The 5th Element - Mud

[Vedrial]

Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind. The four elements which comprise the basic army types. Fire strikes hard and fast. Earth outlasts the opponent. Wind dances around its foe picking it to pieces. Water responds to the actions of the opponent, then crashes upon them like a wave.

 

I hereby suggest a 5th element be added to the mix; mud. Now, before you go thinking that mud is simply a combination of earth and water, it isn't. Although it most closely identifies with earth, and shares some common elements with water, Mud is a style all it's own.

 

The overriding objective is simple for a Mud army: disrupt the enemy's plans and mow them down while the are caught in the murky mire of mud. All lists aim to do list, water most of all, but for Mud, it's very essence is making the enemy wonder who would ever come up with such a rediculous strategy.

 

One last thing about Mud. If a list is specifically tailored to fight Mud, then Mud is almost gauranteed to get baked, dried up, washed away, or returned to the earth. In other words, when it fails, it's going to fail spectacularly. But you'll probably have a good time doing it.

 

This isn't meant for competitive play. This is meant, for me, to be fun. It also has many seconary objectives. It is a cheap list to build. It uses models that I love. It allows me to use up some models that I never would otherwise (I'm looking at you Gandalf!). It actually has a solid fluff story to it. I'm going to get lots of wierd looks, and I imagine a curse word or two. Bottom line, I'm really, really excited to build this!!!

 

So without further delay, I present, in the next post, the army list of my Muddy force. And muddy it is.

[Vedrial]

The List

 

HQ

 

120

Master of the Forge

Conversion Beamer

 

205

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Lord

2 Mystics

1 Sage

3 Gun-Servitors w/ Heavy Bolters

Psycannon

Psychic Hood

Targeter

Auspex

Word of the Emperor

 

:) Elite

 

180

Dreadnaught

Plasma Cannon

Twin-Linked Autocannon

Drop Pod

Deathwind Launcher

 

180

Dreadnaught

Plasma Cannon

Twin-Linked Autocannon

Drop Pod

Deathwind Launcher

 

180

Dreadnaught

Plasma Cannon

Twin-Linked Autocannon

Drop Pod

Deathwind Launcher

 

:P Troops

 

225

10-man Tactical Sqaud

Flamer

Missile Launcher

Drop Pod

Deathwind Launcher

 

190

10-man Scout Sqaud

Sniper Rifles x9

Heavy Bolter w/ Hellfire Bolts

Camo Cloaks

 

Fast Attack

 

90

Land Speeder

Typhoon Missile Launcher

 

90

Land Speeder

Typhoon Missile Launcher

 

Heavy Support

 

180

Dreadnaught

Plasma Cannon

Twin-Linked Autocannon

Drop Pod

Deathwind Launcher

 

180

Dreadnaught

Plasma Cannon

Twin-Linked Autocannon

Drop Pod

Deathwind Launcher

 

180

Dreadnaught

Plasma Cannon

Twin-Linked Autocannon

Drop Pod

Deathwind Launcher

[Vedrial]

Unit Choices

 

I would like to take a moment to preempt a number of responses to this thread. First and foremost, to the mods, the list is posted not to review the list, but to offer it as a base for the tactics that this army will be using, and to explain my own tactical practices. To any would would complain that the list is not optimal, or is not competitive, you should keep those comments to yourself. I know it isn't a tournament army. That isn't the point of this. This is simply the list I am using. If you feel doing something like this yourself, feel free to optimize it however you'd like.

 

Now, let's move on to the unit choices. Each unit is chosen in this list because it has the potential to do something that is in line with the Mud philosophy. Remember, Mud revolves around disrupting your opponents tactics to such an extent that, with the time you will have gained from disruption and distraction, you can sink your opponent.

 

120

Master of the Forge

Conversion Beamer

 

Ah, the Master of the Forge. A most odd Space Marine unit. He has three things that make him a great Mud choice; allowing 6 Dreadnaughts, fortify a ruin, and the the conversion beamer.

 

6 Dreads: The full discussion on the Dreadnaughts is below, but 2 points deserve to be repeated. First, I absolutely love the Dreadnaught model. Second, AoBR Dreads are cheap, and Forge World arms are relatively inexpensive as well. Great looking, cheap model that fits into the list? I think yes.

 

Fortify Ruin: This ability has 2 key uses. It can give the Scouts a 2+ cover save if they set up in the fortified ruin, or can provide a nice base for the Inquisitor and his retinue. Multiple uses, each is rooted in an earth technique, one of the aspects of Mud.

 

Conversion Beamer: Probably one of my favorite weapons in the game, simple because of the reason that it is stronger the father away a unit is. This is very different from pretty much any other 40k weapon, and is great for Mud. With Mud, your goal is to trap the enemy as far away as possible, and if that goal is successful, then the full power of the conversion beamer (and it can be extremely powerful) is brought to bear.

 

205

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Lord

2 Mystics

1 Sage

3 Gun-Servitors w/ Heavy Bolters

Psycannon

Psychic Hood

Targeter

Auspex

Word of the Emperor

 

Say what?!? 205 points for an Inquisitor Lord? Are you straight up nuts? Probably, yes. But just look at how fun he is.

 

2 Mystics: With a Mystic, any unit that deep strikes within 4D6 of the Inquisitor gets a 'free' round of shooting against it the moment it lands, before it gets to act. With 1 Mystic, the Inquisitor's unit shoots. If there are 2 Mystics, however, the player can nominate any unit within 12" of the Inquisitor's unit to shoot. Imagine the possibilities. Drop Pods come thundering down from the skies. Sternguard Veterans pour out, bolters and combi-meltas at the ready. As they load up their specialized ammo, and draw a bead on the nearest Dreadnaught... 3 Heavy Bolters fired at BS 4 and a Psycannon fired at BS 5 tear into the unit. Or, sniper rifles target their weak points, sending the unit scurrying for cover as Hellfire bursts in their midst. Needless to say, deep striking becomes a highly risky strategy to get close to this Mud army.

 

Auspex: A similar idea as the Mystics, only this option covers infiltrators. Sneaky scouts will learn the true meaning of AP4 ignores cover saves coming from a BS 5 Psycannon.

 

Word of the Emperor: Go ahead, get close and charge us. But first, take a moral check. What's the matter Orks? Did the long walk through plasma and bolter fire remove your fearlessness?

 

It's an incredibly tactical unit that brings on serious firepower the table. 3 Heavy Bolters and a Psycannon is the real deal, and with the ability to seriously hurt deep strikers and infiltrators, getting close becomes a much more difficult task.

 

180

Dreadnaught

Plasma Cannon

Twin-Linked Autocannon

 

The Dreadnaugt is, in my opinion, one of the coolest looking models that Space Marines have access to. An ancient and venerated warrior forever entombed inside a walking sarcophogus that's armed to the teeth? Sign me up.

 

I think the weapon choice is self explanatory. Twin-Linked Autocannons kill transports and light armor, plain and simple, and the Plasma just gaurantees it. The Plasma rocks MEQ's, while the Autocannon provides a little weight-of-dice assisstance.

 

Another great use for the Dreads, and a key reason why they're in the list, is that they make excellent tarpits. A single dread can tarpit an entire mob of Ork Boyz for a few turns, and the Nob's PK is the only weapon capable of hurting it.

 

Tarpiting becomes an awesome strategy in an objectives game, after the enemy army has advanced to your side of the table, you tarpit them with the Dreads while the Tactical Sqaud drops back in their deployment zone to grab the objective, scouts hold your own, and Land Speeders zip away to contest others.

 

Drop Pod

Deathwind Launcher

 

Probably one of the biggest :cuss units in the army. Why would I spend over 350 points on Drop Pods with Deathwind? It sounds even more crazy when I tell you that, unless the enemy is heavily investing in long range artillary (I'm looking at you, IG!), then not a single Dread will be dropping, and the first turn will bring down 4 empty Drop Pods.

 

But think about it. You have to get from where you are to the enemy to stop him from shooting at you, because he's not coming to you. But you have the drop pods in the way. Are you just going to ignore them and get at the rest of the army? If yes, then you just forgot about 4 strength 5 pie plates in your ranks as you run past the pods. Suddenly, that wasn't such a smart idea. But what if you engage the pods? Well, you can kill them no problem, but you just opened yourself up to another round of shooting by all the dreads, the scouts, the heavy bolters, the psycannon, and the Typhoon Missile Launchers.

 

These "speed bumps" are more like the spikes that stop you from going into the exit gate, only right in your path. Avoid them and you can't get where you need to go. Ignore them, and your going to need new tires.

 

But their use doesn't end there. Remember earlier when we talked about preventing deep strikers and infiltrators? Those are the two main ways enemies are going to get close, but there are more. Namely, Outflaking. The Drop Pods can effectively shut off a table edge and prevent your enemy from outflanking you. They may have to outflank on the other side of the board or in their own deployment zone, negating the entire advantage of the Outflanking manuever.

 

Many, many fun uses. They're awesome for a laugh and fit in perfectly with the theme of the army. The enemy movements are sure to be messed with thanks to these. And if you're feeling ballsy, you can always drop your gunline somewhere where your opponent won't want it to be, and infiltrate your scouts with them. Sure, it splits up your force, but it also splits the targets for your opponent to engage.

 

Looking at it from a tactical perspective and as the theme of the army, these things are awesome!

 

10-man Tactical Sqaud

Flamer

Missile Launcher

 

Gotta have a scoring unit somewhere, right? :P

 

10-man Scout Sqaud

Sniper Rifles x9

Heavy Bolter w/ Hellfire Bolts

Camo Cloaks

 

Pinning low Ld enemies, wounding MC's, and being a hard unit to shoot of an objective make these guys a great addition to a Mud army.

 

90

Land Speeder

Typhoon Missile Launcher

 

The Land Speeders serve 2 purposes. The Typhoon Missiles can do some serious damage if allowed to keep firing (don't forget the heavy bolter, also). Also, they can contest objectives on the last turn if they're still alive. And if they get shot, then they diverted fire from the more heavily armed Dreadnaughts. In this perticular list, I see few drawbacks and many perks to them.

[Vedrial]

Let's Talk Tactics

 

This Mud army has several huge strengths:

 

1.) Massive amounts of ranged dakka.

 

2.) Tactical flexibility (within their niche).

 

3.) Defense though disruption and distraction.

 

4.) The ability to keep soft, hard hitting units alive.

 

6.) Psychic powers have a high chance to be nullified.

 

There are also glaring weaknesses:

 

1.) Lack of strong anti-tank. AV14 will definitely be a problem.

 

2.) Less range than a "real" shooty army (Tau).

 

3.) Enemies succeeding to get into assault range.

 

4.) Over 350 points less of actual units due to drop pods.

 

The advantages give Mud a great shot against most balanced lists. CC specialists will have a hard time getting into assaults, and will be severely weakened once they get there. Ranged specialists will often face suprises that they are not equipped for, such as the tactical sqaud dropping on them or Deathwind Launchers in their faces.

 

I think the single greatest strong point that Mud has is the ability to deny mobility to their opponent, while not needing it for themselves, or conserving it until it becomes necessary. As previously discussed, Mud makes deep strike, infiltrate, and outflank risky, if not impossible. Twin-Linked Autocannons are practically built for popping transports on turn 1, especially when there are 6 of them.

 

Your oppenent, then, must footslog their way through fire to get to your side. This is made even more difficult by continuously dropping pods, the initial wave of pods, pinning sniper rifles, and Dreadnaughts to tarpit once the walk is over.

 

I believe that Mud falls outside of the typical conception of a 40k battle, as it does not attempt to out-manuever the enemy. It simply seeks to deny manueverability to all, and allow the superior ranged firepower found in the Mud list to overwhelm the enemy.

 

Remember, above all, this is designed to be fun. If the distraction and disruption is performed effectively, I could see this being a very hard force to beat. It might result in a cheesy game, leaving your opponent with a bitter taste in their mouth. You also have a high chance of getting face stompted. But, in the end, that's what makes this appealing to me. The result will be determined by how my uncanny moves confuse and disorient the enemy, making him unable to emloy his normal tactics. If the opponent can adapt on the fly, then their chances of winning significantly increase, but I can see one dimensional armys having a hard time against Mud.

 

Questions, comments, and criticism are greatly appreciated. Tell me what tactics you would use against this using your army! I'd love the chance to pound out some specific strategies!

[Tutteman]

...Okay...now that looks FUN! I'd love to face a drop pod army if I had that force.

[Steve Irwin]

Looks interesting, I would give it a try, but I only have three Dreadnoughts...

 

On another note...

"Sneaky scouts will learn the true meaning of AP4 ignores cover saves coming from a BS 5 Psycannon."

Psycannons do not ignore cover saves. They only ignore invulnerable saves.

 

Cheers

Steve

[Jackelope King]

Looks interesting, but from personal experience (and much to my dismay), the good ol' days of Sniper Rifles are long since past. Everyone and their grandmother is either going to be immune to pinning or very difficult to pin anyway (unless you're the new Imperial Guard). You have a harder time wounding lighter targets with sniper rifles than with bolters (which will at least deny most Guard and Orks their armor save). And any Monstrous Creature worth its salt is going to be able to pass the average of 2.3 saves you're going to force it to take before the hellfire heavy bolter (which really does a nice job of helping to force at least one wound onto the big bugs). Beyond extended carapaces on Tyranid big bugs, a missile launcher probably will do the job a little bit better. Bolters, being able to fire just 12" less at long range and rapid fire at closer ranges are just pound for pound killier under most circumstances.

 

That said, Scouts in a fortified building really can eat an absolutely insane amount of firepower. They're still toughness 4 and have what amounts to a 2+ invuln. A smart opponent will either ignore the Scouts (who aren't very killy anyway) or, if they're sitting on an objective, just stroll on in and kill them in close combat, where they're back to a 4+ armor save and WS 3. Fortified Scouts really fit how you describe this strategy, though, as either they'll sit there and soak up all the firepower your opponent throws at them laughing or they'll be ignored and fail spectacularly.

[Vedrial]

Looks interesting, I would give it a try, but I only have three Dreadnoughts...

 

On another note...

"Sneaky scouts will learn the true meaning of AP4 ignores cover saves coming from a BS 5 Psycannon."

Psycannons do not ignore cover saves. They only ignore invulnerable saves.

 

Cheers

Steve

 

Looks like I may have taken the "only armor saves may be taken against a Psycannon" a little too literally. And I just read the FAQ on that. =)

 

Otherwise, This army is meant to be relatively affordable. An AoBR Dread can be picked up for near nothing on Ebay. Don't pay more than 12 bucks and you're good. The Forgeworld arms are £6.85 a piece. Granted, not cheap, but nothing in 40k is. You can convert and customize those Dreads pretty easily to make them all unique, which, for me, is one of the best parts of the hobby.

 

The MotF is going to be a fun conversion to do. The Inquisitor Lord is primarily coming out of the SM commander box.

 

Your biggest expense is 7 Drop Pods. That'll hurt the wallet, but then, they do have such an awesome use, it's worth it.

 

On another note, what would everyone do if this list came at you using your standard army?

[ShinyRhino]

On another note, what would everyone do if this list came at you using your standard army?

 

All power to the meltaguns!

I'm a melta fanboi. I like my multimelta attack bikes, bikers with meltaguns, and meltabombs on my tactical sergeants. Plus my one multimelta Dread. I'd try to weather the storm of incoming fire, and get close with my melta shots. I also run three Tacticals in Rhinos, so I'd charge forward to your objective(s) wit those and hope I can mix it up in CC before the Dreads hit me.

[Vedrial]

On another note, what would everyone do if this list came at you using your standard army?

 

All power to the meltaguns!

I'm a melta fanboi. I like my multimelta attack bikes, bikers with meltaguns, and meltabombs on my tactical sergeants. Plus my one multimelta Dread. I'd try to weather the storm of incoming fire, and get close with my melta shots. I also run three Tacticals in Rhinos, so I'd charge forward to your objective(s) wit those and hope I can mix it up in CC before the Dreads hit me.

 

What would you do about the 4 Drod Pods w/ Deathwind between your forces and mine? Would you get close, melta them, then continue on to my force, or just drive around them, weathering the pie plates on your bikes?

[Vel'Cona]

Very fun looking list, especially the old school Dread horde. It DOES have a good mix of firepower units, and would probably overwhelm most conventional MEQ players. That said, I believe even a dumb IG player with a single MotF would demolish this list. If he took two, well you get the idea. Which is bad timing for you I guess :) On another tack, I'd also like to note you have a LOT of one shot KP for your opponent to earn.

However, 6 Dreads is hyper cool, so kudos anyway!

[ShinyRhino]

What would you do about the 4 Drod Pods w/ Deathwind between your forces and mine? Would you get close, melta them, then continue on to my force, or just drive around them, weathering the pie plates on your bikes?

 

What are the stats of the Deathwind template again? I know it's only a 12" range, and that it scatters. I'd probably risk driving by, firing meltas at them as I pass. AV12 all around isn't bad, but meltas within half range, PLUS the Melta rule, PLUS open-topped pods made for some exploding pods for free killpoints if we're in Annihilation. If not, I destroy them as targets of opportunity as along as the hits are S5 or less. I'd trust in my T5 on bikes and 3+ armour saves.

 

The stinker about Deathwinds is that they don't fire the turn they land, and that awful 12" range. With bikes, i can skirt that 12" range until I'm ready to shoot them, or move on by. I can start 13" away, turbo boost 24", and then take either my 3+ armor or 3+ cover save against any hits.

 

I feel the Deathwinds are the best in Seize Ground scenarios. You can land them on or near an objective, and make it a real pain to capture that spot without taking some casualties or dedicating some heavy weapons. Just watch out for mechanized troops units inside a transport. AFAIK, the Deathwind was S5, whcih won't do a ton to a Rhino. Your opponent will roll up to the objective inside the tank. Then, if they have an anti-tank weapon in there, blast away at the pod from relative safety til it pops. If they don't have an anti-tank option (the missile launcher died, or they have a flamer instead of melta/plasma), they'll spill the troops out, weather one blast from the Deathwind, and assault with krak grenades or meltabombs that will auto-hit. Even worse would be a powerfist on the charge.

So, if you face a mech list, make crippling the transports a prime priority to keep those objectives contested. Of course, you could always drop the Dreads IN those pods and make taking those objectives even tougher. the S10 DCCW hit on a Rhino will open it like a tin can, everytime!

 

I really love your list and think it'd be great fun both to play and to face off against. I'm two dreads short of emulating it!

[Paulochromis]

Very interesting.

If you want to deny mobility/make it hard for CC armies to approach, can't you use cluster mines?

Also swap a Dread for a Whirlwind and use the less common munitions type to the same end?

 

Cheers, Paul.

[BoonKin]

A very nice concept and armylist. I wont mind a go if I had 6 dreadnoughts ;)

 

Looks to me the bane of this list would be assault/close range specialists. But as you said youself, a tailored army would perhaps have an easy day on this.

 

However saying that, it would be interesting to see how this list fare against all-rounder armies out there.

[ShinyRhino]

Very interesting.

If you want to deny mobility/make it hard for CC armies to approach, can't you use cluster mines?

Also swap a Dread for a Whirlwind and use the less common munitions type to the same end?

 

Cheers, Paul.

 

Honestly, cluster mines are neat, but ineffective. It's one hit per model. Then you have to roll to wound. And they're one-shot deals. You toss a tough or expendable unit into that minefield first to trip the mines (Grots or Nobz, Conscripts or Ogryns, etc etc), and you're golden for the rest of the game.

CC oriented armies typically have plenty of gribblies they can use to set the mines off, or high enough Toughness on the heavy hitters to make the hits laughable. One hit on a Carnifex that still has to wound? Not even noticable. Mech armies would just zoom around the terrain pieces anyways.

 

It's very hard to deter a CC army from movng forward, and I think this is part of game balance. Anything that works in melee needs Fearlessness and/or a transport to get it to the fight with minimal casualties, so that's what they're given. Bothof those things totally mitigate any threat generated by the Deathwind or the Cluster Mines.

[Skoby]

Clustermines arent 1 hit per model but 2d6 hits on the first unit (friend or foe) to move into the terrain, normally I wouldn't bother with this unit but I think it would work better than the landspeeders in your list, first of all the opposition doesn't know which terrain has been trapped which may force them to consider taking the long way round rather than risk terrain, secondly I don't see anything which prevents you boobytrapping the ruins you sit your scout/inquisitor in, the traps won't be triggered until the cover is "moved into" and only effects the unit that triggers it. Both these squads are vulnerable to being assaulted and as soon as the enemy assaults through the terrain they will be hit by 2d6 attacks. Also stick a meltabomb on the sergeant and with their infiltrate rule and scout move then if you get first turn you can get a first turn assault where the meltabomb auto hits. Of course it's your decision but I feel that they would really suit this style of play.

 

Overall it looks like a very interesting list to play and that it could prove effective against certain lists and most players wont have seen a list like it. You will struggle against AV14 and highly mobile armies tho.

[Marlow]

I enjoyed reading that it was interesting and fun. It is a nice army and if I owned Drop Pods I would propably give it a try. With so many armies using alternative deployment methods the Inquisitor and his retinue offer a very nice disruption.

 

What would you do about the 4 Drod Pods w/ Deathwind between your forces and mine? Would you get close, melta them, then continue on to my force, or just drive around them, weathering the pie plates on your bikes?

Depending on how you deplyed them I would either turboboost Bikes past them or concentrate on Shoot/Assault one in the middle to create me a corridor to drive through.

 

I am not convinced my the Deathwing Launchers. They can not shoot the turn the pod arrived and with Open Topped & Immobilised even a glace has a 50% chance to take out the gun making them just terrain. If you dropped the Launchers from half the pods you could take an extra unit or Sgt Tellion for the Scouts. He would help far more with your "Mud" principle of disruption since he can target individual models (which is what snipers should be able to do).

 

Dreadnaughts are one of my favorite units. However without their DCCW they are very weak in melee and I am not sure if Tanks work out better? There weakness is not being able to move and fire all weapons. Whereas not being locked in melee can be a benifit for a unit designed just for shooting.

Dreadnaught w/ Plasma Cannon & TL Autocannon (125 Points) or Predator Tank w/ Autocannon & Lascannon Sponsons (120 Points)