First game in 12 years coming...

[Chaos Lord Shamrockius]

I ask the question already really knowing the answer but I ask it anyway...

 

I am playing at a local store on a newbies game night where it is mainly to play and know the new rules (haven't played in the best part of 15 years) and have put together a 2,000 point force to play against another new guys IG force. I have all 4 squads with transport, a Sorcerer Lord and 4 Termies to deep strike, 2 dreads (I know how people feel about them but I have them from 100 years ago and not much else to make up 2k), a land raider and a mish mash predator (lc turret and hb sponsons).

 

Oh, 1 squad is 5 PMs and 1 is 10 Berzerkers.

 

Before I go in to the detail of total wargear, please could people tell me what is needed to make this a competitive first game and not the dark marines being sent back to the eye with their ass handed to them on a very dented silver platter.

 

I don't want feedback as "you need to drop this, get that, change this, do this to this squad..." etc as i don't have anything else to take. I also don't have any money or time to paint up anything to replace anything currently on there.

 

I generally want to know what I can do with what I have. I have the idea of getting everything in close to the troops while certain bits sit and shoot at any tanks etc (dreads and pred).

 

Personally, think I'm screwed due to only having 4 flamers within my whole army. And I mean flamers, not heavy flamers or such. One is mounted on the Berzerkers rhino (combi), and one is a combi on a termie.

 

In a positive note, I'm leaving my bikes at home... Partly cos only 2 are finished. And partly cos I do not need a smoke screen created by bikes exploding.

 

Thanks for any feedback. And if you just want to say "yup... Screwed!" I'd like that...

[the jeske]

remember game objectives . if its is kill points do be afraid to run way or hit the ground in last turns. if its objectives remeber that if you cant win you can always make your opponent not win too. . cover in 5th ed is way way better then it was before . +4save against ap 2 or lower means that even , if 10 guys get hit by a demolisher ,5 should[techniclly be still standing] , las canons are no longer optimal hvy support [unless your IG and can run 13+ without gimping the anti horde part of the army] . this has some important ramifications . first this means to wipe a unit of meq in cover tons of fire power are needed. so it is no longer one unit vs one unit , you need 2-3 units [or combos like lash+oblits] to hurt units enough.

the second thing is rhinos , DP and in your case dreads are all moving cover for your own troops and each other . use it .

 

and if the game is tailored list vs tailored list your screwed . IG are an ok army now[they sucked before this dex] in all round games , but in tailored ones its a world of difference. there is no list that can be tailored better against other armies in whole w40k.

[Chaos Lord Shamrockius]

Thanks Jeske. My main worry was getting spanked, feeling lower than whale dirt and walking home, never wanting to return. It won't be a tailored list style of game as we will be taking what we have. Hence my list is what it is.

[chillin]

Don't think you're screwed at all. Like jeske sz keep game objectives in mind the whole time (not just the last round), get your guys in hth using cover and smk, rinos behind LR, spear tip (concentrate most/all of your army on part of his, his army will pretty much fill his whole deployment zone, once you hit part of it, his own guys and vehicles will be in his own way. You will lose guys on the way in, dont sweat it.

DS sorc in is bad idea IMO, I would but him in LR.

Just have fun and don't worry about if you lose, you haven't played in 12 yrs (what was that 3rd ed. ?), you're not going to come back and win every game. :D

[minigun762]

Also remember that all Marines (except Thousand Sons) come standard with Krak Grenades and that you assault rear armor now. That means assault his vehicles and you're using a S6 weapon against AV10, AV11 at best.

 

Which reinforces the basic plan for Chaos Marines against IG:

Assault tanks, assault infantry, assault as much as you can with as many squads as you can

[Chaos Lord Shamrockius]

Thanks. I sort of thought what I had would mean hth asap. I was gonna use the LR for the PMs as I don't have a rhino for them... My only other option is to give them the KB rhino and give the berzerkers the LR even they aren't in chapter colours. It's a mainly BL army so sharing may be ok.

 

My first wave/expendable troop was going to be my BLs with 2 plasmas as I'm not too worried about losing them, and reassessment of my excuse for maths shows I can only take 1 dread...

 

Next question, do I take the TL heavy bolter or the plasma cannon armed dread?

[chillin]

. I was gonna use the LR for the PMs as I don't have a rhino for them... My only other option is to give the berzerkers the LR

My first wave/expendable troop was going to be my BLs with 2 plasmas as I'm not too worried about losing them,

Next question, do I take the TL heavy bolter or the plasma cannon armed dread?

 

Brzrkrs in LR always. They're the ones that get FC if they assault, it doesn't matter if PM's assault or not.

Why is the dual plaz squad expendable ?? It's a good squad. Termicide is expendable, 200 pt csm squads are not.

Also you do not attack in "waves". That allows your enemy to take you apart piecemill, and is autolose. You go with everything all at once, like I said with rinos behind LR, don't forget to use smk. If terrain blocks part of his army from seeing to the opposite flank, don't advance up the whole front, advance up one flank, leaving part of his army useless.

As for the dreads weops, I don't think it matters too much, both would be good vs IG. the PC b/c they will be pack in like sardines so it'll be hard to miss. The HB b/c it's direct fire and it wounds on a 2+ and defeats all IG body armor anyway. I think I would go w/ HB b/c it's direct fire, if that PC template drifts over onto to a tank, it's not going to do much to it. Also you can combine it with HB fire from pred (but not if pred should be firing TL LC at a tank instead), that's 9 HB shots, that could easily break a IG unit in 1 round if they are not in cover.

.

good luck, let us know what happens.

[Nehekhare]

bring the wepons you need, which depends on the kind of guard army you're up against. In the days of yore, IG meant a few very good tanks and lots of infantry. While this is still viable, the addition of the valkyrie, guardsmen come in flexible, fast to redeploy tin boxes.

"old" guard regiments may be easily tricked by the refused flank maneuver - with so many men they have a hard time to leave space in their deployment zone unused, so you can concentrate on one part at a time. IG Mech not so much: lots of melta/plasma veterans in chimeras, plus the obligatory tanks.

Numbers and thick armor make a guard army quite resilient, while insane numbers of flashlights give even terminators a hard time. But you rule the melee phase.

my advise is to fight fire with fire and also rely on mech and numbers. the good old rhino brings your troops to the enemy and protects them from pie plates anmd lasguns. Don't worry about not being able to assault - just park your tank in front of their troops and assault from the immobile tank next round. land raiders will fall to melta veterans.

the average chaos marine is enough for any number of guardsmen as long as he stays in melee. so look out to wipe out squads only in his melee phase. and pack meltaguns against his tanks. flamers will make conquering fortified positions easier, assault is easy enough.

against his transports: obliterators, reducing his mobility by long range anti-tank fire is the first thing to do. afterwards, hit his artillery tanks.

against his tanks: meltaguns, at least one unit og CSM in a rhino, champ with combimelter/PFist. plague marines are even better, as they withstand all the lasgun fire.

against his troops: melee, flamers and maybe two defiler pie plates.

bring a daemon prince also, tzeentch, warptime + wind of chaos. he's a bit over the top, but he WILL draw a lot of fire from your troops.

good luck :)

[Damocles]

I would say that the most important objective of your game is to use the rules reasonably well without becoming annoyed or frustrated. I know that for myself it was weird playing 5th edition recently after playing 4e for years, and my first games had me asking GW staff questions, questioning my opponent about his forces and trying to remember that units can actually see through forests. Obviously you don't want to get wrecked game-wise, but it's better to get destroyed and remember what rules were important and then analyze the game for future strategy then try to play competitively in an unsure environment.

 

Welcome back to the hobby, you'll definitely get the hang of it soon enough.

[Requiemnex]

Completely true..

 

Myself I played back in 2nd edition.. Had the codex and everything. I still field several chaos minis from back in that gametime.. Shorter and stumpier.. So then shortly before 5th edition came out I started playing again with my friend who actually used to work at GW. He would wipe the floor with me frequently.. Eventually I got the hang of my units and the new rules as so much had changed.. I think he has tied me one game in the last 6 months. The rest I have shown ultramarines that their corpse god is not around to help them.

[Chaos Lord Shamrockius]

Thanks guys, less than 2 weeks away your help for the most part has been helpful.

 

I do need to focus, on the night, that it will be about playing to learn the rules. I'm just wary of how if i get shot back to the warp in 2 turns I'm possibly going to strop back there and throw the dark gods "the bird" on my way. I am looking forward to it and now that I have my list finalised (to a degree), I just have the job left to paint, paint, paint to finish and bulk out squads.

 

I think I'll make a judgement call on the night, dependant on his artilery to troops ratio as to whether to field the PC dread or the HB dread.

 

Thanks again for all advice. Will post on here on 4th or 5th Dec as to the outcome... Lets hope it's a victory for the dark lords... there are no "friendlies" when in service of those who control the warp.