Non-assaulty SM idea...

[nova9]

Hey there, I'm another noob that has an idea for a chapter/army list (have been wanting to get into 40k but am searching for the army that feels right). I'd appreciate any feedback, unit sizes/gearing/bad combinations ect. that those who've played a few rounds would have.

Chapter: Snow Harriers. A divergent ultramarine chapter. Fluff is basically they were always heavy on apothecary's, but since their forming they've taken it to the extreme... so far as to believe their gene-seed is more important to preserve then all other chapters (fairly self righteous group, who disdains CC).

Traits: Purity above all
uphold the honor of the emperor

Disadvantages: Eye to Eye
We stand alone (cause we're cocky jerks )

HQ: Master: storm bolter, power fist, auspex
9 marine HQ, Apothecary, 2 plasma guns


Tactical squad 1: 9 marines, sarge upgraded to apothecary, term. honours (pwr fist and stormbolter), lascannon.


Tactical squad 2: 9 marines, sarge upgraded to apothecary, term. Honours (power fist and stormbolter), heavy bolter.


Devastators: 4 marines, 4 missile launchers, 1 sarge with bolter.


Veteran squad 1: 8 veterans, sarge (upgraded to apothecary), term honors, power fist/stormbolter, heavy bolter and plasma gun. infiltrate for skill


Veteran squad 2: 8 veterans, sarge (upgraded to apothecary), term honors, power fist/stormbolter, plasma gun and multi-melta. Infiltrate for skill.


1x predator annihilator, heavy bolter sponsons.


1x rhino, smoke launchers.


Alrighty, that was a 1500 point go. As I understand the rules it makes sense, please clue me in on any combinations that are bad. I took the 2 vets because the apothecary upgrade with the purity trait can be taken by them, and because they can get the save from the other trait. Thanks for reading!!

[experiment 626]

Originally Posted by nova9

Hey there, I'm another noob that has an idea for a chapter/army list (have been wanting to get into 40k but am searching for the army that feels right). I'd appreciate any feedback, unit sizes/gearing/bad combinations ect. that those who've played a few rounds would have.

Chapter: Snow Harriers. A divergent ultramarine chapter. Fluff is basically they were always heavy on apothecary's, but since their forming they've taken it to the extreme... so far as to believe their gene-seed is more important to preserve then all other chapters (fairly self righteous group, who disdains CC).

Traits: Purity above all
uphold the honor of the emperor

Disadvantages: Eye to Eye
We stand alone (cause we're cocky jerks )

HQ: Master: storm bolter, power fist, auspex
9 marine HQ, Apothecary, 2 plasma guns

+++ add or drop 1 marine so you have an even numbered retinue for scoring unit purposes...
- add in a veteran sergeant and give him the power fist. your I5 master should stick to a power toy and use his higher 'I' value to better support the squad.
- if you're going to give your master a two-handed weapon, then make it something more than a storm bolter... if you're going to sacrifice an additional CC attack, then take either a combi-plasma gun or combi-meltagun which can add alot more punch. 1 more S4 ap5 shot isn't worth the loss of the power toy attack!+++

Tactical squad 1: 9 marines, sarge upgraded to apothecary, term. honours (pwr fist and stormbolter), lascannon.

Tactical squad 2: 9 marines, sarge upgraded to apothecary, term. Honours (power fist and stormbolter), heavy bolter.

+++ add 1 marine to both squads to make them 10 strong... also, drop the lascannon from the 1st squad or else drop them down to only 6 men. right now you're wasting 8 bolters to shoot a tank - not a very good investment!
- i'd probably do the following with those tactical squads actually;
a) 5 marines including lascannon
b) 5 marines including special weapon & veteran sergeant
c) 10 marines including whatever...
this helps you get used to how the codex will be re-writen in about a year's time, plus it'll stay legal as you'll be getting the 'combat squads' rule!+++

Devastators: 4 marines, 4 missile launchers, 1 sarge with bolter.

+++ needs a few for bodies to act as ablative wounds for those rocket launchers... right now you can only suffer 1 casulty before losing a big gun! and your devs will alway attract alot of enemy attention!+++

Veteran squad 1: 8 veterans, sarge (upgraded to apothecary), term honors, power fist/stormbolter, heavy bolter and plasma gun. infiltrate for skill

Veteran squad 2: 8 veterans, sarge (upgraded to apothecary), term honors, power fist/stormbolter, plasma gun and multi-melta. Infiltrate for skill.

+++ vets are ment more for assault than shooting really... keep the bolters & special weapons, but i'd trade out those heavy weapons for either a pair of lightning claws or else an extra power fist!+++

1x predator annihilator, heavy bolter sponsons.


1x rhino, smoke launchers.

+++ which squad is it for? as a dedicated transport you must assign it to a specific squad...+++

Alrighty, that was a 1500 point go. As I understand the rules it makes sense, please clue me in on any combinations that are bad. I took the 2 vets because the apothecary upgrade with the purity trait can be taken by them, and because they can get the save from the other trait. Thanks for reading!!

hope this helps,
cheers!

[Lord Commander Erus]

I'd drop the 'uphold the honor' for 'cleanse and purify' or 'honor your wargear'. Those are better traits for a shooty army, imho. 'purity above' and 'cleanse & purify' together make a DEADLY army when combined with drop pods or used with foot sloggers. It's actually a fairly popular tourney list. I'll see if I can dig one of the ones I used a while back.

[nova9]

Yes, there were a couple big questions I wasn't sure about.

1. With the ability to upgrade a sarge to an apothecary, I wasn't sure if I could then still buy terminator honors for him to gain access to the armory. (this is also why I kept the units large, so I had to buy less apothecary's ).

2. If I needed more body's for the devastators.

The power fists on all my guys weren't complimented by a pistol because the fluff in my chapter has them disliking close combat (but the fist I go just in case a vehicle or unit reaches them). This also fits in with the "honour the emperor" trait, where the veterans and HQ could gain a 6+ invul save against shooting only. I envisioned them deploying 18 inches (or 12 if theres cover about that) from a heavy weapons squad or ordanace vehicle ect (something squishy and stationary) and just raining down fire on them. With a 6+ invul save in the open to give them something against plasma and such, and an apothecary to negate a wound in 3 of my 5 squads, I figured they could really take a beating while just firing away.

[Lord Commander Erus]

Originally Posted by nova9

Yes, there were a couple big questions I wasn't sure about.

1. With the ability to upgrade a sarge to an apothecary, I wasn't sure if I could then still buy terminator honors for him to gain access to the armory. (this is also why I kept the units large, so I had to buy less apothecary's ).

2. If I needed more body's for the devastators.

The power fists on all my guys weren't complimented by a pistol because the fluff in my chapter has them disliking close combat (but the fist I go just in case a vehicle or unit reaches them). This also fits in with the "honour the emperor" trait, where the veterans and HQ could gain a 6+ invul save against shooting only. I envisioned them deploying 18 inches (or 12 if theres cover about that) from a heavy weapons squad or ordanace vehicle ect (something squishy and stationary) and just raining down fire on them. With a 6+ invul save in the open to give them something against plasma and such, and an apothecary to negate a wound in 3 of my 5 squads, I figured they could really take a beating while just firing away.

The only flaw there is that 6+ is ONLY against shooting. You get up against a good assaulty/mixed tactics army, and you're going to be veeeery hard pressed to stay alive. Hence why I suggested 'Cleanse' or 'Honor' traits. With honor, you can take devs as elites I think. With cleanse, you can take 2x of: plasma, flamers, or meltas (in your case i'd take the plasma).

Combine that with drop pod or marching a unit up, and you have something rather nasty! The Apothecary-Sergeants keep your units alive, and though everything is only 24", anything approaching the unit is going to get a hail of fire quite difficult to survive even for SM. And with the high str/low ap of the plasma, even terminators or light armored vehicles will learn to be wary.

Plus, imagine all those units churning out 2x times the shots within 12 inches due to 'rapid fire'.... It's just deadly, really it is. Very little can survive that besides MEQ armies, and even then they're going to take a nasty beating!!!

I really would drop a marine squad or so, flesh out the devs fully, and if you take the 'Cleanse' option, pop apothecaries into all the squads, boost them to 10, and take 4x plasma cannon devs!!!

[nova9]

Oooh! I do like plasma cannons, very good idea. The wording on the "cleanse" trait had me confused, made it seem like you were paying extra for the weapons. By the way, I never saw it stated specifically but does the reductor/narthicum the apothocary's carry take up an arm?? Can I still use a bolter and a power fist, or even just a bolter... I was confused as to if they had anything else BUT that.

[Word Bearer 81007]

I don't believe the reductor/narthicum actually takes up any hand space. though i may be wrong. pretty sure i'm not though

[Dan296]

you would get plasma guns, not cannons
but still rapid fireing 2 plasma guns is awesome. though you have a higher chance of overheating, you have the apothecary to help out!

[experiment 626]

Originally Posted by nova9

The power fists on all my guys weren't complimented by a pistol because the fluff in my chapter has them disliking close combat (but the fist I go just in case a vehicle or unit reaches them). This also fits in with the "honour the emperor" trait, where the veterans and HQ could gain a 6+ invul save against shooting only. I envisioned them deploying 18 inches (or 12 if theres cover about that) from a heavy weapons squad or ordanace vehicle ect (something squishy and stationary) and just raining down fire on them. With a 6+ invul save in the open to give them something against plasma and such, and an apothecary to negate a wound in 3 of my 5 squads, I figured they could really take a beating while just firing away.

- keep in mind though by taking the 'honor the emperor' trait, those units *never* gain proper cover saves! honestly, cover saves trump 'honour the emperor' 99.9% of the time... with infiltrate, it's easily possible to get them at least a 5+ cover save or even a 4+ cover save depending on what kinds of terrain are about!

- while your chapter may have a disdain for close combat, a storm bolter is pretty useless for non-termie characters... go for a combi-gun instead for the extra plasma or melta shot! it also shows that the chapter has more ancient and reveared technology, futher emphising their arrogent nature!

- most importantly, make sure your squads are all even-numbered for scoring unit purposes!!! scoring units are what win or lose you a game.

cheers!

[Lord Commander Erus]

Originally Posted by Dan296

you would get plasma guns, not cannons
but still rapid firing 2 plasma guns is awesome. though you have a higher chance of overheating, you have the apothecary to help out!

I meant put the plasma cannons on the devastator squads! You can have 4x on those types of units. And, for the sarges, give them combi plasma, and give plasma pistol to HQs, and etc.. You then have a unifying theme, and a devastating army that will be FUN to play too.

Trust me, i've played with this type of set up (a friends army, but it is beautiful to play none the less). And with this army, when you win, you win BIG.

[nova9]

Plasma is a beautiful thing, the only problem I have with the combo weapons is I could only fire it 1 time , the cool part. Has anyone used the mine laying whirlwind option? It may help with me not getting assaulted, maybe??

[experiment 626]

Originally Posted by nova9

Plasma is a beautiful thing, the only problem I have with the combo weapons is I could only fire it 1 time , the cool part. Has anyone used the mine laying whirlwind option? It may help with me not getting assaulted, maybe??

- the combi-weapon is still very much worth it; you simply need to pick the most oppertune moment! (ie: when that hive tyrant strays a wee bit too close )

- the mine laying option is stupidly gross... you can pretty much dictate which paths your opponent will now take and set-up fire traps to support it!
if an opponent does chance going over the minefield, then odds are a few of those fields will go off at some point!

more than anything it's pure annoyance value! for example, laying some mines in front of the objective building during a take and hold mission!

cheers!