal with those type of units at range (and even with ML Devs, Jumper armies have limited ranged options), well they shall munch you in combat more than you'll munch them. Remember, most of your firepower is tied up in meltaguns and whilst they are great against such units, if they fail, you don't have much of a back-up.
With that in mind I'd look to get two PFists for the large squads and if you're finding you miss the VVets, drop the smaller ASM squad and mix up the points between VVets, Devs and Honor Guard - though you want to try and keep at least two Dev squads and two FNP/FC bubbles!
And I want to see a Pink nipplewing.
