Enemies 101

[Shadowstalker Grim]

Alright theres only 7 left! Anyone care to add something into the others, as I don't know much about the rest...

[Shadowstalker Grim]

Blood Angels

 

How they play:

 

Blood Angels are a dangerous and powerful varient of regular marines, being very mobile and dangerous in close combat. This style of warfare makes them painfully dangerous, combining the toughness of a marine with the speed and melee capacity of other armies. This makes for a pretty tough combo that can happily tear chunks out of anything they come to. This means that they operate primarily at a short range and all of their army makes use of rapid movement.

 

Strengths:

 

Blood Angels are rapid troops and can take assault marines as standard troops, which is a big bonus as often assault marines contest in regular armies for better units, whilst in Blood Angels they can score and take up slots in the Troops section of the Force Organisation Chart. They can take regular troops on top of this along with getting several of their own unique and deadly units which can make good use of their own special rules to make them extra vicious. They also pack some very fearsome heroes who can help boost an army to an even more lethal level! Blood angels are very mobile, most units can take jump packs and their vehicles can move a lot faster, land raiders can even deepstrike to cause maximum carnage! The way that Blood angels fight means that they can quickly take out targets of choice and massacre unprepared units, especially since it means that they can draw on regular marine units to fight at longer ranges too, moving rapidly means they can get into their preferred positions rapidly and make excellent advantage of it. Blood angels are considerably tougher when you factor in sanguinary priests, who can help buff the army makes anything in the 6" radius around them benefit from Feel No Pain, which can make things a lot harder

 

 

Weaknesses:

 

Blood Angels are not infallable, because of their unique offshoot nature they are unable to take several units that are available to regular marines which in effect limits their capacity. Equally some of their units (such as death company) suffer from rage and therefore must run straight to the nearest target and cannot score. Many of their units are expensive to take and will eat into the points cost rapidly.

 

Things to watch for:

 

Assault Marines: These guys can be taken as regular troops, which is something much more worthwhile than regular marines assault marines as these guys can score and make use of a faster transport! Truly this unit is one of the embodiments of the Blood Angels

 

Sanguinary Priests: A 6" FNP boost can make things much harder if one of these is sitting in a land raider near by, making tough units even tougher to crack

 

Rapid Death: An army of death guard with Astorath the Grim may not be able to score, but it'll deal some horrific damage before it goes out, both fast and painfully dangerous it'll cause some real grief before it departs

[LardO'Blood]

Backtracking a bit, but how do I deal with a trygon at 750 points, with a relatively immobile army? From what I have seen and heard massed bolters don't cut it. I don't want answers like, "Be more mobile" because I am a teenager with limited money to spend on hobbies. And my only vehicles ATM are two scratch landraiders.

[Gearhead]

What are you running? Monsters hate Plasmaguns, and they're better than meltas at the job since they'll likely stip off two wounds at 12" instead of one. Relic Blades can do some damage on the charge. Sternguard Hellfire rounds can take one apart without much trouble. Powerfists can get teh job done, but you risk the squad in combat.

 

Biggest thing is Missile Launchers though. They're either free or cheap, and they'll wound on twos with no armor save. My static list at 750 has four Missile Launchers, a plasmagun, a plasmacannon, a meltagun, and a multi-melta. That much firepower can drop one without too much trouble.

[LardO'Blood]

The problem is he always assaults my sternguard the turn he arrives from reserve and my tacticals are trying to shoot down the charging gaunts and gargoyles.

[Gearhead]

Assaults the Sternguard with the Trygon? He can't do that, Trygons can't assault on the turn they come in. What's his HQ? One of the nastier things you can do to a 'nid player is disrupt their synapse Web, if you do they basically loose control of thier army. Both Termagaunts and Gargoyles lurk when they fail instinctive behavior, forcing them to go toward the nearset piece of cover and disrupting his advance.

 

If he's hoarding up, missile launcher frags and whirlwind blasts can tear them up. Missile Launchers in general are great against 'nids; frags can chew up the small ones, Krak can instant death the medium creatures and chip away at the larger ones.

[Shadowstalker Grim]

DemonHunters

 

How they play:

 

The demonhunters are a tough group of space marines and allied units that are the scourge of the demonic forces in the 40k universe. They make use of a variety of fairly specialist units which are part of both the imperial guard and space marines. Generally these units are tougher than their regular counterparts but far fewer in number. However their combination of specialist gear and tough stat lines make them formidable opponents and especially troubling for demons!

 

 

Strengths:

 

Able to make use of a variety of units around for both the imperial guard and their own variant of space marines and such they can make quite a varied army. However their units tend to be tougher and better than most other armies and have special rules and characters to back this up. They can therefore help themselves by constructing an army out of the variety of different units and build upon these strengths. Demonhunters should be noted to also have exceptional psychic protection, with psychic hoods that cover the entire field!

 

Weaknesses:

 

The big problem for demonhunters is that they have such a small number of units available to work with and will often find themselves outnumbered and without a decent set of units for every situation. This can make things highly problematic for the player as it means that they are particularly troubled in dealing with some opponents.

 

 

What to watch for:

 

Grey Knight Terminators: The ferocity of grey knights in TDA. These guys are quite fearsome and though low in number are a threat to most things.

 

Grey Knight army: A small army of highly specialist Grey knights will be small but generally very powerful and hard hitting

[thade]

Notes to add to Blood Angels:

- They are significantly more durable than normal marines when you factor in Sanguine Priests granting FnP to everyone nearby them. 6" may not seem like much, but when the priest is hiding in a Land Raider it's a pretty big radius.

- BA Special Characters are almost all pretty nasty in melee; gun them down and keep your distance.

[Shadowstalker Grim]

Chaos Demons

 

 

How they play:

 

Chaos demons are unusual and play quite differently to many other armies. This is partly because they are an army that overlap both the Warhammer fantasy game and Warhammer 40k. Because of this they are all armed with melee weapons and psychic powers. Unsurprisingly it draws upon each of the gods for a slightly different aspect in gameplay, Khorne are hard hitting elite melee infantry, Nurgle are very resistant troops, Slaanesh is very fast and Tzneetch is about as ranged as you're going to get for demons. This means that most armies are going to have multiple aspects in order to work well together and cover each others flaws. Demons also enter play strangely, the army is divided in 2 and then a dice is rolled to see which half is going to enter play first and then half the army arrives via deep strike, with the rest entering via deepstrike in subsequent turns.

 

Strengths:

 

Because of the nature of the demons, they will arrive quite differently to how regular armies may expect and can be harder to plan for. The units available are each a kind of specialist which means that they can happily fit into a role without too much trouble, for instance, some nurglings on an objective can be very hard to move out the way and will take a determined push to clear them off, whilst a group of khorne bloodletters will probably massacre many enemies in close combat. Demons also come with a host of special rules that make them tough to get rid of.

 

 

Weaknesses:

 

The way demons enter play is both a blessing and a curse. Their divided nature means that unless the player is careful about how he divides his force he may well be losing huge portions of his army to enemy targetting, the units he has not fulfilling their purpose as he had hoped. Also the more or less single dimensioned nature of each of the players units will make each one struggle to fill in gaps that other units fill, so if you lose a vital unit in your first wave, it may not be possible to recover during the later ones.

 

 

Things to watch out for:

 

Demon Prince: A pretty scary flying monstrous creature, be careful as they can close a gap and help out a demons army by filling in gaps and will probably force you to target either it and let the enemy army close, or the army and let the prince close. Especially dangerous in pairs.

 

Single God army: More for fun than a threat, an army that works for one god will work heavily in the favour of one aspect, plan a counter accordingly.

[Corby]

Necrons :

 

A necron army usually consists of highly resilent troops. typical two 10 man sqauds of necron warriors. A typical tactic for a necron player to use is deploying 1 squad of warriors and having the other walk on from reserve at a latter stage in the game.

 

A key mechanic that works against the necron army is the 'phase out' special rule in their codex which causes them to automatically disappear when the total number of models in their army with the 'necron' special rule drops below 25%.

 

Necrons have access to 'gauss' weaponary which allows even their basic troopers to be able to damage High Armour value vehicles.

 

Necrons are quite weak in combat , with a lower Iniative than the majority of units in the game.

 

Common units to see on the table top:

 

 

Necron Lord. A good all round fighter with access to plenty of upgrades to agument the necron army.

 

Necron Destroyers: Fast , highly durable , And dish out a large torrent of S6 shots per turn , Necron destroyers are a real threat on the table top. charging them pretty much renders them helpless unless a Necron destroyer lord is also present in the unit. However due to their High toughness charging them without any real muscle can result in your unit being tar pitted with the destroyers for the remainder of the game.

 

Necron warriors: Only troop choice available to necron players. Generally you won't see a lot of these guys on the table top as they can be easily killed in combat and are quite expensive , taking away a large chunk of points.

 

Monolith: Very very durable tank and the only form of mech in the necron codex. Can dish out a world of hurt at 12" range , also has a number of different abilities to help out nearby necrons. Most notably the ability to remove a nearby necron unit off the table and place them in front of the monolith portal. Generally should be ignored and focus on killing the weaker necron units.

 

Necron heavy Destroyers: Basically mobile lascannons. Generally a less popular choice compared to the basic necron destroyer.

 

The Deceiver: A necron god. Has the ability to alter deployment and the ability to disengage from combat. So a necron player using the deceiver will dictate the terms under which it will be assaulted. A close combat Monster. Concentration of ranged firepower needed to bring it down.

 

The Nightbringer: Another Necron god. Close combat focused. Has the ability to fire a single anti tank shot a turn. An even bigger monster in close combat monster than the Deceiver.

 

High Strength Low armour penetration weaponary and good close combat potential are generally the bane of necron armys.

 

With next to no close combat potential outside their Lords and Gods A necron army will usually Set up opposite to you and shoot. Destroyers add mobility to a necron army but a necron armies basic infantry are very immobile. A good Assault unit is neccessary for dealing with Necrons.

[Corby]

Will add to the blood angel one.

 

 

Blood Angels :

 

Operate in a similar way to Eldar as they are highly mobile , can keep you at arms length or unlike Eldar , Can excel in assault. The majority of Blood angel vehicles are highly mobile, allowing a blood angel player to run circles around you. However blood angel vehicles are more expensive than standard space marine varients. The ability to take Assault marines as troop choices allows for a very close combat orientated army , which is up in your face on turn1/2. blood angels also have the ability to take Sanguinary Priests. A unit which already aguements their considerable combat potential as well as providing a feel no pain radius of 6" to friendly troops. This assault potential combined with the normal static firepower of Generic marine armies means they can both excel at range and at assault. They're almost like a cross between Eldar and Space wolves.

 

Generally a blood angel army has the ability to Perform well at most aspects of the game. However expensive unit costs mean for a slightly lower body/model/vehicle count than the majority of other Marine armies.

[Corby]

Tyranids

 

How they play:

 

Tyranids are another hoarde army similar to orks, which means more of the same thing. Poor armour and a desire to close the gap quickly. Tyranids are a tough hoarde but can pack better shooting than orks and a wider myriad of monsters as they incorporate a variety of different monsters for different jobs, but the bulk of their army will be in the termagants and hormagaunts.

 

Strengths:

Tyranids have a decent myriad of creatures for different jobs, but being heavily dependent on numbers you'll find that they are decent CC fighters, of course a large creature such as the Hive Tyrant is going to be bad news for whatever it drops down on and may prove a match for even our space marine captains. Genestealers can treat our armour as if it doesn't exist and warriors can prove a fearsome match. Also Tyranids are not totally inept at a range and can use Zoanthropes or Biovores and masses of fire to crush down on some of your units. The army can move fast and keep up a decent rate of fire and then tear you down with weight of numbers in close combat.

 

Weaknesses:

 

Tyranids lack any form of transport so suffer from the shortfall of having to walk to close the distanceIn some ways this is mitigated by the fact that they have the fleet of foot special rule so they can move very fast towards you, however it still means there is chance to thing their numbers before they get to you. They also have synapse creatures which when removed can be very problematic for maintaing your army.

 

Things to watch for:

 

Genestealers - These creatures rip through armour almost as if it wasn't there, be careful when engaging these creatures as you'll want to keep them away from anything you want to survive.

 

Monstrous army - Tyranids can field numerous carnifexes as elites and heavy support. This means that the army may be smaller, but they can be quite fearsome to fight and can pack a huge punch!

 

 

Not true. A tyranid army has access to Mycetic spores. Which are essentially drop pods , giving you back field threats to worry about as well as the frontal advance. Very few tyranid units have the fleet of foot rule.

 

The two most devastation units a tyranid army has for ranged capabilities are : Hive guard and Tyranofexs. Hive guard do not need line of sight to target you with their S8 weaponary and Tyranofexs have huge amounts of anti Infantry fire power and Anti tank firepower.

 

Also not mentioned : The Tervigon.

 

The tervigon can spawn additionally Termagants during the game which allow the tyranid player to replenish his swarm. Eliminating a tervigon damages all the termagants around it so it generally is a good idea to focus fire on a Tervigon.

[Hellios]

Not true. A tyranid army has access to Mycetic spores. Which are essentially drop pods , giving you back field threats to worry about as well as the frontal advance. Very few tyranid units have the fleet of foot rule.

 

The two most devastation units a tyranid army has for ranged capabilities are : Hive guard and Tyranofexs. Hive guard do not need line of sight to target you with their S8 weaponary and Tyranofexs have huge amounts of anti Infantry fire power and Anti tank firepower.

 

Also not mentioned : The Tervigon.

 

The tervigon can spawn additionally Termagants during the game which allow the tyranid player to replenish his swarm. Eliminating a tervigon damages all the termagants around it so it generally is a good idea to focus fire on a Tervigon.

 

On the note of Mycetic spore... you also have a number of units that can deepstrike themselves or use other forms of special deployment such as Ymargl Genestealers.

[Shadowstalker Grim]

Yeah i thought that mycetic spores allowed em to pretty much drop pod in, but i don't have the newer codex so i couldn't say for sure, thanks for clearing that up! We already have a necron section, but always good to get additional information :tu:

 

Thanks for the help, but I think its the last few i'm really going to struggle with, anyone with knowledge on the last few could you please post it? It would be really helpful and much appreciated!

[Shadowstalker Grim]

Witch Hunters

 

How they play:

 

Similar to demonhunters, in the sense that this faction draws upon not only the space marine-esque sisters of battle, but also the forces of the imperial guard and many of their own unique units, the sisters of battle have many weapons available for the job at hand, often with a very unique look to it. They play quite simply by making use of the same aspects of space marines and demonhunters. They utilise squads of sisters of battle which are flexible much like tactical squads and they make good use of stormtroopers to help bulk things out and provide cheaper units.

 

Strengths:

 

Witch Hunters are a diverse force, with many units similar in function to that of the space marine, even the basic sisters of battle squad is perhaps comparable. The difference and strength of the sisters of battle is that they field some very different machinary in addition to the regular vehicles such as the rhino. This gives them a tough force that operates differently and comparably to many other armies, the fact that they can make use of some of the vehicles of the imperial guard also gives them much needed numbers and strengths elsewhere in the army. As with demonhunters the Witch Hunters can be exceptionally good at preventing psychic powers from hurting you as they have psychic hoods with an unlimited range! Along with wargear that helps stack in saving wounds caused by such powers.

 

Weaknesses:

 

The army suffers from many of the same problems that space marines suffer from and they are perhaps worse off as the space marines have much more in the way of selection and army development whilst the witch hunters lack much of the same kind of customisation that can be offered. Generally this means that they can really lack a good way of adapting to certain strategies and different battle plans, whilst also lacking a solid form of unit for certain jobs to start with as often their competative lists will be more or less the same

 

What to watch for:

 

Assassins: A more unusual sight for many players, an assassin is capable of killing of your special characters unless they are better protected (as one might guess) so be careful if one of these is on the field!

 

Witch Hunters: An Inquisitor and his retinue is a hardy combination that will likely give enemy units a headache at the fraction of the price of some other 'uber units'

 

Excorcists: Tough and capable of killing most things that stand before them, be careful!

[Br0ther Rafen]

Has the elder been covered? I can make a thing Eldar

[Shadowstalker Grim]

Well there is an eldar section (its on the first page) but its a comparatively small section, have a look at it and expand on it here if you like, more information is always helpful! ;)

[Brother Nihm]

The two most devastation units a tyranid army has for ranged capabilities are : Hive guard and Tyranofexs. Hive guard do not need line of sight to target you with their S8 weaponary and Tyranofexs have huge amounts of anti Infantry fire power and Anti tank firepower.

Thankfully its either or, they can never do both at the same time.

[DemetriiTZ]

Actually, they can; a Tyrannofex is still a S6 T6 6W 2+ Save MC with 4 attacks on the charge, which can fire 2 S10 48'' range shots, as well as firing a S5 LB, and a 2+ poison Flamer template. They're quite fine with both AT and Anti-Infantry -- their only weakness is their price, really.

[Brother Nihm]

You're right, forgot about the dessi larvae.

 

Which is odd really, for a 265+ pt critter I never see them being played offensively, they always hang back and try to pop my Raider/Rhinos/Prince/Oblits. The new Nids (to me) are all about forcing your opponent to make hard choices.

I for one would rock that baby up at the front.

[Darius Macab]

Witch Hunters

 

What to watch for:

 

Assassins: A more unusual sight for many players, an assassin is capable of killing of your special characters unless they are better protected (as one might guess) so be careful if one of these is on the field!

 

you forget the most iconic of the witch hunters army, the witch hunters! seriously contrary to what you might think compared to a terminator armoured daemon hammer welding Daemonhunter these guys and their retinue can really mess up your day. an inquisitor lord with 3 crusaders 2 chirugeons a familiar and 2-3 ablative wounds er that is to say acolytes with power armor and man catchers. mount them all in a land raider and you can give a bloodthirster a headache, and for fewer points than most other uber units.

 

also Exorcists

 

a compeditive WH player will have 2-3 or even 4 (!) of these things and they will kill everything

 

dont think that WH are a pushover army they are still very competitive

 

my 2c

 

DM

[Chengar Qordath]

Witch Hunters

 

What to watch for:

 

Assassins: A more unusual sight for many players, an assassin is capable of killing of your special characters unless they are better protected (as one might guess) so be careful if one of these is on the field!

 

you forget the most iconic of the witch hunters army, the witch hunters! seriously contrary to what you might think compared to a terminator armoured daemon hammer welding Daemonhunter these guys and their retinue can really mess up your day. an inquisitor lord with 3 crusaders 2 chirugeons a familiar and 2-3 ablative wounds er that is to say acolytes with power armor and man catchers. mount them all in a land raider and you can give a bloodthirster a headache, and for fewer points than most other uber units.

 

also Exorcists

 

a compeditive WH player will have 2-3 or even 4 (!) of these things and they will kill everything

 

dont think that WH are a pushover army they are still very competitive

 

my 2c

 

DM

Yeah, you can still make a very viable Witchhunter army; the codex's only real weakness aside from the usual issues of Codex creep is that lists tend to be a bit cookie-cutter due to the limited number of viable options for competitive play.

 

Witchhunters and Daemonhunters should also probably get some credit for being two of the strongest anti-psychic armies in the game thanks to unlimited-range psychic hoods and units/wargear with an additional 4+ or 5+ save that stacks with psychic hoods and any other normal saves.

[Shadowstalker Grim]

Well i know next to nothing about witch hunters or demon hunters, so thank you for giving me more to add :woot: its always appreciated!

 

Maybe I should ask for help posting info about dark angels and black templars. All i really know is that Dark Angels can have terminator armies and biker armies and that black templars are melee based. Anyone who plays/knows about these could you perhaps make a section dedicated to them?

 

Dark Eldar i could use a section written on, but haven't they just been updated? Which might make it hard to get some info together!

[Raphiel]

I'll take a shot at Dark Angels, the Deathwing specifically. I will focus on pure Deathwing, as that is the only DA army I have some experience with.

 

 

Deathwing

 

 

How they play:

 

A Deathwing army is a very hard army to master, but can be devastating when used properly. A pure Deathwing army consists merely of Deathwing Terminators, Dreadnoughts and Land Raiders. Don't be fooled by the small selection of units available, as they can fulfill many different roles and act in great synergy with eachother. A good Deathwing player will make sure that every unit supports the other unit. Given the small number of models on the table, the Deathwing army will often deploy on a single flank. It is vital that the various units can effectively support one another.

 

 

Strengths:

 

 

- The Deathwing Terminator squads can mix weaponry (both assault and shooting weapons) in a squad. A common and competitive loadout for a (tactical) Deathwing Terminator squad is:

Sergeant: Power Sword & Storm Bolter

1 Terminator: Power Fist & Storm Bolter

1 Terminator: Chain Fist & Storm Bolter

1 Terminator: Assault Cannon

1 Terminator: Twin Lightning Claws

As such, the squad is equipped to tackle various threats. Also, by assigning a different weapon load out to each terminator, the player can tactically allocate the wounds to each terminator. Don't forget that all Deathwing terminators are fearless, although that is a double-edged blade.

 

- Deathwing Assault. At the beginning of the first turn, the player can choose up to half (rounding up) of the Deathwing Terminator squads kept in reserve to make a Deathwing Assault. These units will arrive on the player's first turn by deep strike. IC's in TDA can also be deployed via Deathwing Assault. When carried out correctly, this can be a great element of surprise. Be prepared!

 

-Mechanized Deathwing. I feel like this deserves a special bullet, as this is (in my personal view) the most competitive Deathwing army. At 1,500 pts, a Deathwing army can contain 2 Land Raiders, 3 Deathwing Terminator squads, a Dreadnought and 2 HQ's. Not a high bodycount indeed, but they are tough and can endure a lot. The Land Raiders can safely deliver Deathwing Terminator assault squads into the heart of your army at a rapid pace. And dealing with 2 Land Raider Crusaders rolling towards you is a tough job for any army out there. Obviously, melta is your biggest friend here. Destroy the transports and the terminators will have to footslog across the board, open to a torrent of fire.

 

-Deathwing Command Squads. Deathwing have access to an apothecary in TDA, which is very useful in the DA codex. He does not provide the unit with FNP, but he may allow any friendly model within 6" to ignore a failed save (of any sort), once per player turn. This ability cannot be used against attacks causing Instant Death and a close combat attack that allows no armor save.

 

 

Weaknesses:

 

 

- Low bodycount / high point costs. A single Deathwing Terminator squad will cost +/- 250 pts. That's 50 pts per model! A Deathwing player will generally hate to lose any model, as each one is direly needed. Concentrate fire, and let them roll their saves. They will have to roll that 1 some time! Add a librarian with Null Zone and get some plasma into them, they will fall like flies. Every model lost, be it Terminators; Dreadnoughts or Land Raiders, is an expensive loss. Taking out the transports should be priority number 1.

 

- Poor HQ. A Deathwing player is obliged to take Belial as an HQ choice, taking up a slot on the FO chart. Now, most people are not that impressed with Belial. And rightly so. To get the most use out of him he will often be equipped with twin lightning claws. Other than that, he really is nothing special. A WS 5, I 5, A 3 (4 with TLC) captain in terminator armor. Combined with an Interrogator Chaplain and a terminator assault squad, he can deal some damage. But nothing really scary.

 

 

 

Things to watch out for:

 

 

- Deathwing is always outnumbered, but never outgunned. Do not underestimate them by the small number of models on the table!

 

- Deathwing Terminator assault squads, mixing TH + SS, TLC and possibly Heavy Flamers, combined with the Deathwing Company banner (+1 attack) and a Interrogator Chaplain (re-roll to hit) in LR Crusaders. They hit (very) hard and they hit fast.

 

- Deathwing Assault. Sure, deepstriking can be unreliable. But just like Daemons deploy, they can also give you a nasty surprise when 3 Deathwing Terminator squads stand on your doorstep on turn one.

[LardO'Blood]

I haven't tried this yet but to deal with DW you want:

Vindicators

Chapter masters if you plan on taking a slogging captain

Plasma cannons

Melta guns