Taking on a Dreadnought themed SM army

[Toogeloo]

Recently went up against a SM army that just absolutely devastated my army since it is entirely mechanized.

 

His List:

 

Master of the Forge with close combat build attached to

Tactical squad in a Drop Pod with Flamer and Multi-Melta

 

3 Dreadnoughts with TL Lascanons and Autocannons

1 Dreadnought with Multi-Melta and Heavy Flamer CCW

 

1 Iron Clad Dreadnought with Dual Heavy Flamers and seismic hammer in a Drop Pod

1 Iron Clad Dreadnought with Heavy Flamer and Meltagun seismic hammer in a Drop Pod

 

10 man scout squad with Sniper Rifles and Heavy Bolter

 

1 Attack Bike with Multi-Melta

 

 

 

When we set up Terrain, he makes sure that at least some Ruins are on the board in either deployment area so he can Bolster them with the MotF, then he puts ALL his non-dropped units inside the Ruins giving his Dreads a 3+ Cover save as well as his Scouts. With Drop Pod Assault, he can get his two Iron Clads close enough to pop vehicles or foot sloggers.

 

 

 

I play Sisters and my List is:

 

St Celestine

Squad of Seraphim, Vet with Eviscerator, 2 Hand Flamers

 

3 Exorcists

 

3 Squads of Battle Sisters in Rhinos with Flamer/Heavy Flamer

 

 

My list is supposed to be designed to handle all comers (Battle Sisters take on Infantry, Exorcists take on vehicles, Seraphim can do either).

 

 

 

 

I went up against this list last Friday and got absolutely owned, and it sounds as if I am going up against it either this next Friday or the Friday after that. It is a Ladder League we are playing in and we are not allowed to change up our lists. Problem I found I was having is his Twin-Linking Dreads can easily disable my Exorcists (even if it stops them from shooting) since almost all 3 shots connect and he has a high probability of at least glancing or penning (I do usually get a cover save, but he is very cunning trying to position his units to deny the save since my vehicles are large and easy to get a position to see over 50%). Then I still have to worry about Iron Clads, which can come in and torch Seraphim or pop tanks pretty quick as well. Let's not forget the distraction that is the Attack Bike too. The only Mission I can see having a small advantage over is Seize Ground, only because I have one more Scoring unit, but considering I almost got Massacred last Friday (I denied him killing 1 Battle Sister Squad and St Celestine, and one Exocist was still up and running with its weapon destroyed), I need to figure out a better counter to this army given my list.

 

 

I have considered holding my units in reserve so that his DPA has to come in blind and therefore leave me a bit of breathing room for one less thing to worry about, but I'm not entirely keen on the idea of my units coming in possibly 1 piece at a time. So what do you guys think? Is this gonna be a hard fight no matter how I look at it? The only things that can pop Iron Clads in my list are the Eviscerator and the Exorcists (and possibly St Celestine if I use Hand of the Emperor), mainly because I went with dual Flamer loadouts on my Battle Sisters instead of Meltagun/Heavy Flamer loadout.

[number6]

When we set up Terrain, he makes sure that at least some Ruins are on the board in either deployment area so he can Bolster them with the MotF, then he puts ALL his non-dropped units inside the Ruins giving his Dreads a 3+ Cover save as well as his Scouts.

Just to be clear, the rules for vehicular cover saves are not the same as for infantry. A vehicle gets a cover save only if at least 50% of the vehicle's hull is obscured from the viewpoint of the firing model(s). Just placing a dreadnought (or any other vehicle) in a piece of terrain is not enough to guarantee it a cover save. The hull must actually, physically, True-Line-of-Sightedly, be obscured before a save can be granted.

 

I don't know the Master of the Forge rules welll, but can his cover save reinforcement also benefit an obscured vehicle?

[GodwynDi]

A trick I use for mech heavy lists, that rely less on troops, is to just ditch some sisters and let them walk, use the rhinos as cover saves for the exorcists. It may only work for a turn or two, but those turns should be enough to allow the exorcists time to take out a few dreads. That is also why I generally prefer to run a canoness and celestian retinue with for two eviscerators.

[IronFather Tim]

you have no inferno/melta guns, the sarapham need the tl inferno pistols, and put a melts gun in the battle squads, keeping the heavy flamer,

if you can do it replace the rhino with the repressor,

what is the point value of the battle and is this apoc or tourney hammer rules.

 

Iron Father Tim

[Toogeloo]

First off, I cant change anything in the list, it's stagnant list 6-8 week ladder tourney. I designed it to take on vehicles to an extent but mostly to be able to take on the Orcs, Nids, Daemons and Foot sloggers in the store and still be able to handle itself for the most part in a mechanized fight (if I target the right things). Points value is 1500 and its standard rules, and no, Forge World is not allowed.

 

Putting TLIPs on the Seraphim removes its ability to tackle Horde/Footslog armies. Exorcists and Meltaguns (if I had any) are always more than enough for a fully mechanized army. What I should have done is dropped one Seraphim from the squad to give all my Battle Sisters Meltas instead of regular Flamers, but since I can't chnage my list, I need to figure out how to make it work as it is now.

 

I could try to avoid fighting him on the ladder and focus on other armies to try and get my position up.

 

 

 

The ladder works as follows:

 

To go up one spot on the ladder you must defeat someone higher than you with a Minor Victory or higher (or) you must Massacre/Table a player on the same level as you.

If you lose a fight, your position drops down one, except if you lost to someone higher than you (I think... a player may also drop down in this situation as well).

 

 

So I may just try to avoid fighting him if I can and focus on other players that are higher than me or those that are equal that I believe I can Massacre. It doesn't change the fact that I may end up going against him again in the coming weeks though, so I need to figure out how to counter him now so I am ready for it.

[Imperator Mos]

There's really not much you can do given your current list. More meltas would ruin his day, but...

[Brother Idaeus]

add Celestians for their heavy weapons choices, and ability to carry a few each squad. Retributers could actually do well this time too, take meltas and krak grenades. Are you playing pure SoB? Because you could consider SM or IG allies ( i take GK allies for the pride of it)

[Castigator]

I'd put your entire army in reserve, Deepstrike the Seraphim and the Saint (but not together) and keep the Sisters in their Rhinos until you're in position to take out his troops.

The Exorcist's ability to move on to the table and still fire should cause him no end of problems.

[templargdt]

the suggestion of placing everything in reserve is a good one. Alternatively, go second. Two of his drop pods will come down before you move on the table, and you will be able to avoid them for a while.

 

Use the mobility of the Rhinos and get a Sisters squad behind one of the Ironclads and rapid fire your bolt guns at the rear armor 10.